The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 39 it will be more up-tempo and less huddling. I like it because it has an attacking feel in terms of going downfield in the passing game. "We'll have multiple personnel groups like we always do, but we'll attack in multiple formations as well. Our RPOs [run-pass op- tions] could be a run or a pass, and I like that it'll have an attacking feel that defenses will have to be aware of. Other teams can't just figure out what your tempo is all the time." Count offensive line coach Ed Warinner as completely on board, and not just for diplomacy's sake. In fact, he's far more ac- customed to a pro spread look than what he saw when he arrived at Michigan a year ago. "The linemen have all adjusted to the new offense very well," Warinner said. "The only difference for them is that they used to be taught to listen for things in the huddle they should look for, but now they get it from our sideline signals. "Everybody looks at the signals from the sidelines, but we also use decoys and have other things going on as well. It's like base- ball when you have fake signals from a third base coach. It's also a good way to run plays 10 seconds faster — we're not trying to fea- ture a two-minute offense or anything, but we're also not trying to snap the ball with only three seconds left on the clock. "It's not like we tried to do that last year, but this just gives us a little more time. The linemen have really liked it, because it gives them more time at the line of scrimmage to think about the plays being run as they wait for the skill position guys to get lined up." Warinner also loves the fit of the offense for Michigan's quarterbacks, describing it as perfect for senior Shea Patterson. "This kind of offense is made for Shea Patterson's skill set, and [redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan] McCaffrey and [redshirt freshman quarterback Joe] Milton are learn- ing it as well," he said. "There's nothing we're missing to be a 'speed in space,' spread offense. There's nothing we need to recruit. "We need to find out what Shea is best at and what the running backs are best at, and then we'll focus on those areas." Warinner reiterated the pro spread comes as no shock to anyone on the coaching staff. "I've run this offense as a coordinator at two different places, so there isn't much I haven't seen," he pointed out. "Gattis has also run this at different schools, and so has [quarterbacks coach] Ben McDaniels. "[Tight ends coach] Sherrone Moore also coached in spread offenses at CMU and Lou- isville, so it certainly isn't foreign to him. The staff is working together so well in this offense." Senior offensive guard and 2018 captain Ben Bredeson backed that notion. "The new offense actually isn't drasti- cally different for us as a group, because Coach Warinner and Coach Gattis have done a great job working together," Bredeson said. "It's not necessarily tougher for us with the no huddle, except other than maybe from a conditioning standpoint. "We have a team who can run this offense because of the personnel and the coaches we have — it's a great fit for us." Former Michigan All-American offen- sive lineman Jon Jansen never hid his love for smashing opponents in the run game. He's quick to point out, though, he most enjoys coming out on the right side of the scoreboard. On that score, everyone agrees. Jansen, now a Michigan athletics department com- munications specialist, likes the potential for this offense to achieve a higher level of effectiveness in setting up different parts of the attack for success. "I'm a fan of running the football, and I absolutely love it, but what I love even more is winning," he said. "I think this offense, with the talent we have, gives us a better op- portunity to win more games. "When you have guys like Nico Collins, Tarik Black, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Ron- nie Bell — you have some playmakers on the edge. You've got to utilize that." Especially, Jansen stressed, when the quarterback situa- tion stands as strong as Mich- igan's does at present. "You've got to have two quarterbacks," he said. "You don't know when one is go- ing to go down. Obviously, you would love to have Shea Patterson out there for 100 percent of the snaps, for the consistency he gives this offense. But you just don't know that's going to be the case." Harbaugh also reportedly noted to an alumni group that Patterson and McCaffrey will both play in every game. This is not un- warranted, given the latter's efforts in 2018 prior to his season-ending injury. "There were times last year when Dylan went in the game and almost nobody rec- ognized he was in the game," Jansen said. "That is a huge tribute to him. He's ready to go in at any given moment. "He understands what's going on in the game. He knows what the defenses are do- ing. He knows what plays are being called. He knows what's been successful and what hasn't been. He goes out there and it's plug and play, and that's a great attribute to have as a quarterback." Jansen watches plenty of football. He knows the way Michigan won in 1997 isn't the way teams are winning these days. He's embracing what's to come, with consider- able anticipation. "When I think about this offense and the ability to be explosive outside and downfield, I think it's great," he said. "Let's face it — college football has changed. It's not always three yards and a cloud of dust anymore. "When Josh Gattis was on my podcast, one of the things he said that I really hold onto was, 'We're going to be a balanced of- fense.' Balanced offense doesn't mean if you have 100 plays, you run 50 times and you pass 50 times. "It means that when you have to throw the ball, you can be successful doing it. When you have to run the ball, you can be successful doing it. That's a balanced offense. You know you have both weapons in your wheelhouse." Versatility is crucial, he reiterated. "At the end of the game, if you're up by two scores and you need to salt the clock away, hey, let's hand the ball off and run some clock," Jansen said. "We have to be able to do that. If we're starting a game and we know we can take advantage of a second- ary and we can be explosive, let's get the ball to our playmakers in space. "Instead of battling through and it's 7-0 Gattis' offense at Michigan is different than anything Jim Har- baugh has run before in his career, relying on a no-huddle, up- tempo attack the new offensive coordinator has dubbed "speed in space." PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN