Michigan Football: Coach’s Corner — Explanation, Positives, and What Happened to the Wolverines

Posted at 5:00am — 9/4/2012

Michigan Football: Coach’s Corner — Explanation, Positives, and What Happened to the Wolverines

Explanation:

This wrap is going to be a bit different. Usually we give a stat comparison and position group analysis. Not this week, instead we are going to take a good hard look at the Michigan program and where we see it at.

Positives:

Yes, there are positives and the Sun will rise and at sometime shine.

Michigan did not quit and that speaks loudly about the Hoke staff and Michigan seniors. Holding a team together when facing what is obviously a superior foe and being pressurized is not easy. And Michigan fought until the end, albeit without major benefit.

Also we saw several true freshmen in a near brutal debut that gave us small glimpses of the future. For instance, Ross was the only Michigan linebacker who showed the athletic ability to run and hit with the Alabama offense. From this point on it is tough to find many positives after getting physically manhandled. Alabama was simply a better football team than Michigan. There is an old saying in football: you will never beat stallions when you are playing with ponies. And that what was happening Saturday night, Alabama with its roster full of NFL caliber players, versus Michigan with a depth chart of too many walk-on’s and freshmen, who in a perfect world should be red-shirting.

What Happened:

This game was a reality check for the Michigan faithful. Last season’s 11-2 record and Sugar Bowl victory gave many a bloated opinion of the Michigan talent level. It is just not on par with the elite teams yet. Michigan was outplayed in every facet of the game Saturday. Michigan only has three or four players who even have a shot at starting for the Crimson Tide. That is the reality and in a perverse way Alabama did the faithful a favor by forcing us to take a more realistic look at this team.

Are these great kids who have busted their fannies and will give everything they have, H@LL YES! What Michigan has talent wise is just not enough to play the elite teams. Coach Hoke and staff have done an outstanding job of laying a solid foundation on which to build. The job is still not close to being finished; it has actually just begun. Coach Saban has multiple great recruiting classes from which to pull talent. This gives him ample time to let sleepers develop and grow. Coach Hoke with only a single class of his will need a couple of more classes before he rebuilds the talent pool and overall depth of our beloved program. Our good friend MaizeMan has said it best, Alabama is already at where Michigan wants to get. To the point where as the cliche goes, Alabama rebuilds, not reload, and Michigan isn’t there yet.

Just a reminder you must be a member to participate on the Message Board. Here is the link for the registration page for those people interested in becoming a GBMWolverine member of our message board. GBMWolverine Register.

Please comment on our GBMWolverine Message Board about this article and read what others comment.

You can contact us at our e-mail address: GBMWolverine

Follow us on Twitter:
@ErocWolverine
@GBMWolverine
@Mike Fitzpatrick
@YostMeister

Written by GBMWolverine Staff

Go Blue — Wear Maize!