Random Collection of Football Thoughts. Comments welcome
Here is a random collection of Michigan football thoughts. While some of this may be "statements of the obvious," your comments are welcome. Note that I love Michigan football and do have many positive things to say about them. However, this post is meant to be a "look in the mirror" with an eye toward getting better.
1) Jim Harbaugh is a lot like Bo Schembechler. Both ran a run-heavy offense that was predicated on having a dominant man on man advantage over your opponent. As was the case with Bo, this will work against much of the Big Ten/the non-conference schedule, but will often fail against OSU, at least 1 other B1G opponent, and many likely bowl opponents. With more parity in college football these days, JH will do slightly worse than Bo if things continue this way. A National Championship is out of the question, but finishes near number 10 nationally (with a bowl loss more often than not) will become the norm. Just like Bo. We can do better.
2) JH and staff are great teachers of fundamentals. Marginal players often become Solid players. Huge gaffes are much less common than they were under Brady Hoke. What disturbs me is that Good or Very Good players do not become Great players. Great players do not become Superstars (although I appreciate him, I consider Rashan Gary a disappointment). We desperately need people to make big plays. I wonder if the emphasis on "doing your job" is taken to such an extent that people in this system are just not free enough to make big plays?
3) The weakness of Wisconsin and MSU this year makes our season look even worse.
4) We have a good QB and good receivers. Our O Line has improved. At this point, our offensive issues look increasingly schematic. I like how the offense is simpler this year, but we still have too many plays that require multiple things to go right vs a quick hitting offense that uses misdirection to quickly get people the ball in space.
5) Every year the team peaks after the first third of the season and then looks bad in the final third of the season. This is even after adjusting for the end of year strength of schedule (e.g., we always seem to struggle with Indiana). Is our team tired and worn out at the end of the year? Are 4 hour practices good at the start of the year and counter-productive at the end? Is there another issue that contributes to this end of year physical and mental fatigue?
6) I did not care for the outright arrogance of the players after the big win streak that they had this year. Guaranteeing wins and blabbering about the Revenge Tour. I thought the coaches showed this same arrogance in the uncreative game plans vs OSU/Florida that smacked of arrogance. The 2017 OSU game plan was VERY creative because we (correctly) assumed we were the underdog. The 2018 game plan seemed to assume that we were just the better team. We need to smack this arrogance down and create an "underdog with a chip on your shoulder" mentality like Saban and Dantonio do. I know that these efforts often seem silly and fake, but I prefer the coach that is constantly saying "we can do things better." Alabama has a right to be arrogant, yet shows far less arrogance than we did.
7) We are taking some really good players for granted (particularly the WRs) and now I am betting that we are going to lose some of these players to transfers. This is just sad. Losing Oliver Martin or Tarik Black would be tragic.
8) Don Brown can just assume that opponents will put two WRs in a stack on one side (overloading one side with talented players and making it harder for the corner to get his hands on the trailing WR) and run picks / inside slants off of this. Starting with Northwestern, everyone has done this to us. But the good teams have gashed us. They have also found ways to match fast RBs on our slower linebackers fairly consistently. We dodged A LOT of bullets this year in that regard.
9) By the end of the year when opposing offensive lines are working well together as units and Don Brown blitz packages seem to lose their effectiveness. The chaos created in the first 6 weeks seems to disappear at the end of the year.
10) Nepotism (Jay Harbaugh) and not firing or being slow to fire your friends (Pep and Drevno) are not good things. It may be "classy" to let these guys find another job first, but they are probably not doing their current jobs in the meantime. We lost Dan Enos to our slowness in dealing with Drevno. I am betting that Pep will struggle to find a job and this will affect our ability to land a good OC.
11) We need one mind directing the offense on game day. Offense by committee will result in dysfunction that would take a very long post to fully explore. Don't do it.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:35 PM ^
We have no evidence that Jim Harbaugh and Pep Hamilton are friends.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:38 PM ^
Here are mine:
With all things considered, I'm more or less satisfied with where we are today because I see great things in our future. Sure, I expected more wins against OSU and a shot at the B10 championship and playoffs, but I'm satisfied because:
- 10-win seasons are the new floor, which is a nice improvement for the program.
- I see the foundation for greater, and more sustainable, things going forward. This means more wins against OSU and B10 championships and playoffs.
- Despite what the board thinks, Harbaugh is a tinkerer. He certainly has his faults, but he does tinker, especially with his coaching staff. I think Harbaugh is one of the better coaches with regards to replacing/improving the coaching staff. Despite some deficiencies, our coaching staff is better today than it was 4 years ago. And because of that, I expect changes this off-season as well.
- Recruiting philosophy is modern and fits with the times. Going after the faster, more agile recruits (i.e. "athletes") is a clear upgrade to past UofM coaches. And because of that, Harbaugh has had to work with players that don't fit this mold in previous years. See QB thread earlier today as an example.
IMO, 2017 was "year 1" for Harbaugh, when you started to see more of his recruits and the implementation of his system.
Despite the disappointment this year, I'm all in for Michigan and am excited to see the improvement into next year and beyond.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:41 PM ^
How can 10 wins be the floor when we've never won more than 10 and won 8 last year?
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:48 PM ^
Just let him go he is on a roll.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:17 PM ^
Well, if you captured the essence of my post, I think we are on the verge of something special for the program. Harbaugh has only had one season under 10 wins whilst at Michigan, and that was after major senior/NFL departures. That is why I think 2017 is "year-one" for Harbaugh. We are recruiting better than the past 10+ years and are improving our staff every year.
Based on this, I have no problem saying that we will dominate MSU going forward, and somewhat dominate PSU. With the coaching change at OSU, I think things will become more even. So yes, I think 10 wins is our floor going forward.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:21 PM ^
Is it going to be "year-one" every time we have a bunch of people leave?
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:29 PM ^
No. Because we are recruiting at a level where we are reloading, not rebuilding. Harbaugh had no choice but to rebuild after the demise of late Hoke era recruiting. That’s why 2017 happened. Those days are done.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:33 PM ^
Do you remember last year's very disappointing recruiting class? Are you taking into account the transfers out of our two-deep? The early departures to the NFL?
With attrition like we're suffering, we're going to need a class like our last one every year. That hasn't happened.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
Yes. I am taking that into account. Last year’s class was a disappointment only if you look at pure star ratings. It certainly wasn’t perfect (ie WRs), but we filled some key needs on defense and OTs. Besides, looking at Harbaugh’s full view of recruiting since he got here, that 2018 class is an outlier. He’s shown more often than not, he’ll put together a great class.
As someone analyzed already on the board, our attrition rate is not materially different compared to other top programs. That’s why we take big classes, to back fill these spots when it happens. The “more bullets in the chamber” thesis used commonly on this board.
January 2nd, 2019 at 7:08 PM ^
Is this literally all that you do? You must be fucking miserable.
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:45 PM ^
WindyCity.. The only thing I take issue with is that even IF (and I'm not sure it is) recruiting is with the times why isn't it being used that way, on offense, defense has been damn good both in recruiting and on the field (save for a few games we'd all like to forget.
Where exactly is this modern recruiting you talk about, at least on offense? And what has it yielded? Not trying to be a dick here, but I just don't see any results in recruiting and on the field with an offense that is remotely modern.
2016: Chris Evans very modern RB mold but is not a power-I back, yet that's how they keep trying to use him. The other guys, Crawford, McDoom and Walker all gone and didn't exactly light the world on fire while here.
2017: Black, DPJ and Collins who are great deep threats yet we don't get the ball to them like we should. 2018 class didn't yield any elite, modern offensive guys either .. if you disagree who was it?
2019: offensive class looks promising but given how few freshman make a meaningful impact we won't see any results until 2020/2021.
I'm all for Harbaugh and was in the camp that he'd make the changes necessary, but then what we saw was the same old same old, dominate shitty teams and then run, run, pass, punt, lose against the above average teams (ND, OSU and UF).
Shea showed he was very good with the RPO's and we hardly used that. This offense is so predictable and ineffective against good teams with competent coaching.
Tinkering is not what we need, what we need is a complete 180 in offensive philosophy. We can be a team with a great defense AND a great offense. We don't have to be Oklahoma and have zero defense in order to have a high powered offense.
I admire your optimism on Harbaugh making changes but we haven't seen any evidence that he's willing to make large enough ones to make a difference. I mean, hell, it took him far longer than it should have to ditch Drevno. Yeah he did it but it was like pulling teeth.
Until he does make some wholesale changes in offensive philosophy and staff, I'll agree with the 9/10 win seasons, but that's the ceiling not the floor. This offense doesn't need any tinkering, it needs to be gutted and replaced with a whole new system. He can tinker when he's got a good offense that works against the shit teams as well as OSU.
January 2nd, 2019 at 6:20 PM ^
I can agree that there are certainly some issues utilizing personnel. You give some good examples. However, if you look at S&P+ offensive rankings and associated trend (see below), it doesn't illustrate that we need a 180 degree change in philosophy. We can split heirs and dig into every recruit from every class, but when you come down to it, this year's offense was pretty darn good. And I think it showed on the field. So I don't think we need to make a big change. Tinker how you use Chris Evans in space. Tinker how you use RPOs. Tinker how you use your WRs.
2015: #38
2016: #40
2017: #85
2018: #24
January 3rd, 2019 at 9:50 AM ^
Fair, but I would still say we need to do more than tinker. I see tinker and small adjustments to what already works but teams will be trying to stop it. Playing head games if you will. And I don't mean stuff that works against the lesser teams on the schedule - we need stuff that works on OSU and other well-coached teams with elite athletes like UF.
The Harbaugh Stanford style offense is fine, I actually like it a lot, however it is predicated on a mauling OL, and we don't have one of those yet. And I'm not so sure next year we will either. Interior OL is solid and should be better but Runyan should not be a tackle and who will play opposite him? Steuber - who didn't look great in limited action or one of the guys who haven't seen anything other than garbage time? More often than not you want an OL to sit his first two years before getting any significant action - time to grow/get stronger and learn. We haven't had that luxury and i get it, which is why I think a major shift in philosophy is warranted.
So until we get that mauling OL, and I'm sure it will come eventually, we need to do more than just tinker here and there.
That said, other than seeing the 2019 class coming in with more offensive explosiveness than in years past, what have we seen that leads you to believe they'll better utilize guys like Evans? He's been here 3 years and used the exact same way and that's clearly not putting him in the best position to succeed.
Harbaugh may be stubborn but he's not dumb, he knows (well, I hope he does anyway) we need to use these guys to the best of their abilities but we still don't see it.
All the talk of RPO over last summer and then we hardly see it. It had success when we did, but then it went back into a cave rarely to be seen again. I get not wanting to put it all on tape, but you can tweak your later play-calling to mess with what is on tape. Counters, counters to counters. That's part of what makes the RPO so effective, you could run (QB or RB) or pass..
The system we have now works against shitty teams, and that's fine, but when push comes to shove we need a system that works against the elite teams and without an elite OL the current philosophy won't get it done. I'd rather not wait 2-3 more years on OL development, changes need to be made now.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:07 PM ^
Shea is easily the best QB we've had since Harbaugh arrived. However, with that said he consistently under throws deep balls. We have great WR's that make PLAYS ... but every long ball miss must be long, not short. Shea knows how to throw back shoulder balls to Nico and DPJ ... Black has all the skills, just hasn't seen enough playing time yet. Next season we'll have the best WR's in the country ... and they better see lots of balls !!!
Go Blue!
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:16 PM ^
Curious to understand what you see in the foundations for future wins vs OSU and B1G titles/CFP appearances? Like, specifically, what do you see? For instance, against OSU I see a program that is behind the curve schematically and in overall talent. Combine that with OSUs cultural edge on UM (as a program they hate us more than we hate them) and I don't see any evidence that we start to beat them. Sure, Day is taking over but you know Meyer is going to still have influence as long as he sticks around there. Kind of like Wisconsin's set up. I don't know. I really hope you're right but I'm having a hard time seeing what you're seeing.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:12 PM ^
I feel ya. I was there a few days ago. But after doing my own personal UFR, I see lots of positives that should translate to beating OSU as soon as next year.
1. Continued improvement on the OL. We lose JBB and that’s it. It was already a good line this year and it looks to improve with multi-year starters and more time with Warinner. JBB replacement is key though.
2. Multi-year starter at QB. First time in Harbaugh era. And Mineral King...I mean Shea...is the best QB we’ve had in many years.
3. Recruiting is with the times. I mentioned this in a previous post so no need to rehash.
4. No more Urban Meyer. Unless Urban gets highly involved with recruiting (which I believe is against the rules) there’s no way Ryan Day is going to keep pace with Uran Meyer.
5. Harbaugh will continue to tinker and upgrade. Mentioned before, so no need to rehash.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:38 PM ^
I agree with #3 and think it contributed to the false hope of a serious CFP contender. UM cut a break this year with those two and PSU having a down year.
I also think Doc Brown got over confident with the secondary. The d-line made the DBs look great when the rush was working, and the DBs looked atrocious when they actually had to cover athletic receivers.
Nothing will change next year. The defense will look great early on, the offense will show a few wrinkles during OOC play, but order will be restored come conference play and Harbaugh will run two TE sets with a FB and occasionally throw downfield.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:40 PM ^
That is way too much to read.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:42 PM ^
It's odd to me that Jay Harbaugh is still considered to be a choice only based on nepotism. Every position he has coached has been pretty dang good. When he was the TE coach, Jake Butt got a Mackey Award. When he was put in charge of special teams, the special teams improved over the performance when "guru" John Baxter was around. When Jay switched to running backs coach, we suddenly found way more production than when De'Veon Smith was leading the charge at that spot.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
Honestly my grandmother could’ve coached Butt and he still would’ve been a Mackey. Still I don’t know enough about Jay or coaching to judge Jay.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
I disagree. There were other deserving candidates that year, including Evan Engram, Hayden Hurst, O.J. Howard, etc. Engram in particular had significantly better numbers than Butt. It's not like he was head-and-shoulders above everyone else.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:10 PM ^
Jay is just the de facto talking point when people want something to criticize Jim about (even though there are actual criticisms to easily mount). It doesn't matter that Jay's units have been consistently good. Of course, unless the position is an outright disaster, people in general couldn't tell you who is or isn't a good position coach, but another discussion for another time.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:25 PM ^
RBs improving has more to do with dependable but slow Smith being upgraded. RB blocking dropped noticeably in Jays first year.
Jay isn't the recruiter that TW was, and Jay's RBs blocked much worse than TW's. Though to be fair, they improved this year.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^
If you don't give credit to Jay for better production without Smith, then how can you knock him for worse blocking without Smith? Smith had his faults, but he was a fantastic blocker - Higdon, Evans, and Isaac all sucked at it last year in what was their first real experience in being asked to do it.
Evans still sucks at it, but Higdon was significantly better and Wilson was fantastic. Plus, word is that Turner was great at it before breaking his arm.
I'm not saying Jay is a great coach or a bad coach, just that you have to give him equal credit or blame for Smith leaving and what it meant for the play of the position.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
In yr2 we were a refs random spot away from the playoff and the NC is out of the question? GTFO
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:54 PM ^
We would have still had to beat Wisconsin for that to happen, we were not a spot away from the playoff.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
My thoughts on your thoughts:
1. This is spot on. Harbaugh is, by his own design, Bo. The problem is that Bo coached 3 decades ago. Coaching has evolved. Bo was a great coach, but at the same time, he didn't win us a national championship, and his record in the Rose Bowl (our effective Playoff game at the time) is pretty poor. Like you said, with his approach, Harbaugh will consistently win 9-10 games, but he will not routinely beat OSU or get us past being a top 10-15 team by season end.
2) I am not sure that I would agree that the staff as a whole is great at teaching fundamentals. I think that JH himself is good at this, as is Mattison. From what I saw this year, I think that Warriner is good at this. I think that Zordich and Partridge also seem pretty good. But, our WR development has been piss poor. Our RB development is also lacking. Our TE development sucks.
3) I agree that while we were all riding high when M dominated what was supposed to be the hard part of the schedule, Wisconsin and MSU were simply not that good. Our only impressive win was against PSU (who had an injured QB).
4) Totally agree - our QB and receivers are good to great and our OL is at least functional. We need a more quick hitting offense that uses misdirection to quickly get people the ball in space.
5) I have noticed the exact same thing. We start out pretty good (once we get through the opener). Peak by mid season, and then the rails come off over the last 3-4 games. The players just look shot. Gotta be a coaching issue.
6) I didn't mind the revenge tour thing one bit. I like seeing the players show some swagger.
7) Totally agree about possibly losing players like Martin and Black. JH needs to get his playmakes the ball so that they can highlight their skills, otherwise they will go somewhere else. This won't help recruiting.
8) Don Brown needs to have better answers for the issues that are plaguing our defense. How is it that other teams can hold OSU under 700 (!!!) yards?
9) Disagree - I think that our DL's failure to effectively blitz in the last few weeks was more about Rashan being injured, Chase playing through about 10 injuries and the general fatigue of our team that you mentioned in point 5.
10) Agree that JH needs to get his staff in order so ASAP and not play around with firing Pep. Also, can JayBaugh maybe get a shot at coaching with the Ravens? Seems like he deserves this "promotion".
11) Totally agree - the offense by committee thing is turning out to be a disaster. Hard to go hurry-up when you need 15 people to weigh in on every single play call.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:51 PM ^
I think Devin Bush, David Long, Mo Hurst, Taco Charlton, DPJ, and Jabrill Peppers would disagree that great players don't become superstars. Rashan Gary was played somewhat out of position, but was still very good. We didn't lose Enos because of Drevno, we lost Enos because Bama came calling. People see the writing on the wall for Pep, it won't impact a coordinator hire. Everyone does Playcalling by committee, Michigan just has a less inspiring committee and less organization. There's no direct play caller.
Also did you really say that you wished our teams would be less arrogant like Dantonio teams? Was that sarcastic?
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:57 PM ^
None of MSU's teams have said anything about us before or during the game until this year when LJ Scott called us Little Sister during the offseason. As soon as we get another win someone has to spout off about Little Brother again. The self promotion we seem to have I don't like or get.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:17 PM ^
You forget about "Those Who Stay are already champions"? Or Chris Frey "locking us in the shed", or "Thought all they needed was a quarterback?" after the Notre Dame game? Or the Allen brothers or the Bulloughs? Or their walk while Michigan was on the field? They talk the most amount of shit, and are a tire fire of a program. I hope Michigan never stops tearing up that shithole.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:02 PM ^
Fair enough. I was not clear enough that I was talking about the offensive system. Lots of good players on the D, although I don't think either Peppers or Gary fully lived up to their hype (statistically, neither was amazing).
Bush and Hurst were special talents. Loved those two.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
Because the offense has been hampered with poor offensive line play. But I would argue Jake Butt was a superstar. He was the best tight end in football.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
Play calling should be done by a computer such as the infamous BCS, Madden on All Madden Level, or NCAA14 on Heisman. This old fashioned stuff of humans doing it is getting old.
January 2nd, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
I don’t think the Pep thing is about loyalty but about $$. There’s like 3 million left on his contract. If they can slide out of that without having to fire him it makes a big difference in what they can offer the next guy.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
Michigan could fire Pep today and pay his replacement an ungodly sum tomorrow without flinching. It surely would prefer not to (and I would say much like the Drevno situation, Harbaugh would prefer it to look like Pep left on his own than outright firing him), but money would hardly be a limiting factor in the decision.
January 3rd, 2019 at 10:23 AM ^
Eh. There is budget. Sure they’d make it work but eventually the money matters. Maybe it comes from your analysts or from raises but that contract is why Pep is still employed, not loyalty. Jim is one the least loyal coaches there is.
January 3rd, 2019 at 12:03 PM ^
Of course there's a budget, that goes without saying. Like most things with big-time athletics, if a school wants to make a move, somehow that money is usually "found."
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
1-I think you are wrong, and I don't believe a national championship is out of the question if Harbaugh remains in Ann Arbor. It is going to take consecutive recruiting classes like he had this year.
2-Gary played hurt almost his whole career here it feels like he was. He also was the anchor end, not the rush end like Winovich, so less opportunities in the scheme of things for sacks big plays that you are thinking of.
3-No it doesn't. Getting blown out by OSU is what ruined the season.
4-I agree on this. They really need to just run the type of offense that is conducive to the talent they have. RPO. they did simplify a bunch of things this year vs. last year, and they need to do more of that.
5-no they are just playing better competition and they are also putting more tape for other teams to review and be more prepared for them as the year goes on.
6-I personally don't care if you talk smack, or guarantees, but u need to back it up too. They did not.
7-Yea, don't think Black is going anywhere after his comments after the bowl game, but I would recommend not worrying about what an 18-22 year old is going to do.
8-Don Brown and the defense is a huge concern for me and has been since the penn state game 2017. I'm not sure why more zone coverage is not implemented from the get out in spring. It seems to me that when we play against comparable or more talented teams we will get torched if things don't change. I still really don't understand how or why we don't have a spy on a running QB, or when we do have a spy, the spy is our safety who is 10 yards off the line of scrimmage.
9-No they are just playing better competition and not Western Michigan.
10-As far as I know Harbaugh is pretty much going to run the offense no matter who the OC is.
11-Agree to disagree.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
Michigan was not as run heavy as you think. Yes, more runs than passes, but much closer than most realize. 2018 CFP teams vs Michigan pass percentages. Keep in mind the last 3 games of year for Michigan was at 48% pass percentage and the results were not so special.
Alabama 44% pass
Oklahoma 45% pass
Clemson 48% pass
Notre Dame 46% pass
Michigan 41%
Oliver should have been playing over Perry including in Bowl game. Oliver not going anywhere as he will be a starter in 2019.
Michigan D became predictable and beatable before Indiana. If it wasn't for an injured McSorley and Lewerke it would have been more obvious. I believe Don Brown has the ability to tweak the defense. Does he have it in him to actually do it? Seems to me, both JH and DB got a stubborn streak and slow to change. Both have the mental mettle to do it, question is, will they? I think so.
I like the revenge tour. Nothing wrong with that. Did not like how Karan handled the question about guaranteeing a win. He should have simply said, "I guarantee we will play our hearts out", that is the only guarantee he should have made.
Nepotism? Yes, but it is part of what you pay for to have Jim Harbaugh. Would I like to see an experienced position coach like Tyrone or Mike Hart? Of course. But, at the end of the day, who is to say Jay hasn't made a positive impact?
Beating MSU at home is a good win, no matter what you think. Wisconsin beat up on Miami pretty good. Wisconsin is a good D. Winning is hard in the B1G. You never apologize for who you beat.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:02 PM ^
Those percentages are skewed because Bama and Clemson blew so many teams out all they did was run the ball for the last quarter and a half. When the game is still competitive, they are attacking the field vertically letting their play makers make plays.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:17 PM ^
My thoughts exactly.
Our run % is lower since we were down so much in the fourth quarter while Bama and Clemson is the opposite.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
To me one of the highest compliments you can pay an offense is that it capable of taking what the defense gives you. The offense is good enough and balanced enough that they will hurt the defense badly if they play unbalanced.
So many times this season I saw 8 or 9 guys in the box facing Michigan on 1st down. And it wasn't just a look that the D backed out of on the snap. The linebackers indicated that they were coming on a run blitz and then they did.
We would run right into this.
I understand that there are great, time tested reasons that you want to establish the run. But one way to establish the run is to establish the pass and then go back to the run. We seem so stubborn in trying to just impose our will on our opponents.
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:42 PM ^
Establish the pass... Either Shea was under real pressure or imagined pressure that wasn't there. Either way, he seemed rushed and/or reluctant to throw the ball quickly. I think the fear of throwing an INT was also a large factor in restricting the passing game. Hard to establish the passing game.
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:38 PM ^
I agree. One of the things that I LOVED about Shea was that he was careful with the ball. One of the things I HATED about Shea was that he was careful with the ball. ;-)
It is an incredibly fine line to walk. All things considered, I would error on the side of caution which is where Shea was.
Having said that, there are lots of safe/quick hitting passes that could be made. Quick outs. Slants right into the space that run blitzers just vacated.
I think Harbaugh loves the position and craft of Quarterbacking and calls too many plays that involve pre- and post-snap reads and going through a progression.
January 2nd, 2019 at 6:27 PM ^
Totally. Passing game takes too long. This needs pass protection that isn't there yet ...
January 3rd, 2019 at 12:49 AM ^
Totally agree. Beyond that, we don't seem to match our strengths against our opponent's weaknesses often enough. Look what OSU did against Brandon Watson. Look at what Purdue did against OSU.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:07 PM ^
From Point # 1: "As was the case with Bo, this will work against much of the Big Ten/the non-conference schedule, but will often fail against OSU....."
For what it's worth, Bo's record against Ohio State was 11-9-1. I'm not sure how running his chosen offense and losing to OSU is "as was the case with Bo".....because he beat them more often the not.
Also, it seems to me that the BIG teams with the most recent success against OSU would be Wisconsin, MSU and Iowa (along with Purdue this year). I'd say that those three teams also utilize a run heavy offense. Michigan was literally one play away in 2016 and one non-3rd string QB away in 2017 from beating OSU. They certainly need more creativity and to utilize their outside WR tools to stretch the field....but the general tenets of this offense can beat OSU.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:21 PM ^
I’ve seen no evidence yet that JayBaugh is a Jay Paterno/Jeff Bowden type drag on the staff and players.
This wasn’t a bad season. There’s no “making it look worse.” It had a shitty end to an otherwise good season. This team was predicted to go 8-4 or 9-3 and bettered that.
January 2nd, 2019 at 3:31 PM ^
My thoughts are:
1. Something is cancerous within the program. The number and caliber of players transferring and/or leaving early appears to be players quitting on this staff. What happened or what is happening that is turning these players off so?
2. The level of ineptitude was startling. How can such a prolific staff not find a way to use their best players? Where were the NFLesque adjustments? The planning and playcalling getting out-smarted so frequently?
3. We need to utilize our playmakers and exploit matchups. Which is so obvious as to be WTF is wrong with our coaches?
January 2nd, 2019 at 4:22 PM ^
1. There may well be something wrong, but you have no f'ing idea. There is no cancer. Many players transfer and leave early at other programs. Now, there may be an above average number of players leaving. But if so, it may be something as simple (and as stupid) as Harbaugh practices the players too hard. Harbaugh doesn't realize it's the 21st century yet. Hopefully he will figure it out this year.
2. Everything was fine early on. But we did get outcoached by OSU and Florida.
3. This I agree with completely. There is NO attempt to get players in space.