The Wolverine

March 2017 Recruiting Issue

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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MARCH 2017 THE WOLVERINE 5   FROM OUR READERS A LOOK AHEAD Dear The Wolverine: It was a successful past season in terms of record and accomplishment, along with a dose of disappointment. The success at the beginning of the season was predictable, while grant- ing that the Penn State and Wiscon- sin games offered challenges as early tests against conference competition. Penn State became a more formi- dable opponent in the league as the season played out, and became the Big Ten champion. One of my favorite truisms is that one of the constants in life is change. Because eligibility is finite, there will be a change in personnel annually creating one of the constants of col- lege football. We are also aware of another change, and that is the con- stant changing of coaches annually. No school is immune, as we have seen coaches changing in the Michi- gan program with the loss of Jedd Fisch and Tyrone Wheatley this year and D.J. Durkin last year, and so on. Hopefully, the addition of the new coaches that will occur will be positive. It is not news that the running game needs to improve. A positive change will be welcome. I know a successful running game depends on coaching, talent of the players, in- cluding running backs and offensive linemen, and scheme. Those factors are generic. Of one thing I am certain — Michigan will not truly become elite until it has a consistent, sustain- able running game. It is axiomatic, in my opinion. De'Veon Smith has been the pri- mary running back. My observation is that he was very good, if he could get past the line of scrimmage. He was not the fastest back, but he ran with determination. I have memories of him often slipping by blockers and breaking tackles when he reached the secondary. But I have memories of him hitting a wall when there was no hole to squeeze through. The running game was a given for so many years, but it has been a struggle for too many years. I have to believe that it is a priority for Jim Harbaugh. Enough said. The defense needs restructuring, but there is confidence that Don Brown will meet the challenge. The season starts with a nation- ally televised game in Texas against Florida, which rolled over Iowa in its bowl game, 30-3. It will not be the same Florida team that Michigan crushed in the Citrus Bowl in 2016. Florida, Michigan State, Penn State, Indiana, Wisconsin (at Camp Ran- dall) and Ohio State will all test the cliché that you have to beat the best to be the best. Air Force and Min- nesota always seem to offer resis- tance, while the other teams on the schedule will find solace in the fact that on any given day any team can beat its opponent, though we hope not Michigan. The recruits will be anxious to prove their worth even as true freshmen. It is my guess that there will be ample opportunity for many of them to do just that. The coming football season will present new challenges in that the Big Ten Conference seems to be more competitive. The change that goes with those challenges is just one more constant. We hope that those challenges will be met. Get ready for what should be an exciting 2017 sea- son, and "Go Blue!" J. Richard Jaconette, M.D. Battle Creek, Mich. Dr. J., while you rightly note Florida won't be the same team Michigan routed in the 2016 Citrus Bowl, it also won't be the same one that beat up on Iowa this year. The Gators will be breaking in a new quarterback, along with other start- ers, and Michigan's revamped defense gets first shot. From Our Website • This [naming Chris Partridge as special teams coordinator] is a really good move by Jim Har- baugh in my opinion. Reading the responses about him shows how we all feel about Chris as a recruiter. I imagine many head coaches around the country have noticed as well and several have most likely reached out to Chris. Making Chris a coordinator allows Jim to give him a considerable pay raise, which will be public soon enough. Glad Harbaugh stays aggressive to keep the best. In response to needing another rock star re- cruiter, sure we can always use more. With Par- tridge, Pep Hamilton, Greg Mattison, and now Greg Frey to go along with Harbaugh, wow what a great recruiting staff as coaches. With the ad- dition of the recruiting staffers in place and be- ing added to regularly, Harbaugh has Michigan established with the top handful of schools in regards to recruiting. bigleague256 • Tom Brady is an incredible class act in every way — humble in victory, gracious (albeit very rarely) in defeat and always a team-first guy. He learned well in his college days. pyc Chris Partridge, who has excelled on the recruiting trail for Michigan, was named the program's special teams coordinator and linebackers coach Feb. 8. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN

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