Michigan Football is Terrible This Season
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NBA trade season, free agency and the draft are all this week, but first I have to touch on my Wolverines yet again.
I know I talked about them last Monday, and kind of gave a state of where I think the program currently is. But today is different. Watching them get absolutely hammered on Saturday night was a sobering reality of how bad this team really is right now. And it is everywhere. This team is not very talented, or the talent hasn't been developed yet, the coaching is at the bottom of the barrel, and while I still do not want anyone to get fired because of this COVID season, I feel like Saturday night was the deathblow for this staff. I don't think there should be changes, and this is pure speculation on my part, but I just don't see this team improving much, if at all, and I think Harbaugh and Michigan will end up having a "mutual parting of ways" at the end of the season. When I looked at the remaining schedule last week, I thought I saw one, maybe two more wins. Now, after what Wisconsin was able to do, and how thoroughly they pummeled them, I truly do not see another win on this schedule. I fully believe that they will finish 1-7, and definitely miss out on a bowl game, and be at the bottom of the Big Ten. The Wisconsin game was my last ditch effort to really see what this team was made of. This was the game where they would either show me they had some life, or if they have already given up. It was pretty clear, after the second interception, they gave up. From that second pick, and Wisconsin scoring pretty much right away, to push the lead to 14-0, Michigan just quit. I have not seen a team quit like that since Rich Rodriguez was the coach, and his teams were far less talented, at least on paper, than the one I watched on Saturday.
It was a deflating loss, it was a brutal loss, and my dad and I were left wondering, where do they go from here? We both agreed that what we were watching is fully on the coaches. Yes, the players have to play and make plays. But, coaches have to scheme a game plan that works, and works with the players who get the bulk of the playing time. This Michigan defense just seems lost. They over pursue. They get beat to the outside in the run and pass game. The corners are not good. They commit far too many penalties. The D line cannot get pressure, and they got gashed in the run game Saturday night. I understand that they are missing Aiden Hutchinson and Kwity Paye, but Michigan recruits and gets top flight players every year. Injured players are not a viable excuse anymore. The linebackers seem like the only players worth a darn, but even they get beat in the pass game, and their tackling, outside Cam McGrone, is not good. The offense is just as lost, if not more so than the defense. The O line, since the opener at Minnesota, has totally regressed. Again, you can claim injuries, but when they had Steuber and Mayfield they weren't opening any holes. They are not very good in pass protection either. The receivers are getting zero separation, and when they are put out wide for screens, they are too slow to make much of anything happen. The running backs don't get a chance to ever get going, and when they do get carries, they dance and bounce and are usually brought down by the first tackler. I still believe that Joe Milton is the guy. He is, for me, the lone bright spot. Some Wolverine fans may read that and chastise me and tell me to go watch Cade McNamara's TD drive. That was one drive against Wisconsin's backups when the game was totally out of hand. Milton was going to have ups and downs, I have been saying that from the start. But his upside is so much greater than any other QB on that roster right now. I say let him play through this and learn, let him get through this year, and let him develop.
Again though, this all comes back to coaching. These kids don't seem to have a sense of urgency or pride. That is on the coaches. The players seem to think that they will win just because they are Michigan. That's on the coaches. The players never seem prepared or ready, and have fallen behind early in every game this year. That is on the coaches. When the MSU game happened, I thought that was a one time thing. This team has been that same team for three weeks now. The team we have seen against MSU, Indiana and Wisconsin is who they really are. The Minnesota game was a mirage, and Minnesota isn't that good either.
I do still think the coaches should be retained. I don't want them to get rid of everyone for a myriad of reasons. I don't think they will get anyone that will excite the fanbase like Harbaugh did in 2014, and I don't think the NFL is banging down his door to be a head coach. Don Brown has had some great, great defenses since taking over, but his scheme is not working with these kids, and he doesn't have the talent. His refusal to change is also kind of alarming. Michigan is still getting beat with crossing patterns with ease. And I don't think Josh Gattis has been given full responsibility to run the offense. I still think Harabugh is influencing his play calling. But, as I said before, I feel like there will be changes. I think the way Wisconsin beat them was too much to ignore for the boosters and the more rabid fans. I also think that a change will put this team behind the eight ball for another four or five years. Michigan is not in a place to go out and get a top flight coach, and there will be attrition and transfers. They will have to start all over again. As much as I don't want to see it happen, it just seems inevitable at this point.
I will still watch Michigan football every Saturday, as I have done since I was a teenager, and I will root them on with all of my heart. But there is no two ways about it, this team is not very good, and they are poorly coached.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
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