The Transition Effect: Carr to Rodriguez

Ryan Mallett

With an upcoming coaching transition, there has been some concern that players will take flight to greener pastures. When Michigan went from a pro-style scheme to a zone read option scheme in the off-season between 2007 and 2008, some offensive players headed out the door. Not much of that can be attributed to the spread. Every team loses players in the off-season. Sometimes players are sick of standing on the sideline, sometimes they get homesick, and sometimes they butt heads with the coaches. Here's a look at what the transition from Lloyd Carr to Rich Rodriguez cost Michigan going into 2008 and beyond.

Decommitted due to coaching transition: John Wienke, Christian Wilson
Wienke, a pro-style quarterback, decommitted in favor of Iowa, where he never saw any significant time. Wilson ended up committing to North Carolina due to the fact that Rodriguez's offense didn't leave a ton of room for fullback/H-back types. Wilson played but never made a huge impact for the Tarheels.

Transferred to other FBS teams between regimes: Justin Boren, Ryan Mallett
Offensive guard Justin Boren would have been a junior starter in Rich Rodriguez's first season, but some alleged frictions between Rodriguez and Boren's family led to his departure. Boren transferred to his home state Ohio State Buckeyes program, where he eventually started and became an undrafted free agent; he never played in an NFL game despite making the practice squad with a couple teams. Meanwhile, his right guard position was taken by David Moosman, who turned out to be a decent but forgettable piece up front for the Wolverines. Theories differ on Mallett, a touted quarterback who transferred closer to home at Arkansas. Some say he was already on his way out the door because of butting heads with Carr; others say he realized he wouldn't fit into Rich Rodriguez's offense. Either way, he was replaced by walk-on Nick Sheridan and Georgia Tech transfer Steve Threet, both of whom were subpar passers and poor fits for Rodriguez's scheme. After the 2008 season,

Left early for the NFL Draft: Adrian Arrington, Mario Manningham
Arrington blew up in his final game, a bowl win over Florida, which might have sealed the deal. His 882 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns in 2007 as the #2 option behind Manningham were impressive, although he slipped into the Draft in just the 7th round, making just 9 receptions in a short NFL career. Manningham had some issues following rules/laws and seemed to be headed for the door after a stellar three-year career; he possibly would have been a 1st round pick if not for a marijuana charge, and instead fell to the 3rd round. He was picked by the Giants and has had a solid but injury-marred career with 2,849 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns.

Transferred to other FBS teams after giving Rodriguez a chance:* Toney Clemons, Vince Helmuth, Dann O'Neill, Steve Threet
Clemons spent a year trying to wedge himself into the slot receiver role for Rodriguez, a role he was ill suited for because he was not very quick or elusive. Clemons had been recruited by Lloyd Carr as an outside wide receiver, and he transferred to Colorado for that reason. He had a decent career for the Buffaloes and managed to get drafted. Helmuth was brought in as a Lloyd Carr fullback, eventually moved to defensive tackle under Rodriguez, and then transferred to Miami-OH, where he never played, either. O'Neill spent a year redshirting and then transferred to Western Michigan, where his lack of lateral mobility was less of a hindrance; he started for several years for the Broncos. Threet got kind of a raw deal. After enrolling early at Georgia Tech in January 2007, he transferred to Michigan over the summer and redshirted during the season, hoping to follow Chad Henne as the starter for the Wolverines. Then when Rodriguez got hired, Threet and walk-on Nick Sheridan split playing time before Threet lit out for his third school, Arizona State. He had to sit out the 2009 season to transfer, and then concussions caused him to end his football career early.

Left early for the NFL Draft after giving Rodriguez a chance:* Carson Butler, Donovan Warren
Butler was unhappy with his role as a tight end in Rodriguez's offense, so he made a mid-season switch to defensive end, finishing with 2 catches, 17 yards, and 5 tackles. He tested the waters of the NFL but was ultimately unsuccessful.  Warren left after his third season in Ann Arbor, hanging around through 2009. It's unclear whether a different coach could have kept him around for a fourth season, but Warren was All-Big Ten and made 4 picks in 2009, after which he made an ill-advised attempt at making it in the NFL. He was not drafted and spent a few years bouncing around practice squads.

CONCLUSIONS
If Michigan changes systems to a spread or, say, a triple option, some transfers can naturally be expected. That change seems unlikely based on what we have been hearing, but anything is possible. The one guy who seemed like a possible early entrant into the draft (Devin Funchess) is gone already. The quarterbacks are mostly pro-style guys, so that would present a challenge if Michigan wanted to run any kind of option-type stuff. Michigan has been running a lot of zone schemes, so a loss of linemen would not seem to be a huge risk, regardless of the coach. The receivers are mostly big, pro-style guys who could get squeezed out if the new coach wanted to put tiny slot guys out there in spades. Michigan's stable of tight ends would likely not be happy with a move to a spread, though A.J. Williams will be a senior and Jake Butt could be just a year away from heading to the NFL; the biggest flight risks there would probably be the young guys, Ian Bunting and Khalid Hill, who would still have time to redshirt for a year and make an impact elsewhere.

*There were some other transfers (Sam McGuffie, Marell Evans, Kurt Wermers, etc.) that seemed to have less to do with Rodriguez and more to do with homesickness, academic difficulties, etc.

Former Michigan Athletes of the Week: Mario Manningham and the Super Bowl Wolverines

One, two . . . yep, that's two feet. And a legend is made. Mario Manningham.

Eight former Michigan athletes were represented on the biggest stage of all this Super Bowl Sunday in SB XLVI, which, of course, was won by the Giants, 21-17. Here's a recap of each player's performance in order of their impact on the game:

Mario Manningham: In a microcosm of his season, Manningham had a rough start, but came on strong late. In the first half, he was targeted only one or two times and failed to haul in a catchable deep ball. In the second half, however, Manningham came up with the play of the game and was targeted four straight times during the game winning drive. Manningham finished with five catches for 73 yards, with most of that coming in crunch time, and announcer Chris Collinsworth called Manningham's 38 yard reception "one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history." Yeah, it would have been better if Manningham had announced that he were from Michigan rather than his home town, but it seems hard to fault him too much for that.

Tom Brady: It seemed that most Michigan fans were rooting for a Patriots' victory. If New England had won, Brady would have forever been in the conversation as the greatest quarterback of all time. It's fair to say that Brady remains in that conversation, but his performance on Sunday didn't exactly make a compelling case for naming him the greatest quarterback ever. Brady went 27-for-41 in the game for 276 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Although he certainly didn't get much help from his receiving corps, Brady never looked dominate and only put 17 points on the scoreboard.

David Baas: The starting center for the Giants, Baas's offensive line blocked for 114 rushing yards and allowed three sacks.

Zoltan Mesko: Zoltan dropped three space emperor punting bombs for an average of 41.0 yards and a net average of 37.7.

Carson Butler: Signed to New England's practice squad on January 26th, Butler did not participate in Super Bowl XLVI; however, he's a New England Patriot and the Patriots played in the Super Bowl, so we're going to count him.

Honorable Mention: Jim Harbaugh may have narrowly missed out on a trip to Super Bowl XLVI, but he was still named the AP Coach of the Year, the first time a 49ers coach has won the award since Bill Walsh.

Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Mario Manningham

Mario Manningham caught a touchdown pass for the third straight week, this time on a 17-yard reception in traffic on third-and-15. Coach Tom Coughlin called it an "incredible football play," and the score gave the Giants a 17-14 lead with only 8:41 remaining, eventually leading to their 20-17 NFC Championship game victory over the 49ers. Manningham lined up as the outside receiver on the play, ran up field, slanted in and shielded the over-the-top defensive back with his body as he leaped to haul in the touchdown pass. You could try to visualize that, or you could just watch it here.

Honorable Mention: Whether or not you still hold a grudge towards Jim Harbaugh, one thing is undeniable: he can coach. This year he took a hapless 6-10 San Francisco team - and a franchise that hadn't had a winning season in eight years - all the way to the NFC Championship game, coming up only three points shy of a Super Bowl birth. As stated in the title of an interesting thread on the MGoBoard, congrats to Jim Harbaugh.

Miscellaneous: Carson Butler returns to the New England Patriots' practice squad, making eight former Michigan athletes who are represented in Super Bowl XLVI, which is among the most of any college. Scot Loeffler, quarterback at Michigan from 1993-1996 and quarterbacks coach for Michigan from 2002-2007, was hired as Auburn's offensive coordinator, giving Michigan fans "a strange reason to root for Auburn."

2005 Offer Board

56 total offers

QUARTERBACK (3)
Jason Forcier - San Diego, CA (Michigan)
Harrison Beck - Clearwater, FL (Nebraska)
Rob Schoenhoft - Cincinnati, OH (Ohio State)

RUNNING BACK (4)
Andre Criswell - Detroit, MI (Michigan)
Kevin Grady - Grand Rapids, MI (Michigan)
Mister Simpson - Cincinnati, OH (Michigan)
Rashawn Jackson - Jersey City, NJ (Virginia)

WIDE RECEIVER (10)
Antonio Bass - Jackson, MI (Michigan)
Mario Manningham - Warren, OH (Michigan)
LaTerryal Savoy - Mamou, LA (Michigan)
Rendrick Taylor - Bennettsville, SC (Clemson)
Nate Boateng - Brooklyn, NY (Florida)
Mohamed Massaquoi - Charlotte, NC (Georgia)
Andre Amos - Middletown, OH (Ohio State)
Eric Huggins - Conway, SC (Oklahoma)
Kevin Cousins - Richmond, VA (Penn State)
Selwyn Lymon - Fort Wayne, IN (Purdue)

TIGHT END (2)
Carson Butler - Detroit, MI (Michigan)
Ed Dickson - Bellflower, CA (Oregon)

OFFENSIVE TACKLE (5)
Justin Schifano - Webster, NY (Michigan)
Andy Kuempel - Marion, IA (Iowa)
Dace Richardson - Wheaton, IL (Iowa)
John Jerry - Batesville, MS (Mississippi)
Alex Boone - Lakewood, OH (Ohio State)

OFFENSIVE GUARD (5)
Tim McAvoy - Bloomington, IL (Michigan)
David Moosman - Libertyville, IL (Michigan)
Cory Zirbel - Murray, KY (Michigan)
Ronnie Wilson - Pompano Beach, FL (Florida)
Hivera Green - Conway, SC (Virginia Tech)

DEFENSIVE END (5)
Eugene Germany - Pomona, CA (Michigan)
Chris McLaurin - Orchard Lake, MI (Michigan)
Allan Smith - Kansas City, MO (Boston College)
Kyle Moore - Warner Robins, GA (USC)
William Wall - Chatham, VA (Virginia Tech)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (4)
James McKinney - Louisville, KY (Michigan)
Marques Slocum - Philadelphia, PA (Michigan)
Terrance Taylor - Muskegon, MI (Michigan)
Craig Bokor - Bedford, PA (Pittsburgh)

LINEBACKER (2)
Brandon Logan - Lexington, KY (Michigan)
Jerome Hayes - Bayonne, NJ (Penn State)

CORNERBACK (11)
Brandon Harrison - Dayton, OH (Michigan)
Chris Richards - North Hills, CA (Michigan)
Johnny Sears - Fresno, CA (Michigan)
Lionel Mitchell - Chatham, VA (Alabama)
Avery Atkins - Daytona Beach, FL (Florida)
Anthony Wiseman - Hyattsville, MD (Maryland)
Demetrice Morley - Miami, FL (Miami)
Kendell Davis - Alliance, OH (Michigan State)
Jamario O'Neal - Cleveland, OH (Ohio State)
Justin King - Pittsburgh, PA (Penn State)
Kevin Thomas - Oxnard, CA (USC)

SAFETY (4)
C.J. Byrd - North Augusta, SC (Georgia)
Chris Rowell - Warrensville Heights, OH (Iowa)
Nic Harris - Alexandria, LA (Oklahoma)
Victor Harris - Highland Springs, VA (Virginia Tech)

KICKER/PUNTER (1)
Zoltan Mesko - Twinsburg, OH (Michigan)

2010 Recruiting Grades: Tight End

Michigan offered three tight ends in 2010, but didn't get any.

Predictions: The class of 2010 tight ends will be better than Carson Butler.

Grade: Inc. They didn't really need a tight end, anyway.

Bonus: Hey, Zach Galifianakis is on SNL this weekend.

2009 NFL Draft Review: Michigan

One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was so I could have my predictions and analysis somewhere where I could review them. Predicting how recruits will pan out is a very long process, but predicting the NFL draft is quick and easy. Here's how I did in retrospect...

Morgan Trent
Prediction: 4th round
Where he went: Trent went to the Bengals with the sixth pick in the 6th round. It looks like I overvalued him a little bit. The current Wolverine players have hinted that some of the outgoing players never bought into the new regime, and I've heard rumors that Trent was one of those. Perhaps some NFL teams heard those same rumors and dropped him down a bit for attitude issues. Or maybe nobody thought he was very good.

Terrance Taylor
Prediction: 5th round
Where he went: Taylor went to the Colts with the last pick of the 4th round. While my prediction was off, it was as close to being correct as I could possibly be . . . without actually being correct.

Tim Jamison
Prediction: 7th round
Where he went: Jamison ended up signing as an undrafted free agent (UFA) with the Houston Texans.

Brandon Harrison
Prediction: UFA
Where he went: Harrison signed with the Indianapolis Colts. They already have a 5'9" strong safety in Bob Sanders, but here's a clone. I honestly think Harrison might be able to stick on a team like the Colts. His strength is in playing close to the line of scrimmage, and the Colts defense would potentially give him that opportunity.

Mike Massey
Prediction: UFA
Where he went: Massey signed with the Browns. I'm pretty sure this is nothing more than the Browns saying, "Hey, you're from Cleveland - let's make the hometown fans happy about seeing a local product on the roster!"

Carson Butler
Prediction: UFA
Where he went: Butler went to the Green Bay Packers. They have a history of thuggish tight ends (Mark Chmura liked 16-year-old girls a little too much, for example), but I think Butler's on-field attitude will get him shooed away faster than his off-the-field behavior.

2009 NFL Draft Results: The Free Agents

Defensive tackle Will Johnson has signed with the Baltimore Ravens.

Defensive end/outside linebacker Tim Jamison has signed with the Houston Texans.

Long snapper Sean Griffin has signed with the Seattle Seahawks.

Tight end Carson Butler has signed with the Green Bay Packers.

Tight end Mike Massey has signed with the Cleveland Browns.

Brandon Harrison has signed with the Indianapolis Colts.

More updates to come.

2009 NFL Draft Preview: Michigan

Morgan Trent - CB
Morgan Trent came to Michigan as a wide receiver but moved to defensive back during bowl practices of his true freshman season. He played pretty well in 2007 but took a lot of blame for Michigan's defensive woes in 2008. Scouts - and fans - think Trent lacks the fluid hips to be a corner in the NFL. Because of this, I think Trent projects as a free safety at the NFL level. He's a decent tackler who has improved in that area over the last couple years; he doesn't match up well against running backs at times, but he's willing and able to hit receivers. And roaming centerfield doesn't require the same fluidity as cornerback. He could also fit into a defense that plays a lot of zone coverages as a cornerback.
Projection: 4th round

Terrence Taylor - DT
At the end of Taylor's junior season, there were some who thought Taylor could have been a first round pick. I disagreed. It's not often that you see undersized DTs (he's 6'0" and 306 lbs.) go in the first round, so that was overly optimistic. A year later, Taylor looks likely to go in the fourth round or so. He rarely made big plays at Michigan and while he's fairly adept at holding up against double teams, that job gets more difficult in the NFL. He reminds me of William Carr, who was an All-American (Taylor wasn't) and a seventh round draft pick by the Bengals. Still...
Projection: 5th round

Tim Jamison - DE
Michigan fans (including me) kept expecting Jamison to break out in a Wolverine uniform, but he never really did. He mostly played right defensive end and suffered from weight issues early in his career. He measured in at 6'2 1/2" and 256 lbs. before the draft, which is probably a good weight for him. Some suggest that he would make a good outside linebacker in a 3-4, but with his 5.09 time in the forty yard dash, I disagree. I think he's purely a defensive end. He holds up decently against the run, but he's not much of a pass rusher.
Projection: 7th round

Will Johnson - DT
Despite Johnson's eye-popping 47 reps at 225 lbs. on the bench press, he never produced much in college. He's a little stiiff and doesn't do much more than holding his own against double teams. I have a very hard time believing that a team will spend a draft pick on Johnson. He reminds me of Baltimore Ravens nosetackle Kelly Gregg, but Gregg was All-Big 12 for two years. Johnson doesn't hold equivalent accolades. Johnson could stick as a nosetackle, but I doubt it.
Projection: Undrafted

Brandon Harrison - CB/S
Harrison is 5'9", 205 lbs., and fast. Unfortunately, he's never been a great football player. He's a solid tackler but not a big playmaker in the passing game. He played safety as a freshman, slot corner as a sophomore and junior, and strong safety as a senior. He never really found a position. Harrison's best chance is to contribute on special teams and be a backup strong safety, but I doubt he'll hang around in the league.
Projection: Undrafted

Carson Butler - TE
I'm not going to lie - Butler seems like an asshole. He participated in the St. Patrick's Day Nerd Massacre, punched random people on the field, and pissed off the coaches non-stop. I wouldn't want him on my team. But he's 6'5" and runs the forty in the 4.5-4.6 range, so some GM/coach will give him a shot. Once they see him false start/hold/whiff on a block on the same play, they'll send him packing.
Projection: Undrafted

Sean Griffin - LS
Griffin is a very good long snapper and while he probably won't get drafted (long snappers rarely do), I do expect that Griffin will hang around the NFL for a while.
Projection: Undrafted

John Thompson - LB
I don't think anyone ever thought Thompson would be effective in pass coverage, but I didn't expect him to be so bad at tackling, too. He wasn't a horrible tackler, but for someone nicknamed "Machete" I expected a more solid tackler. If Thompson plays in the NFL, I would think it would be as an inside linebacker in a 3-4 defense; he's too slow to run sideline to sideline like a 4-3 middle linebacker would have to do. However, regardless of the defensive scheme, Thompson very probably isn't an NFLer.
Projection: Undrafted

Mike Massey - TE
Uh . . . no.
Projection: Undrafted

Carson Butler, ex-Wolverine

Tight end-turned-defensive end Carson Butler has decided to forego his fifth year at Michigan and see what the NFL has in store for him. My guess? Not much. Butler is a supremely talented athlete who secured the starting tight end job in 2007. He false started and/or held on every other play, but when you're 6'5" and fast, you get to play anyway.

According to rumors, Butler butted heads with Rich Rodriguez and his coaching staff. After making a couple nice catches early in the 2008 season, he was relegated to the bench in favor of Mike Massey and true freshman Kevin Koger. He made a midyear switch to defensive end and played significant time against Purdue, even though he continually got pushed backward by the offensive lineman opposite him. After the Ohio State game, internet reports swirled that Carson Butler challenged Rich Rodriguez to a fight on the sideline during the game.

This is probably a win-win-win situation. Michigan's team won't be held back by locker room cancers and false start penalties. Rodriguez will have one less headache to worry about. And Carson Butler will avoid being savaged by Mike Barwis' pack of angry pet wolves.

I would be surprised if an NFL team took a chance on Butler in the draft. He may latch on somewhere as a rookie free agent until he pisses off the coaching staff of whatever practice squad he's on. Finesse tight ends usually linger toward the top of the depth chart, and Butler isn't ready to be an NFL starter. Considering his aversion to blocking - which is where many unheralded tight ends have to make their mark - I don't think he has a future at the next level.