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Michigan Football: 5 reasons Wolverines will struggle in 2018

By Patrick Mayhorn

MADISON, WI - NOVEMBER 18: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines prepares to take the field with his team prior to a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 18, 2017 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MADISON, WI - NOVEMBER 18: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines prepares to take the field with his team prior to a game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 18, 2017 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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5. Offensive coordinator issues

Michigan’s offensive struggles under Harbaugh have been well publicized. After fielding a solid offense in 2015, the Wolverines have gotten worse each of the last two years. Quarterback troubles, little to no line depth, and downright bad playcalling have been a staple in Ann Arbor. While there are reasons to think the former two have improved (more on this later), I’m not encouraged by this staff at all.

After three bad years, former offensive coordinator Tim Drevno is off to USC. In his place, Harbaugh brought in former Ohio State and Minnesota coordinator Ed Warinner. By all accounts, Warinner is a great offensive line coach and did a good job in that role at Ohio State. However, when promoted to co-offensive coordinator at OSU in 2015, Warinner struggled greatly.

The Buckeyes’ play calling was stale and lacked creativity, as Warinner and Tim Beck managed to waste one of the more talented offenses in the last decade of college football. Warinner has never been known as a passing game expert, and his struggles with it didn’t change at Minnesota. That’s where Pep Hamilton comes in.

Hamilton was hired as the passing game coordinator in 2016. The former Browns assistant is very familiar with Harbaugh, and worked under him at Stanford in 2010. He’s credited with the success of Andrew Luck, and was brought in to improve Michigan’s passing game. Whether it was a lack of talent, or poor coaching, Hamilton has not had success fixing anything yet. Michigan’s passing attack was dreadful last season. John O’Korn, Wilton Speight, and Brandon Peters all struggled greatly.

These two coaches and receivers coach Jim McElwain (seriously?) have been named co-offensive coordinators for 2018. Harbaugh has said that they don’t have a primary OC, and may never name one. This is not a new approach in college football, as plenty of other teams have tried the approach of multiple OCs with different skill-sets. It almost never works. I can’t imagine it working here.

I’m not particularly confident in any of the coaches that make up this staff. All three have a history of dreadful, bloated offenses. All three are known for inefficiency, and for falling apart in big games. With as many tough games as Michigan has on this schedule, there’s no reason to trust that these coaches are the ones that can fix Michigan’s offense.

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