Rumor: Greg Frey is coming back to Michigan

[Thunder]

There’s a rumor floating around that Michigan is hiring offensive line coach Greg Frey back from Indiana. I don’t know what this means for Tim Drevno, the RB coach job, etc., but that’s the current rumor. Tentatively, I think this would be a very good thing, because Frey is a very good recruiter, knows the state of Florida, and on top of that, was very good at identifying and developing talent at Michigan. He’s one of the few former Michigan coaches that I would pretty much take back in a heartbeat.

[je93]

Agree. How do you think he’d fit in with the current staff?

[Thunder]

In April Michigan should be able to hire a 10th position coach (for 11 total coaches), so he and Drevno could co-exist. It’s possible that one could coach TEs or TE/OT with Jay Harbaugh moving to RB coach.

[Lanknows]

Whoa. Seriously? I’m a huge fan of Frey’s body of work.

He could fit with Drev. Drev can focus on RB/FBs or they can do an inside/outside split on OL like what Hoke/Mattison did on DL.

It’s workable. Go get em!

[pkatz]

Certainly had success at IU with what could be described as less to work with than what he can access at Michigan… I say yes (but no one asked me)

[Lanknows]

Impressive yes, but more pertinent is probably his time at UM: “• From 2008-10, Frey coached the offensive line at the University of Michigan and helped rebuild its offense into a national power. The Wolverines racked up a school record and Big Ten-leading 6,353 offensive yards (488.7 per game) in 2010.”

The fact that he’s coached for Rodriguez and Wilson is huge in my book. Say what you want but those guys know a thing or two about putting points on the scoreboard. The potential insights into what Wilson might do at OSU probably won’t hurt either.

Make this happen. MAKE THE OL GREAT AGAIN

[Thunder]

Yep. He helped recruit guys like Schofield and Lewan, and he helps make solid offensive lines with the likes of David Moosman, Tim McAvoy, Mark Ortmann, Perry Dorrestein, etc. I think he’s got a pretty good resume.

[Lanknows]

While Frey had nothing to do with recruiting Molk, he gets the bulk of the credit for developing him. Along with identifying and developing Omameh, Lewan, and Scofield that’s damn impressive.

I agree that the improvement from Huyge and Dorrestein was a notable accomplishment (both ended up solid starters who fended off younger/more talented players), but I wouldn’t give him much credit for Moosman and McAvoy. McAvoy was awful in 2008 (as was the whole OL) and benched by 2009. Moosman played in 2009 only because Molk got hurt. He was passable, but the loss of Molk was huge for that team.

[Roanman]

Frey’s background is as a zone blocking guy. Were this to happen, would it signal a change in our thinking about how we run the football?

[Lanknows]

No – but yes. Michigan is going to Stanford Michigan, but you should look at Frey as a guy whose background will be integrated into the Harbaugh/Drevno baseline. He’ll offer some new ideas and wrinkles maybe, maybe shift the balance of (extremely diverse) playcalling, but otherwise he’ll fall within the Harbaugh umbrella.

Good Shit Fisch will become Good shit Greg except a running play instead of a pass.

[Thunder]

I don’t think so, really. Michigan already runs a lot of inside zone, and Indiana has had a lot of success with that (Jordan Howard, Devine Redding, etc.). He’ll have to teach power, trap, etc., but that shouldn’t be too difficult.

[Lanknows]

I have zero expertise on the matter, but have read that the transition from Nussmeir’s zone blocking to Drevno’s (desired) power blocking was problematic and that Michigan relied more on zone than they wanted to in the interest of continuity – to help bring along the limited personnel they had on the OL.

I don’t think it’s beyond Frey to teach different technique, but I do think the blocking scheme is an important issue.

With so much turnover in personnel and positions Michigan is somewhat forced into a reboot no matter what scheme they move forward with. It still seems reasonable to think that Michigan is headed towards the Stanford model (power blocking) given that Harbaugh/Drevno/Hamilton will all be there. Since this isn’t an NFL team, I don’t think they can realistically be great at everything and need to establish an identity.

It should be noted that I think Rodriguez/Frey did run some power stuff out of the I-formation as a change of pace. It’s not like Frey’s going to be over his head.

[Painter Smurf]

Not sure how accurate this is, but I read on another board that Harbaugh has been highly impressed with Indiana’s blocking the last two years. And he may be beating OSU to the punch with Frey.
As you point out, UM runs a fair amount of zone and assuming that Drev and Frey get along, this has the potential to be a super duo.
With the extra assistant spot expected for ’17, it makes sense for Drev to get some help. Entire OL plus primary OC is a lot to handle.

[Lanknows]

FWIW it has been suggested that this may be Drevno’ last year at Michigan. He is looking for a head gig. I can’t imagine who would hire him based on the mediocre results so far at Michigan but you never know.

[Thunder]

Yeah, I’m guessing this is an attempt to mitigate the eventual loss of Drevno. Harbaugh is known for always thinking one step ahead and thinking of contingency plans, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Frey is the “OC-in-waiting” or “run game coordinator-in-waiting.”

[crazyjoedavola]

I hope we land him, he did a solid job with the OL during RR years, and a great job at Indiana. I know that Drevno has a very solid resume, but I expected a little more out of him so far.

[Thunder]

Moosman wasn’t supposed to be a center. He moved to center in 2009, but he started all 12 games at right guard in 2008. He wasn’t great, but he played well at times when he was a guard.

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