Michigan TE Zack Marshall breaks down new offense: 'So different than anything we've had before'

The Michigan Wolverines are in the middle of an offensive overhaul during the first season of the Kyle Whittingham era. Jason Beck has been tasked with running that side of the ball, and a few months on the job already have players excited for what’s next.

One of them is Michigan senior tight end Zack Marshall, who missed time this spring with an injury. However, that allowed him zoom out and take on a different role with the team.

“This is the first time I’ve ever missed a practice here,” Marshall told Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast. “It’s a weird dynamic — being kind of an old guy knowing that I’m going to play next year, but I can’t show it right now. It’s almost like this waiting room of being like, okay, I’m ready for when I can get back out there. But let’s invest in the people that haven’t had as much experience, invest in the program as a whole and get everyone ready to go win a national championship.”

Marshall chipped in with 16 catches for 199 yards and a touchdown last year. He is expected to be a contributor in Michigan’s passing game again, and hopes to master this system by the time fall camp rolls around.

“I always think of it as, could I coach this offense? That’s the kind of expertise I want to have,” Marshall said. “Could I teach a freshman who walks in tomorrow? We’ve got Mason Bonner coming in this summer. I want to get so good in the next four months that I could teach Mason anything he needs to know — not just about the tight end position, but if he were playing quarterback, how would he go through this read? Why do you need to take your time on this route? Because you’re actually the third person in this read. We can’t show up too early, we can’t get in that window. Having that intellectual understanding is huge to me.”

This will be the fourth offensive coordinator in four years for the Michigan program. From Sherrone Moore, Kirk Campbell, Chip Lindsey and now Beck, there is not much that is similar this time around.

“The first three years it was a similar offense, not the same offense,” Marshall said. “From a very Harbaugh-centric to Sherrone and what we grew into with Chip — those three were unique yet similar. That bird’s-eye view only happens when you understand football as a whole, not just your terminology, but how defenses run. We’re going to run the star concept — some people call it star, some call it snag, some call it spot. You think of it and you’re like, alright, this concept has a snag route, a corner. Being able to understand from a quarterback’s view how it plays out is all dependent on where you end up in your spacing. That light turned on when I realized, if I just think of it as a quarterback the entire time, like I’m playing Madden, it makes a lot more sense to think of the entire offense as a whole.”

Beck is famous for throwing several different personnel groups at the opposition with more of a power-spread look than Michigan fans are used to recently.

“Let’s get the cat out of the bag — I think everyone knows this. If you watch Jason Beck’s offense, it’s all about horizontal spacing,” Marshall said. “We can beat you down the field, we can run the ball in the box too. But the ability for the jet sweep to open up, the ability to get on the perimeter with quick screens, and the screens are different than what people think of. Everything’s an RPO, everything has a second option, and everything has a QB pull press. Having that versatility going horizontal is so different than anything we’ve had before. It’s simplified to a point where you’re able to just go out there and play. Once you’ve got it, you’ve got it. You can go out and learn what you’re doing and get rolling.”

Michigan plans to build its scheme around what the players do well and get the ball in the hands of its best playmakers.

“The way this offense is built is to get your best people in the best position to win the football game,” Marshall said. “If the tight end is the best person to take a jet sweep, we’re giving it to the tight end. You saw it with Oregon — I’m not going to say this is similar to what Dan Lanning is doing over there. But if you think about your best players and want to get them in the best positions and you were to just draw plays for them, that’s what this offense is. It’s so fun.”