Michigan Football: Coach’s Corner — Wolverine Renovation — the Story of the 2012 Season
Posted at 5:00am — 8/13/2012
Michigan Football: Coach’s Corner — Wolverine Renovation — the Story of the 2012 Season
A Season Overview
Last year was a magical season in Michigan football history, one that will not be soon forgotten and long appreciated. The idea of getting to a BCS bowl last year was a pleasant dream that became a reality. There were concerns, plenty of concerns: a new staff, no go-to running back, a still unproven but improving offensive line, no top level cornerback, linebacker play that was at best average, the direction and success of the new quarterback/wide-out/passing game, and the failure of past defenses to stop the run.
The staff got to work; the season started out with teams running right at Michigan’s run defense with success, but things improved. The 2011 Wolverine Team 132 had one great advantage, eight home games and the advantage was seized. The year started with a monster storm that caused the venerable old stadium to be vacated and the game prematurely ended. The Notre Dame night game and comeback was as good as it gets and provided a national stage for Michigan recruiting. And finally Ohio State came to town, sans Pryor and Tressel, and in a sloppy defensive effort on the part of both teams, Michigan won a game that should have been put away much sooner.
As always things change and this year Michigan has no such home field advantage and a very difficult schedule. This in some regards will be a transition year for Michigan football, one in which the coaching staff will make use of the veterans and a few selected freshmen until the more talented classes of 2012 and 2013 are on campus and/or ready.
Team 133, like Team 132, is still somewhat unproven and has concerns, maybe not as many as last year, but still important concerns. There are always concerns for football teams; the difference is to what extreme are the concerns? For example, some teams might have a concern as to whether or not one premier running back can emerge while another team might fret about having a third or fourth featured back.
The list of concerns for Michigan’s football team is not totally overwhelming but still is significant. There is nothing to be done about the schedule, so it is a reality and not a concern. This team could easily be better than the 2011 team but struggle to pile up wins, especially compared to last year’s total. But this group will likely hang tough and hopefully remain healthy, avoiding one area of weakness that still remains to a lesser degree, overall team talent level.
Any effort to make a hierarchy of concerns is at best arbitrary and as a result concerns will be presented in no particular order. Some concerns are obvious and have been discussed near ad nausea.
The initial set of concerns to be discussed involves the offense. In this area, unfortunately, there remain plenty of concerns.
First, will there be a go to running back that emerges after the unfortunate suspension of Fitz Toussaint? Last year’s team took off after Fitz emerged in mid season and struggled some to score points beforehand. Fitz running in the various blocking schemes, especially the inside and outside zone read, provided an option that opposing teams could not ignore. His success took some of the attention off of Denard and forced defenses to prepare for more than just Denard running the ball.
Fitz was looking very good this spring: faster, a little tougher, and running through holes even better. Thomas Rawls is being given every opportunity to win the job. He is a different type of runner. Whereas Fitz is speed and a little bit of everything else, Rawls is more primordial and runs with some speed but plenty of power. He had a solid spring but is not the home run threat that helps any offense. Both of the above could be better out of the backfield, but going to the flat still remains an option. The success of backs like Rawls depends on the offensive line push.
Vincent Smith is versatile, tough, and a gamer. He is the best Michigan back in the flat and can provide a few carries between the tackles. Vinnie is not a burner, but has very good vision in the hole, blocks well, and simply gets what he can.
Stephen Hopkins could play fullback or tailback depending on the need. He has experience, size, and catches the ball out of the backfield. Stephan can still block better and that may determine his playing time.
With Toussaint, this group was a team strength, without him it is an unknown and therefore a concern. This concern, barring injury vanishes when Fitz fulfills all conditions Coach Hoke will place forward.
Next up- the quarterback situation and the passing game will be detailed.
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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu
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