Tag: Michigan Football

Josh Gattis explains pros/cons of Alabama familiarity

The former Crimson Tide co-offensive coordinator is now leading the offensive charge in Ann Arbor. There’s both good and bad with that.

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It seemed to be something of a coup when Michigan was able to pull offensive coordinator Josh Gattis from Alabama.

The co-offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide seemed either destined to stay in Tuscaloosa, or more likely to be headed with Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, who accepted the head coaching job at Maryland. But a phone call later, and Jim Harbaugh hired him away to overhaul the Wolverines offensive attack.

It took a minute to take ahold, but once it did, it took off.

Now it needs to continue taking off, with the Wolverines set to take on Gattis’ former team in the VRBO Citrus Bowl come Jan. 1. As far is the matchup is concerned, just one year removed from having his former team in the College Football Playoff, Gattis is ready to go against the Tide, eager to prove he made the right decision to defect back to the Big Ten, from whence he came.

“Games like this, you don’t need to motivate me any more,” Gattis told Jon Jansen on the Inside Michigan Football radio program. “There’s one guy in the building that has to worry about it (and) I’m excited! I think it’s a great opportunity for our team. And I say that when most people consider it a great challenge.

“It’s a great opportunity for our team to display who we are and how we’ve been practicing and playing and performing at a high level. Obviously, disappointment off our last game. It’s not how we want to finish the year. We want to finish the year with a different taste in our mouth and being able to go out – what better way to go out and finish a last game than playing against a team that’s pretty much set the bar in all of college football.”

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While Michigan fell in the final game of the regular season, the offense didn’t seem to be the issue overall. The Wolverines moved the ball with relative ease against the then-No. 1 defense in the nation in Ohio State, but stalled out in the second-half after the Michigan defense continued to let the Buckeyes score without impunity.

However difficult this Alabama team might be, Michigan’s offense might have something of an advantage — provided it executes — given that Gattis knows precisely what Nick Saban’s team wants to do, and the tendencies of many of the players that will be on the field at Camping World Stadium.

“I think from a game-planning standpoint, there is (an advantage),” Gattis said. “I think just understanding the identity of the defense. Knowing the players, knowing their strengths and weaknesses, things that give them problems from an overall defensive standpoint. They’ve had some challenges this year, just as we’ve had some. They’ve had to overcome that. But ultimately, it’s about executing. In between the lines, in between the whistles. It’s one thing to know how you can take advantage of a team, it’s another thing to do it.

“For us, it’s really stressing the importance of the details. You look at the last game when we went out and didn’t have success in the second-half, it just went down to simply all the details: catching the football, making the right blocks, hand placement, right reads, right throws. Just a number of things we can control on our end that we have to continue to do for us to win.”

But knowing the strengths and weaknesses — that’s a double-edged sword.

While Gattis knows Alabama, Alabama assuredly knows Gattis, and by proxy, Michigan. The Crimson Tide won’t have to look very far schematically to understand how to stop the Wolverines. Gattis acknowledges all they have to do is look in the mirror.

That’s why execution becomes critical, and why Michigan can’t afford to turn the ball over or drop passes like it has in so many big games this season.

“I think that one thing is their familiarity with what we do, because offensively, we’re both the same team,” Gattis said. “They’re gonna have a lot of familiarity with what we do and play certain things. But we just gotta do it better. We’ve gotta do the small little details, the small techniques. Execute our assignments, execute our fundamentals at a higher level. But I think they’re a really talented team. Obviously they’ve had a bunch of injuries, playing a bunch of young guys on the defensive side of the ball. Very talented in the secondary. We’ve just gotta play our type of ball, eliminate our mistakes and make sure we protect the football, because that’s the one thing they do a really good job at as an overall team is turnover margin.”

The VRBO Citrus Bowl is set for Jan. 1 at 1PM EST and will take place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Michigan’s coordinators share what they like about 2020 class

What the Wolverines coordinators like about their incoming players.

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Now that the bulk of the 2020 class has signed, the coaching staff can finally talk openly about what they like about who they’ve been recruiting all this time.

Michigan didn’t bring in its top-rated class by any stretch, but it’s a class full of ‘go-getters’ as head coach Jim Harbaugh has said, in that it seems like they want to be great more than the average group.

That’s excellent hyperbole, of course, but what can you make of the specific players coming in?

While the Wolverines didn’t bring in a five-star this time around, there was still a ton high-end talent to be excited about if you’re a Michigan fan.

On the offensive side of the ball, the maize and blue brought in a few playmakers that have the look of immediate contributors, seemingly tailor-made for new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ ‘speed in space’ schematic attack. Speaking to Jon Jansen on the Inside Michigan Football radio show, Gattis shared which incoming signees really stand out in the 2020 class, and why some of the other position groups are particularly special.

“I think we had a really good skill class as far as when you talk about skill players, we’ve got a dynamic running back in Blake Corum,” Gattis said. “You look at some of our skill perimeter players: A.J. Henning, Roman Wilson, Eamonn Dennis – those guys have a chance with the ball in their hands to put fear into an opposing defense and defensive coordinator. Guys with great ball skills and can run routes. Blake is a guy that’s tough, is versatile, can run routes out of the backfield, can run the ball, can really hit it home, being a home run hitter.

“And also, you look at the tight end position and Matt Hibner. A guy that have versatility, can catch the ball, can block. Everything we need from that standpoint. And also reloading up front, getting some big guys. Big, tough, physical linemen that can really move people up front, but also have the versatility to play inside or outside, whether it’s center-guard or guard-tackle. We feel like we’ve got a really complete class that we were able to sign on offense.”

While this offensive class certainly has its share of playmakers, the 2020 class has the look of being more defensive-oriented.

13 of the 22 signees project to the defensive side of the ball, while there are a handful — like the aforementioned Dennis — who are projected to the offensive side, but could be equally suited for the defensive side.

Defensive coordinator Don Brown also spoke to Jansen about the incoming group, and he seemed particularly pleased with the men he’s bringing in up front along the defensive line when asked about which players stand out in the 2020 class.

“Very athletic. This is the most athletic group we’ve signed on defense and the biggest,” Brown said. “We’re really excited about it. You alluded to up front – Braiden McGregor was the first guy in the door on Wednesday in terms of getting his letter of intent in. He’s a Michigan guy. He’s a big guy. We’re expecting big things from him. Aaron Lewis, Kris Jenkins for sure. We’re fortunate enough to pick up Jaylen Harrell who’s a guy in the mold of a Josh Uche-type, who can really rush the passer, play middle linebacker, but he also has tremendous size. He’s 6-5, 240-pounds.

“Again, athletically, we really feel like we’ve signed four guys that can flat-out play up front, for sure.”

What Michigan sees in 2020 QB signee Dan Villari

What the Wolverines coaching staff sees in its 2020 quarterback signee from Long Island, New York.

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It all happened so fast.

On December 14, as Michigan basketball faced a top ten Oregon team, a skeleton crew of staff members hosted a small number of recruits and commits. Much of the staff was out of town, recruiting for the future while securing there’d be no surprises come Early Signing Day that upcoming Wednesday. But there was one uncommitted prospect in town from the 2020 class: quarterback Dan Villari.

Villari, from Massapequa (NY) Plainedge, was under-recruited, as his region isn’t exactly a hotbed of Division I-level college football prospects. He sat in the stands at Crisler Center without an offer, but getting his first taste of Ann Arbor, seeing if it was a fit. After all, Michigan was still hopeful that now-Ohio State signee C.J. Stroud — who had visited the week prior — would choose to be a Wolverine, and this was all in the wake of J.D. Johnson — who had been committed for nearly a year — announced he wouldn’t be able to play football any longer due to a congenital heart defect that was recently detected.

Villari took it in, and hoped for that offer. It soon came, on Signing Day. It took all of a few hours for him to make that decision, to become a Wolverine and sign the papers making it official.

We know what went into Villari’s choice, but what about Michigan? What did it see in him? After all, he was unheralded, a three-star ranked well below most of the Wolverines’ 2020 signees and commitments.

Naturally, he wasn’t just a consolation prize, as some might suggest. Speaking with Jon Jansen on the Learfield IMG weekly Inside Michigan Football radio show, Michigan director of recruiting Matt Dudek shared some traits of Villari that piqued the team’s interest, and how the staff went about finding him after Johnson announced his retirement as a football player.

“Watching Dan – and we obviously had the unfortunate circumstance of our quarterback committed being medically DQed for us – we love him, can’t say his name right this second but everybody knows,” Dudek said. “It’s one of those deals where we’re honoring his scholarship. We were put behind an 8-ball because of that – not his fault.

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“You recruit quarterbacks typically two years in advance. So now we’re three months out, two months out from signing day. So we went through, my staff – Nate Crutchfield, Jerret McElwain – we went through and scrubbed everything. Not just main commitments, main school commitments – we went back on all the guys we already evaluated, and we stacked Dan Villari up against all the guys that we watched, and there’s something special about him. He is a big guy – so a little different than what we have – than Cade. Nothing against Cade. Cade’s a little bit shorter guy at 6-foot, and I can’t talk about the other guy I was thinking about now that may be coming at a later date, at a later class (Ed. note: presumably J.J. McCarthy). The difference is he’s a little bit bigger. He’s athletic, he can move. He’s a lacrosse player, so he has that competitive nature in him. Throws a really good ball, but that being said, he cannot even play in the second-half of even most of his games.

“In November, his coach was suspended for a game for running up the score, quote-unquote, so he didn’t even play in the second-half. So he has a lot of growing to do. We’re really, really excited about Dan.”

Harbaugh discusses ‘opportunity’ Michigan has against Alabama

Why the Wolverines head coach sees this game as less of a challenge and more of an opportunity.

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It’s a word that seems has been used more than any other once Michigan’s VRBO Citrus Bowl opponent in Alabama was announced:

Opportunity.

The Wolverines aren’t shying away from facing a team that has been in every single College Football Playoff since its 2014 inception, that is, until this year. The Crimson Tide haven’t just been there, they’ve been in the final game every year save for that first year.

So while you’d think that Michigan would call it a challenge, perhaps it’s looking at it in more optimistic terms. That is, to say: an opportunity.

“Great opponent on New Year’s Day,” head coach Jim Harbaugh told Jon Jansen on Learfield IMG’s weekly Inside Michigan Football radio show. “Big challenges for the team and the coaches. And opportunity. The opportunity of thinking you’re a good team and wanting to go out and prove that.”

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And that’s why it seems like there’s a concerted effort by players to play in this game.

Josh Uche, the talented SAM linebacker who also plays defensive end depending on the play, already announced he would forgo his final year in Ann Arbor to try his hand in the NFL. However, he’s still going to play in the bowl game, he’s said.

In fact, the Wolverines reportedly have had a full complement of players participating in the bowl practices, with a full intent to play on Jan. 1 when the time comes.

Some have said, like quarterback Shea Patterson, that no one should sit this game out, given the opponent and how the last game went. Others have looked at it as the best opportunity to prove their draft stock.

That’s how Jim Harbaugh sees it for the outgoing players. This isn’t just a chance to show that Michigan can hang with the best teams in the country after losing three games thus far — it’s a chance for the players who are about to depart to prove they’re among the best in the nation themselves, one-on-one.

“The thing that should be on the mind the most is the opportunity,” Harbaugh said. “Lavert Hill – what kind of opportunity he has to go up against the Alabama receivers and show how good he is. Josh Uche, you mention him, the opportunity he has going up against two tackles that will probably be drafted in the first 20 picks in the NFL Draft. Jon Runyan, the opportunity he has.

“I think the way they oughta think about it and the way their mindset should be is: they’re good, and they’re gonna go up against good players. And there’s an opportunity to show just how good you are.”

That said, there’s several players we haven’t seen that we very well could see in this game.

Michigan is using their bowl practices to prepare for Alabama, sure, but it also has been getting other players ready for the future. That includes several signees who haven’t even officially started yet who participated in practice this weekend in limited capacity.

But what about the players who either have been injured and are now healthy or those who just haven’t gotten playing time in games this season? Harbaugh notes the onus is on the staff to prepare for the Crimson Tide, and they are doing that. However, simultaneously, they are preparing for the future.

“The emphasis is getting ready for the game against Alabama, but surely, anybody can realize there’s an opportunity for players that were on the scout team that are gonna be getting ready for spring ball to take advantage and create an opportunity for themselves,” Harbaugh said. “Willing to see that. There’s guys that can play in this game and still keep a redshirt year. There’s an opportunity in that way. Josh Ross, Mazi Smith, David Ojabo. There’s plenty of guys that are taking advantage of these practices.”

We’ll know more about how that will all work out come Jan. 1, when the Wolverines and Crimson Tide face off at Camping World Stadium in Orlando at 1PM EST.

Big Ten, big ’20s: Michigan football

Michigan football in the 2020s

Adam Biggers used to work with me at a college sports site which got shuttered a few years ago. He has covered Michigan and Michigan State sports for multiple outlets over the past several years as a beat reporter. He has been in the room for much of the past decade, when Michigan struggled to regain a foothold in the Big Ten Conference and create a new Ten-Year War with Ohio State.

If anyone wants to know what’s really going on inside the walls of the Michigan program, I turn to Adam Biggers. I asked him for perspective on some of the biggest questions facing Michigan Wolverines football in the new decade.

This is what Adam Biggers said:

The biggest storyline: Jim Harbaugh was once known as a QB whisperer… when will one of his own be a star, the kind of player for which Michigan desperately searches?

All his QBs have been transfers or NOT his own recruits.

Wilton Speight was the closest one, given that he came up within the Michigan program, but he was still a Brady Hoke kid.

Jake Rudock was from Iowa. Shea Patterson was from Ole Miss.

Brandon Peters, the one who was supposed to be the successful home-grown Michigan quarterback, transferred to Illinois.

John O’Korn was from Houston. That fell flat.

Joe Milton is part of a pile of upcoming talent. Will he get washed aside? Dylan McCaffrey is injury-prone.

When will Harbaugh complete the homegrown QB process?

From recruiting the kid, to the kid being star, to the three-year starter, etc.

Or is that QB no longer in style, given the transfer portal and the new normal in player movement?

Point back to Andrew Luck at Stanford. Everyone said Harbaugh was genius.

In the NFL, he developed Colin Kaepernick with the San Francisco 49ers.

Now what? Rent-a-QB?

Wilton Speight was THE closest to a home-grown Harbaugh QB at Michigan. Three years, two as a starter. It never quite panned out. Harbaugh is still looking for the Michigan man who can lead Michigan to greatness at quarterback.

– Adam Biggers

Charles Woodson on Michigan closing the gap with Ohio State: “We’ll make it up. We’ll be fine.”

Michigan legend Charles Woodson told TMZ Sports that the Wolverines will close the gap on Ohio State and be fine.

Every once and awhile we get a sound bite from former Michigan player Charles Woodson. To be fair, he’s usually pretty sensible when it comes to his analysis after games and isn’t afraid to hold the Wolverine program accountable for the play on the field.

Other times though when he’s not feeling deflated after watching arch rival Ohio State dismantle his alma-mater again, Woodson can put on the pom-poms and say things with emotion. Of course, you wouldn’t expect anything else from the former Michigan legend, just like you wouldn’t expect anything different from a former Ohio State great when it comes to cheering and believing in his team.

After another defeat at the hands of the Buckeyes, much has been discussed about the gap in talent between Ohio State and Michigan. TMZ Sports caught up with Woodson and asked him the same thing. Will the Wolverines ever close the gap on OSU.

“Yeah, we’ll make it up,” said Woodson. “We’ll be fine.”

He was then asked if Jim Harbaugh should be there for another year, and if the job were ever to come open if he’d be interested.

“Well he’s (Harbaugh) there as long as I know, so we’re going to work with that,” the former Heisman winner said … “I can’t coach. I can play. I can’t coach, I play.”

But perhaps more fitting than anything was a loud O-H cheer as Woodson turned away and continued to walk on away from the questions from TMZ Sports.

Michigan signee shows out on national TV

On Saturday, the Wolverines new receiver showed out on national TV against a Florida powerhouse.

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Michigan already knew it was getting something in four-star wide receiver Roman Wilson from Honolulu (HI) St. Louis.

The speedster who runs a clocked 4.37 40-yard dash signed with the Wolverines on Wednesday, but just because his recruitment is now fully over doesn’t mean that he’s done putting highlights on film. And he did so in front of a national audience.

In the High School Bowl Series, televised on ESPN, on Saturday night, Honolulu (HI) St. Louis took on powerhouse Ft. Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas. Down 7-0, St. Louis needed to get on the board, and the team’s quarterback winged it towards the end zone, where Wilson plucked the ball out of the air, despite being well covered.

But that’s not all.

Wilson further showed his athleticism in a tweet he personally shared. His quarterback looked down field, hesitated, went through his progressions and found the Michigan signee underneath. While the play didn’t go much further, some acrobatics got it a little bit further, as Wilson, with seeming ease, hurdled the St. Thomas Aquinas defender who came in to make the initial tackle.

If you’re looking to learn more on Wilson, check out our dossier, sharing everything you need to know about him.

Khaleke Hudson hilariously believes Michigan football has more talent than Ohio State

Michigan senior Khalike Hudson believes Wolverines’ roster has more talent than what Ohio State does.

Here’s one that’ll make you chuckle Buckeye fans.

According to quotes from Michigan linebacker/safety (viper) Khaleke Hudson, he believes there’s more talent on the Wolverines’ roster than what’s impressing NFL scouts on the banks of the Olentangy at Ohio State. This despite two consecutive blowout losses suggesting otherwise.

When speaking to reporters this week according to our sister site Wolverines Wire, Hudson took offense to any talk of a gap between the Buckeye program and Michigan. He first spoke to the facilities that have come a bit under fire since former Michigan videographer criticized the facilities in Columbus to what he was used to in Ann Arbor.

“I’m not sure what they got at their facility, but I know we got one of the best facilities in the world,” Hudson said. “And we’ve got one of the best coaches in the world. We got the best teammates in the world.

“I don’t know where they’re at, but I know we’re higher up.”

Hudson was then redirected about the perceived talent gap on the field, rather than the facilities and doubled down further.

“I feel like our talent is better,” he said.

Michigan gets a shot to try and back that up and wash out the sour taste of the Ohio State game when it travels to Orlando to take another team that many feel has a gap in talent far superior to Hudson’s team — the Alabama Crimson Tide.

 

Great Wisconsin moments of the 2010s: 2017 Michigan

2017 Michigan-Wisconsin

The 2017 Wisconsin football season was the winningest season in the history of the program. The Badgers went 13-1 and had one possession late in the fourth quarter against Ohio State to win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff. The 1993 and 1998 Wisconsin teams reached great heights. Those teams won the Rose Bowl and fulfilled the childhood dreams of Badger fans everywhere. The 2017 team, though, has “13-1,” a standard worthy of an elite program, a top-tier program, a program which takes a back seat to no one. In 2017, the pieces all came together — and fit together — for Wisconsin. The whole season was a joyride. Even the loss to Ohio State represented a game in which the Badgers played at or above expectations. They didn’t play below expectations in that game.

Several highlights emerge from that season. One of the more prominent ones was the Michigan game.

Remember that in 2016, Michigan came very close to beating Ohio State, winning the Big Ten East, and playing Wisconsin for the Big Ten title. Michigan didn’t look like a dominant team — it never has under Jim Harbaugh — but it was very close to achieving all of its goals. Michigan was showing signs of becoming what many people thought it would become under Harbaugh: The 1-B to Ohio State’s 1-A, the second-best program in the Big Ten.

No, Michigan never attained that standard, but at the end of 2016, it was plausible that it could happen. Enter the 2017 Michigan game.

If the 2017 season achieved something for Wisconsin beyond the boatload of wins, another Big Ten West title, the New Year’s Six bowl bid, and the win over Miami in the Orange Bowl, it was this: Wisconsin established itself as the second-best Big Ten program of the decade. It rose above not just Michigan, but also Penn State, which had won the Big Ten a year earlier but did not have the steady record of performance Wisconsin had. Wisconsin was a better team than Penn State this year, in 2019, and the Badgers deserved to beat out the Nittany Lions for the Rose Bowl bid against Oregon.

In 2017, Wisconsin didn’t pulverize Michigan the way the 2019 team did, but in some ways, the Badgers were MORE impressive, not less. Wisconsin took some strong punches from Michigan in the first one and a half quarters of this game two years ago, but they fought back and were dominant in the second half. Wisconsin established unquestioned physical superiority and left no doubt that it was the better team with a stronger program and a more hopeful future.

Nothing suggested or indicated by this 24-10 butt-kicking of Harbaugh has proved to be inaccurate or misguided in the two years since. Wisconsin has maintained the upper hand over Michigan… and Penn State… and every other Big Ten school not named Ohio State. The 2017 Wisconsin season was a dream, and Michigan endured a nightmare at the hands of one of the best Badger teams of all time.

Seattle Seahawks promote former Michigan DT Bryan Mone to active roster

The former Wolverine is being called up from the practice squad.

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Two things: don’t call it a comeback, and just because you’re not drafted or are demoted from the active roster to the practice squad, doesn’t mean you don’t have a shot at the NFL.

There are several former Wolverines who have made NFL rosters over the years, despite not going in the round of seven, including two with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as former defensive backfield teammates Jarrod Wilson and Brandon Watson are both on the squad of 53. Likewise, former right tackle Erik Magnuson was recently promoted to the Oakland Raiders roster. And now, another team is calling up another player who once wore the winged helmet.

Perhaps underrated in his ability as a Wolverine, former Michigan defensive tackle Bryan Mone was an absolute force in the middle of the defensive line, and was the best run-stopper for the maize and blue. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Seattle Seahawks after the culmination of the 2019 NFL Draft, and now it looks like his hard work has paid off.

According to Pro Football Talk, Mone has been promoted to the active roster, for the second time this year, after playing in the first three games of the season.

The Seahawks had a roster spot open up Friday when the NFL suspended defensive tackle Al Woods. The team is filling the roster spot by promoting defensive tackle Bryan Mone, coach Pete Carroll told reporters.

Mone originally signed with the Seahawks on April 28 after going undrafted.

In his three games to start the season, Mone registered three tackles, all in the season opener.

As a Wolverine, Mone accumulated 38 tackles with 6 for loss and 2 sacks in five years.