Hey, everyone a bunch of people have given their thoughts on the season and team, so here are a few thoughts I had on the first season of MICHIGAN football under JIM HARBAUGH(!!!!):
1. The team
- Rudock: Was solid for Iowa and now he’ll have better coaching and probably better talent around him. He should be very solid.
- RB: I mean with all the talent back there somebody’s gotta be decent, right? Smith apparently winning the job is kind of a surprise, but in a way I think he’s the guy who stands to benefit the most if our blocking is improved (as expected).
I mean it seems like the first tackler can never bring him down; last year that didn’t mean much because the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tacklers were usually arriving about a second later anyway. But if our blocking is significantly better than it was last year, it seems like maybe that one broken tackle will get him 6+ yards a lot of the time.
There’s nobody who’s even proven to be above average at RB, but I kind of feel like it will end up being a position of strength.
- O-line: I think they should be pretty good for the first time in ages (since 2011). The last few years were really tough, and the O-line generally sucked, but all of a sudden this looks like a unit with lots of experience and pretty good talent. And Drevno is supposedly a borderline miracle. I think depth is a real concern but if the guys can stay healthy, the O-line could be really improved from last year (and they weren’t that bad in 2014)
- WR: I’m not expecting much from the receivers although I’m VERY excited to see Drake Harris and Grant Perry. I don’t expect Darboh and Chesson to just suddenly be mismatches for our opponents though just because we changed coaches, and even if Harris were to stay healthy and live up to the hype that’d maybe mean he could be about as good as Manningham was as a freshman. I guess the one hope here is that just having way more competent coaching on offense will put these guys in a much better position to succeed, and in turn they’ll look a lot better than they did a year ago. If the running game turns out to be pretty good, this group should be adequate.
- Jake Butt: I like Jake Butt and I cannot lie.
He should be really great this year. Perfect offense for him.
- Defense: Our linebackers should be great. The run defense should be good or maybe great… probably just very good. I’m still not sold that we’ll have a dominant pass rush or as good of coverage as everyone is assuming just because we have Peppers.
On the other hand, the D has been pretty good the last few years in spite of the team basically falling apart around it. And this year the D might have more talent. So maybe they’ll be truly elite. I hope so. But I’ll believe it when I see it. So I’m going with “pretty good.”
2. The schedule
If we can get past Utah, the schedule sets up really nicely for us to make a real run. I mean, after Utah, State, and OSU, what is our next hardest game? I guess it would be at Minnesota or at Penn State? And those teams aren’t even very good.
If we beat Utah, the team’s got a great chance at heading into the MSU game 6-0 and probably playing with a tons confidence. You pull that upset and suddenly you’re favored in the rest of your games until OSU. Michigan could be a much bigger player in the Big Ten East than what most people are expecting.
3. Guys I’m excited about
I’m pretty excited about everyone, but here are a few guys I’m even more pumped to see in action than you might expect:
- Drake Harris: IF he can stay healthy, and that’s a huge “if,” there are so many reasons to be excited about Drake Harris. He’s a Grand Rapids kid. He ditched State to play for UM. On top of that, a few months ago it seemed likely that he’d have to take a medical hardship waiver and never end up actually playing for Michigan. For him to come out of nowhere and be in a position to contribute is just really exciting. And even more importantly, if he is actually able to contribute, he’ll likely give Michigan the one thing we thought we wouldn’t have on offense: a big play threat at wide receiver. I’m very excited to see this kid out there on Thursday night.
- Grant Perry: I’m also really excited to see Grant Perry (the true freshman slot receiver out of Bro Rice) in a position to contribute (according to practice rumors and the depth chart that came out yesterday). His high school film was amazing and I guess I kind of always enjoy it that much more when a guy who wasn’t heavily recruited ends up being a contributor. Given his recruiting profile, most people would’ve been thrilled if he just could’ve been a contributor as an upperclassman. The fact that he’s poised to contribute as a true frosh really speaks to his pedigree.
There are other guys on the roster at his position with more experience (Freddy Canteen) and better measurables (Brian Cole), but there’s no substitute for just being a good player. Check out this dude’s film if you get the chance: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1470312/highlights/167507389/v2 .
- Desmond Morgan: He’s a fifth year senior. It might turn out to have been a real stroke of luck that he got hurt at the start of last year. I think he’s gonna have a big year. Plus he’s from West Michigan and he wasn’t a big recruit. Thanks Rich Rod for recognizing his talent.
- Jabril Peppers: Like everyone I am very very very very very excited to see Jabil peppers in action.
4. Our new uniforms
- I might be in the minority here, but I think the new road uniforms are ugly as hell. I mean, they’re not actually ugly. They’re beautiful. They’re probably the best road uniforms that anyone in college football will wear this year. But man, compared to our old uniforms that were so great… I just don’t get it. Why the decision to look like a maize and blue LSU when our previous road unis were the best in the universe?
Also the helmet stickers are lame and stupid and clutter up the nicest looking piece of equipment in the history of sports. Oh well. As long as the team plays great, I’ll get over it. At least Dave Brandon wasn’t involved in any of this.
5. West Michigan boys (I'm from Grand Rapids)
- So three West Michigan guys – Desmond Morgan, Ben Braden, and Drake Harris – are all slated to start or play a lot. Is that more starters from West Michigan than normal? That seems like more than normal.
The point is, West Michigan is well represented on this team. I like that.
6. The Utah game.
- Had to fit this in somewhere: I’m pumped to hear Gus Johnson call a Michigan game.
- Michigan advantages: I think we’re gonna beat Utah. They were definitely better than us last year. Considering how bad we were, that doesn’t tell me a whole lot. They’re good but the truth is they just don’t seem that great. Hurray for making an argument based only on a really vague opinion. How about this, though? They lost to a NINE loss Washington State team last year.
The truth is Michigan’s got sooo much more talent on its roster (49 four and five star recruits in the last 4 recruiting classes compared to 10 for Utah), and now that Harbaugh’s here, that talent isn’t going to be criminally misused and underdeveloped like it was under Hoke. Right there that should be enough to make Michigan competitive.
And then, I think the deciding factor is that Michigan’s got really, really good coaches who want really, really badly to win this game. I know this is a big game for Utah as well, but I think this is the game that our coaches have had circled that we’re gonna pull out all the stops from an x’s and o’s standpoint to get the win. Empty the playbook you might say.
If we win (or even if we don’t), we’ve got 5 games to get some new tricks in place before we play State.
Everywhere Harbaugh has been, he’s been fantastic at using shifts, formational tweaks (to use a really non-football term), and the like, to cause missed assignments by the other team and put his offense in a position to take advantage. Plus this is the only game Harbaugh will ever coach at Michigan where the other team has NO film of our offense. I think we’re going to see some trick plays and a lot of surprising playcalls and personnel groups and I think that will end up making a big difference.
Utah advantages: The one thing that I think Utah has going for it is that they’re at home in a big night game. I mean if this was a Lloyd Carr team, history suggests that we’d go out there as the favorite, move the ball well but not as well as expected, and lose on some big special teams breakdowns and a couple of fluke turnovers. But I don’t know man… I just think Harbaugh is gonna have these guys ready to play and after years of bad breaks (to go along with our terrible play), I feel like we’re due to have the ball bounce our way a couple of times.
My hypothesis is that the universe wants Harbaugh to win big at Michigan; that’s why it worked out for him to come home to Ann Arbor. I mean the part about the universe wanting anything is a joke, but I do think it’s gonna work out for him to win really big here starting this Thursday. And it’s gonna be awesome.
Official Prediction: So I’m gonna go with Michigan 28, Utah 13. And then I'm gonna get wasted. Gonna be a hell of a night.
7. The season
- Well, if I’m predicting us to beat up on Utah I’ve obviously gotten pretty drunk on the Harbaugh koolaid. I think the odds online I just saw were 80-1 for Michigan to win the national title which I’ll definitely put something on just in case (in pesos though, unfortunately… but still). While that may be a really long shot, I think a 10-2 regular season is pretty realistic. I definitely don’t have it in me to predict any specific losses, but I will say I don’t expect Harbaugh to get shut out against State and OSU in year one. And aside from them, there’s nobody that good who’s even on our schedule.
Soo… yeah, anything’s possible. Even the 80-1 shot is a bet worth taking. I mean we’re not gonna average one national title every 80 years. Yes, I expect us to be a lot better next year and the year after (because… Harbaugh), but because of our absurdly easy schedule I think our best shot at a national title anytime soon might be 2015. Hell, Notre Dame made it in 2012 basically because of their schedule and they sucked. And if OSU hadn’t been on probation they’d have had an actual shot at winning the final.
I guess my theory is this: 1) We’re more likely to win the Big Ten, or make the playoffs, or whatever this year than next year when we go at OSU and at State. And 2) If Harbaugh was taking over a team that went 8-5 last year, people’s expectations would be very, very different. And this is a group of guys that EASILY should’ve gone 8-5 last year if we just had competent (not great, just competent!!!) coaching.
8. Clichés, bla bla bla
It feels like Michigan football is back. It’s gonna be really fun to enjoy watching a good team again. I’m going to really enjoy talking about Michigan football and bonding through Michigan football with friends and family.
It’s gonna be really fun to watch a physical team that can go out there and compete and push some people around. And wear teams down over the course of four quarters.
It’s gonna be fun after 7 years to watch a Michigan team that expects to win when it’s in a close game, rather than just rolling over at the first sign of adversity.
It’s gonna be really refreshing to go into games knowing that your coaches are going to give your guys the best chance possible to win. There was an amazing John L. Smith quote at halftime of the State-OSU game in 2005 along the lines of “the players are playing they’re asses off and the coaches are screwing it up!!!!!!!!!!! That quote would’ve been pretty fitting for the last few years, if the coaches had been able to get the players to do play their asses off. Anyway, the point is, now the guys are gonna be busting their asses and on top of that, the coaches are gonna be doing a hell of a job. It was sooo frustrating to see two of the most talented quarterbacks in history completely wasted by coaching incompetence. Stuff like that isn’t going to happen anymore.
It’s also gonna be really, really fun to have Michigan-OSU and Michigan-MSU be an actual rivalry again. I pray (not literally) that we see the day when Dantonio is still at State and Urban is still at OSU and Harbaugh is going for two running it up on them in the fourth quarter. They’ve gotten us so bad the last few years that just beating them is hardly enough. It could happen though.
9. Thoughts? Predictions?
What are you guys pumped about? Which of my predictions are idiotic?
Harbaugh!!!!!! Go Blue!!!!!!!!
Thursday can't get here soon enough!!!!
1. The team
- Rudock: Was solid for Iowa and now he’ll have better coaching and probably better talent around him. He should be very solid.
- RB: I mean with all the talent back there somebody’s gotta be decent, right? Smith apparently winning the job is kind of a surprise, but in a way I think he’s the guy who stands to benefit the most if our blocking is improved (as expected).
I mean it seems like the first tackler can never bring him down; last year that didn’t mean much because the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tacklers were usually arriving about a second later anyway. But if our blocking is significantly better than it was last year, it seems like maybe that one broken tackle will get him 6+ yards a lot of the time.
There’s nobody who’s even proven to be above average at RB, but I kind of feel like it will end up being a position of strength.
- O-line: I think they should be pretty good for the first time in ages (since 2011). The last few years were really tough, and the O-line generally sucked, but all of a sudden this looks like a unit with lots of experience and pretty good talent. And Drevno is supposedly a borderline miracle. I think depth is a real concern but if the guys can stay healthy, the O-line could be really improved from last year (and they weren’t that bad in 2014)
- WR: I’m not expecting much from the receivers although I’m VERY excited to see Drake Harris and Grant Perry. I don’t expect Darboh and Chesson to just suddenly be mismatches for our opponents though just because we changed coaches, and even if Harris were to stay healthy and live up to the hype that’d maybe mean he could be about as good as Manningham was as a freshman. I guess the one hope here is that just having way more competent coaching on offense will put these guys in a much better position to succeed, and in turn they’ll look a lot better than they did a year ago. If the running game turns out to be pretty good, this group should be adequate.
- Jake Butt: I like Jake Butt and I cannot lie.
He should be really great this year. Perfect offense for him.
- Defense: Our linebackers should be great. The run defense should be good or maybe great… probably just very good. I’m still not sold that we’ll have a dominant pass rush or as good of coverage as everyone is assuming just because we have Peppers.
On the other hand, the D has been pretty good the last few years in spite of the team basically falling apart around it. And this year the D might have more talent. So maybe they’ll be truly elite. I hope so. But I’ll believe it when I see it. So I’m going with “pretty good.”
2. The schedule
If we can get past Utah, the schedule sets up really nicely for us to make a real run. I mean, after Utah, State, and OSU, what is our next hardest game? I guess it would be at Minnesota or at Penn State? And those teams aren’t even very good.
If we beat Utah, the team’s got a great chance at heading into the MSU game 6-0 and probably playing with a tons confidence. You pull that upset and suddenly you’re favored in the rest of your games until OSU. Michigan could be a much bigger player in the Big Ten East than what most people are expecting.
3. Guys I’m excited about
I’m pretty excited about everyone, but here are a few guys I’m even more pumped to see in action than you might expect:
- Drake Harris: IF he can stay healthy, and that’s a huge “if,” there are so many reasons to be excited about Drake Harris. He’s a Grand Rapids kid. He ditched State to play for UM. On top of that, a few months ago it seemed likely that he’d have to take a medical hardship waiver and never end up actually playing for Michigan. For him to come out of nowhere and be in a position to contribute is just really exciting. And even more importantly, if he is actually able to contribute, he’ll likely give Michigan the one thing we thought we wouldn’t have on offense: a big play threat at wide receiver. I’m very excited to see this kid out there on Thursday night.
- Grant Perry: I’m also really excited to see Grant Perry (the true freshman slot receiver out of Bro Rice) in a position to contribute (according to practice rumors and the depth chart that came out yesterday). His high school film was amazing and I guess I kind of always enjoy it that much more when a guy who wasn’t heavily recruited ends up being a contributor. Given his recruiting profile, most people would’ve been thrilled if he just could’ve been a contributor as an upperclassman. The fact that he’s poised to contribute as a true frosh really speaks to his pedigree.
There are other guys on the roster at his position with more experience (Freddy Canteen) and better measurables (Brian Cole), but there’s no substitute for just being a good player. Check out this dude’s film if you get the chance: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1470312/highlights/167507389/v2 .
- Desmond Morgan: He’s a fifth year senior. It might turn out to have been a real stroke of luck that he got hurt at the start of last year. I think he’s gonna have a big year. Plus he’s from West Michigan and he wasn’t a big recruit. Thanks Rich Rod for recognizing his talent.
- Jabril Peppers: Like everyone I am very very very very very excited to see Jabil peppers in action.
4. Our new uniforms
- I might be in the minority here, but I think the new road uniforms are ugly as hell. I mean, they’re not actually ugly. They’re beautiful. They’re probably the best road uniforms that anyone in college football will wear this year. But man, compared to our old uniforms that were so great… I just don’t get it. Why the decision to look like a maize and blue LSU when our previous road unis were the best in the universe?
Also the helmet stickers are lame and stupid and clutter up the nicest looking piece of equipment in the history of sports. Oh well. As long as the team plays great, I’ll get over it. At least Dave Brandon wasn’t involved in any of this.
5. West Michigan boys (I'm from Grand Rapids)
- So three West Michigan guys – Desmond Morgan, Ben Braden, and Drake Harris – are all slated to start or play a lot. Is that more starters from West Michigan than normal? That seems like more than normal.
The point is, West Michigan is well represented on this team. I like that.
6. The Utah game.
- Had to fit this in somewhere: I’m pumped to hear Gus Johnson call a Michigan game.
- Michigan advantages: I think we’re gonna beat Utah. They were definitely better than us last year. Considering how bad we were, that doesn’t tell me a whole lot. They’re good but the truth is they just don’t seem that great. Hurray for making an argument based only on a really vague opinion. How about this, though? They lost to a NINE loss Washington State team last year.
The truth is Michigan’s got sooo much more talent on its roster (49 four and five star recruits in the last 4 recruiting classes compared to 10 for Utah), and now that Harbaugh’s here, that talent isn’t going to be criminally misused and underdeveloped like it was under Hoke. Right there that should be enough to make Michigan competitive.
And then, I think the deciding factor is that Michigan’s got really, really good coaches who want really, really badly to win this game. I know this is a big game for Utah as well, but I think this is the game that our coaches have had circled that we’re gonna pull out all the stops from an x’s and o’s standpoint to get the win. Empty the playbook you might say.
If we win (or even if we don’t), we’ve got 5 games to get some new tricks in place before we play State.
Everywhere Harbaugh has been, he’s been fantastic at using shifts, formational tweaks (to use a really non-football term), and the like, to cause missed assignments by the other team and put his offense in a position to take advantage. Plus this is the only game Harbaugh will ever coach at Michigan where the other team has NO film of our offense. I think we’re going to see some trick plays and a lot of surprising playcalls and personnel groups and I think that will end up making a big difference.
Utah advantages: The one thing that I think Utah has going for it is that they’re at home in a big night game. I mean if this was a Lloyd Carr team, history suggests that we’d go out there as the favorite, move the ball well but not as well as expected, and lose on some big special teams breakdowns and a couple of fluke turnovers. But I don’t know man… I just think Harbaugh is gonna have these guys ready to play and after years of bad breaks (to go along with our terrible play), I feel like we’re due to have the ball bounce our way a couple of times.
My hypothesis is that the universe wants Harbaugh to win big at Michigan; that’s why it worked out for him to come home to Ann Arbor. I mean the part about the universe wanting anything is a joke, but I do think it’s gonna work out for him to win really big here starting this Thursday. And it’s gonna be awesome.
Official Prediction: So I’m gonna go with Michigan 28, Utah 13. And then I'm gonna get wasted. Gonna be a hell of a night.
7. The season
- Well, if I’m predicting us to beat up on Utah I’ve obviously gotten pretty drunk on the Harbaugh koolaid. I think the odds online I just saw were 80-1 for Michigan to win the national title which I’ll definitely put something on just in case (in pesos though, unfortunately… but still). While that may be a really long shot, I think a 10-2 regular season is pretty realistic. I definitely don’t have it in me to predict any specific losses, but I will say I don’t expect Harbaugh to get shut out against State and OSU in year one. And aside from them, there’s nobody that good who’s even on our schedule.
Soo… yeah, anything’s possible. Even the 80-1 shot is a bet worth taking. I mean we’re not gonna average one national title every 80 years. Yes, I expect us to be a lot better next year and the year after (because… Harbaugh), but because of our absurdly easy schedule I think our best shot at a national title anytime soon might be 2015. Hell, Notre Dame made it in 2012 basically because of their schedule and they sucked. And if OSU hadn’t been on probation they’d have had an actual shot at winning the final.
I guess my theory is this: 1) We’re more likely to win the Big Ten, or make the playoffs, or whatever this year than next year when we go at OSU and at State. And 2) If Harbaugh was taking over a team that went 8-5 last year, people’s expectations would be very, very different. And this is a group of guys that EASILY should’ve gone 8-5 last year if we just had competent (not great, just competent!!!) coaching.
8. Clichés, bla bla bla
It feels like Michigan football is back. It’s gonna be really fun to enjoy watching a good team again. I’m going to really enjoy talking about Michigan football and bonding through Michigan football with friends and family.
It’s gonna be really fun to watch a physical team that can go out there and compete and push some people around. And wear teams down over the course of four quarters.
It’s gonna be fun after 7 years to watch a Michigan team that expects to win when it’s in a close game, rather than just rolling over at the first sign of adversity.
It’s gonna be really refreshing to go into games knowing that your coaches are going to give your guys the best chance possible to win. There was an amazing John L. Smith quote at halftime of the State-OSU game in 2005 along the lines of “the players are playing they’re asses off and the coaches are screwing it up!!!!!!!!!!! That quote would’ve been pretty fitting for the last few years, if the coaches had been able to get the players to do play their asses off. Anyway, the point is, now the guys are gonna be busting their asses and on top of that, the coaches are gonna be doing a hell of a job. It was sooo frustrating to see two of the most talented quarterbacks in history completely wasted by coaching incompetence. Stuff like that isn’t going to happen anymore.
It’s also gonna be really, really fun to have Michigan-OSU and Michigan-MSU be an actual rivalry again. I pray (not literally) that we see the day when Dantonio is still at State and Urban is still at OSU and Harbaugh is going for two running it up on them in the fourth quarter. They’ve gotten us so bad the last few years that just beating them is hardly enough. It could happen though.
9. Thoughts? Predictions?
What are you guys pumped about? Which of my predictions are idiotic?
Harbaugh!!!!!! Go Blue!!!!!!!!
Thursday can't get here soon enough!!!!
