Michigan Football: Jim Harbaugh opens up about Wolverines offense

Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh met the media Monday and offered some details about the Wolverines new offensive system.

While you never know what you are going to get from Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of Michigan football opened up Monday about the offensive changes being implemented by the Wolverines.

Speaking to the media for the first time since the Peach Bowl after the Wolverines opened spring football, Harbaugh, entering his fifth season, addressed some of the offensive changes.

Obviously, Harbaugh didn’t divulge a ton of details about what Michigan football will be doing on that side of the ball under Josh Gattis, however, he did offer some up key tidbits.

One of the most interesting things Harbaugh said Monday was that Michigan was going to huddle less. He also mentioned that there was going to be a faster tempo, which is a really good thing overall.

It’s great to be able to control the clock and run the football, but in today’s world of college football, you need to be able to score 50 points and doing that can require running a lot of plays. More plays equal more points, at least in theory.

Michigan football was known for lengthy drives last season, which isn’t a bad thing, but when those drives end up with field goals or not points, it kills you, particularly if you are playing from behind, such as in the Northwestern game. UM wound up winning but had no margin for error.

And the Wolverines have too many playmakers to play slow offensively. Donovan Peoples-Jones and Nico Collins are legit NFL prospects at wide receiver and Tarik Black could be too if he can get and remain healthy.

Shea Patterson is a big-time quarterback and going into his senior season, he’s the most advanced signal caller Harbaugh has had at Michigan. Interestingly enough, Harbaugh also indicated that the top three quarterbacks, Patterson, Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton, who the head coach listed purposely in that order, were receiving equal snaps.

Some will be encouraged by that because they want to see McCaffrey win the job and if he truly is better, he should. However, Patterson is a really good player too with very good accuracy. He has all the tools to have a very special senior season, especially if Gattis can get the handcuffs removed.

A faster tempo will mean more throws for Patterson or whoever is at quarterback and that’s a good thing too. Patterson only attempted about 25 passes per game, while someone like Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State was well over 30.

In addition to talking about a faster pace and adding more no-huddle concepts into the offense, Harbaugh also dropped hints of using the fullback less. During his press conference, he indicated that Ben Mason would be switching over to the defensive side of the ball to play either defensive tackle or end because the coaches wanted him on the field more.

And with the new scheme, outside of short yardage stuff, the fullback is apparently being phased out. Mason should still get his short-yardage attempts and be in the game as the ball carrier or blocker, but other than that, there isn’t really a role for him on the offense.

I love the idea of not having a fullback. This team needs to get its athletes on the field. Mason is a tough guy that you love having on your team, but his talent will be better used on defense. Fewer two-back sets will be good for the offense too. With all the depth at wide receiver and tight end, plus the experience along the offensive line, this team was made to spread teams out.

And from the sounds of it Monday, that’s exactly what the Wolverines plan to do and hopefully, sometime this spring, we will catch of glimpse of what it all looks like, even in the early stages.