Michigan Wolverine Football: Talent The Bloodlines

GBMWolverine Michigan Football TidbitsPosted at 4:55am — 4/13/2015

Michigan Wolverine Football: Talent The Bloodlines

Building A Winning Football Program — Talent The Bloodlines

Like so much in sports, the saying talent is the lifeline of a program may be a generalized cliché, however, the saying is accurate.

Talent is what most new coaches hunt for first upon being hired. Talent is a primary ingredient in the formula of winning: it is not the only ingredient, but is prominent if not foremost. Talent needs to be placed first since most coaching contracts stipulate between four and five years, with extensions for early success.

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Still, success is not a guarantee to long-term tenure as most schools have financial resources to simply buy out any coach. Strange things happen quickly in the landscape of perceived job longevity. Just two years ago, Jim Harbaugh was considered a shoo-in for the next several years at San Francisco. Now he has set up his professional shingle at Stadium and Main.

Recruiting has no one strategy, albeit the common fan believes the matter is simple: simply go out, throw the best pitch to the consensus best athletes and let the talent level be the difference between wins and losses. That has happened at several places, and in many college games teams with better talent levels simply beat a team with lesser talent. But the difference in program components, other than pure athletic talent, can certainly swing the final result. Such components may include, but are not be limited to, talent identification, talent development, coaching methodology, player management, and game management.

Regardless of worldview, a coach must start with the basics of Formism. There are philosophies, goals, objectives, program procedures, and everyday routine that must be established to initiate order. Coach Harbaugh’s necessary voyage into creating the underlying Formism of his program was short. His focus is in getting winning parts and making a successful machine.

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As inferred above, coaches are different in what is desired in recruiting. Some simply send out tons of offers and see what sticks to the wall. Some programs are very selective and downright stingy with offers. This is a luxury derived from the popular vibes winning provides. Some coaches seek very specific parts with precise attributes.

Coach Harbaugh hunts attributes. He did so at Stanford and to some degree at San Francisco. He really has no choice but to find the right parts for his system to advance Michigan past the .500 benchmark.

The attributes Harbaugh seeks are clear. He wants size. This choice cannot be argued, as even though Michigan is bigger than four years ago, the team is far from physically impressive. Any 165-pound player coming to Michigan will likely be a playmaker, such as a Steve Breaston. Harbaugh wants toughness and the associated physicality.

His early choice of running back recruits indicates he wants substance more than the wow factor guy that looks and dances pretty. He wants a guy that makes three yards on third and two, not a guy who is a yard short, or even an inch short. Harbaugh wants a strong listener who will use coaching and personal motivation to get better, not just tolerate coaching as a means to playing time.

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Harbaugh wants, make that clearly demands, hard workers. Performance will count more than any other characteristic. The way to better performance will be defined as working to the maximum fore the eventual aim of improvement, and be willing to accept the why. Stagnation will not be welcome with new or veteran talent. A mantra in such programs may become- soon you will enjoy hard work and become better, or you will be gone.

Harbaugh has long accepted that quarterback play is critical to the success of any college team. His background and his experience merge together in the acceptance of the importance of this position. This was his first true mission in securing Michigan talent. One would think with all the possibilities over the next four years that good results will shake out from this effort.

Other schools have current recruiting advantages over Michigan, in the ebb and flow of historic program success. But Michigan has its old aces in the hole: high character program, renowned degree value, a superior midsized city, and a high-level staff.

The mission is to increase Michigan’s reach and success in grabbing players like Jabrill Peppers, those who are supreme workers seeking to be supreme players. Harbaugh is well known, generates excitement and knows what he wants to create a winning team. Many places are not so fortunate.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu

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