In a press conference today, Brady Hoke touched on several items that make him very different from Rich Rodriguez. Any Michigan fan has noticed a lack of toughness and discipline at Michigan lately, and apparently it hasn't eluded Brady Hoke either. Toughness was the focus of his press conference.
Brady Hoke is a more traditional style football player. He wants to run at people instead of around them. To do that he talked about the need to find running backs, fullbacks, and tight ends to fit in that system. It's no secret that Michigan is thin when it comes to those kinds of players because Rich Rodriguez's offense didn't use them. It's going to be another difficult transition for the Wolverines. But the offense should be in pretty good shape because there is a good a very good group of high quality athletes in place on offense already. Denard Robinson may have to change his style a little bit, but he showed the ability to throw last year, and he'll probably be asked to do more of that this year (and scramble when necessary.)
Despite the focus on offense in this press conference, it's still the defense that needs fixing. Even if the offense is getting a new scheme. If anyone needed toughness in the last few years it's the Michigan defense. I'd like to see a stat on where they rank on missed tackles over the last couple years. It's almost as if they are afraid to hit people. I am optimistic about the coaching changes on defense though. Hopefully they can instill some confidence, heart, and toughness in that beleaguered defense.
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