Michigan Wolverines Football: Don Brown On Slants, Lack Of Holding Calls
Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown leads the No. 1 defense in the nation, but there have still been criticisms from the fan base. One of them— that the Wolverines give up too many yards to the middle of the field, particularly on slant patterns.
It’s clearly a point of contention with the coach, and he wasn’t having any of it Wednesday.
“Let’s talk about that for a second, okay? They were 3-for-5 in the first half for 23 yards, and they were 2-for-4 in the second half for 22,” Brown said. “I’m not going to say a whole lot about it.”
But he did, clearly miffed at the suggestion that they weren’t good enough Saturday in a 20-17 comeback win over Northwestern.
“Schematically … one thing, I think [Northwestern quarterback Clayton] Thorson is really good," Brown said. "He’s going to end up graduating, and I’ll bet he’s one of the top 25 throwers probably in the history of the Big Ten. Sot two of his catches where the guy is catching the ball like this [arms extended low], we’re like this [hand in front of the ball] and he puts it I a window about [one foot] big. I’m not going to stand here and say, ‘geez, we did a great job,’ but the stats … and in the second half we kind of tweaked it a little bit and delivered a couple shots in the slant.
“So it is what it is. Let’s understand something. We’re not giving up vertical [routes] to the No. 2 guy. That’s priority No. 1 It’s like some quarters teams that will play off and give you this … well, we’re not going to do that. Everything has a strength and everything has a weakness. You’ve just got to try to do the best you can to play the cat and mouse game to cover up the best you can.
“They were 5-for-9 for 44 in the slant game and had 202 [total yards] for the day. I’ll call that an ‘A’ any time.”
One thing overlooked, he said: the comeback. There are high expectations, he understands, and nobody wants to fall behind 17-0, but his team's rally impressed him. If they'd given up one more score, he noted, they might well have lost.
“To watch our guys fight their way out of that, record the second biggest turnaround in Michigan history on the road … we’re missing the boat here. That’s all I’m saying,” he said. “Everything is always tilted that [negative] way. What about the second biggest turnaround on the road? That’s pretty good. Am I right, or am I delusional.?
“Just to watch our guys compete, and we’re not perfect. Obviously, the penalty issue, I stand up there every week and we talk about it and address it, and we’re going through it. Sometimes you’ve just got to shut up and play. That’s my new tact. We’re not ever going to talk about it. But that’s got to go away That right there, if you want to be critical, that’s the piece to be critical on, and that’s the piece to be critical of me. We’ve got to do a better job of technique and fundamental. And we will."
Brown Miffed At Lack Of Holding Calls
Michigan defensive tackle Maurice Hurst drew one holding call all last season as one of the pass rushers in the country. This year, fifth-year Chase Winovich said he’s been “baffled” at the inability to get a call when he’s being tackled, held and otherwise.
Brown went to bat for his guys again Wednesday.
“You know the difficult thing there? You know what’s shocking to me? We’ve played two Big Ten games. We have 10 sacks and 24 tackles for loss, but we don’t get held,” he said. “Take a look and compare that with the other teams in our league. That one’s a little tough. Obviously we go back and forth and study the films very hard on Sunday, so it is what it is.
“It’s not like for three years that we’ve been here we don’t have sacks and tackles for loss. In fact, that’s s measuring stick for us, as you know. When you play two Big Ten games and have 10 sacks and 24 tackles for loss, that’s a lot. You’re upfield doing things, and you know … I’m not sure of the numbers.”
It’s caused him to change his game planning for the first time in his career, he added.
“This is the first year I feel like I’m transitioning due to how things are officiated,” he said. “I don’t recall that ever in my coaching career, that happening. But now I feel it happening. It’s kind of a tough deal, but … get it done. Make the transitions. But in the meantime I think there were obviously a lot of positives to take away from Saturday.”
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