Michigan Football, Team 139, 2018 Season

[iam416]

I didn't realize Drevno was with HARBAUGH!!!! for so long. Yeah, that's a big fucking problem.

FWIW, UFM brought one guy who was with him at Florida to OSU (Stan Drayton). There is currently one coach on his 2018 staff that was on his 2012 staff (or, for that matter the 2013 staff) -- Zach Smith. And Smith is probably only still there because (a) he's a really good recruiter and (b) he's not a good enough coach to advance.

But otherwise, his entire staff overturned since 2013. Now, I think LJ Sr has job as long as he wants it, but that shit is entirely merit-based.

I think the rest of staff will likely turnover again in the next year or two -- Ryan Day will move on to better things; Wilson will probably end up a HC again; Schiano will eventually be a DC in the NFL; LJ Sr *may* retire in the next 2-3 years (hope not); Bill Davis (LB) better pick it up or get fired. I'm not sure about Alford or Studwara. And, of course, there's the next DB coach.

Anywho -- the larger point is that assistants who are good enough to hang around on your staff forever should probably be fired unless they're old and settled (LJ Sr and Don Brown (probably)). The best assistants are really good and typically really ambitious.

I think Zach Smith should probably get the ax, but he supposedly does a great job recruiting (so maybe he's OSU's cheap version of Bama's Tosh Lupoi -- who will finally get his shot at DC in 2018). So, eh. Drevno, IMO, should be out. End of story.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I don't think Drevno will get dumped. But Harbaugh absolutely needs to find a way to gently move him aside from the actual operation.

I think it's weird that JH has all these offensive guys waiting around to find out their real job titles/rolls. All I would add is that (1) Harbaugh is weird so, nothing to see there and (2) It's abundantly clear that the offense sucked, so, what to do?

The OL sucked, WRS were, well, not good and QBs sucked. That just about covers every position coach on offense except RBs and who the hell ever thought Jay could coach RBs. So, there is that. It's a frigging mess.

I think the clues are there to see Harbaugh knows what the problems are including deficiencies, if they are present, in every position coach. That all of them still have jobs tells us that maybe JH thinks the problems are not associated with coaching players per se but rather are associated with plating the meal and then bringing it to the table..... or, it's not that at all and he sucks as a football coach ..... I seriously doubt that but, whatever.

Bottom line, that's on Harbaugh and Harbaugh alone. He has to be held accountable for organizing his staff and making it functional. Appears he lucked out with Don Brown or maybe he actually knew Brown was going to do well (credit where credit is due). Can he fix the offense?

That he appears to not want to cede control of the offense preferring to keep himself in the loop as, we are told, having the last say on game planning and play calling by committee may not be working for him.

We can't really know but, this splitting of duties seems to be common place at the NFL and the college level, i.e., passing game coordinator, run game coordinator, co-OC, all of that stuff. Why has it produced the pile of garbage that is M's offense after 3y of Harbaugh is just hard to explain. Boggles the mind. It's got to be a whole bunch of reasons.

I'd put his outdated thinking about offense in the current edition of CFB at the top pf the list; inflexibility and stubbornness close behind that. If recruiting continues at M in the direction it's heading, he can't win games by out-talenting opponents. I think he's getting this; fuck, he has to get it.

The clues are there to suggest he's thinking abbot that and may adapt. I sure as hell hope, for his sake, he figures it out.

[WingsFan]

FWIW, rivals is saying Cam Cameron for OC, not WR coach

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yeah ..... I think Warinner is competing for that job and that job alone too. He would not have left Minny for a lateral move to M. Cameron wouldn't be signing on for some kind of analyst spot either. I hope this points to a long over-due overhaul of Drevno's role and how the dish is prepared, platted and brought to the table.

[hack]

Bottom line, that's on Harbaugh and Harbaugh alone. He has to be held accountable for organizing his staff and making it functional. Appears he lucked out with Don Brown or maybe he actually knew Brown was going to do well (credit where credit is due). Can he fix the offense?

Drevno is baggage. On defense, he has no baggage. So much easier to be merit-based when you have no baggage.

So, great -- there's enough smoke here to beleive that Drevno really is the fire. He has to put it out. So the way forward is probably clear.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Hack, I read your post to mean Harbaugh needs to fire Drevno, right?

My view is that he is not going to do that and that he's still on the staff suggests that's true. There is the possibility that Harbaugh is working his contacts to get Drevno back into the NFL at a bargain basement salary for whoever will pick him up. He'll be getting his millions from M for a few more years and there is still a good deal of movement with respect to assistant coaches in the NFL. Pretty sure that's what Lloyd did with Jim Hermann. It just took him a long time to do it.

If Tim Drevno stays, he better find a way to make that million dollar pay-check Drevno is getting to be worth the price.

[Hannibal]

Cam Cameron for OC

[hack]

Yes, absolutely. And I agree that it doesn't seem likely to happen. Sam Webb apparently agreed with us on the WTKA roundtable, though I haven't listend to it yet. Just read the bullets on the blog. All of it makes sense. All of it points very specifically to Drevno, and more broadly IMO to having college assistants who understand the game and can recruit, and not NFL brainiacs who may not be able to do either one. Jimmys and Joes/Xs and Os.

What a bunch of fucking nonsense. Hermann or Drevno or whomever aren't fucking snowflakes. They should earn their money or GTFO.

[Dr. Strangelove]

LJ Sr one of the best hires Urbz has made

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, besides his ridiculous hair and that he is wrong about 90% of the time (way worse than a weatherman), Mel Kiper has pronounced M at #6 for the 2018 season ....... if Patterson plays. Google it if you want to read it. Or not.

There's been a bunch of chatter about the mess that is M's coaching staff. Several name candidates (.... and yes, Hanni does not like Cam Cameron and I get that) have reportedly been interviewed for the 10th coaching position. In light of the shit-show that was M's 2017 offense, it is disturbing to me and sports journalists who have opined about it that no one on the outside knows who will fill the various offensive coaching staff positions or how those positions will be organized. I don't know, man. Not going to even offer up an opinion. The submarine is at flank speed.

Also some discussion of M's recruiting staff, who left, who stayed and what all that means. I'd expect this after M lost out on all of it's Top 100 recruits, finished at #21 nationally and 3rd in the BIG behind osu and PSU and just ahead of neb. MSU was#32 overall and #6 in the BIG. GA LB Otis Reese decommitted from M on signing day without, per reports, telling Harbaugh or his M recruiters about it. That is a real dong punch and a shitty thing to do. IMO, that reflects more on him and his people than it does on M. YMMV.

Some observers believe that Harbaugh structured his recruiting program to mirror the way the NFL teams decide on their roster make-up. This involves more talent evaluation and less, well, giving recruits some love. Everything we know about recruiting HS players tells us that approach is foolish; these high-value kids want the love and want to be coddled. Obviously Kirby Smart (Reese) and Nick Saban (Eyikor) understand, Jim Harbaugh probably doesn't. Put the winged helmet out there and they will come. Not.

M did win the instate recruiting battle v. MSU getting 3 of the top 5. I'm not sure that's a big deal or not. One positive note I suppose among a shit-load of negatives. Going forward, it remains to be seen how M's recruiting might change. More local/mid-west emphasis and less national seems to be one theme people are talking about. Talk is all that is. I suspect M will continue to recruit nationally but won't gain any inroads with top 100 players until Harbaugh starts winning and his recruiting staff does a better job of establishing long term relationships with players they are targeting.

[Hannibal]

Beating MSU for in-state recruits isn't an accomplishment. The coach at Michigan should be able to do this by rolling out of bed.

[hack]

Some observers believe that Harbaugh structured his recruiting program to mirror the way the NFL teams decide on their roster make-up. This involves more talent evaluation and less, well, giving recruits some love. Everything we know about recruiting HS players tells us that approach is foolish; these high-value kids want the love and want to be coddled. Obviously Kirby Smart (Reese) and Nick Saban (Eyikor) understand, Jim Harbaugh probably doesn't. Put the winged helmet out there and they will come. Not.

Can't disagree more. He's had sleepovers, and shown up to proms. I think the simple notion that winning helps recruiting is the answer here. And we aren't winning becuase there's a problem with the coaching staff. We have shitty OL play and we struggle recruiting tackles.

There may not be one single answer but there is an obvious first step.

[iam416]

after M lost out on all of it's Top 100 recruits, finished at #21 nationally and 3rd in the BIG behind osu and PSU and just ahead of neb. MSU was#32 overall and #6 in the BIG.

The bigger concern, IMO, is that M class was closer to the worst B10 recruiting class than OSU's. It wasn't just finishing 3rd -- there was a gulf.

these high-value kids want the love and want to be coddled. Obviously Kirby Smart (Reese) and Nick Saban (Eyikor) understand, Jim Harbaugh probably doesn't.

Yeah, I really disagree with this. I'm sure it's true for some, but as a rule I think that is very much NOT the default. I think the things of great importance to recruits are: (1) showing them how your school will prepare them for the future (both NFL and life after football, whenever that is); (2) a subset of (1) -- but how well will your school do in developing that player; (3) relationships with the coaches; and (4) how "big" time are you -- proven success/elite program?

If the excuse is just that the coach is just telling these kids the hard truths and they don't like it, then you'll never be a good recruiter. Because changing to blowing sunshine up their ass won't carry the day either.

Beating MSU for in-state recruits isn't an accomplishment. The coach at Michigan should be able to do this by rolling out of bed.

Heh. 2019 is going to be bad year for M in-state.

[hack]

The Dobbs recruitment could be the poster-child.

[iam416]

They're not getting Dobbs unless things really go sideways in EL for Dantonio. And even then, I'm not sure M would be his 2nd choice.