Previously: Jim Harbaugh, Kyle Kalis, Brian Cole, Chase Winovich, Drake Harris,Jabrill Peppers, Royce Jenkins-Stone, Willie Henry, Jourdan Lewis, Wyatt Shallman, James Ross III
[Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]
DJ Durkin inherits a Michigan defense that’s both experienced and talented, with good depth in most position groups. Durkin has promised to mix up the fronts we’ll see this season, and he expanded on that while also talking about his pass rushers, linebackers, and more at Media Day.
[I jumped in while Durkin was in the middle of an answer]
“The thought is now we get into camp [and] a lot of it is now they’re hearing it for the second, the third, the fourth time of what we’re installing so you can master it and play fast.”
You talked at the beginning of spring about how you didn’t really know your team. What do you know about your personnel now?
“Yeah, I feel we know them much better. We had four-hour practices in the spring [so] we got a lot of reps with those guys. We saw them do a lot, so that’s a good thing. There’s not a lot of angst from me or our staff of ‘What’s this guy going to do in a game?’ or ‘[How will he] respond?’ We have, number one, experienced guys on defense for the most part. And then, like I said, we had really competitive practices in the spring where we put those guys in a lot of situations that they had to show what they could do so I feel like we have a good evaluation and awareness of where they’re at.
“And now it becomes let’s go into fall camp and see what guys come in with that right mindset and what they did over the summer, see how they prepared and go through it all over again and re-evaluate everyone and get ready for the first game.”
What are you most excited about for tomorrow and then fast-forwarding to September 3rd?
“Tomorrow, just getting out there. I mean, it’s one of those things that there’s a build up of it and when you finally get out there and hit that first period and start moving, it’s always…I don’t know. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. You just get that feeling like ‘Alright, we’re back out on the field.’ All this stuff is fun and everything but talking about it is not the same as going and doing it, so that’s what I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
And then the opener?
“Yeah, the opener. I mean, wow, what a great test as an opener on the road in an environment that’s really loud. They’re into it; they’ve had great success there, especially recently, with their football program. So we’ll be tested right there, week one. Our guys know that, they understand that and we’re going to keep working towards that as we get through camp.”
[The rest after THE JUMP]
[I’m skipping a Bowling Green question, but that’s Durkin’s alma mater and he loves it, etc.]
What kind of impact can you see Chris Wormley having on this defense?
“Chris is- he’s a guy I’ve had several conversations with about that the only limitation he has is himself, and I don’t mean that negatively at all. The size he is, as well as he moves, and what he’s able to do on the football field- he should be a dominant player. I think he will be. He had a great spring. We’ve got to keep working with him but yeah, he’s that type of player to me. He’s one of those guys- there’s not many guys that are 300 lbs. like that that can move around and look like a linebacker.”
By running the 3-4 and the 4-3 is there a player who won’t have to come off the field? A hybrid, maybe a guy who can play end and linebacker?
“Well, I mean, all those personnel decisions come in a game-to-game basis. We’re going to be multiple in what we do and what our personnel will be. All we’re trying to do is always get our guys in the best position possible to have success and help our team have success, so we play to everyone’s strengths and try to figure out and piece it together- who can do what and how can they do it, and that’s what we do. We’re going to be multiple.”
When you got here you talked about the need to make plays, and I guess most of that falls on the secondary but other people are involved. Talk about what progress you’ve seen in that regard.
“We just emphasize with our guys- all positions- about your job on defense is to get the ball back to the offense, whether that’s getting off the field in a timely manner in a three and out or you’re getting a turnover or whatever it is, so that falls in line with making plays. But really, it sounds elementary but we have to talk about those things. That’s the object of the game, right? You have to get the ball to the offense so they can go score. There’s different ways to do that and how we emphasize that but our guys, they understand and the point’s getting across to them.”
They way you’re going to play, what do you want people to say about your defense?
“Um…you know, I’m not- I don’t know, I’m not real concerned about what’s said other than what that scoreboard says so I want them to say our defense gave up less points than what our offense scored.”
The three safeties- Jabrill, Delano [Hill], and Jarrod [Wilson]- I talked to Greg Jackson about wanting to get all three of those guys on the field at the same time. Can you just take us through those three players and what you see out of them that would lead you to believe they can co-exist on the field together?
“One of the best things in football is competition. When you have competition at a position it makes everyone better because guys that’re competing, they’re making each other better. Iron sharpens iron, so all those guys I feel like, the three guys you mentioned, are really good football players that can help us win. So it’s our job. I was talking earlier about personnel; we have to figure out ways to get them on the field together. Will that be all the time? I don’t know. We’re going into practice one tomorrow. I do know those guys are all going to have a say in how that is determined and what’s going on, and I see no reason why they can’t all be contributors and guys helping us win.”
[Can’t hear the exact wording but something something D-line depth]
“I feel really good about the depth up front with experienced guys. There are a lot of guys who’ve played in games already, not just guys you’re counting on that develop and you say maybe they can do something. These guys have played a lot of football.
“Coach Mattison does an unbelievable job with those guys. He’s as good as there is in the country, and he did a great job in the spring of really doing things a little differently scheme-wise up front. I think those guys really bought into it and did a good job. So we’ll play as many as can help us. If you’ve earned the trust to play we’ll get you in there, and it might be ten snaps for one guy or fifty for another but we’ll find ways of getting them in there.”
What do you see out of your linebacking unit?
“Again, those are experienced guys. James Ross, Des Morgan, and Joe Bolden have all played a lot of football here and played well. They do a really good job as leaders and helping develop the younger guys as well. The main thing I’m looking for is leadership. It’s a natural leadership position because the linebackers are so vocal in making calls anyways, and so it always helps when those are your leaders as players as well and I think that’s what we have with those guys.”
Des is a guy who missed all of last year and was talking about how excited he was to get in his senior year and step back and look at things. Do you see him being a mature guy on the defense and how quickly has he gotten back in the swing of things?
“Yeah, I think Des had a great spring. Any time you’re able to…it’s so hard as a coach or player in football, it’s always one thing to the next, you keep going and going. You don’t get that time to look back and reflect. The unfortunate part is that he was injured, but the good part about that is that he had that time. When you can really look back on it I think sometimes you can look at things differently. I wasn’t obviously here with Des any time before that, but what I know about him from the spring is he did a great job for us. I expect big things from him.”
Coach Harbaugh said Jabrill could see offense. Jabrill tells us today that he could play offense. Do you worry at all about spreading him too thin?
“There’s a lot of things Jabrill could do. And with a lot of our guys, too. Worry is not really something that enters our vocabulary.”
Do you have to be careful about how you use him?
“We’ve got a really good group of experienced coaches, and starting with the head coach who has great experience with using guys in multiple spots. Just look at his history, and I was with him at Stanford; the amount of guys that we used both ways and in different roles, I think that’s one of the best things he does. He doesn’t see things through a narrow tube and this is all this guy can do. He looks big picture and says, ‘Hey, how can these guys help us?’ So Jabrill won’t be alone in playing multiple spots. We have many, and I think we have a good formula and a way to do that.”
What are some of the things you’ve learned from some of those guys at Stanford like [Owen] Marecic? How do you manage that kind of a situation?
“You’ve got to be smart in how many snaps they’re playing and all that, but the main thing I learned was you can do it. It takes someone special [and] it’s not just for everyone, but it can be done and done well. He did it at a high level and he was amongst others that did it at a really high level, so that’s what I learned mostly. It can be done.”
One thing a lot of your former teammates from Bowling Green said is that you bring a certain intensity to what you do. As a coach, how do you implement that with this team or a new team in taking over?
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s anything you do in particular to implement it. I think it’s just you be yourself. When you’re a coach, be yourself and guys, they’ll follow your lead and kind of take on your personality. I think when you’re doing it the right way a team your team kind of takes on that personality, whatever it is, and so that’s the main thing. Don’t try to be someone else or something different, just try to be yourself. That’s the only thing I am. I think guys will tell you that, as you said. Your players go out there and I want them to be themselves too. Stamp their personality on it.”
How have they taken that? What are some of the things you’ve seen [with] that intensity level coming up?
“I think that’d probably be a good question to ask them, but I thought they were very responsive in spring. I thought we had a really good spring together. They were definitely wanting to do well and do what was asked of them. That’s all you can ask for as a coach- you’ve got a group of guys that want to do what you’re asking.”
How would you characterize who you were at Bowling Green as a player and how have you grown as a person?
“Yeah, I don’t know. Obviously you’re involved in the same sport so you can draw some parallels, but I think we’re all- when you talk about your years in college to 15 years later in your professional career there’s a lot of things you see very differently. But the main thing is being involved in this sport, again, I think the people that have success in it, whether you’re a player or a coach, you’ve got to be passionate about it and put everything forward in it and just be yourself.
“People that are phony or don’t have that passion for the game, this game sorts them out real fast because you think of all the preparation and work that goes into the short amount of games you play compared to other sports. Football’s one of those where you’ve got to love it because it’s a lot of work for a small number of games.”
One guy I wanted to ask about was Lawrence Marshall. What kind of ceiling do you think he might have as a pass rusher?
“Yeah, I don’t really like putting a ceiling on any player. I want them to grow as much as they can. Lawrence has all the ability in the world. He was probably one of our most improved guys coming through the spring. Hoping and expecting to see him come out there tomorrow and pick up where he left off [and] not start back over. And I know he’s had a great summer. Sky’s the limit for that guy. He’s got great ability.”
MGoQuestion:Talking to James Ross today, he said with the last staff he was just a SAM but this year he’s been used inside and outside. Do you have other linebackers you envision using inside and outside?
“Yeah, I really try and crosstrain all those guys. I really want out guys to learn football. I want them to learn the defense, and I think the best way to do that is put them out of their comfort zone. You can’t help- I don’t care how intelligent a player is, if he’s only playing one spot every snap he’s going to just learn that spot. He’s not really going to pay attention to the other things. So yeah, James is going to crosstrain and I do it with most of the linebackers. I think it helps them know what’s going on around them.”