Several thoughts about the Michigan football team heading into week three, only 11 (!) days before the opener with Western Michigan ...
First off ... we really like what we're hearing about the culture and the makeup of this team, and credit the new assistant coach additions for much of it. Mike Hart, in particular, is one of those "you'd better know what it means to put on the winged helmet" kinds of guys — loves his players, but not a players' coach — and like the guys who played here before and won titles, doesn't accept mediocrity.
As our Doug Skene noted recently, he will never — NEVER — lower his expectations. 'Those who stay will be Champions,' the 1969 mantra in the year that changed the program. has earned a few chuckles from rivals, etc. after 16 years going without, but it's still on the wall at Schembechler Hall.
“I’m not coming off that expectation. That’s what my head coach [Bo Schembechler] told me as a freshman —'anything short of that is embarrassing to the university and the men who played before you,’” Skene said. “But anybody can put a sign on the wall. The great teams knowit. They really, truly expect it.”
This group has to get that mentality back, and it's going to be harder than ever given where Ohio State is as a program. But the first step is getting back to beating everyone else on the schedule regularly, something that's very doable. Harbaugh seemed on his way to doing it in 2015 and '16 but lost his way, and the last couple years he's looked distracted.
On the surface, he seems to have gotten his mojo back this year. That's a positive. We're not ready to change our 7-5 prediction, but more encouraged than we thought we'd be heading into the season.
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One reason for that — higher expectations for the defense. The big problem, though, is the lack of depth on the line. All due respect to Jess Speight, the fact that he's in the mix for playing time is a major concern. Folks at field level last year asked us recently how it's possible, given how he's been pushed around, he's in the mix for time.
It comes back to recruiting deficiencies (not enough bodies, relying on bulked up linebackers (Carlo Kemp, etc.) in a scheme in which the former D.C. wanted smaller, quicker guys up front), and a few not meeting expectations.
We've heard all offseason about Mazi Smith. He still needs to bring it every play, and some have suggested there are reasons he runs out of energy quickly despite being in great shape. We really wanted to hear about Chris Hinton's emergence as a five-star defensive tackle meeting the hype, but that hasn't happened, and transfer Jordan Whittley doesn't look like he's going to be much help. We saw him the other day on campus, and he has some work to do in order to get in shape.
If the interior line were really solid, we'd have pretty high expectations for the defense. Aidan Hutchinson and Daxton Hill are probably two of the top 10 defenders in the Big Ten. The back end has been solid, the linebackers have been the team's most pleasant surprise in terms of talent and depth (Nikhai Hill-Green is a stud who 'gets it,' and he wasn't lying when he said Josh Ross has had a lights out camp, from everyone we've spoken with), and guys like Taylor Upshaw and Mike Morris have impressed.
Donovan Jeter has been good on the interior, but like him, we're done with the talking. We want to see it.
This crew can be solid, but how will it hold up against teams like Wisconsin that are going to try to run the ball down their throats? If they can't stop the run, they're going to have to score a lot of points to win.
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And there's where we have more concern. The quarterbacks have been good in camp, the receivers really good. Cornelius Johnson (the best receiver so far), Ronnie Bell and Daylen Baldwin is a really good trio. Slots like Roman Wilson, A.J. Henning and Mike Sainristil have all had good camps.
But will they be put in good positions to make plays?
There, we aren't convinced.
Offenses with less talent seem to have had much better schemes than U-M's. That's one of the reasons head coach Jim Harbaugh looked seriously at changing things up more on the offensive staff (this is an absolute fact, regardless of what others have said) ... he's added a great mind in Matt Weiss and Hart will also be involved in the offense, but Josh Gattis is still the guy in charge. We haven't seen enough from him to believe he can really out-scheme good opponents or make in-game adjustments to find mismatches, etc.
Maybe we'll be surprised this year.
We've heard mixed reviews on the offensive line, and there's talent here. Former line coach Ed Warinner told us before he left that they had the bodies ... it was just a matter of molding them. He might not have meshed with the players/coaches, but the guy could teach the position and technique.
We love Sherrone Moore, but we're back to a first-year coach at the position, a group that needs to be good for the offense to work. And watching some film clips with Skene just from the tape we've seen, there have been a lot of question marks, from bad first steps to schemes that leave you scratching your head ... again, putting linemen in tough positions, receivers being asked to block defensive ends, etc.
Maybe we'll be surprised. Right now, however, we still have plenty of questions.
There is talent on this team, however, and we believe the 'want to' without buying into the coach speak. Last year was probably an anomaly in the number of guys who just didn't seem to be "all in." The latter part shouldn't be an issue this season (hopefully), and that's a good start.
First off ... we really like what we're hearing about the culture and the makeup of this team, and credit the new assistant coach additions for much of it. Mike Hart, in particular, is one of those "you'd better know what it means to put on the winged helmet" kinds of guys — loves his players, but not a players' coach — and like the guys who played here before and won titles, doesn't accept mediocrity.
As our Doug Skene noted recently, he will never — NEVER — lower his expectations. 'Those who stay will be Champions,' the 1969 mantra in the year that changed the program. has earned a few chuckles from rivals, etc. after 16 years going without, but it's still on the wall at Schembechler Hall.
“I’m not coming off that expectation. That’s what my head coach [Bo Schembechler] told me as a freshman —'anything short of that is embarrassing to the university and the men who played before you,’” Skene said. “But anybody can put a sign on the wall. The great teams knowit. They really, truly expect it.”
This group has to get that mentality back, and it's going to be harder than ever given where Ohio State is as a program. But the first step is getting back to beating everyone else on the schedule regularly, something that's very doable. Harbaugh seemed on his way to doing it in 2015 and '16 but lost his way, and the last couple years he's looked distracted.
On the surface, he seems to have gotten his mojo back this year. That's a positive. We're not ready to change our 7-5 prediction, but more encouraged than we thought we'd be heading into the season.
****
One reason for that — higher expectations for the defense. The big problem, though, is the lack of depth on the line. All due respect to Jess Speight, the fact that he's in the mix for playing time is a major concern. Folks at field level last year asked us recently how it's possible, given how he's been pushed around, he's in the mix for time.
It comes back to recruiting deficiencies (not enough bodies, relying on bulked up linebackers (Carlo Kemp, etc.) in a scheme in which the former D.C. wanted smaller, quicker guys up front), and a few not meeting expectations.
We've heard all offseason about Mazi Smith. He still needs to bring it every play, and some have suggested there are reasons he runs out of energy quickly despite being in great shape. We really wanted to hear about Chris Hinton's emergence as a five-star defensive tackle meeting the hype, but that hasn't happened, and transfer Jordan Whittley doesn't look like he's going to be much help. We saw him the other day on campus, and he has some work to do in order to get in shape.
If the interior line were really solid, we'd have pretty high expectations for the defense. Aidan Hutchinson and Daxton Hill are probably two of the top 10 defenders in the Big Ten. The back end has been solid, the linebackers have been the team's most pleasant surprise in terms of talent and depth (Nikhai Hill-Green is a stud who 'gets it,' and he wasn't lying when he said Josh Ross has had a lights out camp, from everyone we've spoken with), and guys like Taylor Upshaw and Mike Morris have impressed.
Donovan Jeter has been good on the interior, but like him, we're done with the talking. We want to see it.
This crew can be solid, but how will it hold up against teams like Wisconsin that are going to try to run the ball down their throats? If they can't stop the run, they're going to have to score a lot of points to win.
****
And there's where we have more concern. The quarterbacks have been good in camp, the receivers really good. Cornelius Johnson (the best receiver so far), Ronnie Bell and Daylen Baldwin is a really good trio. Slots like Roman Wilson, A.J. Henning and Mike Sainristil have all had good camps.
But will they be put in good positions to make plays?
There, we aren't convinced.
Offenses with less talent seem to have had much better schemes than U-M's. That's one of the reasons head coach Jim Harbaugh looked seriously at changing things up more on the offensive staff (this is an absolute fact, regardless of what others have said) ... he's added a great mind in Matt Weiss and Hart will also be involved in the offense, but Josh Gattis is still the guy in charge. We haven't seen enough from him to believe he can really out-scheme good opponents or make in-game adjustments to find mismatches, etc.
Maybe we'll be surprised this year.
We've heard mixed reviews on the offensive line, and there's talent here. Former line coach Ed Warinner told us before he left that they had the bodies ... it was just a matter of molding them. He might not have meshed with the players/coaches, but the guy could teach the position and technique.
We love Sherrone Moore, but we're back to a first-year coach at the position, a group that needs to be good for the offense to work. And watching some film clips with Skene just from the tape we've seen, there have been a lot of question marks, from bad first steps to schemes that leave you scratching your head ... again, putting linemen in tough positions, receivers being asked to block defensive ends, etc.
Maybe we'll be surprised. Right now, however, we still have plenty of questions.
There is talent on this team, however, and we believe the 'want to' without buying into the coach speak. Last year was probably an anomaly in the number of guys who just didn't seem to be "all in." The latter part shouldn't be an issue this season (hopefully), and that's a good start.
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