Winovich: "we basically lost last winter"
Interesting article about the changes made from last year to this year, according to Chase. Praises the S&C coach and changes made by Harbaugh, which he says helped make him decide to come back. He did not think our winter conditioning approach last year was good.
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverin…
Was one of the best in the country.
The offense was one of the worst.
That's just the fact.
Which losses could have "bounced" our way? They turned the ball over 90 times against MSU. Penn State was a complete joke. Wisconsin and OSU handled Michigan relatively well. There was nothing fluky about any of those games.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
...the important take away here is the JH has shown that this off-season he has examined the program top to bottom and has been willing to listen to others (including players') ideas on problems and how to make to program better.
So while eliminating pop tarts won't make a difference, the openness to self-critical revaluation probably will.
When things did not work, some coaches will be stubborn and just keep things exactly the same. It looks like JH decided to listen to other ideas, make changes in many parts of the program, both big and small.
So the changes in the training table and the S&C program are small things that in isolation won't solve the problems. But they are evidence of a much bigger and more important thing--willingness to not be stubborn, to listen to others' ideas for improvement, and to make changes.
Of course the real proof of the willingness to not be stubborn and to make changes will be seen in the offensive game plan against ND. But this is so far at least a good sign that JH is not going to be stubborn and just do things exaclty the same way as in 2017.
March 30th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
Yeah I've stopped paying attention to these comments, they always get made after a coach switch, the problem is rarely actually fixed
March 30th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
Ever a point last year when you thought, "Man, these guys are losing because they look gassed and out of shape?" Honestly, not once did that thought ever cross my mind, and I know it can, because I've seen it before. I remember Michigan teams on occasion that broke down the deeper the game went.
Until they get the technical side of the game fixed (blocking, route running, not having 90 coaches calling plays), it wouldn't matter if they trotted out 11 Mr. Universes.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:00 AM ^
No, but there were times where our offensive line did not seem to be pushing people around like they should have been.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^
Has been a problem for this program for awhile now. I don't think it's a conditioning issue, IMO.
March 30th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Maybe I'm just old, but I can remember at least 3 or 4 times over the last 20 years that everyone got excited because we were going in a new direction in S&C and everyone rationalized that THAT was the REAL problem (i.e. poor S&C) explaining the less-than-stellar prior year. I guess I'll take a "wait and see" approach...
March 30th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
Yes the offense was certainly an issue with the line blocking and lack of TD passes. Another thing I feel is never mentioned is that Coach Harbaugh just didn't have the same fire to him as he usually did. These articles touch on this the last few days by saying he is much more upbeat and friendly since his reflection period. I wonder if having a new baby born and the stress of having it in the NICU took a bit of a toll on coach, sapping a bit of his usual fire. He is like superman with his energy but the man is still human.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
In response to the previous poster, not all change is good...We gave Lloyd so much flak and yet he won our only national title in many years with the two most-maligned longtime friends and coordinators this fanbase has ever seen...(DeBord and Hermann).
It's about having a vision and working toward it...Adjusting on the fly as needed. Let's hope this was the adjustment we needed...
March 30th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
so it's reasonable to be skeptical about the eventual impact of Herbert. However, to my untrained eye, there were plenty of times over the last two years where we did not appear to get much push from our OL, and even got literally shoved back.
That might have been solely a consequence of inferior talent and/or coaching, but I've wondered if insufficient strength/size was a factor too. Since a great deal of an OL's push is going to come from leg strength, cutting back on squats or other lower-body lifts in order to run sprints may not be the best thing.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^
Very glad he came back and excited for his and the team's future. Sounds like team is not remotely satisfied with status quo and working hard for improvement.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^
To these articles
March 30th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^