Michigan has a lot of work to do on the offensive line this spring, but new OL coach Ed Warinner appears to be the right guy to lead them.
Warinner came to U-M from Minnesota after excelling at Ohio State, but he’s all Wolverine now … and he likes what he’s seen from his guys.
“No. 1, it’s a great group of guys, they work really hard and they care. They’ve really improved on what we’ve tried to get done,” he said. “I like where we’re at.
“We’re a work in progress, not a finished product at all, but I think everyone would say a lot of progress has been made. The defense would tell you that, the offensive linemen would tell you that; the coaches will, as well. I like where we’re at, where we’re headed … we just have to keep going.
"I think we can be a very solid Big Ten offensive line.”
They’ve been sticking to the script of playing guys at one position in the early going, trying to get them comfortable. In the end, they’ll put the five best on the field, as always.
“One thing l like to do is watch them, evaluate them and try to get into the right spots as soon as possible,” Warinner said. “Injuries might force us to move around, and we’ll have guys who can work at several positions. Steve Spanellis, for one, can play center, guard and multiple positions. He’s a smart kid.
“Andrew Stueber can play guard or tackle, and we’re doing some of that with him. James Hudson’s coming around, a guy that moved over from defense. He has a high ceiling, a lot of upside … not a starter, but a kid that redshirted last year, was a defensive player, now is in the mix to be in the two-deep and play for us.”
This group took a lot of heat last year, but Warinner wasn’t among those critical. There were a lot of fingers pointed that direction, but they weren’t always accurate, he said, noting tight ends, fullbacks and others like running backs also have responsibilities in pass protection.
The first several weeks have involved getting guys comfortable.
“We’re not moving around too much. We’re just going to let them learn and see what they can do,” he said. “One thing when you don’t move guys around … they know where they’re supposed to go, think clearly and then play fast.”
They’re also learning by playing against an elite defense, he added.
“Can our [top] personnel match up with theirs? We’ll do it all the time in the spring,” he said. “It makes you better, allows us to see our best team week in, week out. It’s been good … it allows me to coach them, for them to understand that technique failures, effort failures will not work against that talented group.
“You have to be technically sound, assignment sound, be very physical and play hard. If you don't, you’ll get exposed. No plays off.”
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