In just his second year of college football, wide receiver Jaime Ffrench isn't just learning a new offense; he's learning a new school and its culture.
After starting his college career at Texas, Ffrench decided to pair up with some of his friends in Ann Arbor in quarterback Bryce Underwood and wide receiver Andrew Marsh. And though it was a little bit of a slow go for the Florida native in his first year with the Longhorns, he's starting to turn the corner with the Wolverines in fall camp.
But the setbacks had little to do with the complexity of Jason Beck's offense as much as it was getting used to a new system and a new style of play.
He spoke to Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast and shared his progress and the difference between Ann
Arbor and Austin from an offensive perspective.
"I'll say (picking it up) at Texas, it was a little bit harder the way Coach Sarkisian ran his offense," Ffrench said. "But here, I'll say it's pretty simple. I pretty much got the playbook down in the first semester, when in like springtime. So I'm pretty much just getting to that phase of mastering it now. Like, I pretty much know everything in the X's and O's now, yeah."
Looking outside of himself and his work to see the field, Ffrench feels like there are a lot of positives about Beck's offense. He feels like the Wolverines are going to really change the way that people have perceived the pass game in recent years, noting that they're going to significantly increase the output from the wideouts this season.
"It's going to be a very effective offense with the receivers," Ffrench said. "I feel like we're going to be the ones that make the offense go. I feel like early in the games, we're going to be the ones that get the crowd going, stuff like that. Because, like you said, it hasn't really been a thing here in Michigan, so we're going to just turn this thing around. That's our goal."
The offense tends to be behind the defense at this time of year, but Ffrench feels like his side of the ball is starting to truly emerge. With just a few weeks to go until the September 5 season opener against Western Michigan, Ffrench likes where his group is at, especially knowing his former rival, Oklahoma, is coming to town in Week 2.
"I feel like we're right where we need to be. And if you want to be exact, I feel like we're a little ahead. So I'm really excited for the season, what we have (coming up)."
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Jaime Ffrench says Michigan receivers will fuel the offense
