All offseason, Michigan football tight end Zack Marshall has waxed ecstatic about the offense, noting that the pass game has a lot more freedom for the receiver types, where the pass catchers are allowed to play more backyard football.
In March, Marshall said this of the new offense:
"Our former offense, it was very pro-style and it was awesome in that, but it was so like technical, and like, OK, if he's inside leverage of you, we kind of want you to cross his face because we've got to open the window for the next guy. Well, what if the next guy is not open? Like that, that was how my brain thought. Now it's like, OK, don't just open the window, wrap him and get to the next window so that you're going to be able to be open and pull the other guy open if he attacks
you, you know? So there's a lot of freedom in this new offense."
But what does that mean, exactly? Does that mean that the receivers and tight ends are able to just run whatever they want the moment they're covered? Not exactly.
The Wolverines opened up fall camp on Wednesday, and offensive coordinator Jason Beck was made available to the media following the first practice. WolverinesWire asked Beck what Marshall's comments look like in reality, and he shared more about how it's a controlled option for the pass catchers, but it's not just a free-for-all for everyone running routes.
"We're working these routes, but based off what the coverage is, what the looks are, those routes need to adjust," Beck said. "It just can't always be this static thing that you draw on the paper, because otherwise the right call, the right coverage, the right this, the right that, gives you a hard time on that play. So you have to be able to work those routes to get open to different looks, different leverages.
"So that's kind of what is in reference to there. So it's not like just a free-for-all where they're just unpredictable what they're doing, but there is, hey, I'm running this route, and within that route, I have this leeway to get open, taking it higher, cutting it shorter, doing different things to get open on it, not just letting something take it away from you."
Ultimately, it comes down to chemistry between the receivers, tight ends, and the quarterbacks. Given that defenses are becoming more and more sophisticated in college football, Beck says that everyone needs to be on the same page at all times.
Often, defensive coordinators, like Michigan's own Jay Hill, are looking to show one look pre-snap only to change it once the ball is in the quarterback's hands. Thus, players on the field have to be smart enough to adjust, in order not to cede the success of the play to the formational differences. Beck says this freedom is essentially a series of contingencies, but it will only work so much while everyone understands what it going on post-snap.
"Chemistry is a great word for that. Like it is chemistry," Beck said. "It's being on the same wavelength, connected, anticipating what each other's doing. So it's something we train at a really high level. I mean, part of our walkthrough time and meeting time is having routes, giving looks, based off those looks, how is this route adjusting? I don't want to overplay it that it's like every route, everything is, there's all this freedom because certain routes have to be super controlled. And you've got to know exactly what is happening there, where now this guy has more freedom to get open. So on option routes and things like that.
"But we put a lot of work into that chemistry, both in terms of using meeting time to, as you're in the classroom, stand up and you got this leverage and that leverage and what do you think you'll do here and there? We go out, and we're working on the walkthrough. So the coaches are out there, like I have to have young coaches so they can be defensive players and be giving all these looks to work on it. So then when you're hitting 7-on-7 and the team periods, you're making that progress. So you'll probably even see, like in pregame, like we have coaches out there giving looks because they're giving leverages, they're giving where's the backer, where's the safety, and how's that route working to get open?
"I don't want to call a play that's a cover 2 play, a cover 4 play. Defenses are way beyond that. You call in some cover 4 play, and you're just crossing your fingers they're in cover 4, and if they're not, what are you doing? So you want, no matter what the coverage is, there are answers. And it's either answers in the concepts working together, or there's answers in a guy having options to get open in the routes he's running."
Michigan is looking to revamp the pass game, though Beck admitted on day one of fall camp that the run game is currently the unit's strength. Fall camp will continue for a month, with eyes on the season opener coming on September 5 against Western Michigan at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Jason Beck explains Michigan football route flexibility for receivers
