The New Michigan: Part One—The Offense

The 2008 football season is just under ten weeks away, and the Wolverines are feeling, talking—and as we saw in a rainy, sloppy spring game—looking different.  Most Michigan faithful couldn’t be happier to see the many differences.

As we all know, gone are the days of lining up in the I-formation and running the ball into the shifts of 4-4 defenses.  Here are the days of the Rich Rod, it-could-be-a-70-yard-touchdown-if-the-safeties-suck read option.

Gone are the days of beating teams just because, well, “we’re Michigan, damn it!”

Here are the days of, as Rodriguez himself noted, deserving to win—as opposed to just expecting to have the win gift-wrapped and bound by little maize and blue ribbons with a tag dangling off a string, reading “Your Stadium is Too Scary for Us.” 

But the change has not been limited to the coaches and mindset alone.

The players Michigan has relied on for the last three, and in some cases four, years have moved on to greener pastures in the NFL.  Veteran quarterback Chad Henne is in Miami with first overall pick, tackle Jake Long.

Linebacker Shawn Crable is a Pat, Mike Hart has reunited with former Wolverine Marlin Jackson in Indianapolis, and game-breaking receiver Mario Manningham decided that the degree he was talking about after the bowl wasn’t quite as important as a big NFL paycheck (or a third round selection, for that matter).

So not only does the new staff have to change the typical structure of Wolverine football—the nauseatingly platitudinal “Michigan way”—they also have to replace a record-setting generation of football players.

Did you sit down to watch the highlights from the spring game, only to realize that you didn’t recognize any of the offensive players’ numbers?  “Who is this Avery Horn dude?  Boy I wish we still had Mike Har—holy crap that kid is fast…” 

Yeah.  Get used it.

There are lots of new faces on this football team, but most of the unknowns are on the offensive side of the ball.  The defense has much more talent returning than the offense and figures to be the more veteran unit.

Because I don’t want you to be overly confused when some guy named Hemingway catches a pass, when a puny 5'8" cornerback lines up across from a wide receiver, or when a white guy wearing Woodson’s number No. 2 takes a handoff, here are some of the newest Wolverines to take leadership roles, to start to play regularly, and to even strap on the winged helmet for the first time.

Part One: Offense

After the turncoat actions of Justin Boren made Benedict Arnold look like Nathan Hale, the Michigan offense is returning just two starters from last season—fullback Mark Moundrous (who could very likely lose his job to sophomore Vince Helmuth) and right tackle Stephen Schilling.

The situation becomes bleaker when one considers that Moundros had, truth be told, very little impact last season, while Schilling had an impact of the bad variety.

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