First:
http://www.amazon.com/Endzone-Rise-R...=operasport-20 A must-buy.
Now...the season. I fully acknowledge that high school rankings mean less than squat once players arrive on campus...but this roster is absolutely
FULL of kids who had offers from all over the country. Until it became painfully obvious that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing and was doomed to be fired, Brady Hoke was one of the best recruiters in the country. There are two five-star running backs on this roster who had offers from everywhere, and a 3rd RB from Ohio who was very much wanted by Urban Meyer (don't let any Buckeye fans tell you otherwise). Amara Darboh had offers from ND and pretty much the entire Big Ten. Drake Harris had offers from the entire country and had one of the most dominating seasons in Michigan HS football history.
Our offensive line features a sophomore from Florida who had offers from all the major Florida schools along with pretty much the entire SEC (and the country) who started as a true freshman and performed about as well as you can. Ben Braden was heavily pursued by Wisconsin and was headed to Michigan State until his HS coach told Brady Hoke "you need to take a look at this kid." Kyle Kalis was universally regarded by pretty much every analyst who covers Ohio HS football as one of the most college-ready linemen to ever come through the state. Alabama tried to make a big push for him after he decommitted from Ohio State, and Urban Meyer pushed hard to get him to visit Columbus. If he had made the flip, I have no doubt he'd be headed into his 2nd year as a starter for the Buckeyes. Erik Magnuson had offers from literally every single school in the Pac-12.
This was never the case of Brady Hoke reaching for these 3* undersized "diamonds in the rough" like Rodriguez did. He recruited the way a Michigan head coach is supposed to recruit. If he and his coaching staff "missed" on the evaluations of
ALL these players, then so did every elite coach in the country that wanted these kids coming out of high school. Coaching makes more of a difference in college football than perhaps any other sport. Hoke was in a mile over his head, and he employed coaches just as incompetent as himself. Exit Darrell Funk, and enter an OL coach who coached three true freshman on the offensive line for USC last season and produced a 1500 yard rusher and protected a QB who threw for 3800 yards with 39 TDs and 5 INTs. Tim Drevno helped bring and develop David DeCastro, Jonathan Martin, and Chase Beeler at Stanford under JBC, and sent three offensive linemen to the Pro Bowl under JBC with the 49ers. His track record tells me he is one of the most elite OL coaches in America, and if anyone can salvage the OL Hoke left behind, it's him.
Naturally, the offense will only be as good as the QB. This is Rudock's ship; I highly doubt Shane Morris ever takes a meaningful snap for this program again, unless there is an injury. Morris is a strong arm and nothing else. Part of that can be attributed to the worst QB coaching in America under Hoke, but it can also be chalked up to Morris simply not being very good. He's one case where he was clearly overrated as a high school recruit. He peaked as a high school junior, and has never progressed from that. He simply doesn't have it above the shoulders, and with his college career half over, I'd be stunned if it ever clicks for him. It will be Rudock in 2015, O'Korn in 2016, and O'Korn/Gentry/Peters in 2017 and beyond. Rudock isn't going to light the world on fire - but I don't think he'll need to. This offense won't be explosive and rack up 35-45 points per game, but this defense is good enough that if the OL and running game makes the necessary strides, Rudock won't have to throw for 300 yards a game in order to win. Protect the ball, make the right decisions, and put the ball in a spot where your receivers can catch it. Devin Gardner rarely did any of these things; Rudock usually did all of them relatively well at Iowa. If the running game improves enough, I can't wait for that "Stanford moment" where we're in the heavy set 40-50 yards from the goal line, and a playaction fake turns Jake Butt loose w i d e open 30 yards behind the defense.
The defense will be fine, I think. There were certainly issues under Mattison, but overall he "left" (I use the quotes since he's still on staff) a unit that should be really, really good. The pass rush may be an issue, and after Jourdan Lewis, cornerback is a question mark (Countess leaving kind of stings, since Lyons hasn't grabbed the job), but this isn't the radioactive dumpster fire that Rodriguez left behind. Durkin inherits a very sturdy foundation with good fundamentals and toughness. Losing Mone sucks, because I think that kid was going to explode this year, but injuries happen.
I think the pieces are there to win 8-10 games immediately, but I also think this is, at the moment, a potentially fragile team that is unsure of itself, mentally. This game at Utah next Thursday night is fascinating to me. If we go in there and punch the Utes in the mouth, I think this team's confidence will skyrocket, and we could see a 2011-type of season. That team was one of the luckiest in recent memory, but they also played way over their heads thanks in part to some savvy coaching, an injection of freshness after three years of RR malaise, but most importantly, they pulled a miracle against ND and believed in themselves. If this year's team wins the opener on the road at night against a serviceable opponent, I think we'll see a similar boost in belief.
08-24-2015, 10:10 PM
