Unverifed Voracity Is On Message
The latest and greatest. Mysterious Michigan insider-guy Maizeman has been offering inside bits on Michigan practices since the internet's paleolithic era, mostly over email to a select group of Chosen Ones. Now he's doing it on Go Blue Michigan Wolverine, a blog open to the public. He must not fear silent ninja reprisals from Rodriguez like he did from Carr.
I have no way to check the veracity of these things and no idea who this guy is or how he survived the regime change with super-powerful insider mojo intact, but at the very least his posts are interesting. They may even be accurate. Some snippets follow; there's a lot of [sic] in here, just deal. Post the first:
Dorrestein vs. O'Neill:
Who would be first Offensive Tackle in game in case of injury? As of now Dorrenstein. O'Neill will put increased pressure on him as camp continues. O'Neill is simply a better athlete and could possibly play both Offensive Tackle spots although both Dorrestein and O'Neill seem better suited for Right Tackle. In Coach Rod's system, the only Offensive Line position that seems to have its special needs is Left Tackle and that makes Ortmann a very important player to stay healthy.Sagesse and Kates:
Have been getting snaps at Defensive Tackle sometimes with second group and sometimes Sagesse is with third group. Both seem to be in good shape and are going multiple snaps when they are in the scrimmage. Martin has been with third group and has had some good battles with Khoury and Barnum.
And on the QBs:
Another problem that I saw in spring and continues in fall is Michigan's new version of the "check down" pass. What they do is take one of the slots and he will run a flare toward the sideline (which means does not take steps down the field, but "drifts" to the sidelines. When Quarterbacks feel pressure they are told to get rid of the ball which more times than not is just throwing a short pass to the slot who has run the flare toward the sideline.
This is why Coach Rod is recruiting those elusive slot type players because they will be asked to get about five-six yards out of virtually nothing. So far, our Quarterbacks are throwing this pass excessively often and think it is due to lack of confidence.
At least the checkdown route is no longer a drag that takes six seconds to open up. There's considerably more on GBMW; click through if you're tantalized.
Tacopants explained. Dr. Z gets to the bottom of Chad Henne's occasional passes to Jason Avant's eleven-foot-tall imaginary friend:
The third observation, who might be No. 1 by the end of the season, is second-round draft pick Chad Henne, a big arm from Michigan. Sometimes the ball flies on him, and I asked Dolphins' offensive coordinator Dan Henning to please give me a technical critique of the flight of his passes. I can ask the 66-year old Henning questions like that because ... listen to how far back we go. About a century ago I selected him as my All-Met High School quarterback for St. Francis Prep in Brooklyn.
"When he's wild, he's either wild high left or wild low right," Henning said. Noticing my idiot look, he elaborated. "You're serving in tennis. Serving to the ad court, you'll probably be wide low right, and in the deuce court, wild high left, so what we're trying to get him to do is open his body, pretending he's in the deuce court, to get the ball on target." I got so excited with this analogy I tried it myself and served an ashtray through a pane of glass, but the point is young Henne has one of the great quarterback technicians in the game to work with him.
I think my problem in Chicago was that I never selected anyone for a high school all star team in 1945.
Just because he's skinny does not mean he can't play DE. I can't remember where the first couple instances of the idea that Michigan played a 3-4 last year came from, but the disease has now struck a third person and can be officially denoted a trend:
Ezeh is the Wolverines' top returning tackler and the team's only starting linebacker retained from last season. He had 68 tackles from his spot at inside linebacker in UM's 3-4 defense and contributed four tackles for loss, two sacks, and an interception.
This is followed by a note that Michigan is "now" running a 4-3.
Wherever this idea originated, it's wrong. The only time last year Michigan had a fourth linebacker on the field it was in certain short-yardage situations and walk-on Max Pollock was the extra strongside linebacker. This was very rare. The confusion probably stems from the frequent deployment of nominal linebacker Shawn Crable as a defensive end, but this only happened against spread teams and on passing downs in Michigan's nickel package. And even if you want to claim that as some weird variety of the 3-4, Crable was usually playing with his hand down as a member of a four-man line. Michigan would line up in a 3-3-5 from time to time, but this was an exotic and not a base defense.
Wheeeee! High amongst the quotes that make Michigan fans want to punch a wall is "Michigan is straightforward" or "has no surprises" or "just lines up and runs directly at you again and again and it makes me, a USC Trojan, so bored after we crush them into dust." This era has apparently ended:
"Especially with the speed of the game and special formations," said Minor, a front-runner along with Carlos Brown to replace Mike Hart at tailback. "Last year, it was basically almost the same one formation, the I-set form. Now, there's no telling where we'll line up. We can do so much, and it's real good. I love it, because the defense doesn't know what to expect."
Just watching 30 minutes of practice Monday made it easy to see exactly what he was talking about. The Michigan offense never seemed to show the same formation on back-to-back plays.There were two tailbacks in the backfield, an empty backfield, wide receivers motioning into an empty backfield to become tailbacks, slotbacks turning into quarterbacks, quarterbacks turning into wide receivers, tight ends lining up in the slot and so forth.
There were more looks on display in 15 minutes than an entire season under the previous coaching regime.
Too bad the A11 is probably illegal.
Por ejemplo. Wild-something-or-other a la Darren McFadden is in the house:
Don't be surprised to see tailbacks Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown in the backfield at the same time.
"It's a lot," Minor said, when asked how often the two are lined up in the backfield.
I have no idea what's going to happen this fall, but I am sure that Rodriguez will throw the kitchen sink at opposing defenses.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:02 PM ^
August 11th, 2008 at 11:57 PM ^
If Phil Steele reads this, he'll come after you with a butter knife so that you agonize in pain as he takes two hours just to break skin.
Only Phil Steele makes correct predictions. He called for Nebraska to have a bad year. He called for Tebow to win the Heisman. He knew that RR would leave WVU and end up at Michigan. He knew that Bill Martin wasn't in his sailboat...he was cruising in his submarine. He knew that LSU would become the first 2-loss national champion. He knew. Phil Steele knows all and will own you.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:43 PM ^
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August 11th, 2008 at 8:29 PM ^
I too have been on Maizeman's email lists for some time now.
Guy is consistently correct. There are things he admits he knows little about - recruiting, for instance - but in terms of development and other issues, he's got a strong track record.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:01 PM ^
I've got this awesome tape where Barwis pisses on KC's leg and it instantly gains 6 lbs. of solid muscle. Later Barwis and Lopata go out to California and kick down redwoods for a few hours. Who gives a crap about million year old organisms?
August 11th, 2008 at 9:54 PM ^
August 11th, 2008 at 10:09 PM ^
Fingerbangs panda bears
August 11th, 2008 at 11:53 PM ^
August 12th, 2008 at 1:55 AM ^
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August 12th, 2008 at 10:03 AM ^
I'm not telling you what or what not to expect. I'm just saying, be pessimistic so that we don't influence negative karma, or some new age stuff like that. If we are too optimistic when we shouldn't be, then Michigan-hating god will make sure that we are disappointed, like he did when he came down to Terrelle Pryor in the form of a 1999 black Corvette and talked him into going to OSU (yes, kind of like in Knight Rider or maybe even Christine).
August 12th, 2008 at 9:07 AM ^
August 12th, 2008 at 9:51 AM ^
His "system" has turned out 3800+ yard passing seasons, and 1000+ yard receivers who average over 20 yards a catch. If you think his "system" is limited to what you've seen him do with Pat White, you're wrong, Pat White's physical skills (awesome runner, mediocre passer) dictated the play-calling. When he had Shaun King, he threw the ball over and over. When he had a dual threat, like Woody Dantzler, he ran AND threw a fair amount.
HE WILL CALL PLAYS THAT HIS QB'S ARE CAPABLE OF RUNNING.
If you think he's going to have the QB run the ball nearly 300 times this year...you're wrong.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:53 AM ^
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August 12th, 2008 at 10:33 AM ^
Now I'm just confused. Musket did respond to a comment by me, and I know this because he specifically addressed me in it. Which comment by you are you referring to? The sky in the head?
I personally don't know what Maizeman wrote. It seems to be for scout subscribers only. I would like to know what he wrote. I don't know what to expect, but I don't think that 10-2 is even possible.
One interesting thing that NCAA 09 demonstrated to me is how the zone read can be done with a slot WR coming from the weak side so it's pretty much a triple option. The tailback acts as a FB in that case and the WR is basically a slotback. That seems pretty cool. You probably all knew this already, but I just feel that my football knowledge has vastly improved in the past year as I knew basically nothing in the past. So if not the football team, I will be this year's feel-good story of the year.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:32 AM ^
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August 13th, 2008 at 12:29 PM ^
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