On his excitement for kickoff No, are you kidding me? In the Big House for the first time, and yeah, just really excited, really, really looking forward to Saturday, got a lot of work to do between now and then, but man, really looking forward to it, the opportunity to be here. I’ve said this […]
On his excitement for kickoff
No, are you kidding me? In the Big House for the first time, and yeah, just really excited, really, really looking forward to Saturday, got a lot of work to do between now and then, but man, really looking forward to it, the opportunity to be here. I’ve said this several times, I don’t want to repeat myself too much, but it’s an honor to be here and be the offensive coordinator here at a place like Michigan, and just got a lot of exciting feelings for this weekend, for sure, and really just want our team to go out and play clean and enjoy being out there, because you don’t give us so many opportunities to do this.
On what he wants the offense to look like
Yeah, I mean, I want us to be, you know, true to our DNA. I want us to be a physical offense that plays fast and physical, and not necessarily just tempo fast. I mean, just when the ball is snapped, we’re playing fast and physical, and really just trying to make sure we highlight the guys that help us score, right? The guys that can make plays, the guys that we need to get the ball to in space, or handing the ball to, or whatever the case may be. But I want people to walk away saying, man, that was a physical football team, a physical offense that creates explosives, and that’s kind of what our goal is. And, you know, we’ve worked really hard at trying to improve in those areas, and it’ll be fun to see it all come to fruition on Saturday.
On whether he still gets butterflies leading up to game time
Oh, for sure. I mean, I got the greatest job in the country. I mean, it’s unbelievable that, you know, you get to come to work every day and really, you know, coach football, all right? Teach the game and mentor young men. And so, yeah, we say all the time, like, how lucky are we when we were kids, you know? You know, thinking about one day I’m going to coach football for a living, and it’s just exciting. And we’re all very blessed to be here and excited about what we’re doing here.
On what he saw from Bryce Underwood and the competition in the QB room
Yeah, I mean, I think when you look at the quarterback room, you got a room full of guys that are all smart. They’re all competitive, and that’s really what you want in any room, offensive line or quarterback or whatever, is to create competition. That makes everybody better. I think we’ve done a nice job of that with that room. And having them go out each day and especially early in training camp when you’re kind of splitting reps and so forth and getting guys out there and compete. I say this all the time to our guys, like, whatever’s on film is all we can go by, right? You have to put it on film and practice every day. And I love them all. But at the end of the day, the guys that put it on film the best are the guys that are going to play whatever position we’re talking about. I think that’s kind of what our motto is, and that’s kind of what we do. And you stay true to that. I think good things happen.
On what Underwood put on film to make him be the guy
I think his playmaking ability. You know, obviously, he can make all the throws and so forth, but he did a nice job of protecting the ball for the most part. I mean, there’s some times Wink fooled him, which is going to happen when you’re playing Wink Martindale. But that’s good for him. I mean, it really builds a, I believe quarterback play, you build a bank in their mind or whatever that, hey, I remember seeing that look before. I mean, I always say this, like, each play has a life of its own. You know, we’re going to run, say, four verticals, and against cover three, it looks like this. Against cover one, it looks like this. Against quarters, it might look like this. Against cover two, now you’ve got to talk about blitz. I mean, each play has got a life of its own, and the more reps he gets and the more reps he sees the different looks versus all the different things that we’re running, I think that just provides, that’s why you see veteran guys really take off, you know, whether it’s the NFL or college. Then you get a guy like this that was really advanced when he got here. I thought he was, his knowledge of the game was, you know, I think he had good high school coaching, and, you know, these quarterbacks these days are so much more advanced than when we played, you know, he’s just, and he’s a student of the game, so he’s put a lot of time in. We, I think we’ve documented that before, but, yeah, I just saw the ability for him to execute what we’re trying to do, make all the throws. He’s got the ability to do that and not repeat mistakes, and I think once you get guys not repeating mistakes, they can play a good quarterback.
On how much having new parts on offense limit what you can do in week one
Yeah, I think, I don’t know if it limits us or not. I’m a believer in less plays and better execution anyway. That’s kind of been my motto. I think the ability to practice the plays against all the looks is kind of what you’re always weighing things against. Okay, I like these, let’s just say, 25 plays or whatever, but really, is it realistic to say we can run all 25 of these plays and get all the looks we’re going to see on base downs, on third downs, in red zone, you know, whatever the case may be? So, I do think there’s an element that, hey, you got to narrow things down to what’s good for each week, and we’ve had the ability to prepare for this game one for a couple weeks, really, even looking back in the summer. So, certain things you like against certain defenses, but there’s a lot of unknown here, you know, because they got a new staff. You do your research on the coaches and so forth, but you never know what you’re going to get, and that’s why I think it’s so much more important that we focus on what the things that we think we can execute, no matter what the look is, and the things that we’re good at, and if we do that, then we should have an opportunity to be successful.
On whether he thinks he has the components to challenge a team vertically
Oh, I do. Yeah, for sure. Everything starts with running the football, for sure. I mean, you go back to the national championship season, and if you really study that, the plays they were able to hit down the field were because they could run the football. So, we have to win the line of scrimmage. We have to establish being physical and running the football, and then that’s going to help us open up, and now we’ve got the ability, you know, whether some receivers that we have now, or the quarterback, or whatever it is, to really push the ball down the field when it makes sense. And then, I think at quarterback, we have to understand, okay, if it’s there, let’s go light it up. If it’s not, we’re going to check the ball down, or we’re going to make a play with your feet, or whatever the case may be. And really, our focus this week is going to be, let’s play penalty-free, let’s be physical at the line of scrimmage, and let’s take care of the football, and just let things happen naturally. We don’t have to force it. You know, that’s one of the things with Bryce this week really pushing is, hey, just let the game come to you. You don’t have to force the issue when the ability’s there to make a play, do it.
On crafting a drive to begin the game with the pressure being on Underwood at the start of the game
Yeah, it probably will, right? I mean, everybody’s going to be excited, but I think it goes back to trust in your training, trust your coaching, trust your preparation, execute these plays. Whatever those plays will be will be plays that we’ve, you know, obviously rehearsed all week and feel great about, and no matter what the look we’re going to get, that we’ll have a chance to be successful. And you know what? If it doesn’t work out the first drive, we better respond the second drive, and you have to take that approach. I mean, I think playing quarterback or coaching or whatever it is, like it’s one play at a time mentality. Let’s line up, let’s execute the plays called, and then we’ll react to whatever happens from there.
On players standing out at wide receiver
Yeah, I think you start with Donaven McCulley. I mean, a new guy that’s transferred in here was here in the spring, and I think you saw him take big strides here in training camp, getting more comfortable. And I think he brings an element that he’s a big body receiver that can run, that we can get the ball down the field too, but he’s a really good route runner. He catches the ball well. Former quarterback, got a really good understanding, I think, of the game. Semaj Morgan’s had an outstanding training camp. I really like some of the things I’ve seen from him, and me getting with him now and learning the things that he’s been successful at in the past, as well as maybe some new wrinkles that we have that I think he’s really good at. I think when you start with those guys, those two guys, and then I think Channing has had an unbelievable fall training camp. I think you see a guy that, you know, he’s just really steady. Every day he’s the same. He can play all three spots, a receiver, very smart player. I think Fred’s come on really good this training camp, as well. And then I think Kendrick Bell’s a guy that’s coming off a little bit of an off-season surgery, and I’ve seen him make a lot of strides. So I really like what I see from that group as a unit, and it’s gonna take them all. When we talk about the season and the longevity of the season, we’re gonna need every one of them to be successful.
On what Max Bredeson allows him to do offensively
I think he brings some flexibility that a lot of teams don’t have, from the standpoint of he’s more like an old pro-back, full-back, right? I mean, you feel, but he’s also very athletic, and I think he’s a guy that’s very physical, obviously in the trenches, but he also is a guy that our team, I think, responds to, the offense responds to. He’s a veteran guy that’s been around forever, one of our captains, so I know our team looks up to him, and he brings some flexibility, as well. Don’t be shocked if you see him, especially early in the season, making some plays out in space, as well. I think his flexibility is what, an ability to play different spots, even though traditionally he’s a full-back, brings us, gives us a lot of options, and I think it’s something we’ll use throughout the whole year.
On what Marlin Klein allows him to do offensively
I saw where somebody said it’s so Michigan to have two tight ends as two of your captains, right, and an offensive lineman, and you know what? I’m good with that, because to be successful, we gotta be strong in the O-line, and the tight ends are a part. They’re so, the game has changed. For a while, everybody was four wides or 11 personnel, and what you see now, I think, in the NFL, in college football, is tight ends that are very dynamic, that can play, line up and play in the run game, as well as play in the pass game, and I think that’s what you see, the best ones in the world doing that, but Marlin’s an unbelievable guy that’s got great size. He’s really good at the point of contact, and he can run. I mean, that’s what I think goes unnoticed about him, and hopefully we’ll get a chance to see that some as the year plays out, but really like what I’ve seen. I think he’s grown as a route runner. I think that’s something that he wanted to work really hard on. He’s a pretty good run blocker, I think, pretty good pass protector, but I think route running’s something he’s really focused on, and I think we’re starting to see that show up.
On the plan for Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall
Yeah, that’s huge, and Tony’s done a really nice job with those two guys of managing the workload, even in practices. At Michigan, we’re gonna run some plays in practice, and we’re gonna line up and play football. The old saying around here is you get good at football by lining up and playing football, and it’s true. You got some programs, a lot of individual work, and a lot of cute little drills and so forth, but not here. We line up and play football basically every day, but I think you gotta have two guys. I think the season dictates that. Whatever league you’re playing in, college, NFL, or whatever, they’re both extremely competitive, but they’re both great teammates. They both have a similar skill set. I think they’ll run well between the tackles and have the ability also to make people miss at the second and third level, and they both catch it well out of the backfield, so I believe there’ll be times I won’t even know who’s in the game. I’m just calling the play, and we’ll try to keep those guys fresh as we can and see how things play out.
On the strength of the offensive line
I think the continuity, that group, I think, has gelled as training camp’s going on, and you know how important that is, the communication piece and run game and getting the front ID’d as well as the pass game. I think that’s huge, and I think there’s a comfort with those guys. You just kind of get a feeling. Any good team you’ve ever been on the offensive line, it starts with those guys, and you see those guys gelling and working together, and I think what you’re seeing is those guys play with some more confidence, too, and that’s the whole key. Some of us just believe in you’re good enough, and I think that group has made a lot of progress, and we’ll get a chance to see that on Saturday.
On the depth chart behind Underwood at quarterback
Well, I think Jadyn Davis has probably had one of the better training camps of anybody on offense. He’s made a lot of progress. He is really smart. He knows the offense inside and out. He had that advantage with Jake getting here late anyway, and I think that showed some in training camp, but I really like what Jake has put out there on tape, and he’s definitely improved. I think Jake Garcia is a guy, when you watch him throw, you’re like, wow, this guy, because he can really throw it. I think for him, it’s just getting comfortable with the terminology in our offense, which he’s improved tremendously there. I just think him coming in late was probably, and he knew that coming in, that, hey, this is going to be a little bit of a disadvantage for me from that standpoint, but you also feel like you got two capable guys, and Jake’s played a lot, and Jadyn hasn’t yet, but two capable guys that can go in there and compete, and then Mikey Keene, we’re continuing to bring him along. He’s got all the moxie and everything ready, and you see flashes. He’s getting back, slowly but surely, and hopefully here pretty quick, he’ll be back.
On what concerns him about New Mexico’s defense
I think the unknown. I think the unknown from the standpoint of a new staff, and Coach Eck, I don’t know him personally, but really respect the job he’s done. Obviously, coming from Idaho, and he’s been successful wherever he’s been. The defensive coordinator’s been really good at other spots, so they’ll be well-coached and disciplined, but the unknown. There’s some unknown there with their personnel a little bit with all the transfers they’ve had, as well as game one. That’s what game ones are about, so we better focus on us and trying to do what we do well and be sound in what we’re doing, but there’s always that feeling in game one, but we’re excited. Tee it up. Let’s see what it’s about on Saturday, and get in the big house, and looking forward to, I know, being in front of all our fans, I know our players are looking forward to that as well as I am, and let’s go have some fun and let it rip.
Category: General Sports
