Michigan's last offensive showing, in a 26-19 Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina, was a complete disaster at best. The Wolverines committed five second-half turnovers. Brandon Peters completed 20 of 45 passes with two interceptions.
That loss — the Big Ten's only loss of the bowl season — served as the epitaph of an 8-5 season that put more pressure on Jim Harbaugh to deliver on high expectations heading into his fourth season in Ann Arbor.
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Give Harbaugh credit for one thing. He isn't showing that again. The Wolverine Lounge first reported Michigan offensive coordinator Tim Drevno will resign, the latest offseason shake-up that should refurbish an offense that ranked 92nd in the FBS in points per game (25.2). This shake-up comes after the Wolverines finished with the No. 21 recruiting class in 247Sports.com's 2018 team rankings.
In the aftermath of that Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina, we outlined the areas of that offense that Harbaugh needed to address before the 2018 season. Here is breakdown of each one of those areas.
Drevno out, McElwain in?
On Feb. 8, Gridiron Now's Gregg Henson reported discord within the program around Drevno, who worked with Harbaugh at FCS San Diego (2004-06), Stanford (2007-10), San Francisco (2011-13) and Michigan (2015-17).
Michigan did average 40.3 points per game the previous season, but in 2017 the Wolverines had across-the-board issues on offense. The red-zone play-calling was questioned early in the season, and a three-quarterback shuffle led to a poor passing attack. Most of the issues revolved around the offensive line, which was Drevno's position group.
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The fact that Drevno is out is a big step for Harbaugh, who likely will choose between incoming assistants Ed Warinner, who is expected to join the staff, and Jim McElwain, who was hired Tuesday. Pep Hamilton, the passing game coordinator who was hired in 2017, also should be involved.
Warinner served as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, and McElwain was the head coach at Florida and a previous offensive coordinator at Alabama. At minimum, Harbaugh is trying to take a page from two of the most successful programs in the FBS. McElwain is the best bet to take over play-calling duties, and that would be a great move for the offense.
Warinner and McElwain also fulfill another developmental need.
Positions of need
McElwain also was hired as a receivers coach. That's a position group that struggled in 2017. Grant Perry led the Wolverines with 307 receiving yards, and Michigan wide receivers combined for just three TDs. McElwain, however, should get more out of a young group that includes Tarik Black, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Nico Collins.
Warinner, meanwhile, would take over that offensive line. He's served in that role at Ohio State, Notre Dame and most recently Minnesota.
While Michigan's most-cited criticism under Harbaugh is the 1-5 record against Ohio State and Michigan State, it should be the inability to run the football in those losses. The Wolverines averaged 2.8 yards rushing yards or less in their five losses last season. That's the biggest problem with this offense.
Quarterback
Of course, Michigan played with three quarterbacks last season, and the combination of Wilton Speight, Brandon Peters and John O'Korn produced 2,023 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. Peters is back, and he will compete for the starting job with redshirt freshman Dylan McCaffrey and Ole Miss transfer Shea Patterson, whose petition for immediate eligibility with the NCAA is expected to be known by March. Michigan also added four-star quarterback Joe Milton in this class.
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This is the most talent Michigan has had at quarterback since Harbaugh arrived, and that should heighten excitement for the spring game.
How will it work?
While the pressure is on Harbaugh to win now, a look at Michigan's first opponent might provide an interesting glimpse to the future. Notre Dame was coming off a 4-8 season in 2016 before Brian Kelly switched both coordinators and led the Irish to a 10-win season in 2017. Notre Dame is a top-10 team again, and the winner of the Sept. 1 showdown will be in a good position.
That's a realistic scenario for Michigan, with the worst case another offensive backfire and the best case a team that's good enough to win the Big Ten.
We can't say that lightly. Michigan's schedule is one of the most difficult in the FBS. The Wolverines travel to Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State and get Nebraska, Wisconsin and Penn State at home. But they have a top-10 caliber defense with coordinator Don Brown, a unit that will be even better if the offense can remove the pressure. Given the staff changes, this might be a two-year process.
If Harbaugh doesn't have better results by 2019, that pressure will be justified. Still, the Wolverines will show something different next season, and it shouldn't resemble the product that was on the field in the Outback Bowl.
Given all the shuffling Harbaugh has done since, that's one problem that has been addressed.
