Coaching Aspects That Worry Me
"Hurry, Hurry" Offense: No excuse for that. None. This is something that is supposed to be practiced all through out Spring and Fall camp. It is supposed to be practiced every Thursday during game week. This is how practice is supposed to end. 1's vs 1's. "Hurry, Hurry" is what we called it. 2 minute situational football. There should be signals, audible calls or plays on the wristband to get everyone on the same page.
Offensive Line Stunt Pickups: I'm pretty tired of hearing excuses for our coaches and players. ND ran pretty basic stunts. Yet we still have Ruiz chasing the guy lined over him as if it's his man. As an offensive lineman, when the guy in front of you leaves, trust and believe someone else is wrapping around and coming. Runyan looked surprised when his man left and another defender came around the edge. I tell you, this made me so upset because they did this against Wisconsin last year too. I'm nowhere near qualified as our staff but I know the basics from playing the game. Personally, I used to hate running stunts like this against average lines because they rarely worked. Yet somehow our lineman can't recognize this and are always chasing. This has nothing to do with Ruynan's talent as a player, good coaching eliminates mistakes like this. Getting beat one on one is not the same as this. This happened more than once. First game or not this shouldn't be happening, still. As my coach used to say, "You're either coaching it, or allowing it".
Playcalling/Play Action: As some have said (and their wives), our offense if predictable and boring. It is. This reminds me of when I use to play against teams with no creativity. Myself and two other lb's would literally be calling out the play before the offense ran it. If I remember correctly, an opponent said this about Michigan last year. The best OC's keep the defense guessing and honest regardless of talent. Our offense has no flow or rhythm. Michigan did zero favors for our OT's running every play on the same snap count. DE's are going to feast on that.
I hate our playaction. For one our fakes are terrible. A good fake will cause those lb's to step up and honor the run even if the run game is failing. Little things like this bother me. This is going back to last year too. Nothing like seeing a beautiful play action called and everyone bites on the fake.
As others have pointed out, 2nd and 14 PA is pointless in my opinion. Doesn't matter what level of football you're playing at but especially at this level players are taught to know the situation. The down, the distance, the time etc. It's like our OC doesn't care about the down and distance and is running the play regardless.
I know the rebuttals to this post will be "give it time, we'll figure it out". Or the "if the defense hadn't done this or that". I've given it time, look at my post history. This team still continues to do "this or that".
Like the rest of you, I'm a Michigan fan for life and will always support this team.
September 3rd, 2018 at 11:49 PM ^
FYI. I didn't get to finish my thoughts on this. I thought hitting save would allow me to do just that and finish my thoughts tomorrow. Too late.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:33 AM ^
"I didn't get to finish my thoughts on this."
Probably should post this in the diary section but who cares... the sky has fallen.
September 3rd, 2018 at 11:51 PM ^
We ran a PA play against a blitz with 4 mins to go down 14.
Delay of game on the first play from scrimmage in the 2nd half.
Could have spied Wimbush on 3rd and long multiple times.
September 3rd, 2018 at 11:59 PM ^
For how much praise Don Brown gets, the dude has questionable 3rd down defense strategy. Does anyone ever feel confident this defense will get off the field when necessary in crunch time?
3rd and 18 FFS and Wimbush runs right up the middle. Truly tired of this one trick pony/go big or go home type of stuff.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:17 AM ^
If you watch the play they had both Bush and Higdon drop in coverage but dropped too deep and couldn't get to Wimbush before he got to the first down. I was very disappointed with both of their performances. I watched the replay again and they took themselves out of so many plays with poor angles and not playing their keys. Hudson is not good in space.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:41 AM ^
Higdon playing defense now?
Maybe that's why he whiffed in pass blocking, he was tired from being on the field too long!
September 4th, 2018 at 1:57 PM ^
The D is fine. It wouldn't matter if the offense could score more than 17 effing points.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:18 PM ^
It wouldn't matter if the O could score more than 10 pts.........we're not getting a KO return in every game.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:19 AM ^
For how much praise Don Brown gets, the dude has questionable 3rd down defense strategy.
Michigan had the #1 3rd down conversion percentage defense last year.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:48 AM ^
How did they do against the better teams they played in this dept? Pad your stats against garbage teams and they can statistically rank high. Look at the MSU, Penn St, Wisky, and OSU games and see how they did. Not so good. We feasted on shitty teams last year, and teams with bad QB play.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:57 AM ^
Oh how convenient, we should just look at how they did against good teams to prove your point. Well no shit they didn't do as well, that's how playing good teams vs shitty teams works. The same can be said most teams in the country, they played shitty teams too and didn't end up #1. If they truly weren't good at [insert random stat], they wouldn't be close to the top, let alone #1, regardless of who they play. That's 4 top ten teams you listed and they STILL ended up at #1, that tells that they are at least decent at [insert random stat].
September 4th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
Thank you. I’m tired of people on boards cherry picking statistics to make the team look worse than it is. I think we can make some changes to decrease the 3rd and super long conversions, but we’re still pretty fucking good on 3rd down with don brown.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
Because you asked, I looked. They held MSU to 15%, PSU to 57%, Wisconsin to 33% and OSU to 50%. For the season, Wisconsin was 4th in the country at 49%, PSU 5th with 48%, OSU 6th at 46%, and MSU 21st at 44%. So other than PSU's explosive game, Michigan held 3 of the top 21 offenses in 3rd-down conversions to at or below their seasonal average, some pretty significantly.
I get that facts get in the way of a good rant, but to say Michigan feasted on shitty offenses to get their lofty rankings is both wrong and lazy.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
Not too hard to look up so...
3rd down conversions in 2017 against:
MSU: 2 of 14
PSU: 6 of 16
Wisc: 5 of 17
OSU: 8 of 16
USC (NTUSC): 2 of 17
Season total percentage: .261. Total for these 5 games .287. So yes, the better teams did slightly better in third down conversion, primarily propped up by OSU, which isn't surprising given their offensive style. Against the other tough teams on the schedule they performed the same as against everyone else.
Sooooo, would you like more proof you don't know what you are talking about?
September 4th, 2018 at 9:30 AM ^
Marcus Ray has been saying this for years. Need to sit back and play a good zone and not always pin your ears back and sell the farm.
Maybe they did okay zone but just executed better than us. I’m not an expert.
Harbaugh has to be shitting himself right now though after that performance. Where the hell do you begin to shore up that offensive line.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
Marcus Ray also contends that Butch Jones.......I repeat, Butch Jones...... is a better coach than Harbaugh.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:48 AM ^
Michigan led the country last year in 3rd-down defense; they did the same in 2016. I know people are angry, but FFS not everything everyone does at Michigan is wrong.
Wimbush got a nice conversion on a good playcall. It happens.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^
Bad take.
I think he blitzes too much on 3rd down, but he is a highly successful 3rd down play caller. This is a great change up from what we heard in past years about not blitzing enough on 3rd down though. Really love how well it meshes. I guess the simplest solution here is just do whatever you don't do now, easiest way to be successful. Because you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^
Watching this game brought back nightmares of a Tony Gibson coached DBs that constantly allowed conversions on 3rd and long.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:08 AM ^
Correct.
Yes, this was Hoke like when I saw this. I also believe this happened to the defense too but the officials allowed us to get set for some reason.
Agreed. Don Brown is very stubborn at the wrong times. This goes back to the Ohio State game. Give the young man Haskins credit for making the throws but they were gifted to him. Crossing route is best route to run against man coverage and they did it back to back I believe.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:06 PM ^
You don't need to spy when you fill your lanes properly. Sure, you can spy, that is one option, but maintaining some gap discipline in your rush lane is another. The primary reason for the QB runs wasn't because Michigan didn't use a spy. It wasn't because they blitzed too much. It wasn't because they didn't blitz enough. Lord knows we've heard it all. It's because of poor execution, which comes back to coaching. Get your guys in the right lane and collapse the pocket and the issue goes away.
September 3rd, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
Hard to diversify your route tree under constant pressure. There isn't much fix for that.
Edit: though maybe screens to Evans would help a bit.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:10 AM ^
Disagree. It's about rhythm. Shea is under constant pressure because the defense is never guessing. The one thing Michigan used to be excellent at, draws. We never see them.
September 4th, 2018 at 8:21 AM ^
I screamed out multiple times in the game...."Will you just run a draw!"
September 4th, 2018 at 8:39 AM ^
I mean I tried my best yelling "run a draw!" from the stands.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:10 PM ^
Draws are difficult when you don't maintain leverage and don't execute well, because draws are all about determining the rush, reading the rush, and then leveraging that rush. What about Michigan's blocking to date makes you feel that running a lot of draws would be a winning strategy, particularly with safeties playing flat footed and LBs attacking? You have to get the coverage going backwards before you can run draws, Michigan can't do that because they can't protect to win over the top.
And yes, intermediate/short pass game is about rhythm. I would like Michigan to get better at that. However, if safeties are playing flat, those passes are difficult. IMO, they should incorporate more into the scheme to give the receivers some YAC opportunity, but you have to be able to keep the safeties honest otherwise you are asking for them to get cut every time you run them.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:27 PM ^
We can survive with an iffy line if we make better play calls and execute. Season isn’t over because we have 1-2 weak links.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:41 AM ^
To me it's pretty simple, if they are going to bring the house on third down, fucking roll out the calvary in the flats, (((for the love of King Fucking Tut, do not sit in the middle and get clobbered))). Start pancaking linebackers and defensive backs with double teams. The first defenders to the play get smeared. Break their spirits with the weight of a couple 300 pounders crushing their skeletons. Those backers and d-backs wont be so excited to get out there the next times. After that, it's on to the next levels. It can be done. The offensive line has to be looking to knock some heads off. Shea will use his foot-speed and backpedal for a mile buying time for the play to set up and get Evans or Higdon the ball and let em work. It's that or taking the bull-rush for a loss. I'd run those plays to both sides until I was blue in the face. Perfect the screen game. Get it done. Get your asses moving and get your lanes down. Have an idea what their defenses are and who is probably going to be out there. Get your blocks and run with it. I'd rather have them start respecting the possibility of those screens all the time. Take the bull by the horns. Cut his balls out. After a couple of these big gains or near misses, they'll have to back off. Sooner or later the boys will bust one down the field. You cant stop a freight-train.
September 4th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
Let me make sure I understand this...your proposal for solving the o-line issues is to run more screens and draws.
Screens require the o-line to ID who to block on the fly in space. Draws require the o-line to be able to sustain their block.
You want this o-line to be put in a position where they have to ID the right person to block in a more chaotic situation and/or be able to sustain their blocks longer.
Okay.
September 3rd, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
It’s so obvious that Pep Hamilton needs to be fired. I can’t figure out why anyone debates this
September 4th, 2018 at 12:03 AM ^
He's a nice guy but when you fail everywhere you've been it's a problem. Jed had good sheet.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:16 AM ^
Where’s Jed now? Not UCLA...
September 4th, 2018 at 9:38 AM ^
The Rams
September 4th, 2018 at 9:41 AM ^
Rams OC. Harbaugh's loyalty to Drevno messed us over with Fisch.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Isn't Jedd "Senior Offensive Analyst" for the Rams and not OC? Or was there a change over the summer?
September 4th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
The Rams website says he is a "Senior Offensive Assistant".
September 4th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
This is correct, he's not OC for the Rams.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:44 AM ^
I never understood why anybody was on board with that hire in the first place. We hired a mostly NFL guy whose most recent job was being the quarterbacks coach of the fucking Browns. This was one of those "If Harbaugh believes in him..." hires that just never made sense in reality.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:13 AM ^
He seems like a really nice, genuine, friendly guy.
That being said, I thought he sucked from the beginning. Pre-hire, hire, and post-hire I haven't been impressed with anything he's been responsible for.
I truly hope Harbaugh didn't just hire him to be a yes-man so Harbaugh can just call the offensive plays with even less friction.
In light of that, does seem like Pep was hired to basically be a cheer-leader and psychiatrist for the QBs. If you listen to his interviews he's always talking about making the QBs "comfortable" and "confident". If this is the case, theoretically that's fine, but the results for over a year just haven't been there.
QB-play and Offensive creativity has been worse post-Jedd Fisch.
I truly hope this is a result of the O-line and not Harbaugh's stubborness and less collaboration with other offensive playcallers. Because there was some great creativity in the 2015 and parts of 2016.
Really, really, really want that back.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:24 AM ^
By "so obvious" you mean, "I can't say why, exactly, but I believe it with lots of feels so it must be true."
This is Harbaugh's offense. Pep is just doing the work that Harbaugh wants him to, the way Harbaugh wants him to do it.
It's possible that he leaves something to be desired, but in all likelihood he is a non-issue. The fact that the OL couldn't block well in one game on the road against a top ten team does not "make the case" any more than a blowout against a lower-level team (as is likely in next two weeks) "disproves the case."
And this is particularly true since most people who hold the opinion really can't give reasons why they hold it. In particular because Harbaugh deliberately obscures job responsibilities to the outside, in large part because he is the one calling the shots. Like it or not.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:10 AM ^
Exactly. Could Pep do more? Possibly. Is he the issue? No way.
This is Harbaugh’s offense. He is the “QB whisperer.” He calls the Xs and Os. He sets the offensive gameplan.
I’m Blue through and through and there’s no way I’m jumping ship. But that offensive performance was bewildering. There’s no harm in losing on the road, at night to a team that many have as a playoff contender. But the lack of time management, tone deaf play calling and less than prepared players... that’s all on Harbs.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
I’m still in the camp that JH’s game plan is still hamstrung by the lack of confidence in the line play.
Sure they say the right things in the press conferences. But to me the proof is in the action.
Minimal strech plays (watched the replay both JBB and Runyan could not beat the DE)
Minimal downfield passing to minimize the time the ball is in Patterson’s hand.
Remember how the all the Linemen stated how Ed simplified the calls. Well you can see they are still in elementary mode. Discouraging to say the least. We’ll see about the learning curve....
September 4th, 2018 at 5:46 AM ^
If he is a non-issue (i.e., has no effect on the offense), why is he getting paid $1M/year? Why are you willing to look at the history of Don Brown, Warinner, Drevno, etc. at their previous stops, but when it comes to Hamilton, we just pretend he has no history and no effect on the offense?
After the game, you were declaring as if told to you by a higher power:
"People who are angry at Pep are literally just demonstrating that they don’t know what they’re watching."
Do you think the passing game you saw from Michigan in 2015-2016 was the same we have seen with Pep (2017-2018)? Did you see something from the Cleveland Browns offense that recommended him for the job? On the opposite end, how did UCLA's offense do in its one year under Jedd Fisch (2017)? (Answer, since it appears there is a contingent that has no interest in exploring the difference between Fisch and Hamilton: it went from 82nd to 15th in S&P+. That is a Mattison-level jump in one year.)
While you sarcastically put down other people's opinion as based on "feels," you speak with a level of presumed authority that would make even Belichick blush: "This is a garbage take that discredits anyone who holds it."; "You have some good points and some bad points."; "Playcalling complaints occasionally have merit, but they are usually the default resort of the ignorant fan who doesn't know what they're looking at." If you believe you are the ultimate arbiter of which opinions have merit, which fans are ignorant, and what we are really looking at, why are you wasting your omniscience posting on this message board? You could be analyzing film at Schembechler Hall (or Gillette Stadium) and rapidly working your way up the coaching ranks.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:41 AM ^
Brilliantly eloquent takedown. Bravo.
September 4th, 2018 at 8:20 AM ^
^^ the simple answer to your question is that Harbaugh is not a defensive coach.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
Bravo @newtopos....bravo! Seem clear as day that Jedd was a difference maker.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
Couldn't have said it better. Wish I could upvote this to the moon
September 4th, 2018 at 11:31 AM ^
A fine and eloquent defense of engaging in the post hoc, ergo propter hoc* fallacy. Let's address some of your points:
"Do you think the passing game you saw from Michigan in 2015-2016 was the same as we have seen with Pep (2017-2018)?"
Two things to unpack here: First, in general, yes. The plan is the same, the concepts are basically the same, the philosophy is the same. Because it comes from Jim Harbaugh. Second, it's a bit early to make a full evaluation of the 2018 passing game because we've only seen one game, a game in which Michigan QBs were 24-36 for 249 yards.
"Did you see something from the Cleveland Browns offense that recommended him for the job?"
No, but I'm not the HC, and I don't have a lot of confidence in the roster he was given to work with.
"How did UCLA's offense do in its one year under Jedd Fisch (2017?)"
Pretty well. I wonder what other factors there may be in the improvement? Oh, yes: In 2016 sophomore Josh Rosen got hurt midway through the season (in a game in which he threw for 400 yards). The rest of the season, Mike Fafaul was their starting QB. In 2017 Fisch was able to ride eventual #10 overall pick Josh Rosen the entire way.
Meanwhile, in 2016 Jedd and Jim had a healthy Wilton Speight to work, adequate pass protection, and senior receivers. In 2017 Pep Hamilton had terrible pass protection and spent most of the season with John O'Korn and RS freshman Brandon Peters.
"You could be analyzing film at Schembechler Hall (or Gillette Stadium) and rapidly working your way up the coaching ranks."
You're cherry-picking my quotes over the last week for effect. One of the things I've been really clear about is that none of us here have a fraction of the knowledge of coaches at major football programs. We simply don't know nearly enough to make judgments of this sort. People look at big-picture results and think they understand the root causes when they simply don't have the data.
In a similar vein I've observed that people who changed their opinion of Pep based upon their viewing of the Amazon series demonstrate this. It seemed that they thought he was some mindless buffoon until they actually saw him "work" (actually, saw selectively edited and sanitized footage of him working) and realized that he was actually smart. There's an unintentional tinge of racial tension there ("he's so eloquent!") and the fact that he is smart and composed shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not he's a good coach.
Paul Chryst participated in one of the "Coach's Film Room" sessions on ESPN and contributed almost nothing. He wasn't engaging, didn't seem to have much to say, didn't really fit in. But unlike guys like Gene Chizik and Kevin Sumlin (who are fantastic on those things) he is the coach of a playoff contender. That so many opinions of coaches are swayed by how they talk on tv tells us a lot about the people holding the opinions and not much at all about the coaches in question.
I liked what little I knew of Jedd and he seemed to be a good fit for the staff. Pep? We have no idea. That people think HE is the problem smacks of superstition--a lot of people "declaring as if told to you by a higher power," to use your words, declaring that Pep MUST be the One Reason that Michigan lost. It's especially silly in a game where anyone with a DVR can hit the 10-second rewind button after a sack, pressure, or blown up run and see serious OL issues.
Firing talk after one game in a season is always premature, barring an OSU-type situation. There's a lot of season left to discuss. And people who suggest that Harbaugh should fire Pep and hire a REAL OC are being kind of silly focusing on Pep like that, because the problem then is Harbaugh. This is Harbaugh's offense, Harbaugh's philosophy.
Most of my arguments that you're attacking actually resolve to this: We know less than we think. You sarcastically suggest that I should be working in coaching: My argument is that none of us are remotely qualified to do so.
And it's certainly too early in the season to draw any conclusions about this year.
*I used the fancy latin term because I heard it once on The West Wing and I figured it fits in with your stereotype of me.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:55 PM ^
Once again, you are spot on and a rare voice of sanity here. Thanks..
September 4th, 2018 at 6:20 AM ^
Because he lets Harbaugh meddle in all the play calling - a bizarre play calling by committee method. Harbaugh needs to hire a true OC and turn over play calling and get the bleep out of the way.