The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/402034
As for football itself, he stressed coaching transitions involve rebuilding re- cruiting pipelines, teaching a different system and creating a new culture. He insists that process is ongoing. "What everybody wants to believe is you can snap your fingers and make that happen," Brandon said. "Everybody will immediately be experienced seniors who completely embrace the system and the culture, and go out and perform at the highest level. "It sadly just doesn't work that way. Some- times you're going to struggle, and sometimes you're going to feel like you're taking three steps forward and two steps back, because these are young people. If you've got a really young team on the field, sometimes it's a little unpredictable as to what you can expect." As wearied as some Michigan fans are over the talk of youth, it's a reality for the Wolverines, Brandon noted. " Twenty-three-year-old fifth-year-seniors, who are two, three and four years older than the guys playing across from them on the line of scrimmage, tend to do better," he said. "That's just a fact of life. "Somebody might be out there saying, 'Well, coach your way through that problem.' But the thing that makes great coaches is the ability to develop a great culture and to have a pipeline of talent that understands and is proficient at the systems you've got to go out and execute against the highest competition in the country. And that takes time." Which is not to say the Wolverines — flirting with staying home at the bowl season — don't have to improve, Brandon cautioned. "There's a progression," he said. "We have to watch that progression very care- fully. I've said over and over again, my coach told us something ad nauseam in my years here at Michigan. Bo used to say, 'You've got to get better. You can't get worse. You've got to get better. If you keep getting better, you're going to be fine. But if you ever level off, you need to know everybody around you is going to continue to get better, and ultimately you're going to get beat.' "We need to improve. We need to continue to improve. We need to mature and get better. I know our coaches are committed to that." — John Borton Brandon, U-M's athletics direc- tor, said of the Michigan football team's development, "We need to continue to improve. We need to mature and get better. I know our coaches are committed to that." PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL