Al Borges will adapt to Robinson

Brady Hoke, hired as Michigan's 19th coach Tuesday, is building his staff. But Borges, who has a rich coaching background, including stops at Auburn and UCLA, has joined Hoke from San Diego State. He'll arrive in Ann Arbor on Saturday. 


New Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges runs a pro-style offense, but he made clear he'll make it work for quarterback Denard Robinson. 


Borges said he looks forward to sittingdown with Robinson, the Big Ten's offensive player of the year, and making sure he knows the offense will be built around him — at quarterback. 


"I think the best thing when I talk to him is emphasizing that regardless of where I've been, it's not about me, and that we're creating this thing from ground up and the quarterback spearheads what we're going to do on offense," Borges, 55, told The News on Thursday. "You've got Denard, who we're going to keep at quarterback, and we're going to wean our team into some of the pro-style concepts, but we're not going to lose what he's capable of. I'm not smart, but I'm not dumb enough to not know that. He's got a skill we're going to exploit." 


Robinson, a first-year starter as a sophomore in Rodriguez's spread-option offense, became the first quarterback in Division I history to both rush and pass for 1,500 yards in a season. 


"What I will tell him is I coached two first-round (NFL quarterback draft picks in Cade McNown and Jason Campbell), and we accommodated them," Borges said. "We gave them the vehicle for success. They drove it, and they drove it well." 


Campbell was the Southeastern Conference MVP in 2004, the season Borges became offensive coordinator at Auburn, and McNown was an All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist for UCLA under Borges' tutelage. 


Borges runs a pro-style offense, but he said it has gone through much tweaking over the years, and describes his philosophy as more of a hybrid pro-style. 




Borges also coached Auburn running backs Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown, who were first-round picks. 
'He can throw'


He has run some aspects of the spread offense. 


"To say we're a spread team, we're not that," Borges said. "But you can't say, we're going to blow up and start all over again, not when you have a talent like (Robinson). We want to get back to some power offense, get down in the stance and knock people off the ball and give our kids a chance to kick butt. Within that scope, we then let our quarterback do what he does well. 


"I've been doing this for 24 years. I'm no genius and I do not pretend to be one, but I have a hell of a lot of experience with a lot of different types of quarterbacks." 


"What we'll do is, we'll add a little bit to the offense, we'll exploit his running skills because he's used to running the ball — we'll exploit his running ability, but we'll make him a better passer. If he doesn't rush for a gazillion yards and we could make that up with a little more passing, we'd be a little better off."

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