Michigan Football: Tidbits from MaizeMan — Spring Practice Recap — Ongoing Comments About Spring Practices

1) With the recent NFL draft and some discussions about the talent level at Michigan over the years, I think, (because we are all Michigan fans) we have a natural tendency to overvalue the players at Michigan. We just think they are more talented than they really are.

Apr 13, 2013; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke talks to defensive tackle Willie Henry (69) defensive end Mario Ojemudia (53) and defensive tackle Ondre Pipkins (56) during the Spring Game at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Now during the RR regime it was tough because you had to take into consideration the style of play (but as I have maintained for a long time) defense is defense and although there are many variations of offense in college football defense relies solely on talent.

Michigan simply has not had talent, we have had OK talent and some very good kids and that talent was somewhat competitive when compared to other talent in the Big 10, but it was not even close to be considered elite talent or even up to what we all consider Michigan standards.

Note:
I have some say the problem with Michigan was not talent, that it was a matter of defensive coaching as if our offensive talent was elite, when I hear that I simply ask the question or ask people to check out Michigan’s offensive production when we faced tough defenses.

January 1,2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke talks with defensive coordinator Greg Mattison against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first half of the 2013 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Note:
We are so young and most of our quality depth is young, so numbers wise, something is going to have to give, but like most competitive situations things have a way of working itself out. Some kids just get too caught up in the “social aspects” of college life or start getting other “adult interests”, in the past especially in Coach Carr’s late years and all during RR tenure our lack of talented depth allowed kids to basically play despite lack of “desperation” when it came to production.

That is gone and if a player now wants to play regularly at Michigan he had better have his priorities straight or it will catch up to him. Players who get in trouble in off-season or decide they can go through the motions are going to find themselves looking up at more dedicated players.

Michigan (IMO) still has just a few of what I call “elite” talented players. I think more are coming, but they have an abundance of players who most other BCS programs would love to have.

The best news about Michigan is talent alone wont get it done anymore. There is a reason why players like Beyer and Morgan despite the “athletic numbers” continues to be starters.

Going into the summer and fall of 2013, I actually feel more optimistic and even better, more confident that Michigan is going to be among the top programs and it is only going to improve from here. I think this year is the year we finally see the makings of a dominant defense.

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Michigan Football: Tidbits from MaizeMan — Spring Practice Recap — More Thoughts

Okay, I can’t help it, just have to say a couple things (of course, this is my opinion).

1) Mike Cox, was drafted and of course the topic came up that the reason he did not play at Michigan was because of his inability to remember the playbook. For the last time, this is a fabrication that was started by people who simply wanted to justify why previous coaches did not play Cox (now if those same people would of said something to the effect that he fumbled occasionally in practice, or he did not fit the overall offensive scheme) that would be fine. But to try and say a kid, who went to Michigan and as far as I know, had zero grade issues, then goes to UMass. where he played in a more complex system (keep in mind, RR running schemes were very, very simple) is just another example of how people would throw anyone under the bus to try and say they are right or make a point.

August 30, 2012; East Hartford, CT, USA; Massachusetts Minutemen quarterback Mike Wegzyn (10) hands off to running back Michael Cox (5) against the Connecticut Huskies during the second quarter at Rentschler Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-US Presswire

One other note:
There is a huge difference between being able to play at Michigan and being developed up to your potential. The Big 10 (in terms of overall talent) has been down for years and no team as seen such a drastic drop in talent than Michigan.

The fact that we had to continue to play kids like M-Rob, Big Will, even Gardner I could go on and on, as a freshman should tell you about our lack of overall depth and talent.

3) More importantly, when it comes to development, once again I point out, there is a huge difference between putting in the time during S&C and actually improving on one’s development.

Barwis was the best thing during the RR tenure. He was sorely needed, when he came to Michigan our S&C program was not great (however it was more because of lack of emphasis vs. lack of knowledge).

But, and I think if you ask Barwis today he would agree when you ask kids to show up and then a majority amount of time, all you do is run, it gets old quick. S&C is a grind, its tough, but it got to the point where kids just wanted to get through the workout vs. see the end results.

Another negative aspect of all the running, the kids rarely did any extra stuff, they were just so glad they got through the workout, that they left and you did not see the number of kids around to see improvement.

January 1, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Michigan Wolverines defensive coordinator Greg Mattison prior of the 2013 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

So, as Gardner has recently stated, that he could now throw an “out route” blindfolded or when Coach Mattison keeps telling the players there are drills you can do in summer to help your pass rushing skills, these are positive trends.

4) I don’t know how many NFL players we currently have on our roster, but it is getting harder and harder to differentiate in terms of overall size and speed between Michigan players and NFL. That is not to say, Michigan is close to being as good as a NFL team or Alabama, but we are getting closer at least to Alabama.

Like I stated in my recent post about Clark, the overall program coaches, recruiting, communication to players and parents, physical practices, off-season workouts, ability for a kid to progress, all that is in place and improving all the time.

Now its time for the players, who are big enough and fast enough, to produce.

Come to the message board to read the entire post and give us your thoughts, agree or disagree.

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 — MaizeMan

Go Blue — Wear Maize!