UNDERRATED CHANGE: Michigan Football’s Blake Frazier Reveals Practice REVOLUTION and Injury FIX

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There is one thing that is maybe extremely underrated that we've seen change so far.

In Spring Ball for Michigan football, we're going to get into that and more right here under

this episode of Lockdown River Reans.

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I'll explain that here momentarily, but we are going to get into some of the things

that Blake Frazier had to say today that I think is crucial pivotal.

We've touched on it before, but I think now that we've got some quotes, we can kind of

get more into it.

Then we're going to talk about the unhingedness that we've seen in the reaction to Michigan

basketball, not to kick a dead horse, but it's been nuts.

And then finally, CBS Sports, where they ranked Bryce Underwood, among the power four

quarterbacks is too high, too low, just right, we're going to get into that as well.

Let's start right away into some of the things that Blake Frazier said.

I want to pull up some of the quotes that he had to say here.

Of course, I closed my window, but it's a little easier because I've got a camera right

ahead of me here, at least I thought it was.

So nonetheless, one of the things that we're hearing coming out of spring ball press conferences

is that you're starting to see that the practices are shorter.

And I know that that might seem like counterintuitive to it being a thing, but like it's absolutely

for two reasons can be really good.

I'll get into the main reason actually second, but ultimately, like the stuff type of

stuff we're hearing is about this is that they're getting a lot more accomplished.

And there's no wasted space essentially, which is kind of surprising to think like I understand

like break Frazier, he's only been around from the the show more era forward.

He wasn't part of Jim Harbaugh, but I mean, we even heard that coming out of players

like Rod Moore.

So here's what he had to say, I think it's a lot more execution based.

We're not out there as long as we were last spring for practices in the past or for practices

in the past.

There's a lot more focus on getting more work done in less time.

So less taxing on the body, but still making sure that we're getting as much work done

and work at the things that we need during that time.

So talking about execution based, it's funny because his next quote doesn't sound like

it is what I would think it is, which is hey, we need to get the play right.

We need to get done quickly, you know, that type of thing because he says this is just

making sure that we're getting reps at different plays essentially.

It's a new offense.

As we install stuff, the coaches are making sure that what may have worked at Utah may not

work here or may work here.

So they're just making sure that as we go further into spring and install more plays that

we're running those plays and actually getting real live reps with the guys that we have here.

So it doesn't sound like it's necessarily a scenario where they are get, you know, necessarily

like, okay, we got to get this play perfect.

Now I think that they will maybe get to that more so, but it's like, hey, we need to get

this done as correct as possible as quickly as possible so that we can get as much of

this installed.

And then you hopefully get to like, let's get it perfect because again, I've told you

this before, I had heard multiple people tell me that they were not practicing to perfection

under the previous regime.

Now there's people like a problem and say that's incorrect, whatever, but that's just

what I've heard from people who had been essentially a part of it.

So I think that there's that aspect, right, that they needed and haven't been able to

necessarily get done, especially when you hear that this is an attention to detail staff.

One that's like a lot of the teachers out there.

I think that you can assume that they are doing that.

But I think one of the sneaky important things that we haven't talked about and he said

it right here, there's a lot more focus on getting more work done in less time.

So less taxing on the body.

What was one of the issues in the Shiro and more era in particular that was the massive

impediment?

It was the taxing on the body.

How often were we pulling up injury reports two hours before kickoff and finding out there

was a player that no one had any idea was injured, suddenly injured.

How many times that happened happened?

I mean, even Spring Ball 2024, Rod Moore tears ACL.

And so you have that and I want to bind this with what he had to say about strength and

conditioning.

They know what they're doing.

Obviously they produced a ton of guys over at Utah and brought in a couple of guys from

different places, but they've been super helpful in adapting what this team needs and making

sure that everyone's in the spot that they need to be.

I think that if you combine, you know, perhaps a strength and conditioning staff that seems

to be more centered on the idea of we need to get these guys in a different style of

shape, right?

That's kind of the thing is what works, what doesn't work.

And then on top of that, finding a way to not put them under as much physical stress

in the practice portions of the week, I think that can pay some massive dividends because

you just have your players healthier and ready to go.

Now, how does that change compared to, I'm not sure if it will, I don't know what, but

like one of the things that Jim Harbock had kind of implemented was this idea of practices

were harder than the games.

And I remember like talking to Jamie Morris back before I got to know Jamie really well

and him talking at a, on a panel, UM alum, greater Detroit chapter about just that was

the thing when he was playing was the practices were harder than games, you get into a game

and you're like, this is easy compared to what we do during the week.

I don't know if that changes or not, but I would be curious to see how much just a healthier

version of the Wolverines, what that looks like in the season.

Now, long way to go to the season, which kind of is disappointing because I got a basketball.

It's like, man, just hankering for something, you know, like just, I know, there's hockey

tonight, but or tomorrow night rather, but, uh, yeah, I still think it's, it's a good

thing. So we'll see how that ends up working.

All right, we're going to continue on. We've got more coming up here in just a moment.

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join at Lockdown Women's dot supercast dot com. All right, so one of the things that I

find hilarious and amazing coming off of the basketball national championship.

And we talked about this in the immediate aftermath. We talked about it a little bit yesterday.

Is just how unhinged the rivals have been. And it's not just the rivals. What's incredible is

that you've got so we talked about this directly yesterday. You've got so many people

in the national media who are actually pushing back on this. We talked about Dan Wolken,

we talked about Ari Wasserman yesterday. It is unreal just seeing that they're the ones coming

into the defense because yeah, you do get some who are in the national media. I've seen some

really unhinged takes, but generally like, you know, you got Nick, right? You got Jason Whitlock.

You got these dumb opinions, but generally like the rivals are the ones that are really pushing it.

And they're just trying to do every single thing they can to invalidate it. And that's why I keep

on saying, and I've been saying, I'm just going to keep saying, they're giving the game away.

Right? Because that whole time that they were whining about the Conor Stallion stuff,

they were saying the same type of stuff that they're saying now. Like I literally saw

a Spartan account that said, like, there's asterisks on this national championship. It's like,

but why? Why are there asterisks? But it's just vibes. That's the only reason why is there's

asterisk on it is because they're own vibes. They're unwillingness to come along with reality.

They're unwillingness to see the team that they hate succeed. And it's coming, you know,

it's Spartans and Buckeyes, right? Like the Buckeyes are really trying hard to

glam onto the fact that Michigan lost the big 10 tournament and saying like that they didn't win

the big 10 except for they did win the big 10, right? Because basketball has two ways that you can

win the big 10. And arguably, it's the most important way that Michigan won by four games,

the regular season. The tournament is icing. And Dusty May had even said kind of like,

yeah, we want to win, but not at the cost of grander expectations, which they actually ended up

achieving. So it's interesting just to see, and now you're not going to get like a bunch of people

like, you know, I'm the other side being like, so great guys, congratulations. You're just not.

But I think it comes with, and I've seen a lot of a lot of you out there who have taken it

in stride, which I love, and that you're looking at it and saying like, you're not saying like,

you know, trophy goper this time as much, but at the same time, you're getting a heightened

enjoyment from just the anger that is coming, particularly for me slancing and a little bit from

Columbus, but at the same time in Columbus, they had very little expectation that their basketball

team was going to do well. But at the same time, it's so humorous just to watch these guys fall

over themselves to not only, and particularly the Michigan state people, not only to try to somehow

like in their own minds, invalidate what Michigan was able to do over the course of the season and

try to make it like, oh, like the transfer portal, you had to use the transfer portal as if it's

not a thing like, listen, not everyone's going to dab a swinny this thing, because why would you?

The rules changed, and Dusty May is the best at taking advantage of said rules, and as much as

you might not like it, just because he's the best at it, and he took advantage of it, because

what would be the alternative, right? The last couple of years, it's not like he inherited a bunch

of players. Yeah, he had Nate in 2014, but he also saw a lot of those guys either graduate or

transfer out. And, you know, Tara's read even said after the championship game that Dusty wanted

to keep him, like he, you know, like, oh, yeah, I talked to Dusty, you know, because they apparently

talked, you know, on the court afterwards, and he's like, yeah, you know, I talked Dusty and,

you know, you know, he had recruited me to try to stay at Michigan, and obviously he ended up at

UConn. And so you already have like, if you don't have all the players to field on the court,

and you don't have enough recruits to field the team, are you just supposed to sit there and take

it, or are you supposed to hit the very legal transfer portal, and play the very legal NIL game,

as Dusty did, because I think you're going to see a difference in Dusty and my team's moving forward,

because I think like we talked about yesterday, what does this team look like moving forward? I think

you're going to see two, maybe three transfers coming in this year, not four, like last year,

and I think you're going to see, you know, I'm trying to kind of, he's almost certain to be a starter.

If LJ case in, another recruit had been healthy, he would be a starter as well. You're going to have

another year of Elliott Cadoe, probably have another year of more as Johnson, who's another year of

him, even though he was a transfer, and therefore he has more time on task and an arbor than he ever

did at a little, I say Elliott Cadoe will be matching that by the end of the year.

But then I think you're going to see a Brandon McCoy, a recruit, be able to come in,

and make an impact, but I think they'll still go out and get a couple guys, and then I think in a

couple of years, that's what it will be like, it will be supplemental, but they want to complain

essentially, really it's just them wanting to take their ball and go home. That's all it is,

because if they could have done it, because now you see him be like, oh, we're just a center away.

We're just a center away. Are you though? I think the most hilarious part of it, honestly,

is just seeing how many I've seen, like USA today, my mother's ship for my other job.

Apparently in the preseason, they're way too early, which is I think it's way too early,

because we don't know what these rasters look like. Unlike after the football national championship,

the transfer portal was done. We have a pretty good idea of what these teams look like.

Basketball just started, so you're doing way too early without knowing what these teams are going

to look like whatsoever. They ranked apparently MSU number one, and they're celebrating that.

So take the wins where you get it, I guess, MSU fans, but I mean, I get it. If Michigan

was in their shoes, and that was the case, that would be what they, they're, you know,

y'all would be doing too. But their inability to cope has been nothing short of

entertaining and amazing. So I mean, I think that that's the part of the fun, I guess.

I don't think other teams have to deal with this as bad as Michigan does. So I applaud you

if you're a Michigan fan for taking enjoyment out of it. I'm certainly taking enjoyment out of it

as a Michigan media person, because it's like it's absurd watching all these people. And it's not

even just MSU fans, like Purdue fans, Illinois fans, I've seen them floor-to-state fan,

get all up in arms for whatever reason. Like, you have no part of this. Like, what are you even doing?

But just to hate that Michigan gets is generally incredible. Because, again, a biolic ounce.

These are great kids. Dusty Maze, a great dude. And when you start to impune him,

and these guys in particular, or like, you know, get so up in arms about the, like, the axle,

like, whipping his belt in the air type of thing, which is just innocuous, right? Like,

yeah, like, they just created World War Three by doing that. Gives the game away. So, all right,

we are going to get to this CBS Sports article on ranking the quarterbacks.

We're Bryce Underwood stands. My thoughts on that. Let's do that here in just a moment.

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All right, my friend Brad Crawford over at CBS Sports. We mentioned him over now. He is a friend

of mine, a former colleague of mine. I mean, technically, he's not the same company.

I know he doesn't love Michigan, but I think that this is kind of fair where he has Bryce

Underwood. He has Bryce Underwood as the number 23 quarterback out of the power for conferences.

So above middling, he has, he has him had a bare, bare Bachmeyer at BYU who was certainly

having all kinds of accolades and, you know, thought of very well from his freshman year.

But he has Bryce as the number 23 quarterback and number seven in the big 10.

I think it's an absolutely fair place to be if you're looking off of resume with just a tiny

bit of potential, tiny bit. So here's what I had to say. The first player Michigan coach, Kyle

Wittingham recruited back to the Wolverines was Underwood. A talented piece he said was essential

to an elite Big 10 finish in 2026. Wittinghamber leaves about the ceiling for 2025 recruiting cycles,

number one player. After Underwood Eclipse, 2,500 yards of total offense as a true freshman,

Underwood is still raw as a passer, but appeared to grow in his confidence level as last season

progressed. Seven of his nine interceptions came over the last five starts as a result of being

a bit too confident and as a bit of ladies downfield. I always disagree with that last part actually.

I think he threw a lot of interceptions because he just mechanically, whether it was footwork,

whether it was arm mechanics, whether it was not trusting his offensive line. I just think

there were a lot of factors. Overconfidence is probably part of it, but not all of it.

Like I said, he's number seven in the big 10. He's I think the second second year player. He's just

a head behind rather, no, Duron. I can't say his name. Sagapolo Tele from Kyle. He's two spots

behind Rackle Beck that Penn State, who's obviously an earlier statesman. He's only a couple spots

behind John Matier. DeBond Williams is at Washington is 18th. Just continuing through Josh Hoover,

formerly of TCU, but now at Indiana's 10th, Jade Mayava's 9th, and then the top two are Dante Moore

at Oregon at number one, and Julian San at Ohio State at number two. I think that's a fair place

to put Underwood to be honest. In terms, however, of potential, what he is capable of, I think Underwood is,

I mean, he should be a top 10, but he has not proven that yet. And I think that's a fair place

to put him based off of the fact that as much as we hyped up Bryce Underwood last year at this time,

he was still a true freshman. And he made a lot of true freshman mistakes that, listen,

I didn't think he was going to make Conor based off of Conor Stallions based off of his

month of being the offensive coordinator at Bellville also didn't think he was going to make,

but he still made them. And I think that's it was a maybe unfair on my end to think that he was

going to transcend typical things that a first year player does. Just because Trevor Lawrence

didn't have those issues didn't mean that Bryce wasn't, but Trevor also had the benefit of

being behind Kelly Bryant and not starting until game five when he had earned it fair and square

with that level of competition that he had. Bryce didn't get that benefit.

He still doesn't have that benefit right now, unfortunately, because spring ball he's not really

being challenged like all the Tommy car talk again. I just want to, I'm not saying this is a

negative on Tommy car, but he is also a true freshman. And right now it's Bryce, Tommy car,

and Chase Herbstreet, right? Like it'd be a different deal if Braden Fowler and Nicolosi was on

campus right now. And he's not fall camp. You hope that he's there full go. All that stuff can

actually push him a little bit, but it isn't necessarily fully need to have that as much as he

just needs the coaching. And that's what he's getting. And he has the intangibles. He has the talent.

If he increases is just by 5% if he increases his accuracy through for 60% which used to be the

benchmark no longer is it you hope it's more like 10% you hope it's more like 15%. That's a high

number to get. And I think just by virtue of the scheme changing and having like the wide receivers

being able to play more free like we talked about on Monday, I think that can help you know pay

some massive dividends for what Underwood is capable of doing this year. And I think that Jason

Beck is going to put him in a better position. I don't think like not I don't think I know that

there's not going to be the friction like there was between Sherone Moore and Chip Lindsay

with Kyle Wittingham and Jason Beck. And that in and of itself I think is going to be helpful too,

right? Like we didn't really get the full Chip Lindsay experience last year.

And maybe it looks different if it was kind of like hey Chip, you come in and do your thing

rather than you come in and do a part of what you do. And while still maintaining the identity that

we had already kind of set about. And I just don't think that's generally fair. Josh Gatt has had

similar issues. So it's going to be interesting to see. But I think that's a fair ranking for now

and we'll see where it ends up. All right. If you're wondering why I'm at a car dealership

getting my oil changed. Cars actually ready. We stayed here. Just stay here and finish out the show

so I can get it up. So that's where we're at. Anyway, thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. We

will be back tomorrow. Also big 10 squad all of that. We're doing as many big 10 squad shows as

possible. I'm going to be obnoxious on it. So you're going to want to watch that and listen to that.

All right. Let's talk to you again soon. Peace.