8 — Thursday, October 4, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Ed Warinner explains strategy for coaching Michigan’s offensive line
Ed Warinner’s first year
with the No. 15 Michigan
football team (4-1 overall, 2-0
Big Ten) didn’t get off to the
best start.
The offensive line coach’s
unit was torn to shreds against
Notre Dame to open the season
on the field, but also off it,
as the front five was widely
blamed
for
the
offense’s
shortcomings.
The
criticisms
came
from a few places. For one,
the offensive line play was
suspect in that game, and it
was suspect last season as
well. Additionally, Warinner
brought with him a pedigree
for producing NFL talent at
places like Ohio State and with
the Fighting Irish.
Since then, though, the line
has improved drastically, albeit
against
worse
competition.
In fact, Saturday’s win over
Northwestern
might
have
been the Wolverine offensive
line’s best game to this point,
especially in pass protection.
This season, they have given
up just eight sacks this season.
Through
five
games
last
season, Michigan had given up
16 sacks.
“That’s
pretty
good,”
Warinner
said.
“We’re
trying
to improve that
area.
We’ve
simplified
our
protections,
and
our
guys
are getting real
comfortable
with them.
“…
I
think
it’s
just
consistency
in
their
technique
and
then
understanding the protections
and then not changing them on
them.”
Those things are what is
always brought up when asking
about the offensive line.
It seems every player or
coach, when asked about the hog
mollies up front, mentions the
importance of communication
and technique and consistent
play.
Those
same
things are true
with
many
positions,
but
especially with
offensive
line
play, there isn’t
much more to
be said, because
there
aren’t
many
stats
that
properly
quantify how well an offensive
line is playing.
Despite the slow start, the
Wolverines’ front has passed
the eye test in the past four
weeks. That’s something that
wasn’t true very often last
season without Warinner.
To Warinner, it’s a product
of the things mentioned above,
but it’s also due to the dogged
pace and perfectionism he has
tried to instill in
the unit.
“You just gotta
push
people,
make
them
uncomfortable,
you gotta make
them
do
stuff
they really don’t
want
to
do,”
Warinner
said.
“That
comes
with trust. So,
they have to trust that what
you’re doing and what you’re
telling them will make them be
a better player, make the team
be a better team. So you develop
trust, then you push them to
challenge them to do more than
they’ve done in the past, do
it better than they’ve done in
the past. And you hold people
accountable.
“… I just think that until
something
you
tell them shows
on film, where
they
can
see
themselves
doing
that
against our team
or
somebody
else, that’s when
it really becomes
reinforced. Like,
‘I haven’t given
up a sack this
year. These pass protection
drills — cause we didn’t do
these drills last year. Or I never
did these things.’ ”
Another thing that Warinner
was said to have helped with
this offseason was simplifying
the play calls for the offensive
line in an effort to help with
understanding and, as a result,
speed.
That, too, is hard to see as a
casual observer,
but
Warinner
explained it in
simpler
terms,
saying on each
play,
he
gives
his
offensive
linemen
two
options to limit
thinking.
And
if
the
defense
forces
a
third
option,
it’s
on Warinner to adjust the
gameplan.
“That’s how I envision it,”
Warinner
said.
“Cause
the
more you put in there, the
slower they play. And the less
confident they are. ‘What if he
does that?’ You know. You get
that question a lot. So I love to
tell them, ‘Don’t worry about
that. That’s on me. You worry
about this stuff.’ Know what I
mean? That’s my job. And then
make adjustments.
“And if something happens
that we’re not prepared for,
nobody’s
getting
yelled
at.
There’s no stress, it’s just, ‘Hey,
this is the answer.’ We have
tools in our toolbox to fix all
problems, but you can only
have two tools in your hands at
once. One in this hand and one
in that hand. Here we go. You
can’t have more than that. So,
we need a new tool, we get the
new tool out, next series, here
we go.”
As is always the case with
the
offensive
line,
or
the
Wolverines as a whole, it is
worth noting that they still
have to prove they can stand up
against a defensive front like
Wisconsin’s, Michigan State’s,
Penn State’s or Ohio State’s.
Those tests will come soon
enough. For now, though, the
improvement
is
all
anyone
could ask for. Michigan was
supposed to play well against its
last four opponents, and while
this last weekend was a closer
game than many expected,
the offensive line wasn’t the
reason.
If
you
had
read
that
sentence
four
weeks ago, you
would have been
shocked.
“The
narrative
has
been
going
in
ever since I’ve
been here that
the
Michigan
offensive
line
hasn’t been up to the standards
that people outside this building
would like,” said redshirt junior
tackle Jon Runyan Jr. “We take
that personally, and we’ve been
trying to (change that) every
day.”
CAMERON HUNT/Daily
Offensive line coach Ed Warinner has stressed not taking plays off, in practice or games, to his offensive line, which has improved over Michigan’s last four games.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
“... our guys
are getting real
comfortable
with them.”
“You just gotta
push people,
make them
uncomfortable.”
“There’s no
stress, it’s just,
‘Hey, this is the
answer.’ ”
Don Brown sees ‘maturity’ in defense
The
Michigan
football
team’s
defense
couldn’t
have
started
much
worse
last
Saturday.
Heavily
favored in a de facto neutral-
site
game,
the
Wolverines
allowed touchdowns on two
of
Northwestern’s
opening
three
drives,
as
penalties,
missed tackles and a locked-
in
quarterback
dismantled
defensive
coordinator
Don
Brown’s group early.
It was their second poor start
this year. In the season-opener,
Michigan spotted Notre Dame
three first-half touchdowns.
But in both games, Brown’s
group adjusted. His defense
had little room for error last
Saturday after falling into a
17-0 hole, and it responded
accordingly. After the first
quarter, the Wolverines allowed
just 119 yards of total offense
and prevented Northwestern
from scoring after the 12:56
mark in the second quarter.
And
though
Michigan
couldn’t complete the comeback
in early September, its defense
gave it a chance — the Fighting
Irish only scored a field goal in
the second half.
Despite
his
perpetual
expectation
of
near
perfectionism,
those
turnarounds
have
Brown
encouraged.
“I’m also going to tell you
this: A year ago if the wheels
came off, the wheels were off,”
Brown said during Wednesday’s
press conference. “This group
has the ability to have wheels
off, (then put the) wheels back
on. I think that’s a little bit
of a sign of the maturity of
this group and the quality of
the character our guys have.
There’s no doubt about that.”
Michigan’s defense — despite
finishing
with
a
top-three
ranking nationally — indeed
had boom-or-bust tendencies
in 2017, unraveling in losses to
Penn State and South Carolina.
This season, however, the
Wolverines
have
showed
resilience, which has helped
them allow the fewest yards in
the country, averaging 4.1 yards
per play.
But that doesn’t mean it’s all
roses for Brown and company.
Michigan
has
struggled
with penalties all season, with
an average 9.2 calls accepted
per
game.
The
secondary,
especially, has been targeted
— though that’s partially a
byproduct of Brown’s man-to-
man scheme.
Junior cornerbacks Lavert
Hill and David Long were
caught
with
holding
and
pass
interference
penalties,
respectively,
during
critical
moments of both Northwestern
touchdown
drives.
Junior
VIPER Khaleke Hudson and
junior safety Josh Metellus,
meanwhile, have missed parts
of games due to suspensions
after targeting penalties.
That’s
caused
Brown
to
adjust how he teaches tackling.
“I’ve never had to transition
due
to
how
things
are
officiated,” Brown said. “I don’t
recall that ever in my coaching
career that happening, but now
I feel that happening. It’s a
tough deal but, you know, (you)
get it done.”
Frustration lies in what isn’t
being called, too.
Fifth-year senior defensive
end Chase Winovich said he was
“baffled” by the lack of holding
calls
against
the
Wildcats’
offensive
line
Saturday
—
something that’s also bothered
Brown.
“You know what’s shocking
to me? We’ve played two Big
Ten games, we have 10 sacks
and 24 TFLs, but we don’t get
held,” Brown said. “Take a look
and compare to the other teams
around our league. That one is a
little tough.”
Brown is also annoyed with
the wide-spread criticism his
players
have
received
over
social media. Sunday morning,
Long tweeted, “If you’ve never
played man to man please
refrain from making comments
about secondary play.”
Brown would rather you take
up your concerns with him.
“Be critical of the old guy.
Don’t be critical of the players,
now,”
Brown
said.
“That’s
crossing the line, in my opinion.
I guess that could be a topic we
could stand here and argue.
All they do is do what they’re
asked.”
Despite
the
poor
start,
Michigan’s defense did just that
Saturday. In the halftime locker
room, Brown told his players
that they’d need to pitch a
shutout to win. The Wolverines
did as they were asked, saving
their season in the process.
“I thought that was a good
test for us,” Brown said. “Every
experience you go through
… you’re looking to build on.
We (knew) how to handle this
situation.”
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Defensive coordinator Don Brown is encouraged by Michigan’s resilience.
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor