Michigan Football: Don Brown Reacts Harshly To "High Risk" Characterization
Some Big Ten analysts called Don Brown’s blitzing defense a high risk, high reward proposition. Brown responded Aug. 22 by calling that characterization “baloney.”
Specifically, “a bunch of baloney.”
“High risk? No. We don’t just throw this stuff against the wall … take it and say throw in this,” he said, acting offended. “Come on. We’re not doing that. We look at the formations, the personnel groups. We lean to be on the aggressive side. Whether you’re running or passing the ball, we’re going to have the ability when we dictate to come. That's what it’s all about.
“I can assure you every one of the calls we’ve made, we’ve done kind of a thorough study. We will at least have run it 100 times, so we’re not throwing things against the wall. It’s not that kind of a scenario. I guess some people say it because we’re playing man coverage, those kinds of things. Guess what? That’s what [coaches] Mike Zordich, Brian Smith, accomplished teachers [teach]. If you call that high risk because we’re going to come play you like this [in your face] ... I don’t call that high risk. It’s just part of the deal.”
One thing they believe in, he continued, is denying “free access.”
“We’re not going to play eight to 10 yards off and let you play that game all the time,” he said. ”Now, you’ll see us play off, but we determine when. We’re not going to be able to do it all, but I can assure you, someone is not just going to run the zone read and we’re just going to throw this one against the wall and see if it works. No. I’m too old for that.”
The defense has been like the offense in the early few weeks, he said – efficient, which is what head coach Jim Harbaugh has stressed. That’s allowed Brown to get more installed than he’d hoped.
“I came in and had phase one, phase two and if I’m fortunate, we’ll do phase three. I’m in phase three, so I feel pretty good about the learning curve and what they’ve been able to digest,” Brown said. “We’re not perfect, but hopefully we can get close to it …
“Some days out there I’ve stood behind the 9 on 7s, nine offensive players against seven defensive players, and just, ‘oooh’ - cringe mode on both sides, now. I’ve been happy with that. I think when we go on your mark, set, go, I don’t think there’s any question that we’re going to go.
“It’s a fine line [how physical we want to be in practice] because we’re trying to get Barney and Sally and everybody else to the dance, so it’s kind of a combination deal there we’ve got to pay attention to. But again, coach does such a great job taking care of us it’s a non-issue.”