The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL "I appreciated the honesty," Har- baugh said. "I have a level of respect for what he had to say. He'll continue and finish his education, and move on to some job opportunities that he has. He wanted to pursue that. You appreciate the honesty." FISCH ASSURES IT'S FULL SPEED AHEAD TOWARD FALL Michigan quarterbacks/wide re- ceivers coach and passing game coor- dinator Jedd Fisch met with the media just four days into spring practice, and knew all too well the mammoth task ahead. The Wolverines have to find a starting quarterback, train backups, get them in sync with wide receivers and bring the entire offense up to speed in a new system. Good thing it's only March, Fisch pointed out. "I think there is some really good progress in terms of command at the line of scrimmage," Fisch observed. "I think there is good progress in terms of understanding the offense. Now it's just about slowing the game down for them. That's our next step. "We're certainly in a situation where we don't play for awhile. And that's good. We have 11 more prac- tices, so that's really good. And then we have a big summer where they can really grind themselves." Those summer efforts, Fisch stressed, will be vital. They are every season, but particularly now, with a new system and no quarterback who has started even a quarter of a season. "I'm a huge believer in that phi- losophy of players coaching play- ers," Fisch said. "It's huge during that summer when we're not with them, that they can really take what we've coached them on and then help each other, and really continue to develop one another, and then we have train- ing camp so we have all of camp to get ready for opening day. We have some time and we're going to use all of it to help them improve and be comfortable, and go out there and put us in the best position to succeed." As for the quarterbacks, the com- petition is on, he acknowledged. He's seeking a QB from the neck up, who can then incorporate all the other skills and attributes necessary to step into the most high profile job in Ann Ar- bor. "The most important part of the game is decision making, and if you have a quick release it helps, but if you're a slow processor, slow deci- sion maker, no matter how fast your release is … right now we're working on them being good decision makers first," Fisch explained. "They need to challenge each other every single day to get the next guy better, to get the next guy better, and if they re- ally work that hard, that talent level is plenty good." Junior Shane Morris has the only on-field experience of the scholarship combatants, and still possesses the big arm. That's certainly not the end all for Fisch or any other quarterbacks coach. Head coach Jim Harbaugh puts a huge premium on protecting the football and making smart plays. For Morris or any other U-M quarterback