Mailbag question: Fundamentals this year

In 1984 UM went 6-6 and Bo said they were hitting every day the following spring to get back to fundamentals. They won a Big Ten championship the following year. What is he doing to teach the fundamentals? Has there been a change in approach due to last year?

Anonymous

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Thanks for the question.

First off, have to remember back in Bo's day he had 125 players on his roster, and most teams would have killed to have some of his third and fourth string players that never saw the field. Another point is the practice time. Back then, you could work the kids for a long time, but now they are only allowed a certain amount of time (about two hours) and fifteen practices in the spring, with only eight of those being able to have contact (fully padded).

Michigan spent quite a bit of time teaching fundamentals last spring, and did this spring as well. With so many freshmen and sophomores on the two deep depth charts, emphasis on fundamentals was necessary.

Biggest difference we noted was Michigan using new system on tackling called tracking. Not the standard old method of tackling, pursuit and how to wrap-up a player. This is something we will get more into detail later on when discussing the coaches clinic and what each coach had to say.

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