Don Brown is a Dude - Pre-Illinois Presser
October 10th, 2019 at 5:55 PM ^
One of the best coaches to have come through this program. It’s a shame that our offense rarely complements his defense.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:57 PM ^
Like when his D gave up 62 last year against Ohio FUCKING State? Or when Taylor skull fucked us a few weeks ago? The offense needs to be better, but how about Brown shows up in a big game against a big team? They’ll both have their chance in 9 days!!
October 10th, 2019 at 7:00 PM ^
His defense definitely didn’t give up 62 Shea.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:41 PM ^
Pretty sure that Patterson, even anonymously as MK, would not post something THAT inflammatory about Don Brown. Therefore, MK is not Shea Patterson.
October 10th, 2019 at 9:13 PM ^
Apparently I need to say it again, I am not a Michigan Football player or any insider for the program. Get a grip dude.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:43 PM ^
Because even great coordinators don't have bad games.
People have forgotten about Brett Venables' Clemson's 2013 defense getting lit up in Death Valley by redshirt freshman Jameis Winston for 52 points. Here's the boxscore of that game in case you didn't watch or have forgotten or were living under a rock. That game was over at halftime.
But 2 National Championships have erased memories of that beatdown.
Or...better yet...remember when the supposed GOAT pro coach Bill Belichick got lit up the Eagles in the Super Bowl? The Eagles, led by back-up Nick Foles, were running a juiced up version of a Texas HS offense and neither Belichick nor his defensive Brain Trust could stop it.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^
In fairness, the Patriots defense has been pretty good since Patricia went to the Lions shortly after that game. :(
October 10th, 2019 at 7:54 PM ^
I heard that was almost all because of Chase Winovich.
October 12th, 2019 at 9:02 AM ^
It’s also pretty damn difficult to play great defense from behind, especially when your offense can’t sustain drives. You just get gassed without any time to adjust.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:32 PM ^
This is Michigan. If Michigan wins then by definition it is not a big game. You have to beat an undefeated team near the end of the season on the road and the opponent must be ranked at the start of the season, when you play them, after you beat them, and at the end of the season. Otherwise, you haven't won a big game.
If PSU beats Michigan it will be 24-17 with a special teams play and a fluke play. Those freshman at PSU will learn a lot by the end of the game.
October 11th, 2019 at 6:59 PM ^
October 10th, 2019 at 10:32 PM ^
With Don Brown here we are (I think the below is correct):
W 32 - 12 L
Of those 12 losses 4 of them were pretty good beatings I would agree, which does happen even to the best of programs at times.
Of the remaining 8 losses 6 of those were decided by 7 points or less.
Add in the fact that if we had better offense in these past 3 years (everyone agrees its not up to speed with our defense I would hope) then we probably have different outcomes in those 6 games.
The guy knows football inside and out and I will take him as our D coach all day long.
In many of the games we lost, especially when we lost badly, the defense was out there for so many plays that you just end up breaking. If the offense can't sustain drives to give the D rest throughout a game (I don't mean scoring drives, just drives with 2 or more first downs) it's just a recipe for disaster regardless of the program.
I like the guy and I love his attitude and enthusiasm. I am pretty sure the guys love playing for him.
October 11th, 2019 at 6:20 AM ^
People who use CAPS, and say words like skull fuck... not a good look
October 11th, 2019 at 7:23 AM ^
Michigan gave up a blocked punt return for a TD and OSU started two drives inside the Michigan 25 following Michigan turnovers. But sure. Let’s just put all of the blame on the defense when the offense routinely puts the D in bad spots.
October 11th, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
Yikes.... somebody is a little touchy!
October 12th, 2019 at 9:34 AM ^
Ohio could have scored 80 on our D that day. They kneeled 3 times in the red zone to keep it from being 69. I was convinced they would score that last TD because we scored 3 times in the 4th against their backups. Those trash time score really screwed the final score. They really won that game by 40.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:01 PM ^
"Carlos Kemp getting doubled, sticks his head through, and makes the play - splitting through 600 pounds of human flesh. Doesn't happen every day!"
Nice...
October 10th, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
Oh he's once again a good DC, this week?! Nice!
October 10th, 2019 at 6:08 PM ^
Have always been a fan of Brown. Michigan is 111 out of 130 in time of possession and yet top 20 defense - his critics seem to forget his D is on the field more than any other top 25 team, and still usually does a damn good job.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:51 PM ^
That's a fair statement, and I like Brown but probably not as much as most on this blog.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:01 PM ^
Top 20 defense ? It’s #2 right now in S&P+
October 10th, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
It's a top 20 defense. Do you actually think this is the second best defense in the country?
You have to remember the context of these advanced stats rankings.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:45 PM ^
Sure.
Speaking of context, where do you think this defense ranks if we had an offense as good as LSU does in 2019? (And damn...that felt weird to type.)
I've got news for you if you think Alabama's defense would be top if it played a murderer's row of teams with elite, high powered offenses led by future Sunday QBs.
-----
Tangent: I think it's pretty freaking hilarious that we've somehow reverted to an offense that is reminiscent of 2017. I mean...people were pissed at Pep Hamilton in 2018 for taking only 1 deep shot per quarter. (Many of us wanted him to take an intermediate to deep shot at least once per drive.)
I'm still hopeful for some kind of permanent and sustainable surge in offensive improvement but time is running out.
October 10th, 2019 at 9:57 PM ^
He is a great guy. His Defense is a bit gimmicky with so much being predicated upon pressure and leaving DB's in one on one situations. Works great if you can get to the QB before the WR's get open. If you can't...or you play against WR's far better than your DB's (OSU last year), his defense completely breaks down and he seems to have no answer with any adjustments.
October 10th, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^
Biggest problem for the D in that game wasn't getting burned by receivers. It was zero pressure on Haskins the entire game. Pretty sure they could have held them under 40 if the D line could've gotten a hand or two on him.
October 11th, 2019 at 1:32 AM ^
"gimmicky" is an over- and poorly- used term on this blog. Having a style doesn't make a strategy "gimmicky" and every coach on the planet is limited by the players at their disposal.
October 11th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
My use of "gimmicky" is one that applies to its definition...or at least my understanding of its definition. LOL. Gimmicky= unorthodox. operates with components different than the norm. Nuanced in ways most others do not function. I think that is a fair description of Don Brown's defensive approach.
October 10th, 2019 at 11:15 PM ^
The point of SP+ is that it adjusts for the context
October 11th, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
SP+ still includes a bit of preseason projection at this point (it slowly phases out through the season) but it's still better than other popular metrics like total yards. It takes into account how good your opponents are, it removes garbage time, removes the impact of time of possession etc. Not sure what other metric you have that is better? "My eyes" is not a good answer.
I don't think the defense will sustain this level of performance the whole year but so far they ARE the #2 defense in the country according to the best metric we have, there is no bias or opinion there. SP+ is crushing it against the spread this year, it obviously works as a predictive metric.
October 10th, 2019 at 10:52 PM ^
Pony is a good DC except for when he goes up against good offenses and gets clowned.
October 11th, 2019 at 5:57 AM ^
So we are back to negging anyone that doesn't praise Brown as the greatest ever. I'll be back to see what is being said when osu scores 40 plus. Again. Or in the bowl game. Or against psu. Apparently when Michigan scores 30 plus still isn't enough to "help" the defense in those games. Smh lol
October 10th, 2019 at 6:10 PM ^
It's a damn shame that this guy has to carry our team for years at a time while we fart around trying to find a reliable offense...
October 10th, 2019 at 6:10 PM ^
Did anyone ask why he is in man coverage on 3rd and 30?
October 10th, 2019 at 6:25 PM ^
In that situation if you bring extra pressure on the QB you force the offense into one realistic option. Our corners typically excel in press man on the deep ball (crossing routes are a different story) and had the matchup advantage against Iowa's receivers. Extremely low percentage of that pass being completed for a first down but they happened to beat the odds. Would take it every time however. Sitting back in zone coverage leaves a lot of open holes no matter how its configured with a higher probability of converting.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:34 PM ^
Lol, not when you have 30 to go. Those holes are going to be way short of the first down.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:43 PM ^
Seams in cover 3 and cover 4. Outside the numbers and deep middle in cover 2. Basically every area vertical routes are intended to challenge. Especially for a defense that doesn't play a whole lot of zone. Still unlikely yes but much higher probability of success for the offense. Press man was not a bad call.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:42 PM ^
Yes, it was. Plenty of time to rally on a shorter completion and you are distributed to do it in zone. Only takes one bad matchup to beat man.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:54 PM ^
It also only take one bad thing to beat zone.
Face it, a 3rd&30 has a very low probability of being converted, yet somehow it happens across football several times each season. It happened against Michigan. Shit happens. But hey, throw out a DC that has 3 top 10 defenses in 4 years, with not much of an offense behind him because he gave up a 3rd & 30!!
October 10th, 2019 at 8:01 PM ^
It was a bad call-and the results, against an elite defender, prove it. End of story.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:16 PM ^
No offense, but that’s just not accurate. Playing press man on 3rd and 30 is not going to end well far too often.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:41 PM ^
This...I like Don Brown. But I do think some good OC's have gotten the better of him and he struggles to adjust in game. When Don Brown schemes toe to toe with a high octane offense (OSU) then you can put him in a much higher classification of DC.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:58 PM ^
He got caught flat-footed against OSU last year, no doubt about that. I can see why, though, and he has adjusted for that this year. As far as in game adjustments, you didn't notice the switch to all zone and fire blitzes that freed McGrone the entire 4th quarter?
He's never been beat the same way twice. Not to say it won't happen, but it hasn't yet...
October 11th, 2019 at 7:42 AM ^
Where was his adjustments against psu last year?
October 11th, 2019 at 9:41 PM ^
Fire Brown because his defense gave up 7 points?
October 10th, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
Overconfidence in his dudes, sometimes.
October 11th, 2019 at 4:59 AM ^
I don't know if it is overconfidence or coach speak to have his players backs.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:12 PM ^
Here's also Milton's presser. Can't say guy doesn't have confidence.
October 10th, 2019 at 6:26 PM ^
I'm not doing a complete 180 just because he shut down a mediocre Iowa offense. However, he did have to carry the team which happens constantly, so kudos to him.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
"Mediocre" Iowa offense.
That Iowa offense was ranked in the top 40 on S&P+ coming into the game. We dominated a decent offense.
Btw, Nate Stanley and some of those players put up 50+ on Ohio State 2 seasons ago. Stanley was 20/31 in that game with 5 TDs, 0 INTs.
We, coached by the supposed QB Whisperer, have yet to score 40 on OSU. Put things in perspective doesn't it?
October 10th, 2019 at 8:33 PM ^
Sounds good. Until you look at who they played.
38 on Miami of Ohio
30 on Rutgers
48 on MTSU
Puts a different spin on things eh?