A nice read in the Daily Orange, the Syracuse campus newspaper, on former M defensive coordinator Scott Shafer.  He sheds a tiny ray of light on what he thinks went wrong and points to issues with compatibility with Rodriguez’s staff, not a surprise: Shafer resigned soon after the season, and he has been public about the philosophical differences he and Rodriguez had during the 2008 season. "I took the job for all the wrong reasons," Shafer said. "I took it because it was Michigan, it was the Big House, the tradition. All great reasons. But at the end of the day, it’s got to be a good fit for you as a coach, and the guys you’re working with on a daily basis." After Michigan, Shafer knew he had to change his approach in looking for a new job. As he spent the holidays with his family and went about picking his next destination, he put a much larger emphasis on compatibility within a coaching staff. A soft jab at the current gang in Ann Arbor perhaps.  But then, building on the compatibility issue, Shafer said this about his new coaching staff: "Philosophically, things have meshed well so far," Shafer said. "More importantly, it’s fun to go to work with these guys. We’ve got guys who are fun to work…

His jersey number is about the only thing that didn’t change for Vince Helmuth last season. The arrival of Rich Rodriguez’s spread offense in 2008 brought with it a diminished role for his brand of fullback, the position Helmuth was recruited to play for then coach Lloyd Carr.  He did not see the field in the final six games of the season, something foreign to the Saline High School football star and 2007 letter winner. That drove Helmuth to give defense a try and he’s currently working to secure playing time at noseguard or tackle.  In Saturday’s spring game he made a few nice stops and will be working this summer to prepare for fall camp and the 2009 season. Helmuth and I spoke last week prior to the spring game about his decision to move to defense, on Rich Rodriguez’s comments about his weight, about the prospect of his brother Gabe joining him on the team, on new coordinator Greg Robinson and more. MVictors: Rich Rodriguez confirmed this spring that you are making the switch to defense.   How did you approach the coaches about the change? Helmuth: I played defense in high school and was pretty good at it, but I didn’t know exactly what it would take to play defense at a school like Michigan. Midway through last…

Via Dave Curtis in the Sporting News: And after this newest edition of Wolverines football ran around for an hour and a half, the day also brought so many conversations like these, overheard in a Michigan Stadium men’s restroom: “They look good,” the short guy said to the bald guy. “Hey,” the other guy said, “it’s already better than anything we saw last year.” If you can get beyond the two guys peeing, the misspelling of Greg Mathews’ surname and Curtis calling Michigan’s fight song ‘Hail to The Victors’, it’s worth a read.

I’ve missed the calls from Detroit News beat writer Angelique Chengelis into WDFN, so it was a nice surprise to hear her again this afternoon on WTKA with Big Host host John U. Bacon.  She was in town for the Michigan basketball banquet and found a few moments to talk with Bacs.  The audio: [display_podcast] On the spring game, the Angel offered “they didn’t show a lot” but called Forcier was “poised”, offensive line is better, as with the running backs, and defense needs some work.  Yep. She noted she spoke with Denard Robinson, and was very impressed with his overall confidence and demeanor.   For someone who hasn’t seen the field, she couldn’t say enough nice things about him.  I saw him buzzing around and signing autographs in the tunnel, overall seemed like a nice guy. Angelique thinks there will be a great competition between Forcier and Robinson, and she’s not counting out Nick Sheridan. A side note: you might be able to tell from the photos that I had some media access to the game, and caught Chengelis up in the press box.  In a environment full of mostly pretty goofy looking men (webmaster included), she sticks out like the sore thumb with red nail polish.    Please save the ‘take a cold shower’ comments. Related:  If you’ve got time,…

Forcier and Vincent Smith celebrate after a score A beautiful day out there today as the masses came out to check out the Wolverines, back in Michigan stadium this year after holding a closed scrimmage in Saline in 2008.  A few of the posts I put up during the day: Crowd Details, Biggest Ever? Stevie Brown, 2009 Meyer Morton Award winner Blue 32, Maize 24: M Alumni Game (Photos) Alumni Game: Leach grunts, Line moves to Blue -1 Spring Game: Locker Room Tour (Photos) Interview: Nick Sheridan While there was no stand-out player at last year’s game, there’s no question that today it was freshman Tate Forcier.   He showed some of the things you heard about in practice: sharp passes, moving well in the pocket, throwing well on the run, and showed that he can carry that ball.   I don’t have all stats but I believe he ran for at least 2 touchdowns, including a beautiful jump and stretch to get the ball over the line in an overtime simulation.  Vincent Smith mixed in some nice runs as well. The defense gained a little momentum in the middle of the full-field scrimmage, but still showed some of the poor tackling that we’ve seen over the last few years.  Will Campbell noted that a focus for the defense will be wrapping…