Ben Herbert (right, with Bret Bielema)
Michigan is hiring Ben Herbert to succeed Kevin Tolbert as the strength and conditioning coordinator. Herbert was previously at Wisconsin and Arkansas, spending a lot of time with Bret Bielema, who was fired from at the end of the regular season.
I’m not knowledgeable enough in the area of strength coaches to know who was available or interested, but I was hoping Michigan would hire someone from a physical program, and Wisconsin and Arkansas both count. Here’s a link to Herbert’s bio on the Arkansas website (LINK).
I think Michigan has been caught in a No Man’s Land lately when it comes to the offensive line, which is the biggest spot that needs to be shored up from an S&C standpoint. They don’t have an identity. Do they want to be thin and athletic to run inside/outside zone? Do they want to be huge to run power and inside zone? Or do they want to be somewhere in between so they can run a variety of things?
Here’s Arkansas’ starting line in 2017:
- LT: 6’6″, 298
- LG: 6’4″, 311
- C: 6’1″, 309
- RG: 6’4″, 333
- RT: 6’6″, 335
Michigan’s starting line in 2017:
- LT: 6’5″, 305
- LG: 6’5″, 310
- C: 6’6″, 302
- RG: 6’3″, 315
- RT: 6’5″, 325
That’s an average of 317.2 lbs. for Arkansas, and it’s 311 lbs. for Michigan. That’s only about a 6 lb. difference, but why was Arkansas’ 6’1″ center heavier than Michigan’s 6’6″ center? Why isn’t a guy with Ben Bredeson’s frame playing guard around 320 lbs.?
For the record, I’m okay with having beefy inside guys paired with more athletic tackles, but Michigan hasn’t had that over the past few years. They’ve had a bunch of guard types playing tackle, and they’re neither athletic enough on the edge to hold up against pass rushers nor strong enough to get a push up the middle on combo blocks. If you’re going to roll a bunch of guards out there as your entire offensive line, then you might as well have them bulky enough to get a push. Because when you establish the running game, it slows down the pass rush enough that it can get the defense a half step out of position, thus allowing your slightly less athletic offensive linemen to do what they need to do.
This should be a solid hire for Michigan going forward.
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The one guy I know that understands S&C coaching, because he does it for his living, happened to have spent time in a program where Tolbert coached. They didn’t click. So of course, when asking questions like, “Does Michigan really need to get stronger?” You get answers, the gist of which is that Tolbert’s approach is incorrect. But it’s tough to separate professional criticism from animus.
I am clueless on the subject as Thunder’s solution to getting bigger … eat more and lift harder … produced negligible results for me. I got more wiry and definitely quicker, but not bigger.
I do like this change though, having seen a lot of Wisconsin and a little Arkansas. There is no doubt that both programs have built physically powerful lines during Herbert’s tenure with each. I don’t see how S&C shouldn’t be getting a lot of the credit.
But I have questions, does the S&C group meet regularly with the football guys and discuss areas where players can improve athletically? Does everybody sit there and go down a list of players? Is there a philosophy regarding speed vs weight across position groups that is discussed and agreed to by both sets of coaches?
I like the idea of tall rangy, mobile tackles and shorter, heavier drive blocking guards as well. But i have questions here too. I have to believe that going either Power or Zone exclusively has to be better in terms of individual performance. Repping one approach exclusively has to provide better results in terms of execution. But, it would seem that having both schemes in your system would provide better results in terms of tactics, adjustments, constraints and surprise. Which approach is better, commitment to a scheme or flexibility to operate multiple schemes?
I think the Frey hiring was fascinating and remains so. I originally thought that it meant Harbaugh was moving to a Zone approach, which I think we did. But as the season progressed, it became clear to nearly everybody that we were shifting back to far more Power, especially with the switch from Ulizio to LTT. It was clearly more effective. I love what Frey has done with lean athletic guys in the past, and I thing everybody can see his influence in our recruiting, but, I don’t see him here still here for much longer going forward. I’m thinking this deal was a background an information trade between he and us.
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I watched a few videos on Herbert. I think the one I posted has Herbert talking about eating the right things, and I think that’s important. You don’t just want to eat calories, though that may make you bigger. You want to eat the right combination of carbs, protein, fats, etc. I think there’s a real misunderstanding of how different aspects of nutrition go together to add good weight (or lose weight).
Yes, the S&C staff meets regularly with the football staff to discuss weight, strength, nutrition, etc. Remember that when it’s the off-season, the strength coaches are the ones who are allowed unabated contact with the players. The coaches have to be hands-off at that time, at least when it comes to football instruction, presence at strength training workouts, etc. So if Mike Onwenu is getting too heavy or Nolan Ulizio is getting too light, the coaches find out because the S&C guys tell them.
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Frey is moving on. He will be at FSU after the bowl game.
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Roanman thanks for your input here. Especially valuable sometimes is asking the good questions. The “know it alls and chicken littles” show up everywhere, the guy who can ask an intellegent question has much value to arriving at any solution.
I think of S&C as a service to the needs of the team. They must know the science behind gaining strength without killing a man’s flexability or quickness. Coach up the players to be effective to the vision of the HC and PC’s, so communication with them is paramount.
I personally prefer to see a mix of zone and power blocking. Personnel, OL and RB effect the success within the scheme. I like Frey and wonder if JH loyalty to Drevno will be as productive as we would like. Doesn’t it seem like zoning is becoming predominant as a scheme?
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