The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Rodriguez preaches patience at Michigan spring game
Defense steals show during scrimmage at Saline High School
By Greg Dooley, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: April 17, 2008
More than 60 years ago, coach Fritz Crisler and his "Mad Magicians" left opposing defenses dizzy in a swirl of quick line shifts, short passes and disguised runs. To the frustration of many followers of University of Michigan football, some consider that the last time the Wolverines deployed an innovative offensive scheme.
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Enter Rich Rodriguez, the man who introduced the spread offense to college football.
Just five months ago, Rodriguez had his West Virginia Mountaineers on the brink of the BCS national championship game. On Saturday, the Wolverine head coach was 350 miles from Morgantown, roaming the wet Saline High School field.
With Michigan Stadium unavailable because of a renovation project, hundreds of friends of the football program gathered at Saline Stadium to get a peek at the new coach and his offense. Unfortunately for the U-M faithful, the furious symphony of timing, reads and speed required to run the spread wasn't quite in tune.
"We've got a long way to go -- we're not even close to playing any football games," Rodriguez said Saturday as cold rain drizzled down.
Later, he admitted, "There are some things that make you shake your head because they are really ugly."
It was instead the blue-clad defense that provided most of the excitement. All afternoon, the secondary had their hands on passes and the line hurried throws. Sophomore corner Troy Woolfolk took one interception back the length of the field for a score.
The live action resulted in a few huge hits, highlighted by junior defensive end Brandon Graham's jaw-rattler late in the day that yielded a unified gasp from the crowd.
"The defense is coming along and I expect that," Rodriguez said after the game, and suggested that with the veterans returning on that side of the ball "the defense should dominate. If they don't, we've got issues."
When asked if he's jealous of the attention the offense has been getting all spring, new defensive coordinator and Saline resident Scott Shafer said, "No, not at all. We're just focused in on how to get better."
There were some positive signs from the offense. Rodriguez felt that the team ran the ball well and he singled out the spring performances of the running backs, including Kevin Grady and Avery Horn.
As far as the receivers, true freshman receiver Darryl Stonem impressed fans and Greg Mathews was praised for making "some nice catches."
On the critical quarterback position, Rodriguez confirmed that right now the job is open with sophomore Steve Threet and Saline native Nick Sheridan as the front runners. He brushed off their mistakes and offered praise saying, "They're smart guys. When they make a mistake, they know right away and that's the first clue that they're picking up the system."
Fans may need to wait until the players are comfortable with their assignments in the playbook before seeing the offense truly stick, Sheridan said.
"In football, you like to just play; you don't want to have to think," he said. "But when new things are coming in, sometimes it's hard to do that. It will be big for us this summer to take a step back and really evaluate what we are trying to do."
All in all, Rodriguez was unfazed by the mistakes and understands that learning his system takes time.
"As a coach, I've learned to be a little more patient with our first spring. Normally, a practice like today would make me go nuts. I'm being patient."
Greg Dooley is a guest contributor to Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at gregdooley@yahoo.com. Dooley also contributes to MVictors.com, a Michigan football blog.
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