Wolverine TV: Mike Hart, Steve Clinkscale talk Michigan football before Penn State
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football running backs coach and run game coordinator Mike Hart and co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Steve Clinkscale met with the media before Saturday’s big game against Penn State. Watch video of Hart in the player at the top of the screen and Clinkscale in the embed below. As always, follow our video content on our YouTube channel, too.
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One of the highlights of the afternoon came when Hart was asked about Michigan’s run game, which hasn’t been as productive this season as last. A reporter pointed out that the Wolverines’ yards after contact and before contact are both down from the 2022 season.
“I think they both go hand in hand,” Hart said. “If you don’t get hit before, you get more after.
“The missed tackles come when you’re at the second level. When you’re on the safety, when you’re making the safety miss, those are missed tackles. That’s clear as day. That’s why we had so many long runs last year. When you get to that level.
“I think teams are playing us a little bit different this year. They’re loading the box. When you’re getting hit at the line of scrimmage, it’s hard to make someone miss at the second level. I just don’t think they’ve had as many opportunities for those missed tackles.”
Added the Michigan coach: “We’re in game nine now, week nine now, so if you watch the Purdue game, the box was loaded every snap. That’s the way they played us. How do you beat those teams? You throw the ball. We’ve had some teams like that, that we’ve played against. But when given those opportunities, [Michigan senior running back Blake Corum] made guys miss, and I don’t think [junior] Donovan [Edwards] has even had a chance to make a safety miss this year.
“Hopefully we get there. We’ve got three games left. That’s the plan. I think we’re getting better every week. Every week, we keep saying, we’re six inches away, we’re six inches away, we’re a guy here, we’re a guy there. At the end of the day, we’ve just gotta get it done. At the end of the day, we’ve just gotta get it done. I think everyone’s focused on that in this building. Running backs know that, the O-line knows that, receivers know that. But we’re winning games how we need to win games, right? Teams are blitzing us differently, loading the box on us and that’s why we’re throwing the ball and the receivers are having a great year.”
