Expectations for Donovan Warren
What are your expectations for Donovan Warren?
Are you a Cissoko-Believer and think he'll overpass Warren? Do you think Warren will be All-Big Ten at CB? Or do you think he's gonna be an All-American and he only just had a sophomore slump?
I think he has the talent to be an All-American, but the coaching of Tony Gibson is gonna keep him at All-Big Ten level and not that final level of greatness. I'm not very encouraged with Gibson the coach, but hopefully time will show he's a good coach. Love him as the recruiter tho
Opinions?
January 28th, 2009 at 7:09 PM ^
Maybe I don't know as much about coach Gibson as you do, but why exactly do you hate him as a coach?
January 28th, 2009 at 7:19 PM ^
Hate was a strong word to use, so more like dislike since the CB's looked pretty bad this year or more like Pass Defense in general.
And I thought Shafer only coached the safeties no? or did he coach the entire secondary?
January 28th, 2009 at 7:23 PM ^
So you dislike him simply because the pass defense was bad?
Our offense was bad too. Do you dislike Magee? In fact, our whole team was bad. Do you dislike RR?
I was looking for a little more than "I dislike him because his position group had a bad year."
January 28th, 2009 at 7:37 PM ^
I switched it up a bit in the info part so you'll get my other pov.
As for the defense, I know they were on the field longer than a most other DI teams because of the offense's constant 3-and-outs, but I expected the offense to be awful and screw up anyways.
I don't dislike RR and Magee because they have a great history of success and that makes me more faithful to Michigan football because history repeats itself and Michigan will be a premier program soon.
But back to our original debate, I expected this defense to be good enough to pick up 6-ish wins like a lot of others and I guess I didn't realize the importance of TOP. But because the high expectations for the defense and our secondary was sliced through in a lot of games, I put the blame on Gibson.
I don't hate Gibson as a coach, that was me not thinking, but until we get solid production from the secondary, I'm gonna be pretty skeptical like most others.
We all want what's best for Michigan football- Winning, Tradition, and Class and I have no doubt whatsoever that we will reach it. But I don't think it's gonna be an easy journey. So hopefully last year was that "rebuilding/new year" for both the offense AND the defense and we'll get to see them at full speed this year en route to wins against ND, MSU, and OSU. Yes, I truly believe we'll beat OSU.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:29 PM ^
The play of the safeties concerns me much more than the play of the cornerbacks. Given that the corners had virtually no help whatsoever over-the-top, they were exposed. Because the safeties were rarely (if ever) properly positioned on deep routes, the corners had to back off the line of scrimmage. The result? Easy completions of the 5-10 yard variety that made the corners look bad.
Assuming that the safeties improve (how could they not?), I think we'll see more jamming at the line of scrimmage, and in turn, more effective cornerback play.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:06 PM ^
Shafer coached the CB's also.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:09 PM ^
Shafer's ONLY position responsibility was the cornerbacks. Gibson coached the safeties, Hopson the LB's, and Tall the DL.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:14 PM ^
I thought Shafer coached DBs last year.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:15 PM ^
He did.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:16 PM ^
I think a lot of his success will come off GRob's front 7. Pressure on the qb is critical to his and Bou's year.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:37 PM ^
Shafer coached cornerbacks.
Gibson coached safeties.
Neither position group played well.
It's unclear what position Robinson will be coaching this year. I'm inclined to think he'll coach either safeties or corners, but regardless, play from those positions needs to improve.
I think Warren has all the skills in the world, but he certainly didn't show it last year. He looked confused. But if anyone surpasses Warren's performance, it will be Turner, not Cissoko. Of course, Warren will probably be gone by the time Turner really gets to show his talent, but I think Turner might be the best of that trio.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:44 PM ^
This has probably been discussed before,
Does anyone think that RR will move Bruce Tall to coach the safeties like he did at WVA, give Gibson control of just the
CB's and give GR control of the D-Line?
January 28th, 2009 at 7:52 PM ^
I think Warren will make an outstanding corner by the time he finishes his career here. If you remember, he played injured quite a bit last year, and it showed in his speed. He was pretty good his freshman year, and I expect him to be good this coming year.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:14 PM ^
Our DB's did not play well last year and most of that can be chalked up to our horrendous efforts from #3. Our CB's are good corners with huge upside. The problem was our safeties couldn't cover anyone so we had to play a lot of zone. Warren is a corner that likes to play physical at the line and jam receivers to throw off their timing with the QB. I think Greg Robinson will pressure the QB and play a lot of man to man on the outside next year. I feel good about our corners and think they will be up for the challenge. I think our secondary will look like this:
CB's- Warren and Cissoko
Turner will defend the slot but I HOPE he moves to the outside and Cissoko defends the slot. His lack of size could hurt us on the outside.
S's-Mike Williams and Brown/Smith will rotate
January 28th, 2009 at 8:22 PM ^
I expect him to do well... but not so well that he comes out at the end of the year. I think we will have a real shot at the Big Ten in 2010 if he stays.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:30 PM ^
consensus among the coaching staff and players is that Gibson is a great coach (with a hot wife). also, i expect Donovan Warren to have 55 interceptions and 34 fumble recoveries.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:52 PM ^
The consensus amongst Michigan fans is that our safeties were pretty shitty last year. It might be coaching. It might not be. But I'm not convinced that Gibson is a "great" coach.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:11 PM ^
ok. i was talking about the people within the program and not your opinion. but i wonder how well any coach would've done with our safeties. and how about rod smith? he was TERRIBLE last year. i mean geez, did you see Threet and Sheridan? Wait, actually RR coaches the QB's quite a bit too. He's awful as well, right?
January 28th, 2009 at 9:15 PM ^
The sarcasm is unnecessary.
All I said was that if he is a great coach, it hasn't shown on the field. Like I said, it might have been coaching, it might not have been. But you can't look at last year's team and say with any certainty that Gibson is a great coach.
Going by the word of the players is kind of a risky proposition. A lot of players think highly of a coach because they love and respect him from working with him every day. I'm sure you could find some ex-MSU players who would tell you John L. Smith is a great coach. Does that mean it's true?
January 28th, 2009 at 8:49 PM ^
Of course, Warren will probably be gone by the time Turner really gets to show his talent, but I think Turner might be the best of that trio.
For better or worse, I think we are likely to see Turner long before Warren is no longer a wolverine. From what I have seen and heard, I think that is a positive, but certainly a statement on our depth at the positiion.
I worry more about our safeties next year than corner.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:59 PM ^
What I meant by that is Turner could very well have only limited playing time before Warren leaves. Assuming experience is the overriding factor, Turner will only be a slot corner until Warren leaves, since Warren and Cissoko have both been in college longer. Although, like someone else said above, I would probably prefer to see Cissoko move into the slot than Turner.