Michigan Football: 5 things we learned from Wolverines 6-0 start

Mike Macdonald was a great hire

Harbaugh had to rebuild his coaching staff and it started with the defensive side of the ball following the departure of Don Brown.

Brown did a lot of good things at Michigan football, but his time had passed. The Wolverines were well scouted and teams knew what to expect. There was no change-up.

Mike Macdonald, who came over from Baltimore, is all about mixing things up and developing a different plan for each opponent and so far, the results speak for themselves.

Michigan football is tied for ninth in scoring defense nationally, allowing just over 15 points a game. And in the red zone, it’s only allowed touchdowns on half of opponents’ 12 possessions.

It took until the fifth game for a team to score two touchdowns and while there were some breakdowns against Nebraska, I’m confident Macdonald will adjust.

Plus, as many people have said, you can’t stop people forever in college football. Look at Alabama and Nick Saban. It’s hard to dominate defensively against elite athletes for 60 minutes.

The best defense is one that limits big plays, forces turnovers (gets other impact plays), and gets stops in the red zone. So far, Macdonald’s unit is doing all of that. It also ranks in the top 30 in third-down defense which is another huge sign.

Macdonald is getting the most out of Michigan’s best players such as Hutchinson, Daxton Hill, and others which is helping on the field and will also help with recruiting.

So far, Harbaugh struck gold in hiring Macdonald and really, with all of his assistants.