After Braylon Edwards stated yesterday in an ESPN chat that Rich Rodriguez had decided to give the #1 jersey to an incoming freshman – who wasn’t a wide receiver (and later clarified on the Mike Tirico Show that it is in fact a defensive back – people are telling me it’s JT Floyd), Michigan fans seemed to be clearly split on the issue.

Jared Kent West Union IA: What are your thoughts on the new MICHIGAN regime.
Braylon Edwards: I am already mad that Rich Rod because he gave the No.1 jersey to someone other than a WR, which is breaking tradition. But I think he is a great coach and will lead Michigan to a turnaround.

It is important to note here that Braylon is throwing his support behind Rodriguez, and it is merely one issue that the two disagree on (no pun intended). Braylon even said on the Tirico show that he planned to call Rodriguez and voice his displeasure/suggestion.

Background on the #1
Who has worn the jersey before? Paul Goebel wore it waaay back in the day (when “wide receivers” didn’t exist – he was a “forward pass receiving end” on offense), and since then, fellow Wolverines Anthony Carter, Derrick Alexander, David Terrell, and Braylon Edwards have followed in Goebel’s footsteps and earned All-American honors.

Until his junior year, Edwards wore the #80 jersey. He believed that, as a very good receiver, he should be able to wear the #1. When Edwards approached Lloyd Carr with this request, he was told that he would have to earn the number. Braylon, who had previously had a reputation as a less-than-stellar effort player and far from a workout warrior, put in the time in the weight room, and became the player that Carr believed he could be. The motivational tactic paid off, and Lloyd gave Braylon the #1 jersey. Stellar junior and senior years showed that he had indeed learned his lesson, and made him into the #3 overall pick in the NFL draft. It is plain to see why the #1 holds a special place in Braylon’s heart.

Upon his graduation, Braylon began to establish what has become a fairly robust charity, known as the Braylon Edwards Foundation. Since Edwards was told by Lloyd he had to earn the right to wear the #1 jersey at Michigan, the number meant something special. As part of the BEF, Edwards endowed a scholarship for the wearer of the #1 jersey at Michigan:

The Scholarship Endowment for the University of Michigan’s No. 1 football jersey was announced in April 2006. The charitable gift provides support to a student/athlete wearing the No. 1 football jersey. The scholarship endowment will recognize future athletes who demonstrate character and commitment both on and off the field. Athletes wearing the No. 1 jersey are selected by U-M’s coaching staff.

When he gave the original endowment, Edwards undoubtedly believed that the tradition of #1 going to a wide receiver would be continued. Rich Rodriguez was either unaware of this, or didn’t care about it.

The #1 should go to whomever asks for it
This camp of fans believes that Michigan should not reserve the #1 jersey for anything special, and that any player who asks for it should receive the uno. Since nobody had to earn the jersey before Braylon, there was no real tradition before him, despite the illustrious gentlemen who preceded him.

Since Rodriguez and his staff are trying to turn around a program that has been slowly slipping from the forefront of American consciousness, they should reserve the right to do whatever they so choose with any number. They will be able to establish their own traditions.

The #1 should be reserved
This bloc wants the #1 to continue being something special, going to any transcendent Michigan receiver. While a defensive back may want the jersey, he should be told that he is out of luck, and to pick a different number. Tradition is one of the aspects that sets college football apart from almost every other sport, and even if one does not exist yet (as those other fans suggest), it should be established.

My Take
I believe, in this particular instance and overall, that the #1 jersey should be reserved for a wide receiver. Braylon has expressed displeasure with granting it to a different position, and what is the benefit of alienating one of the highest-profile Wolverines in the NFL (arguably 2nd behind Tom Brady)? Overall, I think that establishing traditions like reserving #1 for a great wide receiver, or #2 for a great defensive back (which has not been done, but I think should be in honor of Woodson) can only help the program. It can restore some mystique that has perhaps been lost from the Michigan program, and can be used as a major recruiting tool.

This also leads me to the topic of retiring numbers. I think it is appropriate for Michael Jordan’s number to be retired from the Chicago Bulls, and certainly for Jackie Robinson’s #42 to be retired throughout baseball. However, I think that college sports are not served by retiring numbers. Establishing tradition and continuing said traditions (as mentioned above) give personality to schools like Michigan (whose prestige is largely based upon tradition), and can help with recruiting, as players undoubtedly believe they can carry on the tradition (or at least want to try). While the Wistert Brothers did great things at the University of Michigan, it may be disrespectful to prevent anyone from trying to follow in their tradition. And what high-profile running back recruit wouldn’t want to follow in the footsteps of Old 98 (which would be an awesome number for a tailback to have in the modern game).

In the end, I guess I’m a traditionalist (whether that be continuing old ones, starting new ones, or supporting fledgling ones). Leave the #1 to a wide receiver. As someone said to me yesterday, “Keeping and establishing traditions cost nothing. Eliminating them can destroy your program.”

Posted under Analysis, Coaching

Good question left in the comments by Max:

Will the aggregate transition of both new players and a new system make for a “whole is less than the sum of the parts” situation?

That is to say, while I’m sure the compounded issues will make for a more difficult transition than if the Wolverines had to endure only one or the other, perhaps the fact that the players are indeed “new” will help speed up the implementation of the new schemes.

Would you rather have Chad Henne step into the new offense after 4 years of being groomed in the old system, or Steven Threet (I won’t use Feagin as an example since it’s not really a fair comparison) take the reigns having not played a snap of college football in any other system? Henne is likely still the best bet, but the point is that the playing field is shifted in Threet’s favor. Add Feagin into the equation and I think it becomes a dilemma that may even compel one to lean toward him and Threet.

While congruent comparisons are harder to draw with Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington, and Mike Hart as their respective positions are more grounded in athleticism, they can still nonetheless be made.

I’ll start with the easiest part of this question, which also happens to be the least important. In terms of other skill position players, I don’t think the transition will have a huge effect. Wide receivers will still have to run routes (and many of the same ones). Players who have spent 2-3 years not having to block (that much) might resent that they now have to do so, and half-ass it, but the new scheme itself is not impeded by the fact that they were taught by other people before. Same thing with running backs, but they will be even better off. They have been learning a zone run scheme for the past two years, so they will be continuing to do that, with the patience, vision, and other skills they have learned over the past couple years. As a bonus, they still have the same position coach.

Moving along, offensive linemen might have to do a little deprogramming before they can learn the new system (meaning that incoming freshmen may be slightly better off because they don’t have to unlearn anything – though they’ll still be behind in terms of college conditioning programs). An offensive lineman who has, for example, spent three years knowing that his pass-protection first move will be X may take some time to stop doing X instinctually, and remember (through actual memory or muscle memory via repetition) to do Y instead. Same thing with run blocking. However, it can be said that, in general, pass blocking techniques and schemes aren’t going to be vastly different from each other, and as far as run blocking, the linemen have been learning a zone scheme for the past two years. The returning guys might need to unlearn a few things, but they will also still start ahead of the incomers (who have to unlearn some of their high school schemes, anyway).

As far as QBs, this may be the area where your idea makes the most sense (and you seem to agree, as that was the primary framework in which you asked it). If we’re going to start with all things equal, we would have to be talking about the same quarterback, since Steve Threet and Chad Henne have different natural skill sets and learning ability (not that I’m implying Henne is any smarter than Threet or vice versa, just that it’s unlikely they are of the exact same intelligence – football or otherwise). So, we will start with a redshirt freshman Chad Henne who has learned under the tutelage of Scot Loeffler for one year (and, if we’re nitpicking, GT’s terrible QBs coach for one spring (not that I know anything about GT’s QB coach other than that he must be terrible if Reggie Ball was able to start at Tech)), and a veteran Chad Henne, who has learned under Loeffler for four years, and see what we end up with.

I think I would still have the veteran Chad Henne, and have to deprogram him a little bit. First, there are some things that will apply to a quarterback, regardless of system. As long as he is able to memorize plays, he will be able to make the right read. Senior Chad Henne will invariably be better at recognizing coverages, and knowing which receiver to hit in said coverage, than Redshirt Freshman Chad Henne. In the passing game at least, SCH is definitely preferred. Of course, there are other aspects to quarterbacking. Having the confidence to ride out fakes, and being acquainted with the speed of the college game both benefit SCH over RFCH.

However, there is some unlearning to do that will favor RFCH. The footwork in the system is likely to be completely different, and SCH will have to forget all the old stuff if he wants to succeed. This is similar to the situation of the O-linemen. Also, SCH will be unfamiliar with reading the DE on zone-read plays (which we all know are a very important part of the RichRod offense). RFCH might have to adjust to the speed of DEs at the college level, but he won’t be trying to wrap his mind (already filled with other information) around something completely new.

In all, I think it is preferable to have veteran players, regardless of whether you are teaching an entirely new system or not. While there is some unlearning to do, they are also more used to the process of learning football things than new players would have. They might make a couple mistakes by accidentally replicating the old system, but is that really any worse than a mistake of completely not knowing what you have to do? Also, there is the conditioning issue. Even if Michigan’s old S&C regime was outdated, it was a college training program (and returning players have also had Barwis’s winter program as well). Under almost any circumstances (i.e. you are not trying to re-teach a quarterback with the intellect of Anthony Morelli), you’d take the veterans. Alas, Michigan doesn’t have that choice at many positions (especially quarterback), and will be starting young(er) guys almost all over the field.

Posted under Coaching, Personnel

Coach Rod was a guest on The Herd on ESPN radio today yesterday (sorry, more important things came up yesterday to post about it then). Colin asked him the general questions you’d expect from someone who doesn’t follow the program all that closely (i.e. respond to Boren comments, what will you do without Pryor, etc), to which the response was generally “I only like to talk about the guys who play for Michigan.”

However, Colin did ask him one good question, about why he took the Michigan job when he passed over Alabama’s head coaching vacancy just a year earlier. While Rodriguez said he couldn’t talk too much about it while his lawsuit was ongoing, he did give one interesting comment.

“Alabama was a super situation. There’s a lot of things that went on that I’d like to discuss, but I can’t because I’m in the middle of this lawsuit, but the Alabama thing was very tough to turn down. I was happy at the time to stay at West Virginia, then things happened.”

This definitely gives credence to the theory that Rodriguez was looking to get out of Morgantown, wherever he ended up, rather than wanting to go to Michigan while not considering what it would mean to West Virginia. He doesn’t know when the lawsuit will be wrapped up but (obviously) hopes it wraps up soon.

Herd was very complimentary to Michigan, though he obviously was never a fan of Lloyd Carr. Nice to hear that the grudge against the program has ended. He also likes the way Michigan has scheduled in the past (with Notre Dame, Oregon, etc.), and hopes to see that continue. Rodriguez noted that the difficulty lies in getting people to come without promise of a return visit. Cowherd also told WVU to get over their Rodriguez grudge: he brought a “joke” program to prominence, and now they hate him for it.

Also, the word of the day was “tickled.” I am not joking. Here’s the full audio.

Posted under Coaching

A lot of Michigan fans are wondering why everyone is talking about new Director of Strength and Conditioning Mike Barwis. There was never much discussion about the old guy, Mike Gittleson (except of the “ARGHHHHH GITTLESON I HATE YOU” nature), so why is Barwis on everyone’s mind all the time? Obviously he is a great S&C guy, but what makes him this way, and even still, what is so different about Barwis that it makes him a pseudo-celebrity, when I have never heard the name of a single other S&C coach in the country?

First, Barwis is a very good Strength Coach. He has unique workouts that focus on the core of the body, and are designed to help football players. While other gurus might train in ways that make guys bigger simply for the sake of having more size, or faster just to be able to run a better 40-yard dash time, Barwis designs his drills after football-specific movements, to make his guys better football players, rather than better weightlifters (or sprinters). Barwis takes a very scientific approach to everything he does, and won’t do a workout if he can’t explain the reason for it scientifically.

Another aspect of Barwis’s coaching that is noteworthy (at least to Michigan fans) is the fact that he holds every player accountable for their workouts, both in and out of season. If a player is too injured to work out, he is on the bike, or seeing the trainer, or doing something else to help him become a better football player. Under the old S&C staff, if a guy was hurt, he simply didn’t show up at Schembechler Hall for his scheduled workout. The offseason workouts are still nominally voluntary, but as Coach Rodriguez says, “so is their playing time.”

The results speak to Barwis’s prowess as a Strength Coach. West Virginia has been one of the most successful teams in the country over the past four years, despite not reeling in top recruiting classes. Thanks to a great conditioning program, the Mountaineers have been able to run other teams ragged, and outwork them over the course of four quarters to get a victory. For Michigan fans who say that the results for the Wolverines wouldn’t have been different with better conditioning (and that in-game coaching is instead more important), I point to the 2006 Rose Bowl, when the O-line was clearly out of shape, and the first two and last one game(s) of 2007, where the team was clearly not in game shape. They would have beaten App State, and at least not embarrassed themselves against Oregon and Ohio State. As further evidence, look at Ryan Mundy. He was forced out at Michigan because he wasn’t any good, and in the course of one year, Barwis turned him into an NFL draft pick.

The main reason Barwis has garnered so much fame, becoming a celebrity more than any other S&C Coach, is his personality. The guy is engaging and intense, as many interviews with him display. His players love coming to his workouts despite the difficulty, visiting recruits consistently say that he made them want to start working out then and there, and reporters are taken aback by his gravelly voice and intense demeanor. The famous video of Barwis giving a pregame speech to the Mountaineers before this year’s Fiesta Bowl (Thanks to commenter Max for furnishing a link and clarifying that it was actually the previous year’s bowl game) speaks volumes. Not only is the strength coach giving a pregame speech, it pumps the team up in a way that nothing else could, and is a perfect capsule of his motivational power.

When Rich Rodriguez came to Ann Arbor, many were excited for his unconventional offense and recent track record of success. Many were unaware that he would also be bringing along one of the best Strength Coaches in the country, and perhaps the man that is one of the biggest keys to his success. Barwis and Rodriguez seem to be linked for the long-term:

I was coming to work for Coach Rodriguez. He is a good friend and a tremendous coach. He is the one guy in the country that I really want to work for. Regardless of the situation, I want to work for Coach Rodriguez as long as he’ll have me. He’s my head coach. I have the utmost respect for him.

Michigan fans hope that the tandem can combine to bring the success they had in Morgantown to Ann Arbor.

Posted under Coaching

Since Michigan’s offense will call the zone-read option its bread-and-butter play for the next few years, fans are probably interested in how the play works. Slightly more interesting than “run left,” I assure you.

Most important to the smooth operation of the zone-read is not a quarterback who is blazing fast, but a signal caller who can make the right decision with the ball, and can at least do a little damage with his feet.

The play operates out of the shotgun, with either one back to the QB’s side or one split to either side of him. The running back for whom the play is called will start lined up on what will eventually be the backside of the play, since he crosses in front of the quarterback (this is not always the case in RR’s offense, but for the sake of the basic play, we will start with that). The offensive line will block down to the playside, leaving the backside defensive end unblocked. This is the player that the QB will read (hence the name “zone-read”).

The quarterback takes the snap, and the running back crosses in front of him. The QB puts the ball in his stomach, but does not hand it off. This is called the “mesh point” where either the QB or the running back can end up with the ball. It is at this point that the quarterback must be able to make a good decision with the ball, and read the defensive end. If the defensive end stays at home and holds contain, the quarterback simply hands off the ball to the RB. The offensive line is expected to outnumber the defenders, and block everyone for a good gain (or excellent depending on execution and the running back’s vision).

If the defensive end gets greedy, and decides to try to chase down the running back from behind, the quarterback pulls the ball out from the mesh point, and runs back past the end, and gets a decent gain (if the offensive line blocks well, the QB should be able to get to the second level without facing a defender). The quarterback makes this read if the defensive end turns his shoulders toward the running back, rather than keeping them parallel with the line of scrimmage, as he would if keeping contain.

For those who are visually oriented:

This is obviously the very basic play, so there are lots of other variations on it. For example, backs can be motioned into or out of the backfield, slot receivers can be used as pitchmen, the play can be designed to go towards the direction that the RB is lined up, rather than the opposite direction, etc. The option-pass can also be effective, with the play run the exact same way, but if the DE crashes, the quarterback, instead of trying to gain yards, rolls out for a pass, using the zone-read as a play-action.

If my explanation was confusing (and I hope it wasn’t), have Rodriguez explain it to you himself:

Posted under Coaching, Video

Article from the Dayton Daily News, in which the general idea is “so what.” The article point out what other outlets (and Joe Tiller) fail to note:

“You know what?” Roundtree said. “It was my decision.”

Roy Roundtree didn’t switch from Purdue because Rich Rodriguez pulled some sort of trick move, he did it because he wanted to. Forcing him to stick to his Purdue commitment would have helped out Purdue somewhat, but at the expense of the kid, whose welfare is far more important in the grand scheme of things than that of a couple million-dollar sports programs. For Joe Tiller to claim that Rich Rodriguez is the only coach who recruits to the end, Kenny Demens and Brandon Moore would disagree with that:

“Michigan State, Tennessee, Boston College, Louisville … it was that stress again,” Demens said. “It was like I was being re-recruited, getting pulled out of classes, talking to coaches.”

and

“Almost all the schools still recruited me after I committed,” Moore said. “If I didn’t call them back, most of them stopped eventually. Some coaches started recruiting me a lot harder, like Tennessee, Miami and Duke. Sometimes you think, ‘Why even commit?'”

Again, if these guys wanted to switch commitments, they easily could have (including Demens to another Big Ten program). Joe Tiller attempted to slam Rich Rodriguez because it would have been impossible to slam himself for not completing his recruiting season.

Since Rodriguez and apparently Jim Tressel have decided to drop this matter, I shall henceforth stop piling on Joe Tiller’s moment of supreme idiocy unless something else comes out.

Posted under Coaching, Recruiting

2 questions this time around. The first comes from the ever-curious RJ, and it relates to slot receivers:

What makes all these small fast guys work better in the slot? It’s seems like fast running backs are almost interchangeable with this position.

The point of the slot position is to have guys who can get the ball in space, and do something with it from there. This means making a guy or two miss, or running over a guy, or just outsprinting people to the endzone. Mismatches are the name of the game, and these speedy small guys creates a speed mismatch against linebackers and even some defensive backs.

However, the small speedy guy isn’t the only type of player who can work out in the slot. Tight ends create mismatches as well, by being bigger than safeties, and (sometimes) faster than linebackers. They are able to make things happen by being a physical force from the slot. Toney Clemons is a physical specimen with near-TE size, but good speed and shakes like a smaller player, which makes him a monster in the slot.

As far as being interchangeable with running backs, that isn’t a bad observation. A lot of slot guys were scatback-type RBs in high school, whose speed is good, but size is lacking to take the beating that a running back will get in college. A lot of Michigan’s recruits at the position can be multiple-position players.

Next question comes from an anonymous e-mailer, relating to coaching clinics:

what is the point of coaching clinics? it seems like the coaches are just giving away their secrets. i heard that michigan state even sent some scouts to michigan’s clinic. what is the benefit of these clinics?

Well, the clinics are held with an intended audience of high schools coaches. While Michigan State’s coaches may have been at the clinic, Coach Rod has always been very open with his system, and he doesn’t fear that opponents will crack the system. College coaches are always traveling to other schools to swap ideas.

So now that we know the clinics are for the benefit of high school coaches, what does Michigan get out of it? They build a rapport with the high school coaches, and happy coaches will be more likely to send their top players to colleges that they have a good relationship with. It’s one way that college coaches can make inroads in recruiting.

The clinics also help develop future talent that will be able to run Michigan’s system. Teaching the zone-read offense to high school coaches means that more high schools in the state of Michigan (and Ohio, and wherever else the coaches come from to attend the clinic) will be running this offense. This means that players will be in the right positions for a transition to Michigan, and they will be more comfortable running the system by the time they get into school. It breaks down like this: if a lot of high schools are running pro-style offenses, there will be more dropback quarterbacks, blocking fullbacks, and road-grading offensive linemen developed in the high school ranks. If a lot of high schools run the zone-read, there will be more scrambling QBs and slot receivers to come out of the high school ranks, (more) ready to play in college.

Thanks for the questions, guys. Keep sending them and I’ll keep doing my best to answer them.

Posted under Coaching, Mail Bag, Personnel

Here are VB’s videos from the spring game:

Offense
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPGhsM2KPjQ&hl=en]

Enjoy

Posted under Coaching, Spring Coverage, Video

Full audio from Tuesday’s press conference.

Click me.

Also. Arist’s rendering of the new practice facility:

Posted under Coaching

Video piece based on Coach Rod’s press conference yesterday. Only covers the most entertaining part of the presser.

Coach Rod also talked about a lot of other stuff, but this was the funniest part. Full audio tomorrow AM.

Posted under Coaching, Video