Yesterday, ESPN analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Jesse Palmer, Desmond Howard, Robert Smith and Mark Schlabach broke down the 2012 Michigan Wolverines in a very solid season preview.
The highlights:
Palmer commented on how Brady Hoke will be the first person to tell you that last years team failed in the sense that they didn't win a Big Ten Championship. Hoke was on staff in 1998 when the team started off 0-2 coming off a National Title in 1197.
Desmond commented on how the team is focused on winning the Big Ten in 2012 and that Hoke is drilling into the teams heads that last year wasn't a success.
Smith discussed how great of a hire Greg Mattison was for Michigan. Smith also commented on the 15 INT's from Denard last season and implored for Al Borges to let "Denard be Denard".
Herby is looking forward to seeing how Denard does without the ability to throw the jump ball to the departed JR Hemmingway.
Schlabach met with Brady this spring and said that Hoke told him that he doesn't want to take the fighting spirit away from Denard but he also can't have him throwing the ball up for grabs, especially withough Hemmingway.
Palmer says that he thinks the Michigan staff wants Denard to 1. cut down on INT's with footwork and mechanics and 2. become a leader.
Herby says in a weird way that Denard is holding Michigan back from who they want to be. When he leaves, Michigan will move back to "playing Michigan football" with a pro-style offense. We won't see the real Al Borges offense until Denard Robinson moves on to the NFL.
Desmond commented on how Michigan is recruiting to a pro-style offense with pocket passers coming in. Dez also commented on how big of a concern Alabama game is.
Palmer says Michigan is already 0-1, saying they are certain to lose to 'Bama . . . which was quickly discounted by the other panelists. Palmer states that Michigan is good enough to win the Big Ten. He also states that the team will be better than in 2011, but may have a worse record due to a tough schedule that includes 6 games away from Michigan Stadium, including Alabama, Notre Dame, Nebraska and Ohio.
Schlabach took a dig at RichRod, saying that the fact that Michigan "huddled" on offense in 2011 made their defense much better than it was under the no-huddle RichRod teams.
To watch full video, click the link here - ESPN Top 20 Round table - Michigan Wolverines
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