Michigan play-caller Kirk Campbell struggled to adapt against Oregon, and his unwillingness to deviate from his game plan hurt the Wolverines from the first play to the last on Saturday:
Blaming a play-caller is easy. Similar to blaming officiating, it is a tried and true method to vent frustration following a defeat. We all have a relative who has been clamoring for their alma mater to “open up the offense” for 30 years or questioning why their team keeps “running it up the middle.”
To the casual fan, gripes usually center around a perceived miscalled run or pass accompanied by an emphatic “What are we DOING?!” and perhaps a hat toss. Sometimes, a remote. Rarely is nuance introduced because, let’s face it, ignorance is bliss, and “Why are we running OT counter into the field out of 10-personnel without accounting for the defense’s backside cat call?!” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
Despite armchair assertiveness that they could call better plays, being a play-caller is exceedingly difficult. Offensive playbooks are denser than the Bible and rely upon one man to pick and choose scriptures that will individually be judged by the masses as successes or failures.
More of an art than a science, play-calling requires immense preparation, decisiveness, creativity, feel, forethought, balance and improvisation. “You’ve got to be mindful about staying on schedule,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said in 2017 . “But also being ready to adjust to the different situations within the framework of a drive.”
McVay is one of the premier play-callers in the NFL and underscores the importance of play-calling malleability in the confines of a game. A lesson Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell has yet to learn.
Campbell is a first-time offensive play-caller at a Power 4 program and has struggled this season, but he has mostly avoided bullets due to the poor execution from the offensive line, wide receiver and quarterback positions. However, with the steady improvement from the big uglies, the consistent separation from the receivers, and Davis Warren’s rapid maturation, Michigan’s offensive struggles now solely fall on Campbell.
During Michigan’s 38-17 loss to Oregon, Campbell’s play calling malpractice was accentuated by his stubbornness. He was dead-set on sticking to his game plan from the first play to the last play, with only a few derivative moments sprinkled in between. An escalating commitment that may condemn this offense to be one of the worst in program history.
However, this is no place to shout complaints without evidence. For this film study, I examined three instances of Campbell’s defiance that led this offense to score less than 20 points for the fourth time this season.
If we must, let’s check the tape.
**Unfortunately, detailed footage of Michigan losses is not as readily available on YouTube as wins, so there is only one GIF to accompany the breakdowns.
Testing the Perimeter
11-Personnel Fake Counter Reverse
Michigan’s offense is the least explosive in the Power Four and relies heavily on constant minimal gains. Winning first down is imperative for this unit, yet, the Wolverines either went backward or gained zero yards on the first play of four of their first five drives.
The first play of the game resulted in a five-yard loss due to a missed block on a toss play. Not an egregious call in the situation, but testing the perimeter on the game’s first play against a fast defense is bold. Michigan punted three plays later.
The second drive of the game began with a jet sweep to tight end Colston Loveland for a loss of two yards. Another test of the perimeter against a defense that is flying around with a slower player is…something. Michigan punted three plays later.
On the third drive of the game, Michigan’s offense took over with a short field following a muffed punt. The crowd was roaring, the offense was reinvigorated, and all the momentum had swung in its favor. Now was the opportunity to take a shot with heavy play-action, get Warren into a rhythm with an easy throw, or establish the run.
Instead, Campbell elected to test the perimeter again.
The offense came out with 11-personnel and had two receivers with cut splits to each side of the formation. Nearside split-end C.J. Charleston goes in orbit/escort motion followed quickly by nearside slot receiver Semaj Morgan at the snap.
Right guard Giovanni El-Hadi pulls to sell the counter action, and the ball is faked to Donovan Edwards before being handed to Morgan on the reverse. Unfortunately, this play was doomed before it even started. Oregon’s middle linebacker calls this play out before Charleston goes in motion, and the Oregon free safety immediately triggers like a missile.
This communication and reaction from a fast defense place the impetus of this play on center Greg Crippen reaching the perimeter to block the corner. Understandably, Crippen does not make it and Morgan is barely able to fight his way back to the line of scrimmage.
Michigan ultimately scored on this drive, but Campbell was seemingly determined not to make it easy. Only stubbornness can explain why Campbell attacked the perimeter on first down again after the two previous failures. A stubbornness that would continue to shine through in the most critical moments of the game.
You’re changing the play, right?
11-Personnel Quarterback Power (x2)
Trailing by two touchdowns, the Wolverines had the ball with a chance to cut the game to one possession in the fourth quarter. Despite having a hot quarterback playing his best ball of the season, Campbell continued to rotate Alex Orji into the mix. Situationally, this is defensible considering the burst Orji brings to the run game, with heavy emphasis placed on the word “situationally.”
To start this drive, Michigan comes out in 11-personnel with one receiver and an in-line tight end to the boundary, two receivers to the field, and running back Kalel Mullings to Orji’s left. All signs point to a power run until a flag is thrown for a false start.
Okay, it was a good look to mix it up, but now Michigan has to do something different situationally behind the sticks. Right?
Nope! Campbell literally runs the exact same formation and runs quarterback power for a gain of three yards to set up second-and-12.
The defense knew exactly what was coming, and the middle linebacker effortlessly avoided Mullings’ block and made the play. Fortunately for Campbell, Warren delivered a strike on third-and-12 two plays later to bail out his obstinate offensive coordinator. Eventually, the drive and the game came down to a fourth-and-five at the Oregon 10-yard line.
Final Play
12-Personnel Fake Reverse Throwback Pass
This play is the magnum opus of Campbell’s failures; the epitome of his stubbornness; a borderline fireable offense boiled down to a single play. With the game on the line, Campbell takes his hot quarterback off the field and reinserts Orji who just missed a walk-in touchdown by ignoring his blocks on second down. And it somehow gets worse.
Campbell wanted to set this play up all week, which is why he remained so steadfastly committed to attacking the perimeter early in this game. However, as we examined, none of the perimeter-attacking plays worked, so this play-layering strategy should have been abandoned. Foolishly, Campbell doubles down with a trick play based on his initial strategy despite its proven futility.
The Wolverines come out in 12-personnel with both wide receivers (Semaj Morgan and Peyton O’Leary) and tight end Max Bredeson (off the ball) stacked tight to the boundary side of the formation. Loveland is aligned as the in-line tight end toward the field and Donovan Edwards is aligned to the right of Orji in shotgun formation.
At the snap, Morgan sprints into the backfield and takes the ball on a reverse. Bredeson comes across the formation to seal off the right side with Loveland and Edwards, while the rest of the line zone blocks to the left. Morgan, instead of carrying out the reverse, stops at the far hash to throw. He is looking to connect with Orji, who has leaked out of the backfield, but he is tightly covered. Morgan is forced to hesitate before tossing up an unsurprisingly unanswered prayer, and Orji is nearly decapitated by a sideline camera.
This play call and design are shockingly bad. Campbell never set this play up with perimeter running success, so no Oregon player was buying the fake to start. Secondly, this is a single-option success play, meaning the only possible successful outcome is a completion to Orji. That’s it. Furthermore, not only does Campbell take his best pure quarterback off the field, he uses his two best offensive weapons as decoy blocking options and lets his wide receiver — who has never completed a pass — throw the football with the game on the line.
Think back to the “gotta have it” clutch play calls in recent memory. When Michigan needed a score late on the road against Penn State in 2021, did the Wolverines run a trick play? On the final drive of regulation against Alabama, did Sherrone Moore choose to have a wide receiver throw a pass on fourth down with the fate of the Rose Bowl hanging in the balance?
Experienced play-callers bank on simple, proven plays in the biggest moments that fit within the framework and rhythm of an offense. Until Campbell learns how to adapt to survive, this is probably not the last time you will send your hat flying across the room.
Seriously, “What are we DOING?!”
Week 9 Superlatives
‘You Must Be the Other Guy’ Award
As Mark Wahlberg’s Sergeant Dignam emphatically states in The Departed, “I’m the guy who does his job, you must be the other guy!”
Special teams coordinator J.B. Brown has been exceptionally underwhelming this season. The mistakes and miscues from the oft-forgotten third side of the ball are adding up to cost Michigan possessions, points and wins. In two of the last three games specifically, Brown’s punt return unit has helped opposing offenses stay on the field by overlooking the details of the game.
Two weeks ago against Illinois, the punt return team gave up a 36-yard fake punt conversion that prevented a three-and-out and ultimately resulted in a touchdown. Against Oregon, Michigan defensive tackle Trey Pierce lined up over the long-snapper in a fourth-and-four situation, resulting in a penalty and a first down. This drive resulted in Oregon’s only second-half points before the Ducks’ final drive and shattered the momentum building for the Wolverines.
The other guy might be looking for a new job in December.
Partly Cloudy Award
The third quarter against Oregon was the most important quarter of the season in terms of building for the future. Trailing by 18 after an embarrassing second quarter, the Wolverines could have packed it in, but instead, they fought.
The defense forced a three-and-out and the offense marched 75 yards to cut the Ducks’ lead down to 14. The defense then forced another stop before the other guy had his moment. But even after the special teams’ blunder, Team 145’s effort was never in question.
This speaks to the team’s culture and belief in Sherrone Moore’s abilities as a head coach and leader. The results aren’t there yet, but this team is closer to greatness than incompetence. It’s a little cloudy right now, but the future for the Michigan Wolverines is still bright.