Drevno gets a new deal

[wheels002]

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...gan-offensive-coordinator-new-contract-010317

5 year deal worth 1 mil a year

 

[dubbsco]

Love it. The coordinators are locked up for a long time. That type of stability does wonders for a program.

 

[Michchamp]

Love it. The coordinators are locked up for a long time. That type of stability does wonders for a program.

not that I expect it to happen under Harbaugh, but there are plenty of cautionary tales out there of coaches getting big contract extensions and then treating their job as a paid vacation, knowing they just locked in a high-six/low seven figure salary for the next couple years regardless of how many hours they put in or how shitty the result on the field is.

 

[bphillips4gg]

I don't know of any of those cautionary tales being about guys with head coaching aspirations. Not saying it can't happen, I just don't think it will be an issue in this case.

 

[Michchamp]

sort-of related: I've heard from a couple people now that the play-calling was "collaborative" between Harbaugh, Drevno, and Fisch. I don't know if that's true or not, but it sounds impractical. you have a few seconds between plays to work out the next call, change personnel, and get the call in... if there are any snags in there, you're going to be rushing things or burning time outs.

I think playcalling was our achilles' heal this year.

 

[Gulo Blue]

sort-of related: I've heard from a couple people now that the play-calling was "collaborative" between Harbaugh, Drevno, and Fisch. I don't know if that's true or not, but it sounds impractical. you have a few seconds between plays to work out the next call, change personnel, and get the call in... if there are any snags in there, you're going to be rushing things or burning time outs.

I think playcalling was our achilles' heal this year.

Yeah. I have a difficult time seeing that as the reality. What I hope is that that statement was more about distributing credit/blame.

 

[Michchamp]

I don't know of any of those cautionary tales being about guys with head coaching aspirations. Not saying it can't happen, I just don't think it will be an issue in this case.

I don't either, I just don't agree with dubbs assertion.

see, e.g. lots of coaches who get extensions after one (1) good year, then mail it in until they get shit-canned while collecting seven-figure buyout awards and severance packages.

 

[deathroh]

sort-of related: I've heard from a couple people now that the play-calling was "collaborative" between Harbaugh, Drevno, and Fisch. I don't know if that's true or not, but it sounds impractical. you have a few seconds between plays to work out the next call, change personnel, and get the call in... if there are any snags in there, you're going to be rushing things or burning time outs.

I think playcalling was our achilles' heal this year.

Two different sets of announcers this year have mentioned direct quotes from the staff, indicating that this does happen. I know you wouldn't just trust my word, so I just did a google search and came up with this from last year..

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/09/jim_harbaughs_unique_play_call.html

 

[thewolverines24]

There were some questionable play calls this year, but the o-line was the achilles heal of the team. Newsome's injury killed them.

 

[deathroh]

From the sounds of it, this is not a new technique for Harbaugh. He's been successful wherever he's been. I had issues with the playcalling this year as well, but I'm willing to be generous and give him a pass.

 

[dubbsco]

Times have changed. Assistants don't make 150k anymore.

Don Brown is not going anywhere. He's been a DC all his life and he has zero reason to try and be a head coach.

Drevno yeah, I could see him leaving in a couple years. But this contract at least on paper says he's the OC beyond next year, and that can help with recruiting a lot.

 

[Michchamp]

Two different sets of announcers this year have mentioned direct quotes from the staff, indicating that this does happen. I know you wouldn't just trust my word, so I just did a google search and came up with this from last year..

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/09/jim_harbaughs_unique_play_call.html

nice work. yeah, it kinda showed in the results on the field.

my entirely subjective take is that this approach works better early in the season, when it keeps opponents guessing, and not as well later in the season when your tendencies are well-documented on film, and obvious. it helped that the schedule was easier then as well...

but it also seems like it kept them from developing an identity, or having some "go to" plays, (other than the Peppers' QB sweep which worked worse each time they ran it).

during the IU game, the sideline reporter mentioned the OL told Harbaugh to trust them... seemed like it worked out there, because we finally committed to the run, and won the game on it. that was as close as they came to developing an "identity on offense" that I saw all year.

Maybe Harbaugh et al winging it like that is still better than most coaches carefully scripting a game, but it's flaws become all too obvious and magnified in the losses, where we either take too long to get going or can't hold on to the ball to salt away leads.

 

[deathroh]

Times have changed. Assistants don't make 150k anymore.

Don Brown is not going anywhere. He's been a DC all his life and he has zero reason to try and be a head coach.

Drevno yeah, I could see him leaving in a couple years. But this contract at least on paper says he's the OC beyond next year, and that can help with recruiting a lot.

100% agree. There is no such thing as stability in college football. But these contracts at least give the perception of it.

 

[Michchamp]

Times have changed. Assistants don't make 150k anymore.

Don Brown is not going anywhere. He's been a DC all his life and he has zero reason to try and be a head coach.

Drevno yeah, I could see him leaving in a couple years. But this contract at least on paper says he's the OC beyond next year, and that can help with recruiting a lot.

Don Brown was a HC earlier in his career, If I recall... but it does seem like he's happier working as a DC than as the main guy.

 

[deathroh]

nice work. yeah, it kinda showed in the results on the field.

my entirely subjective take is that this approach works better early in the season, when it keeps opponents guessing, and not as well later in the season when your tendencies are well-documented on film, and obvious. it helped that the schedule was easier then as well...

but it also seems like it kept them from developing an identity, or having some "go to" plays, (other than the Peppers' QB sweep which worked worse each time they ran it).

during the IU game, the sideline reporter mentioned the OL told Harbaugh to trust them... seemed like it worked out there, because we finally committed to the run, and won the game on it. that was as close as they came to developing an "identity on offense" that I saw all year.

Maybe Harbaugh et al winging it like that is still better than most coaches carefully scripting a game, but it's flaws become all too obvious and magnified in the losses.

They left it open in the article as to whether or not they script plays early on.

But I agree, whether it was due to the crappy OL, inexperience at QB, or playcalling - this offense clearly lacked an identity.

 

[dubbsco]

Ah yeah forgot he was at UMASS. Agreed, at this point in his life, I don't think he probably wants to go through the rigors of being an HC again.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Two different sets of announcers this year have mentioned direct quotes from the staff, indicating that this does happen. I know you wouldn't just trust my word, so I just did a google search and came up with this from last year..

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/09/jim_harbaughs_unique_play_call.html

That is weird. But it's not a complete free for all either. If Harbaugh says run, they start talking about what run play. It doesn't sound like they'd question that and suggest a pass.

 

[Michchamp]

That is weird. But it's not a complete free for all either. If Harbaugh says run, they start talking about what run play. It doesn't sound like they'd question that and suggest a pass.

seems like it makes it tougher to sequence plays in a way that builds on plays you've already called to trick the defense. "hey we hit them with this twice, now we hit them with that"

if you script plays, then you can plan for that

 

[dubbsco]

My biggest issue with the playcalling can be pointed out most in the games against MSU last year, Iowa this year, and OSU this year.

I cannot stand the whole "getting ball back, run, run, run, punt." How about instead of doing something wildly predictable, come out on 1st down and give Speight a run/pass option? Roll out, if you see someone open throw it downfield, if not slide down. There's been a serious lack of killer instinct after getting a big stop and trying to run the clock out.

 

[deathroh]

seems like it makes it tougher to sequence plays in a way that builds on plays you've already called to trick the defense. "hey we hit them with this twice, now we hit them with that"

if you script plays, then you can plan for that

I don't see any reason to believe that they don't periodically script plays early in a game, or script a series of playcalls to use throughout. It's not like these are four drunk dudes sitting at a bar yelling out ideas. I feel safe in assuming it is a coherent process since he's been using it for 11 years, and again, has a proven record of success.

And I think it's important to note the final sentence of the article. Harbaugh has the final say on everything. I'm not going to doubt that man's brain and assume he can't handle input (that he's asking for).