Michigan’s offensive struggles have reached a point where frustration inside the program is becoming impossible to ignore. The Wolverines managed just 14 points in their loss to Minnesota on Saturday, finishing with 180 total yards as the offense struggled to find any rhythm. Amid that backdrop, reports of Michigan players criticizing offensive coordinator Jason Beck in private messages have surfaced, and former Wolverines offensive lineman Doug Skene had a simple response for anyone unhappy with the coaching staff.
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Chris Balas reported on Tuesday that he was hearing about direct messages allegedly sent by Michigan players criticizing Beck and expressing frustration over how they were being used in the offense. Skene did not have much sympathy for those complaints when he addressed the situation on his October 6 podcast.
“I hated Les Miles. I wanted to ki** him my senior year, but I was playing for my teammates,” Skene said. “If these guys are walking around there b****ing and m**ning about the offensive coaches, they can su*k it up.”
“They ain’t the first ones to ever go through that building that didn’t like their coach. So, you can just hit the transfer portal and leave. Just leave. We’ll find somebody who will.”
There is certainly plenty for Michigan players to be frustrated about. The Wolverines are 3-2 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play, and their offense has produced 13, 17, 52, 19 and 14 points across their first five games.
The latest showing against Minnesota was concerning. Michigan managed just 101 passing yards and 79 rushing yards, going 3-for-10 on third down and failing on its only fourth-down attempt. Minnesota also controlled the clock for 37:36.
Underwood was sacked three times, while Michigan’s offensive line struggled to create consistent running lanes. Jordan Marshall finished with 50 yards on 10 carries, but the rest of the rushing attack contributed very little. Underwood added only 20 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
Jason Beck has not produced the offense Michigan expected
The biggest reason the situation has become so frustrating is the expectation that came with Beck when Kyle Whittingham brought him to Michigan.
At Utah, Beck’s offense averaged 482.9 yards and 41.2 points per game. The Utes ranked second nationally in rushing, fourth in total offense and fifth in scoring. They also threw just five interceptions all season and converted 52.6% of their third-down attempts.
Michigan has looked nothing like that team so far. And it is not as if the Wolverines lack players who can make the offense work.
Underwood has already shown what he can do with his legs. He ran for 87 yards and a touchdown against Oklahoma and added 36 rushing yards against Iowa. Marshall has shown he can handle a significant workload, while the receiving corps has produced some big plays of its own.
JJ Buchanan caught two touchdowns and finished with 130 yards against Iowa. Andrew Marsh added 106 yards in the same game.
Michigan also put together 429 yards against an Iowa defense that entered that matchup allowing just 176.7 yards per game. That performance matters because it makes it harder to argue that Beck simply does not have enough talent around him.
The pieces are there. Michigan just has not been able to put them together consistently. Whittingham has acknowledged as much. Following the Minnesota loss, he described the offense as “completely ineffective most of the time” and admitted Michigan was “so far away from where we need to be on that side of the ball.”
More importantly, Whittingham said the upcoming bye week would be used to examine “every single possibility,” including the quarterback position and offensive coordinator.
That puts Beck’s job and the broader offensive structure under a level of scrutiny that did not exist at the start of the season.
Skene’s point is easier to understand when you consider what it is like to play under a coach you do not always agree with. Players will have complaints. A receiver may feel he should be getting more targets. A running back may want more carries. An offensive lineman may disagree with an assignment, while a quarterback may not be comfortable with the way a system is being run.
Skene has been there himself. During his time at Michigan, he had his own issues with Les Miles. Looking back on it years later, though, Skene admitted that he came to appreciate what Miles had done for him in ways he did not recognize at the time.
That does not mean every complaint from a player should be brushed aside. There is a difference between not liking a coach and believing the offense is not giving the team its best chance to win. That is where Michigan’s current situation gets more difficult to ignore. The Wolverines have shown they can move the ball and make plays, but they have also had too many stretches where the offense simply has not produced enough.
That is why the concerns surrounding Beck cannot be written off as players simply being unhappy with their roles. Skene has made his position clear, but Whittingham has also admitted that the offense is far from where it needs to be. With the bye week ahead, Michigan now has time to figure out whether the problem is personnel, the system, the coaching or some combination of all three.