ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- If anyone in college football media has been a champion of Kyle Whittingham over the years, it's Fox Sports color commentator Joel Klatt. But he hasn't had much positive to talk about now that Whittingham is in Ann Arbor rather than Salt Lake City.
And now with Whittingham having fired offensive coordinator Jason Beck, Klatt is somewhat at a loss for words.
On the latest Joel Klatt Show, the eponymous host shared his thoughts about the Wolverine offense in the game that ultimately sealed Beck's fate, as well as his overall reaction to Whittingham having to make what was certainly a tough call for him.
"Michigan loses to Michigan State, 15-6," Klatt said. "Wasn't even that good. It was really 15-0. And then right after the game,
they fired former Utah OC and now Michigan OC, Jason Beck. So Jason Beck is out.
"Offense hit a low point for Michigan, shut out by a two-win Michigan State team for basically the entire game. And they didn't do anything offensively. I mean, nothing before the last drive of the game. So they had a 70, a 75-yard drive to end the game in order to score that lone touchdown to make, to create those six points up until that point with five minutes left in the game, they had 115 total yards. Like guys, they are abysmal on offense. And so Jason Beck got fired, and it just hasn't worked. He was the highest paid coordinator in the country. He was making $3 million. Now they owe him 10 million, subject to an offset in his buyout for mitigation.
"The defense still hasn't allowed more than 21 points in a game, and they're 5-4, like it's crazy. And I've got to pull this sheet back because you can't talk about Jason Beck and Devon Dampier off of what I talked about earlier today when I said, hey, sometimes players mask problems with scheme and coaches. I think Devon Dampier is a case study of that. Like Jason Beck had Devon Dampier in New Mexico. Then he had Devon Dampier at Utah. And then the next year, so it was like straight seasons. Then he doesn't have Devon Dampier. And it's just like off a cliff because last year, Utah's offense was fine. They were great. In fact, statistically great this year.
"Michigan cannot play offense out of a wet paper bag at all, at all. It is round peg square hole all day long. None of it fits. The line doesn't know how to block anything from a stretch perspective. The quarterbacks haven't been able to execute any of the plays whatsoever. The running backs, they can't run on the perimeter and get the horizontal stretch with the vision to cut and penetrate after the horizontal stretch. And yet they kept trying to do it, and they kept trying to do it. And they kept trying to do it, and they kept trying to do it. And there was no identity whatsoever. None, none. Their offense was awful and is awful. Like it's -- I shouldn't say it that abruptly, but how can your defense not allow 21 points in any game this year and your team is 5-4? That is stunning.
"Kyle had to make this move. I know Kyle didn't want to do this one. You don't want the program to absorb a $10 million buyout, dead money. Now again, subject to offset and mitigation, but you don't want your program to - these programs don't have $10 million extra lying around. They'd be invested in the roster, obviously. So one, just the money too. He knows him. He knows his family, brought him from Utah. Like he doesn't want to make that move. He had to. The defense hasn't given up more than 21 points in a game, and they're 5-4. That's wild. "
Was Beck essentially a Dampier merchant as Klatt suggests? Each of his only two successful seasons as an offensive coordinator came with Dampier at the helm. We'll see now if the Michigan football offense can take a step forward with Jim Harding at the helm as the interim OC, or if it will be more of the same.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Joel Klatt questions Jason Beck's success after Michigan football firing
