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It’s been a weird year, in multiple ways.
Not only with the country as a whole and college football at-large, but when it comes to reactions to things, it seems that everything is a bit topsy-turvy.
For instance: when Michigan football’s defense got decimated by the likes of Ohio State two years running, and the defense was an issue once again in Ann Arbor in 2020, many out there were saying Don Brown’s time with the Wolverines was limited. But, once the team dismissed him from his defensive coordinator post, there have been some opinions stating otherwise.
We here at WolverinesWire love Rivals.com’s Mike Farrell and Adam Gorney, but we don’t always agree with them. In their regular ‘Fact or Fiction’ column, the duo answered the question about whether or not Don Brown’s defense was the issue at Michigan, and both emphatically exclaimed no.
3. Don Brown was the problem at Michigan.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. I still blame the offense. It’s been boring and ineffective since Jim Harbaugh took over and the lack of consistency puts more pressure on the defense. Brown didn’t adapt his defense to personnel as much as people would have liked, but he is who he is. And so is Harbaugh. Look at the offense here.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I broke down each of Michigan’s losses during Brown’s five years as defensive coordinator and I’ve come to the conclusion that he was absolutely not the problem in the Wolverines’ struggles but is now the fall guy for all of Michigan’s issues. There were 19 losses in Brown’s tenure with eight of them by a touchdown or less. In many others, Michigan’s offense could not get going and the Wolverines’ defense could only hold up so long.
This last season was a struggle though giving up 49 to a bad Wisconsin offense and losing to Michigan State was inexcusable. Brown is a fantastic football coach who could only do so much. The offense remains the issue in Ann Arbor without question.
I’d say this is incomplete. The defense had been trending downwards since that regular-season finale against the Buckeyes in 2018. It was still quite good against teams that weren’t of Michigan’s caliber in 2019 — it ranked No. 11 nationally that year — but this past season, as the defense allowed 35 points-per-game, it was clear that it was a big issue. And, to rebut Gorney’s point — while admitting yes, the offense needs to be better, hence the philosophy change in 2019 with Josh Gattis — how many games is it OK to spot the other team 20+ points over the course of multiple years? Because the 2019 Wisconsin game and (the first half of) the Penn State game was largely as much of a defensive debacle as
Was or has the offense been an issue as well? Absolutely. But, just because that side of the ball continues to be a work in progress doesn’t mean that the defense’s regression should get a pass.
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