There were high expectations for not only Kyle Whittingham making the move from Utah to Michigan football, but also for his offensive coordinator of choice, Jason Beck. Beck oversaw the No. 4 offense in the country two years running, but he floundered mightily in Ann Arbor, so much so that he was fired after the 15-6 loss to Michigan State.
The one player who followed Beck from Salt Lake City to the Wolverines was wide receiver JJ Buchanan. And, of course, it's a difficult moment for him to see the OC he played for as a freshman and now most of his sophomore year gone from the program.
"Coach Beck was a great mentor, great person, great family," Buchanan said. "Obviously, he's one of the reasons why I'm here today. So obviously, unfortunate, it's
the nature of the business. But my message to the team has just been everybody gotta stay together, finish the season out strong. And yeah, that's been my message."
That said, what's the tenor in the building with Beck's sudden departure? Buchanan says that everyone is regrouping, especially given that there are three games remaining and with a road trip to Oregon coming up this Saturday.
"It's definitely shocking. It's a big change in the building," Buchanan said. "But like I said, we all are all on the same page. We gotta come together. And we got three more games. We got a big, big-time matchup this week. One of the better teams in the country. So the goal doesn't change. 1-0 every week is our goal. Go 1-0 this week and see where things go from there."
Buchanan himself has seen a great increase in his production from last year to this year. He finished his freshman campaign with 26 catches for 427 yards, but this year, he has 40 catches for 646 yards. Now that Jim Harding is taking over the offense, there's some renewed optimism in the building, but Buchanan broke down why it is that he feels Beck wasn't able to succeed in maize and blue.
"I think execution overall, it starts with me being one of the leaders on this team," Buchanan said. "I gotta execute better. And then obviously, trickles down to everyone else. We gotta execute on one-on-one matchups better. And I feel like that just hasn't transpired this year. And I'm gonna do everything I can to have it start with me and execute at a higher level these last three weeks."
Buchanan says he has spoken to Beck, but his focus is more on where this team is going at the moment and executing better.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football WR JJ Buchanan reacts to Jason Beck firing
