Don Brown: Michigan veterans, young and old, stepping into leadership roles

There’s a fringe benefit to the pandemic, in that the Wolverines are finding more leadership from players younger and older.

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Things have been different across the country beyond as far as college football is concerned. But the college game was just starting to ramp up for spring ball as the coronavirus pandemic hit, which changed the game considerably.

Instead of players getting their chance as returning starters, new starters or vying for a bigger role than they had previously, they were relegated to their homes. Meetings moved from the Schembechler Hall meeting rooms and the field at the Al Glick Fieldhouse, everything has taken place this spring in the confines of players’ own homes. So there’s been something of an adjustment.

However, it’s not all negative.

Don Brown discussed the adjustments with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast released on Tuesday, and noted that given that the system has remained mostly the same, it’s allowed with a strong level of familiarity. Thus, as they’ve made their usual set of changes that comes with every offseason, the younger players have benefitted from the tutelage of the upperclassmen.

There’s a reason why this is a great situation for Michigan right now.

“I also think another feature for us, and I’m certainly telling our guys, is we’ve been in this system for four years and obviously we’re tweaking it every year to a certain degree,” Brown said. “But at least in the commonality, our guys really know it. More importantly, our upperclassmen know it like the back of their hand so they’re able to work with the young guys and teach them the concepts. Because obviously, the best leadership comes from within.”

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So who’s been stepping up as leaders?

Most of the names aren’t particularly surprising. Of course, Carlo Kemp is one of them, given that he was a team captain a year ago. But it’s not just the fifth-year types or the seniors who are taking the mantle.

Brown notes a couple of younger players who have also worked to help the younger players along.

“The nice thing is you don’t have to lean on (the upperclassmen),” Brown said. “That’s happening on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis. You mention Kwity, you mention Carlo – Aidan Hutchinson is another guy that comes to mind up front. We have Josh Ross, but we also have a veteran in Cam McGrone now who knows the concepts well. So that’s a big help.

“And then on the back end, Ambry Thomas, who’s just such a solid leader. Brad Hawkins. Daxton Hill a year older. Vincent Gray a year older. We feel like we can hit the ground running as long as our conditioning allows us to.”

This offseason, as mentioned by Josh Gattis to Jon Jansen, Michigan also brought in a Navy SEAL captain who’s worked with the team to help enhance their leadership capabilities.

As Brown said, ‘the best leadership comes from within.’ Despite ‘leaders and best’ being in the fight song, a renewed energy as such might be the one thing that Michigan had been missing.

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Bob Shoop breaks down Michigan’s safety group heading into spring

The newfound Wolverines safeties coach shares his thoughts on his personnel and what he expects of them.

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Michigan had a pair of defensive departures this offseason, but it replaced them with two capable former defensive coordinators who are now position coaches.

Among them is Bob Shoop, who spent his last 12 years in college football as a defensive overseer, but now he’ll be attuned to the safeties position, as vacated by Chris Partridge, who left to be Ole Miss’ co-defensive coordinator.

While Shoop says that he intends to be a much more active recruiter than he has in the past, as he shared with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast, he was fortunate that he didn’t hit the trail immediately upon arriving in Ann Arbor. Instead, he got to stay in Schembechler Hall, getting to know his group and the lay of the land, learning exactly what he has at the safety position.

“When I first got here – Coach gave me an opportunity rather to get out on the road recruiting, to get in the office,” Shoop said. “During the day, I got to interact with the GA’s and quality control and I got to watch any projects Coach wanted me to watch – Coach Brown – and I watched all the games. I watched all the coverage cut-ups, along those lines. And then interact with those guys.

“And the thing about watching the game film and the cut-ups and things along those lines is really there’s only three guys that have a significant – three guys that played a lot at safety last year as Josh Metellus obviously is gone. Brad Hawkins is a guy that played a fair amount, brings a tremendous amount of experience. Obviously missed the end of the year against Indiana, Ohio State and Alabama. We need to get him back and healthy, because I think the expectations are he’s gonna be one of the leaders of this unit.

“And in Dax Hill. I knew Dax a little bit when I was at Mississippi State because I had him in the 2019 recruiting class as the top safety in that class. We went back and forth between Alabama and Michigan in the recruiting process. And really to have the opportunity to work with him here, I’m very, very excited about watching his development and taking him to the next level. But the experience he gained last year was really, really valuable. And I thought he did a really solid job in the Ohio State game, the Indiana – where he got an interception – and the Ohio State and Alabama (games) where he got thrown into the trenches against some explosive offenses.”

As Shoop explains, those are the two known commodities, but what about the depth behind them?

He says there’s a lot of expected contributors heading into next season, but he only has a certain amount to work with this spring, as freshmen RJ Moten and Jordan Morant don’t arrive until summer.

Still, he likes what he has and shares who should be impact players once they hit the field.

“The issue, really, as we head into spring is finding some depth there,” Shoop said. “I’ve gotten a chance this spring to work with some of the other guys and there are guys who there’s some expectation for. Sammy Faustin, German Green, Caden Kolesar, Tyler Cochran – those guys played on special teams. We have an early-enrollee in Makari Paige. Just – I’m really, really excited to work with those guys. Quinten Johnson. Guys I don’t know enough about, because I haven’t seen them on the field, but I have seen them work with Herb in the weight room and I have seen them work with Herb in winter program. They seem to have a great work ethic. They have great passion, great toughness. Seem to have a team-first mindset. They encourage one another and they have a great deal of pride as a position unit. So I think there will be a great amount of competition this spring.”

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Michigan football defense grades from the 2019 season

Michigan football ended its 2019 season 9-4. The defense wasn’t as good as year’s past but was better than most projected. How’d they do?

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2019 was a big year for Michigan’s defensive coordinator Don Brown. He has lost talented players before and simply reloaded, but this year was tougher. A lot of new players would start for him, and with two new defensive coaches underneath him, after both linebackers coach Al Washington and defensive line coach Greg Mattison left for Ohio State. Harbaugh would bring in Anthony Campanile from Boston College to coach the linebackers, and Shaun Nua from Arizona State to coach the defensive line.

The 2019 Michigan football defense was better than most people projected. Headed into the season Brown’s group wasn’t getting the respect they deserved. Even with new starters across the board and new coaches, they still had loads of talent and deserved to be a top-10 defense.

The defense would see new starters at every level. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson would get to start after waiting for his turn. Linebacker Khaleke Hudson sought out to redeem his poor 2018 season. Cornerback Lavert Hill would be the top cornerback alongside Ambry Thomas and Vincent Gray. Michigan would also get to see five-star freshman safety Daxton Hill debut.

Special Teams even had an interesting battle at kicker between Quinn Nordin and Jake Moody as last season ended with a debacle between who would start.

While the defense did better than expected, in the end, it just wasn’t enough as they couldn’t slow down the offenses of Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Alabama. They were given a tough challenge of Army early on in the season too and needed double overtime to take down the Black Knights

With that said, it’s time to review how each position, including head coach and coordinators, did in the 2019 season. I already broke down the offense earlier as it’s the defenses turn to get graded on their performance.

Defensive Line: C

Michigan’s defensive ends would see some new faces start for them. Aidan Hutchinson would be one of them and his sophomore season was a good one, finishing with 69 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, six pass deflections, three and a half sacks, and three forced fumbles. His partner in crime, and the other new starting defensive end, was Kwity Paye, who finished the season with 50 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and six and a half sacks.

While the ends were performing well, the defensive tackles are where Michigan had some trouble creating pressure. Carlo Kemp would be one of the starters and finished with 40 total tackles, four and a half tackles for loss, two sacks, and a fumble recovery. Michael Dwumfour would be playing through an injury for most of the season according to Dwumfour, and his play was affected greatly, finishing with just nine total tackles, two pass deflections, one and a half tackles for loss and just half a sack in the seven games he played in.

The depth behind the players wasn’t as rich as years past. Defensive tackle Chris Hinton would play in Dwumfours absence and didn’t have much production either, finishing with just 10 total tackles and half a tackle for loss. Defensive end Mike Danna, a transfer from Central Michigan, would play and help out with his veteran presence, finishing with 38 total tackles, three tackles for loss, three sacks, and a forced fumble. Defensive end Luiji Vilan would finally see the field after missing two seasons with injuries, and he had seven total tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and a forced fumble this year.

Linebacker: B

Josh Uche would continue to build himself up for the NFL, finishing the season with 33 total tackles, 10.5 tackle for loss, team-high seven and a half sacks, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, and a pass deflection. Devin Gil saw a step back in playtime, only appearing in six games and finishing with nine total tackles and a half a tackle for loss.

The biggest thing about the group this year was the emergence of Cam McGrone. Josh Ross was starting before him and finished the year with 18 total tackles in just three games before getting injured. McGrone stepped in for Ross and ever since then Ross hasn’t seen the field, despite being healthy enough to play. McGrone finished the year with 65 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, two and a half sacks, one forced fumble, and a pass deflection.

Cornerback: B-

Michigan got a boost for its secondary this year with Lavert Hill deciding to return for his senior year last year, and it ended up being the right choice in the end. Hill finished the year with 16 total tackles, nine pass deflections, three interceptions, and a tackle for loss. While it wasn’t an eye-popping season, he still overall played well.

The real star was Ambry Thomas, who overcame colitis in August, after not knowing when he’d return, and had a huge sophomore season, finishing with 38 total tackles, three tackles for loss, three pass deflections, and three interceptions, along with two fumble recoveries. With Thomas moving up to second-string, Vincent Gray would be moved up to third and overall had a quiet season. He finished with 20 total tackles, five pass deflections, and a tackle and a half for loss.

Safety: B-

Safety Josh Metellus made the right choice in returning to Michigan in 2019 for his senior year also, as he had a career-high 74 total tackles this season, along with five pass deflections, four tackles for loss, two interceptions, and a fumble recovery. Brad Hawkins was his original starting partner, finishing the season with 53 total tackles, and a pass deflection. An injury to Hawkins would force him to miss some time, but in the meantime, his playing time would get reduced due to five-star freshman Daxton Hill taking over in his absence.

Hill had an interesting year. While he would start the year on special teams, with Hawkins injury he moved towards defense and his role at safety. While Hill didn’t blow up the stat sheet like many were hoping for, along with showing signs of being a freshman, he was able to impress during his playtime. He had 36 total tackles, three pass deflections, two fumble recoveries, and an interception.

Now onto the special teams and coaching…

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Michigan football grades from VRBO Citrus Bowl loss against Alabama

Michigan football lost to Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl 35-16. How did each position grade out in the season finale?

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It wasn’t the way the Wolverines wanted to end their 2019 season, but against Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl, they lost 35-16. It wasn’t a playoff game between the two programs, but it was still a prime bowl game for both teams.

Michigan had the lead at halftime 16-14, but they weren’t able to muster up any kind of offense in the second half against the Crimson Tide. The defense had trouble trying to stop the mighty offense from Alabama, and while they contained it at first, they couldn’t hold them back in the end. Check out below how each position was graded on their performance in the loss yesterday.

OFFENSE

Quarterback: C+

Shea Patterson didn’t play well in his final game as a Michigan Wolverine. He finished 17/37 for 233 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, along with a fumble that was luckily recovered by the offense. He overthrew some passes to wide receivers that were wide open. He also didn’t have help sometimes as he would make some good throws to his receivers, but they couldn’t come down with it.

He took three sacks, which is a blessing as the Michigan offensive line helped him greatly. He did all he could to avoid pressure, but he just didn’t have it in him to play to his best abilities. Michigan needed the passing game to work, and with Patterson struggling it didn’t make anything easier for the offense.

Running Back: B

While the passing game was suffering, the running game was getting some action on the ground. Zach Charbonnet led the team in yards with 84 on 13 carries. Hassan Haskins got the start, but wasn’t as successful as Charbonnet, getting 61 yards on 18 carries.

The offensive line helped create good running lanes for both running backs, but they also broke some big tackles to gain extra yardage. Once Alabama started shutting down the running game though, Michigan’s offense crumbled.

Wide Receiver: C-

Donovan Peoples-Jones and Nico Collins both have to decide within the next 18 days on if they are going to the NFL or returning to Michigan for their senior year. Collins played well with four catches for 48 yards, but Peoples-Jones only could get one catch for 34 yards. That kind of performance won’t help his draft stock if he plans on declaring for the NFL.

The other wide receivers did well but also struggled with drops. Ronnie Bell had four catches for 53 yards, and Giles Jackson had four catches for a team-high 57 yards. Mike Sainristil had only one catch for eight yards. Overall the receivers couldn’t get much separation from the Alabama secondary and with drops all around the board, they weren’t helping out much either.

Tight End: B-

Nick Eubanks was the lone player to score on offense as he finished the game with two catches for 14 yards and a touchdown. The blocking by him and Sean McKeon was average and it was able to help out Patterson when he was faced with pressure.

Offensive Line: B+

The best unit on the offense was the offensive line hands down. While they let Patterson get sacked three times, they gave him a lot of time to throw the football. Even with the extra time, Patterson was forced to make some tough throws as the wide receivers couldn’t figure out how to get open.

Starting center Cesar Ruiz will have to decide his future at Michigan as well within the next 18 days. His loss would be a big blow to a unit that is already losing three starters, but his return to the school would help others develop and prepare to start on both sides of him.

Now onto the defense and special teams…

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3 Things to Watch for Against Alabama

Michigan football takes on Alabama in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day. Here are three things you need to pay attention to.

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New Year’s Day will bring new year’s resolutions, new traditions, new beginnings, and for Michigan and Alabama, a closing statement for their 2019 season. While this game won’t get as much attention as the College Football Playoff games got yesterday, it will still be a huge game lots of people will be paying attention too.

Michigan and head coach Jim Harbaugh will be looking for a big win over Alabama and head coach Nick Saban as the Wolverines need to upset the Crimson Tide to get win number 10 on the season. There are many things to talk about heading into this game, players contemplating the NFL draft, which players could see playing time in the bowl game, coaches taking on their former team.

For me though, here are my main three things to watch this week against Alabama as the Wolverines look to shock the nation.

1. How will Michigan’s secondary deal with Alabama’s loaded wide receiver group?

Everyone including myself has talked about this time and time again. How can Michigan’s defense, mostly the secondary, deal with Alabama’s loaded wide receiver group? It’s not going to be easy and something will have to give if Michigan is going to have a chance at stopping any of them from playing well.

Comparing the two groups of top three wide receives, Alabama’s is another level over the Wolverines top receivers.

Alabama Top 3 WR Stats

Devonta Smith – 65 catches, 1,200 yards, 13 touchdowns
Jerry Jeudy – 71 catches, 959 yards, nine touchdowns
Henry Ruggs III – 38 catches, 719 yards, seven touchdowns
Total – 174 catches, 2,878 yards, 29 touchdowns

Michigan Top 3 WR Stats

Ronnie Bell – 43 catches, 694 yards, one touchdown
Nico Collins – 33 catches, 681 yards, seven touchdowns
Donovan Peoples-Jones – 33 catches, 404 yards, six touchdowns
Total – 109 catches, 1,779 yards, 14 touchdowns.

The difference between the two teams is 65 catches, 1,099 yards, and 15 touchdowns. That difference is huge and something Michigan will need to somehow contain or at least slowdown. It won’t be easy to do, but that is the key to Michigan winning this game is to limit the Alabama passing game.

Cornerbacks Lavert Hill, Ambry Thomas, and Vincent Gray will be tested from the first snap until the final whistle. If Hill has a great game, his NFL draft stock can improve, along with Thomas if he chooses to declare. Gray will be back at Michigan guaranteed next season, so a good performance can boost his confidence and help him for his possible NFL draft appearance in the future.

2. Can Josh Gattis’s knowledge of Alabama help Michigan?

Michigan has some extra knowledge about Alabama’s football team ahead of the matchup. That is all thanks to their offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. Gattis was the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Alabama last season and he could know what to do against Alabama’s defense. While things might not be the exact same, Gattis can help his players grasp how the Crimson Tide defense works in general.

That extra information about Alabama could help Michigan out in a big way. While Gattis will know about the Alabama defense in a way, he also could know about the offense that they run. While he won’t know the schemes and such, he knows most of the players and how they work and what works best for them. He can help defensive coordinator Don Brown in figuring out how to stop the offense as well as they can.

Gattis could be the Wolverines secret weapon. Alabama knows that Gattis will have an insight on how things work, so they will most likely shake things up to surprise Gattis and I’m sure Gattis knows that will be coming. Gattis could be a big help for the Wolverines as the team gets ready to try and take down the Crimson Tide.

3. Don Brown’s response to another blowout to Ohio State

Last year, Michigan lost to Ohio State 62-39 and their response game was against Florida in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. What happened in that game? Michigan got blown out again, losing 41-15. This year it’s a similar story as Michigan lost to Ohio State in another blowout 56-27. Will Michigan respond to getting blown out in their biggest rivalry game by getting blown out in the bowl game once again?

That would be a horrible way to end the 2019 season as it would be almost a carbon-copy of the 2018 season with just one less win. Brown will need to certainly get his players ready for this game against Alabama. Brown had some interesting words when talking about his team rebounding after losing to Ohio State this year.

“Yeah, we’ve moved on from that,” Brown said. “I mean, obviously, you can’t let a significant loss like that linger. If you let it linger, then one loss leads to two losses. And I think our guys have done a good job of just putting that behind us and focusing on what’s in front of us. We’ve got a great challenge coming up here next Wednesday and, you know, that’s our 100 percent focus.”

Brown will need his defense as ready as they’ve ever been as Alabama will be the toughest type of offense they’ve gone up against this year. While Ohio State was the better team overall, Alabama’s receiver core is the best in the country and one that Brown will somehow have to overcome. If Brown doesn’t want the same ending as he had in 2018, he’s got to do something different.

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Schemmy Awards: Rookie of the Year

Three first-year players earned awards for the job they did on the field in their first year in Ann Arbor.

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Michigan football had a lot of true freshmen make big impacts on the football field in 2019.

Whether it be on offense, defense or special teams, first-year players came in and looked like wily vets throughout, whether it was right out of the gates or as the season progressed.

Therefore, at the annual Schemmy Awards, formerly the Michigan football bust, it was no surprise which first-year players were destined to come home with the hardware, a 10-inch replica of the Bo Schembechler statue.

The winners of the Rookie of the Year Award, given to the best true freshmen in each phase, were RB Zach Charbonnet on offense, S Daxton Hill on defense and KR Giles Jackson on special teams.

Charbonnet was a co-starter with redshirt freshman running back Hassan Haskins, but lead the team with 136 carries and 642 yards and 11 touchdowns. He set a team record for most rushing touchdowns by a true freshman in Ann Arbor.

Hill was a former five-star who came on strong later in the season, showcasing his top-end speed once he got the opportunity to be an impact defensive player midway through the season in the Rutgers game. He started the last two games with starting safety Brad Hawkins out with a foot injury. He finished the regular season with 28 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Jackson started right out the gates at kick returner, taking the mantle from incumbent KR Ambry Thomas. His biggest highlight was in the opening kickoff on the road at Maryland, where he took the first play of the game the entire distance to put Michigan up for good in that game.

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Michigan football grades from Week 13 win against Indiana

Michigan football defeated Indiana 39-14 yesterday. How did each position do in the win over the Hoosiers as the Wolverines prepare for OSU?

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After getting a big rivalry win over Michigan State last week 44-10, Michigan had to shift their attention to Indiana. Michigan was able to do just that and do it well, winning 39-14 as they improved to 9-2 before taking on Ohio State next week.

The passing game blew up again, and the defense was able to rebound after some early mistakes. Check out below how each position was graded on their performance in the win yesterday.

OFFENSE

Quarterback: A

Shea Patterson had another fantastic game as he continues to be hot at the right time of the season. He had back-to-back 300+ yard and 4+ touchdown games as he finished the game going 20/32 for 366 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. He did overthrow two easy touchdowns on one drive, but on that same drive, he delivered an absolute dime to wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones.

He used his legs to escape the pocket and keep plays alive, making it harder for Indiana to try and cover the multiple weapons he has in the receiving core. The interception was a poor pass by him, but that and the few overthrows only damned his performance a hair. His play right now is something special and something Michigan hasn’t had at the position in years.

Running Back: C+

Once again, the running game played in the background to the passing attack. Hassan Haskins got the start and didn’t get much production on his 13 carries, getting just 44 yards. Zach Charbonnet had more explosion, getting 46 yards on eight carries. Tru Wilson saw a glimpse of the action as he only had three carries for five yards. Michigan finished with 87 yards on 29 carries.

Wide Receiver: A+

There were some great performances by the Wolverines receiving core once again this week. Instead of it being Ronnie Bell, it was Nico Collins who was the top receiver this week, finishing with six catches for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Peoples-Jones made a ridiculous catch for a touchdown, finishing with five for 73 yards and the lone touchdown. Bell did find the endzone for the first time this year on a six-yard touchdown catch, his only catch of the game.

The freshman got involved too, as Giles Jackson got a 50-yard catch, and Mike Sainristil brought in a tight 35-yard grab. Redshirt sophomore Tarik Black wasn’t forgotten about either, getting three catches for 30 yards.

Tight End: C+

Starting tight end Sean McKeon got involved in the passing game but went backward, catching one pass for negative two yards. Nick Eubanks only had a catch for six yards. Both helped when it came to blocking and had some success with that.

Offensive Line: A-

Michigan’s offensive line had another good performance. While Patterson was sacked twice, along with the running game getting under 100 yards, the group excelled in pass protection. Patterson didn’t face much pressure and when he did it was from uneven numbers, making it harder for the five men to stop the attack. Next week will be their biggest test of the season and they need to prepare for it heavily.

Now onto the defense and special teams…

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Safety Brad Hawkins OUT, Daxton Hill starting against Indiana

Michigan football takes on Indiana today and will be without starting safety Brad Hawkins. Freshman safety Daxton Hill will start instead.

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According to one person close to Michigan who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, starting safety Brad Hawkins will not be playing today against Indiana and freshman safety Daxton Hill will start in his place.

The reason why Hawkins is missing today’s game? Precautionary measures. Hill has had game experience so it shouldn’t be anything new for the former five-star prospect. Hill has played in nine games so far this season, with 17 total tackles, three pass deflections, two fumble recoveries and one and a half tackles for loss.

Hill will start out with a tough test for his first game to ever start as Michigan is taking on a 7-3 Indiana team that gave Penn State a scare last week, only losing 34-27. With nine games under his belt though, starting shouldn’t be a huge transition for Hill.