The majority of the talk surrounding Michigan this offseason has involved new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and the up-tempo, no huddle offense he plans on installing in Ann Arbor.
Perhaps no unit on the offensive side of the ball will feature a bigger adjustment than the offensive line, though position coach Ed Warinner insisted last night the transition may not be as significant as some may think.
“The offensive line is actually doing the same things, but the formations are just different,” he explained. “We may now run 75 plays in a game instead of 55. The linemen will run 14 fewer yards per play due to us not huddling — I don’t know if that’s accurate mathematically, but it sounded good.
“Last year was the first offense I've been a part of in the last 14 years that huddled, so I understand the no huddle concepts and all the components that go with it, and I’m comfortable with it.
“The linemen have all adjusted to it very well. The only difference for them is that they used to be taught to listen for things in the huddle they should look for, but now they get it from our sideline signals.”
Signaling plays in from the sidelines has obviously become very popular in college football, though it’s a tactic Michigan hasn’t necessarily preferred under head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Warinner explained, however, the advantages of signaling plays in and how much fun the players are having with it.
“Everybody looks at the signals from the sidelines, but we also use decoys and have other things going on as well,” he noted. “It’s like baseball when you have fake signals from a third base coach. It’s also a good way to run plays 10 seconds faster — we’re not trying to feature a two-minute offense or anything, but we’re also not trying to snap the ball with only three seconds left on the clock.
“It’s not like we tried to do that last year, but this just gives us a little more time. The linemen have really liked it, because it gives them more time at the line of scrimmage to think about the plays being run as they wait for the skill position guys to get lined up.
“I didn’t feel like it took too long to gets plays in last year — it just depends on whoever is spitting the calls out and getting them in. We had a wrist band system last year, which means the number would get called in and then the player had to find it on his wrist band.
“I don’t think we had many delay of game penalties because of it. Our third group is now getting more reps than ever before — our third-team linemen have gotten more reps in six practices than they got in 15 all of last year. As a result, our young redshirted guys are getting a chance to show what they can do, because all they want is a chance.”
While Warinner made it clear he’s excited about the young linemen he has on his roster, he admitted he’s even more anxious to see what his veteran starters will do.
A line that returns four starters in fifth-year senior left tackle Jon Runyan, senior left guard Ben Bredeson, junior center Cesar Ruiz and senior right guard Mike Onwenu will have a chance to be Harbaugh’s best since he’s been in Ann Arbor, and will arguably enter the campaign as the best unit in the Big Ten.
“I feel great about my group,” Warinner smiled. “We gave each linemen a paragraph in January on what we wanted them to do better, ranging from better flexibility to more body strength, etc. We had a good plan for each player and they’ve all worked on those plans tremendously.
“They’re at a whole different level now than the one they were at last year. They’re trying to get to the level of winning championships, and the objective is for everyone to take a step forward. They’re all very much into it, especially the three guys (Runyan, Bredeson and Onwenu) who are in their final year here.”
Although a drastic offensive transition such as this often requires personnel changes to one’s roster, most agree the talent is already in place for the system to work.
Warinner backed that notion up in a big way, explaining just how well Michigan’s personnel fits the new offense.
“This is made for [senior quarterback Shea] Patterson’s skill set, and [redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan] McCaffrey and [redshirt freshman quarterback Joe] Milton are learning it as well,” he said.
“There’s nothing we’re missing to be a ‘speed in space,’ spread offense. There’s nothing we need to recruit. We need to find out what Shea is best at and what the running backs are best at, and then we’ll focus on those areas — that’s what spring is for.
“I’ve ran this offense as a coordinator at two different places, so there isn’t much I haven’t seen. Gattis has also ran this at different schools, and so has [quarterbacks coach] Ben McDaniels.
“[Tight ends coach] Sherrone Moore also coached in spread offenses at CMU and Louisville, so it certainly isn’t foreign to him. The staff is working together so well in this offense.”
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