Michigan Football, the 2020 Abbreviated COVID Season

[Jeff Buchanan]

........But having an informal representatives sending out feelers, you would be crazy to think it doesn't happen.

This is where you get into the important question in this discussion of who know's the most about who Jim Harbaugh actually is?

I'll give the nod to the people who cover Michigan football manically. Insiders or not, you pay enough attention and behavioral trends start to emerge. Here are a few I have:

He's quirky. He's got a huge amount of integrity and commitment. He loves the game of football and people who want to muck that game up - like the NCAA, incompetent referees, player unions or anything like them, are not friends of his. He is fiercely loyal to his players and Assistant Coaches, He doesn't give a fuck about what his critics say and he tells his players and coaches to do the same. Like so many high performance people do these days - look for another job and better money while your'e at the top of your game in the job you're now holding - Jim Harbaugh is not like that AT ALL.

[hack]

Most of what Harbaugh negotiated around in December 2014 was control over the nuts/bolts of the program. I think any guesses on this would be a heck of a lot more educated with some idea of how the Gattis hire happened and whether it is indeed true that Manuel pushed him to do it.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Seth at mgo has posted a very sad Neck Sharpies piece this morning.

I really had to read just about everything twice and watch all the videos 2 or 3 times to "get it."

Crossing routes .... how do you defend them and where is M's defense in doing so since day/ufm pantsed Brown last season.

Here's a couple of takes in my words:

Michigan has talent and athleticism gaps when receivers like PSU's Hammler and osu's Olave, among select others in league play, get matched up with M's non-Dax Hill, Long, Thomas or Lavert Hill type DBs, i.e., opponents look for one-on-one (man) receiver match-ups with Ss Watson and Hawkins and when they get them, which is often in Brown's schemes, plays succeed and often big time.

To me, this may be one of the primary reasons why M cannot seem to beat the better teams it faces. It's a recruiting issue in the secondary for sure under Harbaugh. Unless you think Mike Zordich is a bad DBs coach, and I don't, it's not a player development issue.

You have to read the details of why the difference making big plays happened last season v. IU, then osu and in the doesn't matter category, M's bowl loss to UF. They are clearly not happening, to a same degree, this season but they still happened enough v. PSU to win that game. It's not scheme this season, Brown learned from the osu depantsing. It's the execution of it this season that involves switching roles in what Brown calls "Trap Coverage." This is one of Brown's BC days schemes he's brought back to M for 2019. When it is executed correctly it works. It worked against PSU/Hamler - sometimes. Sometimes it didn't. Per Seth, if I've got it right, it worked 3x but failed 2X - unfortunately, the best teams on M's remaining schedule will dial up these plays several times and given M's troubles on offense keeping up, having success on one or two of them may be the difference.

Don Brown is a terrific DC. He has all the right schemes if the players can execute them but he's playing with 1/2 a deck - see above and read the article.

So, by-in-large, the problems M had last season and still has on defense, to a lesser degree in this one, involve the opponent's ability to exploit talent gaps in M's secondary. In M's remaining schedule, osu may be the only team capable of this sort of exploitation. I don't think ND or MSU have the receiver talent advantage like PSU (Hamler) and osu (Olave and others) have that makes those offenses capable of exploiting it. Brown can cover this seeming advantage up with is Traps Coverage but only if execution is perfect. On defense, there is no room for error v. osu like there may be v. ND and MSU. As well, when an opponent's big play scores because of this exploitation, the offense has to answer and that capability is still in question.

https://mgoblog.com/content/neck-sharpies-cutting-crossing-routes#read-more

[Jeff Buchanan]

Most of what Harbaugh negotiated around in December 2014 was control over the nuts/bolts of the program. I think any guesses on this would be a heck of a lot more educated with some idea of how the Gattis hire happened and whether it is indeed true that Manuel pushed him to do it.

We have one source - the one talent provided over the summer - that seemed pretty solid that JH was told to hire another OC. I can't say that's enough to conclude that's what happened.

Something else that comes to mind: THE underlying issue for Harbaugh at SF was his aggravation that he didn't really have control of the non-football nuts/bolts there. GM Baalke and others kept jumping in the pool and making waves over player off the field misconduct, how Jim was relating with owners, player drafting and trades, a whole bunch of non-football stuff that he wanted a say in and didn't get it. He had full controll of football stuff.

With that in mind, it seems logical that when he was talking to Hackett, et. al., he wanted full control of the program so, it seems unlikely, if he got assurances of that, Manuel would not have been involved in the Gattis hire. JMO.

[froot loops]

This is where you get into the important question in this discussion of who know's the most about who Jim Harbaugh actually is?

I'll give the nod to the people who cover Michigan football manically. Insiders or not, you pay enough attention and behavioral trends start to emerge. Here are a few I have:

He's quirky. He's got a huge amount of integrity and commitment. He loves the game of football and people who want to muck that game up - like the NCAA, incompetent referees, player unions or anything like them, are not friends of his. He is fiercely loyal to his players and Assistant Coaches, He doesn't give a fuck about what his critics say and he tells his players and coaches to do the same. Like so many high performance people do these days - look for another job and better money while your'e at the top of your game in the job you're now holding - Jim Harbaugh is not like that AT ALL.

He was like that when he came to Michigan. Jeff Moss was reporting about him coming to Michigan in the middle of December. You're giving the nod to mgoblog, not the most objective source information in my opinion.

He's not fiercely loyal to assistants. That's laughable.

[hack]

Not taking issue with most of that, Froot, but easy to argue that in late 2014 that it was obvious he wasn't going to be in SF another year, or that if it wasn't obvious that he had his reasons to be looking to move on anyways. It's reasonable in that situation to have your agent or whomever back-channel talk about what's next, especially when that next step is so obvious. His dream job was on the table whilst his current bosses were knifing him in the back, so he quietly coached out the season with SF, had his folks talk to Hackett, and didn't publicly acknowledge or address anything about Michigan. Not sure how he should have done anything differently there. Far from a Larry Brown situation.

[Jeff Buchanan]

He was like that when he came to Michigan. Jeff Moss was reporting about him coming to Michigan in the middle of December. You're giving the nod to mgoblog, not the most objective source information in my opinion.

He's not fiercely loyal to assistants. That's laughable.

A nod to mgo? No, I don't think so. The mods there quickly edited the original post on the Harbaugh Exit Strategy to the NFL rumor. The point of the edit was to describe it as untrue. The edit further opined that folks who know Jim Harbaugh also know he wouldn't have his people (agents) scouting job opportunities in the NFL or anywhere else.

My basis for describing my take on who Jim Harbaugh actually is are based solely on my personal observations of his behavior and my opinions of him based on that.

On what basis to you opine that Harbaugh is not loyal to his assistants? I understand that both your take and mine are subjective opinions. I'm interested in hearing yours because I value your input here as an unbiased outsider and MSU fan.

[WM Wolverine]

Brown plays a high risk/reward defense that can be beaten deep by big plays by a QB that gets protection ,makes a good throw or a defensive back makes a mistake.

Most the time it's the result of a DB making a major mistake like we saw vs PSU. I'd like to see more nickel (no depth/talent this season), more zone but I don't see brown changing much. When opposing offenses go 3 and 4 wide, Brown is still trying to man up slot receivers in man with his safeties and sometimes even a linebacker. Mistakes are going to happen and Brown does little to minimize how damaging they are.

[iam416]

With the rout of ND and the imminent route of Sparty, it looks as if HARBAUGH!!!! has turned a corner. However, it's important to remember that he is the RIGHT MAN for the job. He is best representative for M imaginable. And really, I think it's vital to remember that the measure of HtH, MNCs won and the like has zero bearing on a man's worth in the great scheme of things. HARBAUGH!!!! is doing great things for M.

Stay the course.

[lineygoblue]

The OSU snark aside, I don't think Michigan has any choice but to 'stay the course'.

A re-set at HC would send Michigan into yet another 'five year plan to improve the program' under the new guy.

At this point, I don't know if Harbaugh and Michigan have turned a corner, or raised an optimistic blip on a bleary screen. Its seems to me its a week to week thing with the previous two weeks showing some good things in an otherwise disappointing season. The addict in me wants them to finish strong, win a bowl game, have an excellent spring, and try to get it right next year. I don't think a coaching change gets Michigan any closer to a Big Ten title, which should be the #1 goal of the team.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Stop being a fucking troll ........troll. heh

[hack]

I don't think we know whether a new coach would come with huge transition costs or not, but I'd like to see Harbaugh given another offseason to correctly diagnose the team's ailments and find the right treatment. Maybe it's staying the course with Gattis, but shrinking him down into a passing-game coordinator who can build off the running game he and Warinner have proven they can build. I'd really like to know who's been calling the plays these past few weeks. Is it likely that Harbaugh's said to Gattis ``I pick the running plays and you call them as you wish to"? Doesn't seem so. I don't know that we want to go back to the slow collaborative play-calling process of the past, because that feels outdated. But it seems awfully unlikely that Gattis still has the keys to the offense and is driving it the way he wants to. Control is now shared.

[iam416]

Buchanan

I just read something you posted severals ago and I had to work it into to something. It was too good to ignore.

[lineygoblue]

But it seems awfully unlikely that Gattis still has the keys to the offense and is driving it the way he wants to. Control is now shared.

And we also have to ask, how is Gattis taking all this? If he was promised (and given) full control of the offense, and now he doesn't have it, does that make him want to leave after the season, or is he all in with Harbaugh no matter what? Does Harbaugh even WANT to keep Gattis after this season?

[Jeff Buchanan]

Along with my dickish post above - well deserved considering the target, I should add, I'm going to be a bit dickish some more.

I've always respected the talent, well, handing out respect only as much as I can tolerate, for calling out dumb posts. So, I'm going to call out generically the dumb posts regarding 2019's M football games. They are legion. Not all of them are dumb but plenty are and here's why .........

First, let me acknowledge that not everyone has the time to pour over the copious amounts of credible post game analysis that I do so, I get some of the hot takes. Having said that, if anyone reads my 1000 word+ posts, you'll know I have two favorite posters, both from mgo, that do video breakdown. Seth that does Neck Sharpies and FanNamedOzzy who brought the electronic crayon to his video analysis that Seth is now using (for the first time in his most recent analysis of M's run game v. ND).

These two posters make it clear to the arm-chair football coaches - and that is all of us here I suspect - how a play was supposed to be run, how it actually was run and defended and why it was a successful play or it wasn't. That's why I'll beat back posts that say the run game sucked or the QB sucked or any number of unsubstantiated (dumb) shit-posts that it's pretty clear the poster has no idea why that assertion is correct or not.

On to the ND game: This is why the run game appeared to be successful as if some kind of light bulb went on. I didn't. The coaches planned for what they did to start the game (you saw the result - huge holes and big chunk plays), practiced it and then adjusted on-the-fly in game to what ND was doing - more on that later. First, ND conceptually, had a the wrong defensive scheme for what M actually did. When ND figured out it was wrong and they adjusted, the ND players made mistakes and one might assume because they hadn't practiced the on-the-fly changed deployment of defenders much during their bye-week. Nice place to be. In fact a perfect place, for an offense to be in. Hats off to M's offensive coaches for whatever they had done in previous games to make ND defensive staff think they should be doing what they wrongly did to start off the game. This never gets credit here or anyplace else for that matter.

Second, M is still very good at "Harbaughffense" I'll call it because that term has been often used to describe Jim Harbaugh's 2015-2018 run game, sometime laughably by such notable figures as Mark Dantonio - fuck him because he's on his way out and Jim is staying and is really good at this stuff as you can see if you read the Neck Sharpies piece linked below. Cliff notes:

With 22 personnel or sometimes 23/24 (i.e., rally run heavy formations), one can create a lot of gaps for a QB or RB or FB or speed ball receiver like Bell or Sanistril whose arcing, end around to the D gaps, behind the LOS. The defense is challenged to fill all of the interior gaps with defenders and at the same time defend the edge. ND started out overly defending the edges which took 1, sometimes 2 defenders out of interior run support. Gaps were open and the backs did a good job of finding them. The set of consecutive 3-and-outs M suffered late 2nd half and early 3rd period was because ND put their S and Rover (SLB) on gap alert instead of edge alert. It worked.........Gattis adjusted to that move by beefing up the offense with wham blocks (Mason was the executioner here) that powered through whatever ND defender happened to be in that gap. RBs just followed Mason - that worked.

You might remember if you read mgo's FFFF that ND doesn't trust their LBs to make the right reads so, they just have them aggressively charge blindly into their assigned gaps. Well, you can only have so many gap defenders and if they aren't reading but just blindly charging, RBs can read that and they did resulting in some big chunk plays.

On Patterson's run reads: I mentioned somewhere here that it's really hard to tell whether Patterson is making the right read or not because we really can't tell live what the play-call was or which defender he's reading. Post game video analysis, done right, tells all. It's complicated. There are different reads based on the multiple run plays in the play-book. It might be a S, LB, EMLOS, DE, or 5-tech (any DT for that matter) depending on the play-call.

Seth analyses a couple true RO plays where Patterson appears to make the right read (on the shuffling DE in front of a scrape exchange like Army did) but ND defends really well. The blocking TE who's supposed to seal the edge that Patterson will run around has to chose to block one of two defenders - the shuffling DE who correctly sees Patterson is keeping and a S who reads the play and steps up to defend the edge. He chose the S but the DE penetrated and hit Patterson behind the LOS. RPS -1. It happens, shelve those plays.

BTW, for the Patterson haters, this doesn't change my assessment that Patterson is an OK, not a great QB. But he's doing a pretty good job at doing what the offensive coaches are asking him to do given what I think they see as Patterson's limitations. Those probably are that when a pass play is dialed up, he has trouble reading zone coverage (something every DC facing him knows he has trouble with). That he does, is the basis for him looking indecisive and bailing. OK, I'll give the haters that mainly becasue it shows up in every NFL scouting report I've read on Patterson. The solution? Run more and M was good at it against a pretty good ND D that M will see again v. MSU and osu.

I'm hoping to see a hefty bit of running V. Maryland because Maryland is OK but not great at defending the run. They've faced one good good rushing offense (Minny), gave up 52 points on 321 yards rushing to them and M has become one. Maryland is #56 nationally .......

8

317

1204

3.80

13

150.5

.............but even that ranking is pumped up by their first two OOC games following which they promptly lost to Temple and have only won v. Rutgers since:

OTH and if the weather permits, I'd like to see some more RPOs and screens (all types). Just checked College Park WX = Sunny, calm winds, game time temps in the upper 50s.

https://mgoblog.com/content/neck-sharpies-we%27re-gonna-go-inside