The onus of Michigan football’s struggles in 2024 came on the offensive side of the ball, thus that’s what the Wolverines hope to fix most this year.
From bringing in offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, freshman phenom quarterback Bryce Underwood, or transfers Donaven McCulley, and Justice Haynes, though these (besides Underwood) aren’t getting much attention nationally, it could bring huge ramifications to the team if the offense is, at least, middling.
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A lot of the offseason talk has been about a new downfield passing attack and the idea of being more explosive, and while head coach Sherrone Moore might interpret ‘explosive’ differently from the average college football fan, the plan is to do so in something of a Michigan way.
“I second it. You want to be able to be balanced. And when you feel one-dimensional, that’s not a way to operate anyway,” Moore said. “And for us to be as successful as we were at the end of the year, one, kudos to our run game, but two, kudos to our defense and how we played football — complementary football. And really, kudos to our coaching staff to be able to do that and play complementary football, including our special teams and J.B. Brown, the special teams coordinator, and be able to manipulate field position, do different things like that.
“So it’s all part of the plan. And I think we’ll be explosive. That’s the plan. So we’ll see as we get through camp and see what happens. But I feel good about the direction we are and where we’re going for the offense.”
Many might not have realized, but Michigan was pretty explosive, even in years like 2021. That season, the Wolverines were 23rd in the country in plays that went for 30 yards or more. In 2022, they were 18th. They were middling in 2023, the national championship year, at 77th nationally, but they were particularly atrocious in 2024 — 133 out of 134 teams.
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Whether it’s a long pass play or a long run, each would aid the other. The offense helps the defense, and vice versa. Special teams can help both. But that’s one of the things that the Wolverines need, the ability on offense to change field positions in a hurry, but also don’t expect that to be the modus operandi. Ball control will still likely play a large part of the maize and blue’s attack, but they would certainly be happy to have that along with the type of explosive playmaking that they had in 2021 and 2022.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan aims to fix offense with explosive plays in 2025
