A Dark Saturday: Michigan Football’s Biggest Problems
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It’s a very dark day for Michigan football fans. After losing to a Division I-AA team last week, we still held on to the idea that it was a fluke and they could regain enough control to have a solid season. After today’s 39-7 loss to Oregon, we’re suddenly looking for any reason why we would want to watch Michigan football for the remainder of the fall. The problems with the Michigan football program can’t possibly be discussed in a few simple points, but here are the six biggest problems with Michigan football from a guy that hasn’t missed a game since he was watching games on his Dad’s lap. It all starts with:
- Lloyd Carr. Lloyd Carr. Lloyd Carr. I think that most football fans would agree that if you keep the same coach in the same program with the same system and the same plays for too long, you start to self-destruct without even realizing why. A perfect example is Bobby Bowden at Florida State. Is Lloyd Carr on Bowden’s level? Not even CLOSE. Yet, the same coaching problem exists at Michigan with a coach that has been surviving on a National Championship that was TEN years ago. Any real Michigan fan wanted Carr fired four years ago. There’s only one way to get this program moving in the right direction again, and it starts with Lloyd Carr retiring, moving to Boca Raton, and never having another say in anything that involves football at the University of Michigan.
- Chad Henne is overrated. It’s not that I hate Henne. But if you watch every single Michigan football game, you never really believe that Henne is going to come through in the clutch and win a tough game for you. Sure, he’s came up with some big plays a few times (Penn State, two years ago to Mario Manningham was nice) but without All-American linemen and either Braylon Edwards or Manningham to throw to, is Henne really a star? I say no. Just listen to his interviews. Do you think that he has the type of personality that can control a huddle in a tight spot to win a game? There’s no way. Mike Hart has been and will be the only offensive leader on this team until they both graduate without ever winning a bowl game and never beating Ohio State. Poor Hart.
- The spread offense. This time last year, it looked like the obvious choice to replace Carr at head coach was defensive coordinator Ron English. Michigan’s defense was steamrolling teams and English was the hottest name in the Big Ten coaching circle. Now, Michigan’s D looks like they’ve spent the entire preseason preparing to stop a high school Wing T offense. Appalachian State and Oregon have came out in five-wide offenses with running quarterbacks and you would think that these Wolverine players had no idea it was coming. English really has two play calls against the spread: either rush the front four and let the QB run for a first down or send the blitz and watch his corners run behind receivers running with the ball for six. It’s at the point that Michigan fans are shocked anytime we force a punt. If Athletic Director Bill Martin doesn’t realize that his football program needs a completely new coaching staff that leads the program in a new direction, he should resign himself. Which leads me to:
- Scheduling. If you know that the only way to beat Michigan last year, with a swarm of pro talent on D, was to spread them out and attack their weak secondary; why would you schedule two teams to start the season that run this same offense? You can’t tell me that the multi-million dollar Michigan football program can’t hand-pick a few teams to start the year that likes to pound the football the way that Michigan’s defense is designed to stop. College football is a completely different monster than it was ten years ago; Michigan has an obvious weakness in its style and Martin needs to mask this weakness or continue to get dominated.
- The Big Ten Conference. Not only am I convinced that the Big Ten is the worst major conference in the country, I also think that the weakness of this conference has forced the leaders at Michigan to believe that their football program is better than it really is. The sports media has also been sucked in by this. When Michigan cruised through the first ten games of their schedule last year, no one realized that it was only because Notre Dame was terrible and the rest of the Big Ten had less team speed than Division I-AA teams. Everyone thought that they were really a great team, including me. Even USC was wooed into the idea that Michigan’s D was great until they finally realized at halftime of the Rose Bowl, “Oh wait, this secondary is really slow. Let’s go five-wide and throw all over them.” Now every team Michigan plays has an offensive template of how to dominate the Wolverine defense. I think I could throw for 300 yards against them next week. Here’s a prediction that goes WAY out on a limb. Notre Dame’s freshman QB Jimmy Clausen will throw for 350 yards and 3 touches next week and ESPN will be drooling about Clausen as the future of college quarterbacks. Just like Armanti Edwards was the second coming of Michael Vick and Dennis Dixon is the next Vince Young. Of course, this has nothing to do with Michigan’s putrid secondary.
- Fans at the Big House. College football fans that have never been to the legend that is the Big House in person may be shocked by this. But take it from a guy that’s been to 9-10 games there himself, other than the size, it is not a very intimidating place to play. Michigan’s rich alumni sit on their hands and expect to win every game in a blowout. The student section is fine, but it’s not like Madison or Columbus where the students spend their pregame getting rowdy in the bars. Michigan students sip wine on the golf course and discuss the latest books they’ve read. I think it’s great that Michigan students hold themselves to a higher standard, but it’s not the greatest thing during a close football game when the defense needs their fans to be so loud that the opposing offense can’t hear their audibles. I love going to Ann Arbor, but is the Big House one of the toughest places to play in the country? Just like the AP Standings, Michigan is not in the Top 25.
So that’s the biggest part of the story. There are probably 20 more reasons that Michigan’s football program is at its lowest point in the last 25 years. And sorry Michigan fans, but things aren’t getting better anytime soon. The Wolverines will be lucky to win five games this year, and they will probably be a lot worse next year, considering they lose Mike Hart, Jake Long, Adam Kraus, and Jamar Adams. These four are the only guys playing well right now. Maybe someone can figure out a way to get a letter of this sort forwarded to Bill Martin to let them know that big changes are not only needed, but are mandatory for the future success of this great institution. We just want some change. Give us a reason to watch next year’s team with a bit of optimism. Without a big change in coaching, strategy, play-calling, and recruiting style, I won’t have any plans for Saturday afternoons next fall. A world without Michigan football is something that I don’t want to imagine. Maybe I’m just in Dr. Evil mode right now, but throw us a fricken’ bone here.
