Sometimes the very best principle in executing plans is to just keep it simple stupid.  It was quite apparent that there was mass confusion in many cases during various points of last season and while executing simple strategies helped the basic running game plays, confusion in blocking schemes with atrocious QB play and decision making could not overcome that improvement.

I think that there is also a lot missed as to why the age of the team plays a critical component particularly later in the year simply based upon the fact that all players lose some of the strength/endurance that is built up over the off-seasons...and that "loss" is compounded when such a large majority of players are so young.  

Combining better strategy and concepts to maximize the line performance, along with QBs who can execute and hit an open target (how many wide open receivers were simply missed last year?), and add in the experience and growth with age and this team should be much better positioned to execute this year.

I also do not think it is limited to the offense, I think there were some lapses last year in the 2nd half of games with young players who were simply not used to the long grind of a season and the impact to their play from a physical standpoint.  Adding 5-10lbs of muscle to some of the DBs with just an extra year in the weight room should be very valuable as one example...where maybe that qtr or half a step goes away this year and a "perfect throw" is broken up.

I loved the OSU game plan and hope to see more of it. 

If, no WHEN it gets better..... all is forgotten.

GO BLUE

I'm just waiting for a GIF of that donkey...

I've been to a donkey wedding.  Let's just say the groom was a bit of an ass. 

I bet it isn't just the line that changed the terminology. Everyone heard those play calls in All or nothing. You are expecting young athletes to remember that long of a play call, what they should do in the playcall(picking out their part), and then executing. It isn't going to happen on a consistent basis. Then add into relaying the call from coach, to WR, to QB, then to the rest of the team. Its no wonder they used so many TOs early in the first half or guys ran wrong play, missed line assisgnment(Like a twist), or even the QB turning the wrong way. 

Simplfying isn't some word to dumb down the offense. It's to get the kids to execute properly without thinking. We are going to see the exact same offense we have seen at Michigan since Harbaugh came here. 

Drawing from both the Newsome and Spam interviews in France, it sounds like the biggest problem was the number of rules the OL had on each given play to account for adaptations in the defense.

They were trying to have a specific answer for everything the defense could hypothetically do to disrupt each play instead of having a few rules that cover the overwhelming majority of looks you will see. Could have been general incompetence or a misguided attempt to outscheme Don Brown for a few pyrrhic practice first downs. 

Since just about every major program 1) runs both gap and zone plays, and 2) doesn't constantly have otherwise pretty good interior OL blow blitz/stunt pickups, that makes sense as a/the major culprit.

The good news is this is the easiest thing to fix!

The bad news is if you're in the "can't do gap and zone" camp. Harbaugh will continue to run some zone, as he always has, and we're likely to see more shotgun IZ particularly if a mobile QB is in because we'll actually be playing a guy who can hold a linebacker. Last year I counted one QB keep on a gun zone play - JOK's 6 yard run against OSU that took an entire season to set up. 

I think people who are aghast that Harbaugh might occasionally need to correct an issue need to recall that no coach anywhere has everything right. I mean, Michigan itself managed to get an OC from Alabama (remember when we thought it was a HUGE COUP HIRE!!!! to replace Borges?) because Saban actually realized his offense was lousy. He has adapted to the times. Urban Meyer squandered a title defense by converting a team that had Zeke Elliott and two national title-caliber QBs and somehow producing a terrible offense. He adapted.

Harbaugh had some offensive issues. He has, I hope, adapted. 

Identifying the right problem. There are a bunch of different variables, but I think Brian isolated the right one. Commonly cited problems were play-calling, WR development, QB play, and o-line (pass pro in particular). QB play and play-calling are constrained by o-line play. If you don't give your QB time to play, you're leaning harder on his development and native talent, especially if the opposing defense gets some early hits in to spook him. If you can't pass block, the kinds and numbers of plays you can call are reduced. The WRs were what they were, especially given the injuries Michigan had to play through.

Blame? The mass confusion from disparate philosophies sounds about right, though it makes me wonder where the decision to hire Frey came from in the first place. Does Drevno suggest that they can add some different schemes and encourage Harbaugh to make the Frey hire? Or does this fall on Harbaugh trying to squeeze too much from his players and staff? Maybe it's somewhere in-between, with Harbaugh suggesting it and Drevno thinking it can work.

I could easily see it going either way. I could see someone as specialized as a line coach getting a more-or-less auto-nod from Harbaugh, especially given the relationship and history Drevno had with him. I could also see Harbaugh seeing a guy with Frey's reputation become available, reaching for him, and asking questions later. 

But read between the lines in Brian's post, especially given the context about how the offensive staff is structured, and you'll see that the blame is ultimately Harbaugh's, and not in a 'CEO ultimately gets the blame' kind-of-way. He's the captain of the offensive staff. I think the best evidence of this, however, is from Harbaugh himself shouldering the responsibility.

The Right Response. It's a good thing that Michigan's coach is genuinely a results-oriented guy. Mistakes were made. What came later--the introspection, the subsequent hires, the re-dedication to coaching--is the best chance Harbaugh and the program have of righting the ship. He didn't point fingers; he took action. I just hope last year's crater isn't too deep to climb out of.

Scheme issues aisde, it sure would be nice to have a healthy Grant Newsome and a Devery Hamilton or Isaiah Wilson at RT. 

And for as much heat as the OL got last year (and deservedly so) the RB's couldn't pass block to save their lives and rarely got more yards than the OL got for them. We really need to a game changing RB in the worst way.

I'm confident that the offensive coaching will be better next year -- more focused and consistent -- and that the results on offense will improve as a result.  To piggyback off of your last sentence, 2018 has a chance to be special and I hope we didn't blow it by losing some of the benefit of player development in 2017. 

Michigan's OSU gameplan wins the game if it doesn't draw the worst QB performance in living memory

Those things could have something to do with each other though.

When all of your QBs, young and old, constantly have the yips, there could be a material comfort problem for college-level QBs until they get to Jake Rudock 5th year transfer-level status.

Occam's razor is probably true here:  you've got two largely-different blocking schemes being smashed together with a pretty inexperienced group of players.  Chaos ensued, and when they got back to doing the thing they had been exposed to before (and perhaps fit their personnel best), they got better.  

I will also say - I've heard the "the new coaches are really making more sense" line since I started following sports.  I'm sure there is some truth to it all, but much like "the new S&C guy is really changing how we work out", I'm going to assume that guys just getting older and better adjusted to a coherent offensive system will do wonders for their play, regardless of the vernacular surrounding it.

The frustrating thing was the south carolina game and gameplan. With the OSU game it seemed like Harbaugh and the staff had realized the issues with their play calls and made the adjustments. Then they got a month to practice and a better QB in Peters and laid an egg in the bowl game. That's when it went from a frustrating year to the staff needing to be changed, you shouldn't get worse with a month of practice and an improvement at QB.

3-9 and losing to Toledo says he might have been advised to "taylor" his Offense to his personel. I could have installed a double wing in a week and beat Toledo with our talent. But, alas that ship has sailed away to sexual harrassment island and we are better for it. But thanks for tossing that in there just to remind us again how he did everything right here and we were the dysfuntional ones.