2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

[WWF80sKid]

Surprised to not see a 2015 Michigan Wolverines thread on here. I've been watching tons of hype videos, as well as Bo's The Team speech over and over and over again. Man I loved him.

So, what do we think this year? Jim Harbaugh is here - the coach MANY wanted. Can he turn this thing around?

[NEOPARADIGM]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

8-5 feels like a safe bet, though they could stumble to another 5-7 or 6-6 type year if they can't find a QB.

As for turning things around, I predict a steady ascension into the 9- & 10-win tier over the next 3-4 years, then sky's the limit after that, hopefully culminating with JH being the next Saban and winning 2-4 titles before he leaves/retires.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

I'm looking forward to how mad Harbaugh is going to make other B1G coaches. If he can get Dantonio's head to explode on national television, the season will be a success in my mind.

[Guru03]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

I'm looking forward to how mad Harbaugh is going to make other B1G coaches. If he can get Dantonio's head to explode on national television, the season will be a success in my mind.

I think the worst case is 4-8 and the best case scenario will be 7-6 (with a bowl win). Harbaugh will be working with Brady Hoke's roster and oftentimes existing players from previous regimes have some negative emotions about the changes. The quarterback situation is not looking good. We have suffered from lackluster recruiting recently under most if not all of Hoke's regime. We have the potential to be elite in a few seasons- but not right now. I was happy about the Harbaugh hire even though I wanted them to at least consider coaches who have built their programs up (like Dabo Swinney, Mark Hudspeth, etc.), have systematic strategical advantages (like Mike Leach), or excellent coordinators (like Brent Venables). But I am looking forward to Harbaugh's personality since it is somewhat similar to mine in a lot of aspects. And lastly- Go Blue!

[l3ulvl]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

I think the worst case is 4-8 and the best case scenario will be 7-6 (with a bowl win). Harbaugh will be working with Brady Hoke's roster and oftentimes existing players from previous regimes have some negative emotions about the changes. The quarterback situation is not looking good. We have suffered from lackluster recruiting recently under most if not all of Hoke's regime. We have the potential to be elite in a few seasons- but not right now. I was happy about the Harbaugh hire even though I wanted them to at least consider coaches who have built their programs up (like Dabo Swinney, Mark Hudspeth, etc.), have systematic strategical advantages (like Mike Leach), or excellent coordinators (like Brent Venables). But I am looking forward to Harbaugh's personality since it is somewhat similar to mine in a lot of aspects. And lastly- Go Blue!

On the plus side, Rudock wasn't recruited by Hoke

Seriously though, all I want is a respectable year one, after that we can gauge where the team is at, but for now... ugh I can't even say what my fears are lol, just... fingers crossed for a nice year and go from there

[JerzeyReign]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

Normally I say we'll go undefeated but I'll be realistic this year and say we get 9 wins. At least a bowl game this year. We aren't that bad - I honestly blame the playcalling caused us to lose more games than we should have. I believe this coaching staff will put them in a better position to win.

Harbaugh gets a pass this season anyway but I think he has something to work with.

[WWF80sKid]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

Do we beat the Buckeyes?

[clerks37]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

One of these QB's will step up I see 9-4 with a upset of one of the State schools probably little brother.


#GOBLUE

[Psyblast]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

First: http://www.amazon.com/Endzone-Rise-R...ywords=endzone 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.

[bvb24]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

I want to believe in the Harbaugh effect but this team has been so bad on the road the last few years. I think they come up a bit short against Utah tonight. I think its an 8 win season when all is said and done.

[sportznut02]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

I have not been this excited for a season in a long time. It seems like this offseason has been going on forever. I don't know if we will tonight or not but I think we will 8 or 9 games this year. I'm just thankful there will be no more wasted timeouts, poor clock management, not enough guys on the field, guys not lined up right, and just being flat out soft. No more will there be a coach who does nothing but claps all game and has no impact on a football game. Hoke talked about being tough but never backed it up. I'm not worried anymore about not being tough enough.

[JerzeyReign]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

Do we beat the Buckeyes?

Do we ever on God's green Earth say 'no' to that question?

Sidenote: This game feels like its taking forever to come on. Feels like this is the longest pregame show in pregame show history.

[WWF80sKid]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins



I'm 99% positive Rob Lytle was my cousin. He was born in Ohio where all my family is from, and the spelling of our last name is very specific and rare.

Anyway, Go Blue!

[NEOPARADIGM]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

https://youtu.be/4PukihEd0n0?list=LLzxW-4lh1DSTTxgm6FTGE4Q

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2015 Michigan Wolverines | The Harbaugh Era Begins

In a quick hole against Oregon State. Hopefully our team distinguishes itself as being good at something this year...