Three Encouraging Things Mike Hart Said About The Running Back Rotation
Michigan's rushing production over the last few years has been pretty bad. In 2019 Michigan was No. 77 in the country at running the ball and last year they were even lower, down at No. 95. The rotation during the last two seasons was questionable at best and at times it seemed like Jay Harbaugh almost forgot who was available to him.
With Mike Hart now in charge of the position, Michigan fans are very optimistic that he'll get the best out of a very talented group. He said some things during media availability yesterday that make that optimism feel warranted.
"You have to let a guy get a little comfortable in the game."
Hart knows a thing or two about that, right? Michigan's all-time leading rusher carried the ball nearly 24 times per game during his four-year career in Ann Arbor. He definitely understands that running backs get into a rhythm and get comfortable with more carries. College football isn't like it was when Hart was a bell cow running back, but I think he'll use his guys correctly and keep feeding the hot hand, which is something we simply didn't see over the last two seasons. That's how Hart operated at Indiana, and unless he is forced to do something different by either offensive coordinator Josh Gattis or Jim Harbaugh, he'll do the same thing now at Michigan.
"There’s always two, first-down backs, a third down back a short yardage back — it can be the same guy. Whoever earns those jobs and whoever is better at them, that’s who is going to be in the game in those situations."
It seems like a simple enough explanation but this is something else we haven't really seen over the last few years with Michigan running backs. Football is all about putting guys in a position to succeed. Play to their strengths, and stay away from their weaknesses. Look no further than a guy like Chris Evans. Once viewed as the next great running back at Michigan, Evans was used incorrectly for much of his career. Running a guy like Evans between the tackles instead of getting him on the edge, out in space or out running routes is just malpractice. He's capable of running power, and did so with some success at Michigan, but it's not his strength. He earned rave reviews during senior bowl workouts, was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals and now looks like a legitimate backup to Joe Mixon. He's talented and dangerous in the open field, but he didn't get to showcase that very often at Michigan.
Hart is saying the right things about using guys correctly, so hopefully it'll play out that way on the field.
"Obviously you can’t just say ,’Oh, he’s in the game, it’s going to be a pass.' But if it’s 3rd and 12, there’s a 3rd and 12 back."
This is just another way to say what was said above — put a guy in a position to succeed. It's been an issue at Michigan over the last few seasons and not just at running back. Asking a guy like Luke Schoonmaker to block a 295-pound defensive end down on the goal line is not setting him up for success. Putting Hassan Haskins in to run wildcat inside the five when you have a mobile, 250-pound quarterback just doesn't make sense. Not heaving deep balls to guys like Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones multiple times per game isn't playing to players' strengths. Asking players like Rashan Gary and Aidan Hutchinson to set the edge, eat blocks and anchor a defensive line isn't getting the best out of them.
We've seen it time and time again and that's why Michigan doesn't compete with the big boys despite recruiting and producing NFL talent like them. Hart seems to get it, and hopefully so do guys like Mike Macdonald and Steve Clinkscale, who seem to talk the talk, which could and should rub off on holdovers like Josh Gattis and even Harbaugh himself.
