Michigan Wolverines Football Offensive Struggles
The Wolverines have always been a tough team to play due to the strong offense they usually have. The team last year had made an astonishing push to the championship where they had won it all, but this year, they don’t even have a chance to make the playoffs.
The team has been struggling offensively the whole season, and that is due to them losing most of their superstar players from last year. Over the years, the team lost their starting quarterback, star running back, and amazing wide receiver. They have struggled this year to find a way to perform offensively without their strong players last year. This team went from the best team to a mediocre team over 1 year.
People who are rooting for Michigan and writing about their athletics are struggling to find positives. The website SI said, “I found myself trying to think of anything I could point to with this Michigan offense and say, “At least they do that well.” I couldn’t do it.” This shows that even a page that supports Michigan sports sees how badly they are performing offensively, and it is truly shocking how they fell off so much.
The team is ranked 84th in red zone offense, 129th in passing offense, 93rd in completion percentage, 69th in rushing offense, and the biggest issue is their turnovers being ranked 106th. This team has reached rock bottom based on their previous years, they can’t seem to find a groove to perform well.
Michigan’s new head coach, Sherrone Moore, is planning to remove the offensive coordinator and replace him. This is due to the rough season with a terrible offense, Essentially Sports News says “He is now advised to let go of the Michigan Assistant Coach, offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell, in case he wants to bring his boys back on the right track.” Finding a new offensive coordinator could easily bring the offense up, but it could easily ruin their offense as well if it goes the wrong way.
This Wolverines team has lost their head coach this year too, Jim Harbaugh. He coached from 2015-2023 and took the offer to the San Francisco Chargers this year and that has shown a big difference. Some argue that Harbaugh was the best college football head coach during his time. So, without Harbaugh, the team has visibly declined, and that may be because of the new coaching they have. With losing a head coach, the team has seen a new game plan and different ways of going about practices. With these significant changes, there is a big difference in the way they perform due to the team being used to their old playbook which they had to switch this year, and by doing this we see the struggles it left the team with.
Even news pages about the Wolverines are showing issues with this team, GBM said, “You have to call plays for the guys you have. Not the guys you wish you still had, which is what it feels like Kirk Campbell and Michigan have been doing.” With this quote, we see that the coach is still trying to run the team like how they would with the old players they had, and not the new players they have. This gives the team issues in succeeding because they are using play calls that don’t work with the players they have.
Through this, we can develop an understanding of why the Wolverines have been performing poorly this year. With the graduates and players that got drafted, the team was left stranded. Then, to top it all off, Jim Harbaugh’s leaving brought the team to the absolute lowest.
Hopefully, this Michigan team can find a grove to finish this season strong and come back next year with a new game plan. The coaching staff needs to see the changes that need to be made, in order for this team to be a top contender once again. I see this year as a developing and understanding year due to the new coaches, so if the team grows with the new coaching, I feel as if they will be back and better next year. The Wolverines have always proved to be determined to win, and this year has shown the opposite with how rough the season has gone.
In conclusion, this Wolverine’s offense has not provided enough to be as strong as they once were. I fully believe that this team will bounce back next season and be back to being one of the top teams in college football.
