Unless noted, this is only my opinion.
The undisputed leaders of the defense have been Harding and Hansen. Milan is more of a leader by example.
They had done best they can, but the defense was not cohesive. There have been issues. Agent issues (nothing illegal, but they are distracting), there were divergent interests, and the dbs had friction between them, partly because of injuries, and partially because guys were playing different positions .The DL had no identifiable leader. Stanley Green was and is important. You might recall that I said to expect some people leave the program. They were close, but eventually all bought in. Green was hurt, but he did not need to be on the bench for as long as he did. Take that any way you would like.
The coaches have always differed on Green, incidentally. I love the guy, as do some coaches, but others, for whatever reason, haven’t seemed to like him, although that may have changed.
Anyway, the defense had underlying issues that were not immediately noticeable. Some criticism was directed at Lovie for his schemes, some justified, but he was trying to herd cats. The guys were not on the same page. As an aside, the offense has had no problems all season. Peters had the right demeanor in a sense. He does not yell or scream. I don’t know if a vocal qb could have come in so late in the game without ruffling feathers.
Green is a blood and guts type of guy. Too slow to start, but he is vocal, hits hard, and gets guys fired up. Big time. We need him, imo, but it was a complicated issue, and I thought he might leave the team.
Green starts and Adams moves to cb. The later is also huge because Adams is a great cb. With Hobbs playing opposite, the D can do many more things. The cb2 had been causing problems all season.
Green got everyone else fired up. The defense rallied around him, and started listening to Harding and Hansen. And all started listening to the coaches.
Before the Michigan game, it began to come together. The defense played inspired each practice, which in turn motivated the offense. I was told about this but, candidly, I didn’t put much weight in it. Sort of, ok, whatever. Then the first half of the Michigan game occurred and it looked like everything had been completely forgotten. I was glad I hadn’t posted anything pregame. It was not until halftime, and when some of the offensive guys became vocal, that the team got on the same page.
It was the next week, pre Wisconsin, where every practice was intense and productive. More on that later.
Let me say this. Nobody thought we would beat Wisconsin. If they claim so, they are lying. However, I was emphatically told that the entire staff thought we would play Wisconsin competitively and stay close to them well into the second half.
Again, these are only my thoughts. Nobody close to this is stopping to analyze what happened 4 weeks ago. Maybe after the season people will do so.
The undisputed leaders of the defense have been Harding and Hansen. Milan is more of a leader by example.
They had done best they can, but the defense was not cohesive. There have been issues. Agent issues (nothing illegal, but they are distracting), there were divergent interests, and the dbs had friction between them, partly because of injuries, and partially because guys were playing different positions .The DL had no identifiable leader. Stanley Green was and is important. You might recall that I said to expect some people leave the program. They were close, but eventually all bought in. Green was hurt, but he did not need to be on the bench for as long as he did. Take that any way you would like.
The coaches have always differed on Green, incidentally. I love the guy, as do some coaches, but others, for whatever reason, haven’t seemed to like him, although that may have changed.
Anyway, the defense had underlying issues that were not immediately noticeable. Some criticism was directed at Lovie for his schemes, some justified, but he was trying to herd cats. The guys were not on the same page. As an aside, the offense has had no problems all season. Peters had the right demeanor in a sense. He does not yell or scream. I don’t know if a vocal qb could have come in so late in the game without ruffling feathers.
Green is a blood and guts type of guy. Too slow to start, but he is vocal, hits hard, and gets guys fired up. Big time. We need him, imo, but it was a complicated issue, and I thought he might leave the team.
Green starts and Adams moves to cb. The later is also huge because Adams is a great cb. With Hobbs playing opposite, the D can do many more things. The cb2 had been causing problems all season.
Green got everyone else fired up. The defense rallied around him, and started listening to Harding and Hansen. And all started listening to the coaches.
Before the Michigan game, it began to come together. The defense played inspired each practice, which in turn motivated the offense. I was told about this but, candidly, I didn’t put much weight in it. Sort of, ok, whatever. Then the first half of the Michigan game occurred and it looked like everything had been completely forgotten. I was glad I hadn’t posted anything pregame. It was not until halftime, and when some of the offensive guys became vocal, that the team got on the same page.
It was the next week, pre Wisconsin, where every practice was intense and productive. More on that later.
Let me say this. Nobody thought we would beat Wisconsin. If they claim so, they are lying. However, I was emphatically told that the entire staff thought we would play Wisconsin competitively and stay close to them well into the second half.
Again, these are only my thoughts. Nobody close to this is stopping to analyze what happened 4 weeks ago. Maybe after the season people will do so.
