Andrew Marsh says Michigan pass game improvements are inevitable
· Yahoo Sports
Ann Arbor – The top priority for Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham after he was hired in late December was retaining quarterback Bryce Underwood. A not-so-distant second on that list was receiver Andrew Marsh.
Marsh and Underwood returned to the Wolverines, now with an overhauled staff, for their upcoming sophomore seasons. Marsh, who led Michigan in receiving last season with 651 yards on 45 catches and had four touchdowns, is a key ingredient to this new offense coordinated by Jason Beck.
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He said he determined fairly early that returning to Michigan was the correct decision. Marsh said he talked to several people around him as he weighed transferring or staying to play for Whittingham, who spent the last 21 seasons coach Utah, and a new staff.
“A big thing for me was really wanting to stay where I’ve been, where my feet are planted and just go from there,” Marsh said Wednesday during a break in spring practice. “That was my biggest focus coming into this season, making sure everything was squared away over here before we start looking elsewhere.”
It helped that in conversations with teammates, Marsh felt like most wanted to be at Michigan.
“Early on I kinda knew I was gonna be all right,” Marsh said. “Part of me was the position I put myself in coming off last year and really just the trajectory of the team. I feel like after talks with a lot of the guys, we all came to the conclusion we wanted to stick it out. Really just play with the guys. Keep it Michigan.”
Michigan has not had a strong receiver room the last few seasons, but Marsh became a difference-maker. The Wolverines have added Utah transfer JJ Buchanan, who is 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, Texas transfer Jaime Ffrench and also freshman Salesi Moa, who was on the Utah roster for a minute.
“He’s a great addition to the room,” Marsh said of Buchanan. “He’s definitely somebody who can help us stretch the field and somebody who can definitely go up and get it, and make those tough blocks.”
Beck said this offense will look different than what Michigan had the last couple years. The Wolverines ranked 58th in overall offense last season but a dismal 105th in passing, averaging 186.8 yards. Whittingham has said Michigan will be physical and run the ball, of course, but the Wolverines said they have explosive receivers and plan to use them.
“We’ve been airing the ball out a lot,” Marsh said. “It’s something I’m really looking forward to. I hope everybody is looking forward to. I really feel like we're going to be dangerous this year. Really, just the ability to come out and show what we can do on the ground and in the air is going to be crazy.”
Making all of that click is Underwood, voted by his teammates one of four spring captains. Marsh said he has seen Underwood improve as a player and a leader during winter conditioning and so far during spring practice. The two arrived at Michigan together and definitely have built an on-field connection.
“They just have a nice chemistry going,” Beck said recently. “I don’t know if it’s from working together for a year. That’s definitely part of it. But what I’ve seen is some guys just see things the same way and they just have a connection kind of naturally. And those two seem to have that. In other words, the quarterback can anticipate what he’s doing and they’re on the same page quite a bit.
“So you’re always trying to develop that chemistry with all the receivers. But everywhere I’ve been, a quarterback just seems to have good chemistry with a certain guy. They seem to be on the same kind of wavelength, and him and Andrew are that way. They just kind of seem to have a nice connection going and have good timing together. I mean, there’s obviously things to work on. But I mean, Day 1, they just are making some nice plays just right out the gate. So it’s a real positive to build on.”
Marsh also is working at punt and kick return this spring and proved with his opportunities last season he can be dynamic there, as well as receiver. But taking that next step at receiver is his focus.
“We’re really all looking forward to coming out this year and show everybody what we can do,” Marsh said. “Last year really wasn’t Michigan standard. This year we want to make sure we accomplish that.”
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Andrew Marsh says Michigan pass game improvements are inevitable