The Wolverine

April 2014

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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A BIT TOO MUCH YOUTH Dear The Wolverine: Even the casual football fan rec- ognizes the critical nature played by the offensive line. Hold those blocks just a little bit longer and you can turn journeymen skill position players into stars. We rarely pay attention to the O-line as they go about their yeoman-like duties; it is only when they fail that they receive much notice. And this year our inte- rior line received more notice than ever before. We have been spoiled by a more than 40-year history of strong offen- sive lines. I vividly remember sitting in the end zone in 1969 watching Dierdorf, McKenzie and Mandich manhandle the No. 1 Buckeyes. So what went on in 2013? Was the coaching staff to blame? Absolutely not. When Brady Hoke took over, he inherited only eight offensive line- men, while 13-14 is ideal. Moreover, these linemen had been trained to block in the Rich Rodriguez spread, hardly the offense run by Hoke. He has remedied the numerical problem by landing a host of blue chippers, but can do nothing about the youth of his linemen. He did what any competent coach would do, played his five best linemen. Is the blame to rest with the players? Not in the least. These young men are lining up and playing as hard as they can on each and every down. Simply put, in many instances they are overmatched. All football players, regardless of position, benefit from additional   FROM OUR READERS Several readers wrote in to preach patience with head coach Brady Hoke and the work he is doing to restock the U-M offensive line and other position groups. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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