Michigan assistant coach Jay Harbaugh is entering his second season as the team’s running backs coach.
While he doesn’t feel as though it’s all that different, he is more familiar with each player that he’s working with, since he now has had them each for a full season. That’s allowed him to know in greater detail what each of U-M’s running backs and fullbacks need to do to improve.
“Coaching guys like [senior] Karan [Higdon] and [junior] Chris [Evans], [sophomore fullback] Ben [Mason], [sophomore] O’Maury [Samuels], [redshirt sophomore] Kareem [Walker], [redshirt freshman] Kurt [Taylor] and all those guys, they want to be really, really great,” Harbaugh said. “As a coach, that makes your job so much more fun and interesting and it challenges you because they’re always looking for more. They want stuff to study, drills, they’re always looking to be a sponge and consume more.”
Higdon and Evans are expected to lead the team out of the backfield again this season, with Higdon being the primary back. Both are excelling in the spring.
“They’re doing a great job, which is exactly what you’d expect from them,” Harbaugh said. “They’ve taken all the parts of their game that needed detail or polish and they’re doing that. Every day it’s one less mistake and really turning in a great spring so far.”
Two areas that Harbaugh is spending a lot of time on are pass protection and route running. The team struggled in both places last season, especially in pass protection. When asked what he’s working on this spring, Evans said “pass protection, pass protection, pass protection, pass protection and pass protection.”
Harbaugh says that both Evans and Higdon are improving in both areas, and that it’s been nice to have more time to spend on more advanced route details that running backs typically don’t get. Michigan will use running backs in empty sets and coming out of the backfield in the passing game, and he thinks all of the backs are athletic enough to handle route techniques a receiver would learn.
With pass protection specifically, Harbaugh says there isn’t one particular aspect that causes trouble. Each player is different.
“I don’t know that there’s a blanket toughest part,” Harbaugh said. “Each individual has such a different background that something that one guy might struggle with might be leverage on contact, or they might struggle with their pad level, but that might be because they’re stiff in the hips or ankle so they don’t bend their knees as well. Whereas another guy, that might not ever be an issue because they bend really, really well.”
He’s hoping that the extra work on pass protection will allow some of his players to turn those weaknesses into strengths.
More Notes:
• Harbaugh has to share Mason with the defense on occasion, but he doesn’t mind.
“Giving him an opportunity to smash more people is always a good idea,” Harbaugh said.
Sophomore walk-on fullback Matt Brown has emerged as the third fullback behind Mason and fifth-year senior Jared Wangler.
• Redshirt sophomore Kareem Walker would be a nice addition to the backfield rotation after getting a taste of action last year. Harbaugh has been pleased with his progress.
“He’s coming along,” Harbaugh said. “Thus far, I would say we’re all pretty happy with his performance this spring. He’s competing, he’s doing the best he can and that’s pretty much all we’re looking for, is each guy’s individual best.”
• After seeing the field for a few plays as a true freshman, Samuels is hoping for action in the fall as well.
“[He’s] coming along really nicely,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a really conscientious kid, he tries to do everything exactly right. If he doesn’t get it right, he’ll figure out what exactly went wrong and how to fix it and does a great job fixing it the next time out.”
• Michigan added three new offensive coaches this spring, wide receivers coach Jim McElwain, offensive line coach Ed Warinner and tight ends coach Sherrone Moore.
“They’re fun to be around,” Harbaugh said. “They bring great energy. In terms of the meetings, I don’t think much has been different in terms of how they’re structured. They are tremendous coaches, so as we evolve on offense and get to where we’re going to be this fall, they’ve brought a ton of knowledge and been really valuable in terms of having a nice outsider’s opinion.”
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