Michigan head coach Brady Hoke has done an excellent job saying all the right things and unifying the Michigan fan base once again. In doing this he’s also brought the excitement and optimism back to the Michigan program. Something that has been absent during the tenure of Rich Rodriguez.
That optimism has carried over to the national level, namely former U-M foe Lou Holtz who is now an ESPN analyst.
Holtz, and former Pitt player Mark May believe that Michigan could have a good year under Hokes first year with the team. May believes that the Wolverines could get themselves eight wins (due to a tough schedule which I don’t think is that bad) while Holtz is a little more optimistic saying Michigan can get nine or ten wins.
Both Holtz and May believe that Michigan’s defense (who was ranked 110th overall last season) will be greatly improved under defensive coordinator Greg Mattison while the season hinges on whether or not Denard Robinson can adapt to the new offense.
Here is what they had to say further…
“Greg Mattison is an excellent coach,” Holtz said on an ESPN conference call Thursday. “He’s one of the better assistant coaches in the country. I think the biggest difference you’ll find on defense — I think they’ll tackle very well and I think they’ll play more physical. Now, how much more improved they’ll be, a lot of that will depend on talent, but I think the attitude will be completely different.
“I think Michigan is a very, very interesting team this year because last year they had one of the most prolific offenses in the entire country. I mean, they moved that ball up and down the field on virtually everybody, but they couldn’t stop anybody. Now, Coach Hoke comes in there and changes the offense. All of a sudden instead of Denard Robinson with the ball running toward the line of scrimmage, he’s going to be going away from the line of scrimmage, which makes an awful big difference. If they can have the same prolific offense, I think they’ll be fine. I think they could win nine or 10 games.”
May said the Wolverines will be improved schematically on defense under Mattison.
“I think they’ll have a lot more confidence and will get their swagger back defensively,” May said. “I think overall, a lot of it comes down to Denard Robinson and how he adapts to this new offense with Al Borges as coordinator. I think he’ll be just fine.
“I don’t think you’ll see the dynamic plays he had last year, as many of those, but I think he’ll have a lot of big plays in their offense. The key is not running him so much. That will keep him healthy. He’s not very big, less than 200 pounds (Robinson is 195), very tough, very gritty. But a player like that, you have to find a way to keep him healthy an entire season. They have a pretty tough schedule and I think Michigan will win eight games this year.”
Michigan opens the season up Saturday afternoon against Western Michigan from Michigan Stadium.
