Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez: Tate Forcier 'can't be average' and expect to start
Denard Robinson continues to push Tate Forcier for the starting quarterback job, and that might be exactly what Forcier needs to reach his potential.
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez was asked Tuesday on the Big Ten spring football coaches teleconference whether Forcier has matured this offseason.
“Somewhat,” Rodriguez said. “Tate was a guy that started off really well last year and then he had some ups and downs. And he has to get better, and some of that is maturity on the field and some of it is off the field as well. And I think Tate is starting to get that. I think competition is helping in that regard, both with Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner.”
Forcier started every game last year as a true freshman, but has split No. 1 quarterback reps with Robinson this spring. Gardner, a true freshman, is third in the rotation, but the blue-chip prospect has done nothing through 12 offseason practices to dispel the notion that he’s Michigan’s future at the position.
The Wolverines have three practices left this spring, including Saturday’s spring game.
“Tate knows that he can’t be average and expect to be the starting quarterback, so he’s got to keep getting better and better,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a conscientious guy that loves football and he’s got to put all the little extra work in and understand that there’s going to be competition each and every year, and I think he sees that.”
Rodriguez stopped short of saying Gardner was far enough along that he could help this fall, but he praised the Inkster product for being a fierce competitor and “very, very quick learner.”
“He’s got a long way to go as you can imagine any true freshmen would, especially at quarterback,” Rodriguez said. “But he’s gotten better each and every day and we’ve just seen the progress in 11 or 12 practices that he’s made. It’s really, really encouraging.”
More notes
• Rodriguez said last Saturday’s scrimmage was probably “the best spring for the three quarterbacks that we’ve had so far, and I was pretty pleased with that. There was some situations that we put them in that they hadn’t been in early in the spring and they responded pretty well with that.”
• Rodriguez said Michigan played as well as it had offensively in that scrimmage, while defensively it was “probably not as good as we had done earlier in the spring.” Still, of the worrisome safety position, he said, “I think we found another guy or two that maybe has a chance to help us win this fall.”
• Rodriguez on his seven early enrollees: “I don’t believe all seven will play, some will be redshirted, but a few of them have shown a few things this spring.” Along with Gardner, running backs Stephen Hopkins and Austin White, receivers Jerald Robinson, Jeremy Jackson and Ricardo Miller and offensive center/guard Christian Pace already are on campus.
• Rodriguez on Jerald Robinson: "He’s shown enough that he’s got a chance to help us this (fall). He’s got great ball skills, he’s very, very eager to learn and we’re excited about him. I think he’s going to have a great future here."
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
BowlForBlue
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 11:14 p.m.
Yes, the message is being sent by Rodriguez. I agree 100% with 81wolverine, I remember Henne especially strugged at times, I'm not taliking about a win/lost record, he struggeled at times from pressure of having 'To be The Man', if you were ever in the locker rooms - you would know things like this. Guessing and posting here is not considered to be accurate comments. Highly recommended to listening to 81wolverine, people would learn.
johnnya2
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 9:27 p.m.
Chad Henne was "annoited" and struggled? You can not be serious. Would you care to look at Chad Henne's freshman year record? Nine and three. How was Tate's? Tate would have to win 11 games this year to EQUAL what Chad Henne did in two years. I'd take a Chad Henne over any QB RR has ever coached.
trigg7
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 9:01 p.m.
Richard is an average QB. If you think not your in for a long season.
Terry Star21
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 7:07 p.m.
81 and Go Blue... great observations. Last year Tate was pretty much by himself in practice learning the playbook (pretty safe to say the job was his), and this year he has to be his best, plus some. I look for Tate to improve a lot, but I still think he could be caught midway through the season, My nightmare is, that if he is caught by Devin/Denard, and becomes second string, he will transfer his brother did) - I honestly don't see him standing on the sidelines giving signals and not playing. Despite this, I wish Tate the best, and he is realy giving it his best shot, plus some. Ever notice how a crucial topic like this has 2 comments and the RichRod investigation already has 15?
GoblueinNE_PA
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 5:15 p.m.
The one thing I do like about RR is that he does put pretty much every position up for grabs, forcing everyone to compete. It does go a long way to drive out complacency. The down side is you can get more injuries as players are going full out more than maybe they should. It's a risk we need to be willing to take though. 81W-I don't think Navarre was complacent, so much as he was what he was. Could Gonzalez have beaten him out if there had been true competition for the job? Maybe, but he didn't struggle, IMO, because he was named the starter. He was slow footed and telegraphed where he was going with the ball.
81wolverine
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 3:16 p.m.
I'm glad Rodriguez is sending the message to Tate like this, and not just annointing him as the starter. In the past, when QB's like Navarre and Henne were "annointed" as The Man, they often struggled and didn't play up to their ability. Besides, after last year, Forcier has NO reason to be complacent. He needs to get a lot better.