2E - Tuesday, September 3, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Michigan's new playmakers Moving to offense of choice * By ZACH HELFAND Daily Sports Editor APRIL 13, 2013 - One is a freak, the other a runt. Junior Frank Clark is a274-poundbehe- moth at defensive end. Fifth-year senior Jeremy Gallon is a5-foot-8 speedster at receiver. In stature, the two are oppo- sites. But with the loss of Michi- gan's two playmakers from 2012 - Denard Robinson to gradua- tion and redshirt junior lineback- er Jake Ryan to injury - each has become the most exciting player on the field. And in Saturday's Spring Game, each was the play- er to watch on his side of the ball. Redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner took Gallon to his church a few weeks ago. A young fan approached Gallon. "A little kid walked up and was like, 'Hey you play high school. I'm going to high school too!' " Gardner recalled, laughing. "I was like, 'Ooh. Gonna have to get a little bigger, a little taller or lift or something, you know?"' Then Gardner introduced Gallon to the pastor. The pas- tor didn't recognize Gallon. He pegged the receiver at 6-foot-3. "That just speaks a lot for the way he plays and how tough he is and how big he actually plays." Gallon is so short that diminu- tive senior receiver Drew Dileo likes to remind the press that at 5-foot-10, Dileo is actually two inches taller than his teammate. "Don't let him tell you different- ly," Dileo says. But when Robinson went out with an injury last year, Gal- lon filled the big-play void. In Michigan's last five games, with Gardner as quarterback, Gallon caught 31 passes for 511yards and three touchdowns. In the Out- back Bowl against South Caro- lina, Gallon hauled in nine passes for 145 yards and three touch- downs. Again on Saturday, Gallon was Gardner's favorite target. Gal- lon was targeted more than any other receiver in the situational scrimmage. and he caunht three ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily Junior defensive end Frank Clark is expected to make an impact immediately. By BEN ESTES formations, with multiple shifts, Daily Sports Editor and multiple motions and a variety of different ways to get FEB. 12, 2013 - The ques- the ball to the tailbacks, maybe tions began almost as soon as some to the fullback, at times a Brady Hoke was hired as the quarterback (run)." coach of the Michigan football The offensive coordinator team more than two years ago: especially emphasized the dyna- what would Hoke and offen- mism of his system, given the sive coordinator Al Borges, who fears some Wolverine fans have believed in a more traditional of a return to ultra-conservative style of offense, do with a roster football. designed for the spread? Hoke has helped spark those For the last two seasons, the concerns with his continual issue of clashing offensive phi- rhetoric about building his losophies and personnel cast a teams in the trenches and estab- shadow of uncertainty on the lishing a dominant running Michigan program. game. Such talk conjures images As Hoke initially promised, of dull offenses of decades past, Denard Robinson, a quarter- like the one Michigan became back ideal for the spread-option famous for under former coach offense, did remain the team's Bo Schembechler. signal caller, at least until an Borges refuted the notion that elbow injury forced him out of the Wolverines' past philosophy his regular position for the team's of "three yards and a cloud of final five games last season. dust" would also be their future As talented as Robinson was, one, as long as he's inAnn Arbor. his skills never matched up with "That's never been my style Borges's ideal offense. The coor- as an offensive coordinator," he dinator adapted as best he could said. by incorporating more spread- Entering their third season in type plays and formations, but charge oftheprogram, Hoke and the sum result was an offense his staff have been able to signif- often marked by inconsistency. icantly overturn the roster and In senior Devin Gardner, the help mold it into their desired player who replaced Robinson image. The recently signed class last season, Borges has a quar- of 2013 demonstrates this well. terback who can more consis- Michigan signed what several tently make the type of throws recruiting sites rated as the best the coach wants - and it showed class of offensive linemen in the in those last five games, when country, boastingsix tough play- the playbook became more ers with the versatility to play downfield-oriented. multiple positions along the line According to Borges, expect - just the type of lineman that more of the same with Gard- position coach Darrell Funk said ner back in 2013 - and prob- he prefers. ably even more of a West Coast At running back, the Wolver- offense style, now that the ines signed three big, physical Michigan coaches have two full athletes, all of whom are listed classes of players recruited to fit at 218 pounds or greater. The the offense they want. team also added a pocket passer "It's important to understand, in Shane Morris and two tight it's less a hybrid than it was, I'll ends that fit well into Borges's say that, but it's still not 'line up roles for the position. in the I-formation, hit them in The only spot of potential the mouth' every play, either," concern in the class is wide Borges said last Wednesday. receiver, the lowest-rated posi- "We're going to be in multiple tion in Michigan's class. The coaches signed three receivers - Jaron Dukes from Ohio and a pair of in-staters in Da'Mario Jones and Csont'e York - but most analysts regarded each as a three-star recruit. It's, clear the coaches value size at receiver - each recruit checks in at 6-foot-2 or tall- er - but speed is a question. Wide receivers coach/recruit- ing coordinator Jeff Hecklinski downplayed that aspect of the position, saying that "speed is overrated" and that it's difficult to even determine a recruit's speed since he likely rarely touches the ball in high school. "If you can't catch, we have issues," Hecklinski said. "All of our guys, if you watch them on high-school film, they have great hands, they adjust to the ball, they track the ball very well in the air and they go up and they catch it. "We can judge that on film, so let's get the best hand-eye coordination guys, guys that can catch the football, let's bring them in here and let's develop them in other areas." Though the coaches assem- bled an extremely talented offensive class, it wasn't nec- essarily easy. Borges and his cohorts had to convince recruits that they'd be playing in a sys- tem they wanted to play in, which wasn't necessarily the spread-hybrid they saw Michi- gan run for the last two seasons. "It is hard," Borges said. "Sometimes you have to go back and show them stuff you've done in the past (at other schools) because they got to see what you're getting to. ... But we showed them, and they under- stood, they know what direction we want to go in, and that's why they decided tocome here." With the 2013 class in tow and Borges closer than ever to his desired offense, it appears the days of the coach needing to dig into the film archive for recruit- ing visits will soon be over. I passes for 22 yards, unofficially. On the other side of the ball, Clark spent much of the day lined up against All-American fifth-year senior tackle Taylor Lewan. Clark has spent much of the spring sparring with Lewan in practice. On Saturday, he was asked, again, who typically wins the battle. "I've gotten that question so many times," Clark said with a smile before saying that the matchup has been even. If Gallon, as Gardner said, plays sneakily big, then Clark plays sneaky fast. Clark played safety in high school but added 50 pounds during his time at Michigan. Now 274 pounds, Clark hasn't lost his speed, according to Dileo. "When you have a D-end who's probably as fast as some of your receivers, that classifies you as a freak," Dileo said. "Just a monster." Last vear Clark showed flash- es of athleticism but struggled with consistency. He also was suspended for Michigan's first game before pleading guilty to a felony count of second-degree home invasion. He was arrested on June 14 for attempting to steal a laptop from Stockwell Hall. This year, Clark said he has looked to seniors like Gardner to become a better leader. He has also tried to add consistency to his playmaking ability. "I wanted to be that player who coach Mattison can rely on," Clark said. "With one of our key players, Jake Ryan going down, I know he's looking for that next player to step into that new role and be that player for him, and that's what I want to be. I want to be that player he can look and go, 'I know Frank'sgoing to make a play.'" Lewan neutralized Clark for much of Saturday. But later in the practice, Clark moved to the right side of Michigan's line. The nlav ended in a sack. 4 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @THEBLOCKM 4 I Central Campus Recreation Building Intramural Sports Building North Campus Recreation Building Challenge Program Club Sports Intramural Sports Outdoor Adventures For more information, please contact us at RecSportsEmployment@umich.edu FIND US ONLINE recsports.umich.edu/work-study TWITTER @UMichRecSports #HailYesRecSports FACEBOOK ecreat ona /UMichRecSportsps {m a I