Everything Michigan ST coach J.B. Brown said during his pre-New Mexico press conference

On whether things are set with the punting and punt return unit

Yeah, definitely in the punting game, Hudson Hollenbeck’s had a really good camp. Love what he’s done. Greg Tarr’s done a great job long snapping. Super excited to go watch them work out and do what they do. They’ve had a great summer, great camp. Excited about that. In the return game, Andrew Marsh, Semaj Morgan, Micah Ka’apana, all those guys can be back there and hopefully be electric with the ball in their hands like they’ve been all camp.

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On where Hudson Hollenbeck has improved from last year

I think he’s improved all the way around just as a human being, like from body to his mind to his spirit. He’s done a great job. You’ve seen him take steps, even bigger steps than I probably would have even thought at this point. So excited to see him go out this weekend.

On Dominic Zvada’s exact range

That was a 70 in the big house, which is awesome. Hit off sticks, hit in warm-ups. He’s got a leg. I think we all know that. But, you know, definitely his range will depend on what the weather is, what the elements are. But, yeah, he’s got a strong leg, and he looks great right now.

On what the weather looked like when Zvada hit a 70-yarder in practice

There was a little wind behind him. But, yeah, I feel comfortable putting him out whenever he wants to go out, though.

On New Mexico’s trick plays and how it impacts him

Yeah, no doubt. You know, studying Coach Da Prato and Coach Eck, like, I mean, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on within their special team units. So you’ve got to be prepared on every unit for something else to pop up.

On Zvada’s mental make-up and expectations for this season

Yeah, I mean, he’s very confident in what he does. You know, if he misses one, he misses one. But, again, I’m not worried about his mental. I think he has a strong mental game. You can see it in practice. Like, he’s just ready for the next kick. He moves on pretty quickly. He’s a lot like Jake and JT in that regard. Like, yeah, let’s get on to the next kick and keep going.

On whether the punter competition was what he wanted this camp

Yeah, no doubt it was. I thought, you know, you got Huddy, you got Beckham, and you got Hunter, and they all have done a great job just working hard this fall camp. And every one of them pushed each other. But it was exactly what I wanted. Yeah, we’re good.

On Beckham Sunderland working as a kicker and punter

Yeah, Beckham’s working as a combo. So he’ll be able to do kickoffs, he’ll be able to punt, and he’ll be able to do field goals as well.

On who is kicking off

Yeah, Beckham right now. He’ll start out the season. And then, obviously, I think we have three elite kickoff guys, though, to be honest, in Dom and in Hudson. So Dom’s obviously done in the bowl game. We’re going to continue to get all of them reps though this season.

On how to challenge Zvada and whether its possible given his success

Yeah, I mean, to win a national championship, right? That’s our goal. We want to continue to win every game and do what’s best for the team. I think that’s the team challenge. I think Coach Moore does a great job of preaching team over me. And so that’s kind of how we’ve taken it in the specialist room as well.

On preparing Zvada on an individual level with NFL aspirations

Yeah, just being as consistent as we can each day. And, again, that position, right, it’s so lonely because you’re the only one out there at times. So it’s like, yeah, you’re the one on the stage. So just continue to make sure his mental space is right and continue to be consistent.

On working with Sunderland who doesn’t have a lot of football experience but raw talent

Yeah, Beckham has extreme talent. He’s very good. He has the great ball contact. He has a super strong leg. The challenges are just continuing to get him used to what we do just in football, like our scheduling and all that. But he’s been a professional athlete before, so that’s the beauty of it, right? He understands how to work. He understands where to be and when to be there and get the work done that he’s supposed to.

On Andrew Marsh returning kicks

Yeah, no, I mean, we just continue to run reps and practice and team reps, and, you know, he’s done a great job of securing the ball, done a great job of catching the ball. I’m super excited to see how explosive he is, though, in a game setting.

On whether he’s shown his abilities

Yeah, oh, yeah. Yeah, he’s done a good job. And then, obviously, Ka’apana’s done a great job. Joe T’s been back there as well. He’s done an amazing job back there. So I’m excited for whoever goes back, to be honest.

On whether he sees Semaj Morgan working in a punt return role

No, I mean, and the beauty of it, Semaj’s done it for two years, right? So, again, I mean, it’s just you’ve got an experienced guy back there that’s been in that situation, been in the big house with all those people staring at him and caught big punts. So hopefully we can get him out this year.

On Morgan’s improvement with the return game

He’s done a great job. All summer he worked on it. I mean, he, I think, led the jugs with our punt return guys. So he’s been working extremely hard. So I’m excited to see what he does this season.

On how he recruited Zvada to Michigan

Yeah, we just were ourselves and just showed him what Michigan is. And then I think he fell in love with that as well. So, I mean, we got lucky and we’re blessed and excited he’s here.

On the most challenging aspect of returning punts

Yeah, being able to read the flight, being able to judge it, I feel like. Being able to see where it’s coming off of his foot and then how I need to react to whether the nose is up or the nose is down, how the ball’s going to move, or if it’s going to stay true.

On the difference of returning a punt with a left-footed punter

It’s a little bit different off the left foot because it’s going to spin opposite. So the spin’s a little bit different. You know, if it turns over, it’s going to go long and right as a punt returner instead of long and left off the right foot.

On how he works with Sunderland who had to retire from soccer with concussions

Yeah, no doubt. And so he’s been cleared. Obviously, you know, I don’t want to get into the whole medical piece, but he’s been cleared and he’s done a very good job. We’re trying to teach him safe tackling techniques and work on those types of things.

On how he would compare his returners and their aggressiveness to each other

I think all run styles are very similar, very quick on the first cut. When they get to the hole, they’re explosive through it. You know, all of them can lower their pads and have great contact balance. Again, I do think there could be some different things with some of them as we continue to go out through the season. We find out what they do best after game after game. But, again, yeah, I think they’re all explosive and they all can do it.