Michigan Coaches Clinic: Turel Thoughts on Clinic

Michigan Football Coaches Clinic:

First off, what a great event put on by the Michigan staff. For the cost of admission, certainly everyone got their money’s worth and more. Every member of the staff was gracious with their time and did not separate themselves much from the crowd. Thursday started with practice and it was my first chance to see the new Michigan weight room. Certainly the new look, machines and protein shake/recovery bar confirmed my notion that the place got a much-needed update. Some of the brand new equipment looked like it was from outer space and should add to the new agility and core training Mike Barwis wants to implement. Practices were noticeably more intense than before and the staff is very good at making efficient time of their 7 on 7 work as well as run group. A lot of the drills have multiple elements to them. For example, with the zone read drill, after the quarterback makes his read he receives another ball on his boot out and then runs another option drill. Two important skills for the offense are repped in less than 5 seconds. On the offensive line front, the zone play and pass protection took up a majority of the work, as the inside and outside zone are the staples of this offense. After the practice, coaches divided up to their own section and took any questions from coaches.

Practice Thoughts:
Good:
Mike Barwis: About the most intense, fast paced warm-ups you will see in America. Barwis gets more done in five minutes than most get done in an hour. I have a deep respect for this man and an even greater fear of him.

Morgan Trent: I’m not usually a big fan of #14 but in talking with some of the defensive coaches this weekend and seeing the progress of Trent’s fundamentals, I expect a pretty good year for Trent. He is going to left in a lot of man coverage situations but I like the way he has taken to Coach Shafer’s unique footwork on the press. One thing Trent needs to improve on as Coach Shafer pointed out in his presentation was Morgan being able to find the ball better in the air. He has a tendency to look flat back to the quarterback, which causes him to fall off his man.

Steve Threet: I was pretty impressed with how Threet carried himself in the couple practices we saw. He looks to have picked up the offense quickly and he didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes. He’s a better athlete than I expected but still that being said, I am curious to see how much of a run threat he is come game time.

Steve Schilling: Schilling looks to be the most consistent lineman and he is still one helluva athlete for his size. The zone scheme really plays to his strengths in theory and I think getting more experience under his belt, we finally start to see him shine this season.

Martell Webb: Certainly looks the part as he has put on the size to be a true tight end. I talked with Coach Magee about his role in the offense and he was very excited about all the tight ends in general. He feels the offense can be gain an advantage by flexing these guys out in the slot as well the usually tight end sets.

Dave Molk: If you look at him, you would think he is a walk on being only around six foot tall but man can he play. Molk’s strength and leverage is apparent in all his blocks and I think it will be tough to keep him off the field this fall. On a side not, David Moosman was also impressive.

Defensive Line: I think this will be the clear-cut strength of the defense this season. Bruce Tall is working this group hard and they have a great mix of size and strength and there is finally some depth developing here. Jason Kates has dropped some weight but still has a ways to go. That being said, he looked very good in defensive run group against the starting offensive line.

Obi Ezeh: Looked much bigger, stronger and smarter on defense.

The So/So
Michael Williams: Still a bit smallish but he can hit like freight train

Brandon Herron/Marell Evans: Still look far away from being able to contribute on defense.

Offensive line: This group may be the deepest in the adjustment phase and inconsistent at this point. Mark Ortmann, Cory Zirbel and David Moosman looked good in stretches but would follow it up with a poor stretch as well. Pass protection drills were pretty lopsided to the defensive line but I expect this all to improve by time the season hits.

The Disappointments:
Ryan Van Bergen: I could be wrong here, but I don’t think Ryan took the added bulk too well. He looked very stiff in pass rushing drills and overall didn’t do much. The athleticism that allowed him to tear up the Michigan Summer Camp not long ago has seemed to slip away and a move to the interior defensive line or offensive line may be in store if he isn’t able to contribute at defensive end.

Renaldo Sagesse: The guys should have more on him later in the week but he may need his own category below this.

Carson Butler: Dropped passes all three days and didn’t stand out.

written by Josh Turel

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