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Posted at 5:30am — 9/28/2012

Michigan Football: Coach’s Corner — A Sense of Understanding — The Beginning of the Tunnel

Light at the end of the tunnel is a phrase that brings comfort to many, if not all, who hear it. This phrase signals an end to hard work, a finished task, a realization of something of targeted value.

Just like last September, Team 133 is not at the end of the tunnel. It is instead somewhere, in a maze within the tunnel. Last year, the formula to get to the end of the tunnel was hard work on defense and a return to more zone blocking.

This year’s team has two tough losses, but perhaps Team 133 has something of value going forward, and that is a sense of understanding.

Sep 22, 2012; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines coach Brady Hoke talks to quarterback Dernard Robinson (16) before the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

The complete sense of understanding can be subdivided into many pertinent themes, all of value. First off, there is an understanding that Denard Robinson is no longer an experiment. The staff has worked with him for over a year on footwork, mechanics, and decision-making. He is at the point where the energy from the staff is spent for preparation and not for adaptation or evolution. He is the energy booster and like a 1944 Werner Von Braun V-2 rocket can blow the offense off its own launchpad or devastate the opposition. The coaches can now fine turn, suggest, and practice, then sit back and hope the latter possibility occurs more often than the previous going down the home stretch of the Denard era.

A second sense of understanding is that the recruiting success of 2012 and 2013 must be followed up with more skilled players. A few freshmen at skilled positions have wormed their way into the mix but this area has miles to go until tunnel’s end.

Third, there must be a sense of understanding that the freshmen playing, especially on defense, are more physically gifted than three-year veterans. The understanding will be that if the young and talented are close or equal in performance to the veterans, the young and talented will ascend.

Sep 22, 2012; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Fitzgerald Touissant (28) runs with the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

Fourth, there is a sense of understanding that there will be no easy way, but the way is also not littered with impossible missions. Each week will be a unique and independent test of any other game. Talk will be of no value and weekly positive progression may determine the Big Ten title. There may be games circled as paybacks or extra emphasis, but forget, with few exceptions (no names will be presented), the idea of circled sure wins. This is a dogfight, and the team that best fights like the cornered dog may come out with the bone.

Finally, as stated many times, there is a sense that this hybridized spread team will soon morph into a quick cocoon and emerging with an entirely different set of methods and materials. This by some is considered wise, by some unwise, and by some as to be determined later.

But it appears the coaches have finished with their sense of understanding and are going forward with the final stages of the larvae period. The cocoon will be unwrapped next spring and will undergo several stages before complete metamorphosis is obtained. Some creatures take years to reach final stage and some fly through the period with surprising rapidity.

It is the fervent hope of the author that all of you have a sense of understanding and are not bugged by the topic of the article.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu

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