The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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say that's why we weren't an aggres- sive football team. I think that would be unfair. "But I think it's safe to say, based on the results Harbaugh has had at his previous stops, that we're going to see some level of that out of his team. At Michigan, we just hope for the higher levels." The Wolverine: So many are in love with spread offenses, and the high- tempo game. This is obviously not that, so talk about the more traditional looks that can work effectively these days. Skene: "You don't have to run one play every 10 seconds to win. There are different philosophies, and a few of them work. You look at Oregon, and that's a team that wants to snap the ball every 10 to 15 seconds. "That's all fine and great. What that does, that quick-strike stuff, that sprint to get into the end zone, is put your de- fense on the field a lot. I believe Coach Harbaugh is of a balanced approach. He's not afraid to go up-tempo. He's not afraid to do that at all. "However, I think this guy wants to control the clock, and let his defense sit on the sidelines, watching a lot of football, as his offense grinds yardage and time off that clock. That's a recipe that has worked for 100 years, and will continue to work. "That doesn't mean that spread phi- losophies won't work. Fans seem to be worried that just because Oregon is successful, the entire landscape of college football, including Michigan, should go to it. That's not the case. "You can be successful still control- ling the pace and the tone and the speed of the game with a dominating offense that runs a little slower, more methodically with ball control." The Wolverine: One of his biggest challenges will be going in without a quarterback who has started more than two games. What do you expect out of his approach there? Skene: "You will not win in college football if you don't have a good quar- terback. Whoever wins that job, I look forward to a guy who understands pocket football on passing downs, and can sit in there and move within the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield, the ball in the ready position to throw it and keeping the play alive. "You see some of that this time of year in the NFL. You see Andrew Luck doing it, the Stanford guy that Har- baugh coached. That's what you're go- ing to look for in the quarterback de- velopment at Michigan. It's somebody who understands pocket football. "It doesn't have to be a 6-7 guy. We've had successful quarterbacks come through our program that are not 6-7. They're 6-0, or 6-4, or 6-7. I played with a guy, Elvis Grbac, who was my height, at 6-6. "That's what I look for, number one — development of quarterbacks and a pocket style of offense. And yet, every once in a while — and you saw this with the 49ers with Colin Kaepernick — you'll see a guy with a curveball. "You say, 'You know what? I'm go- ing to run the read option on this play and throw a total change-up at a de- fense.' All of that depends on the skill set attached to the player who ends up winning this job. If the kid can run, you're going to see the mixture of a