[Fuller]
How do you feel about your unit here going into the first game?
“You know, the thing that’s unique about the kicking game is the first time you really test it is the game, and we don’t have preseason games in college. So, I feel great about the practices we’ve had so far. We get 29 of them. We’ve had whatever, however many we’ve been allotted. The head coach has given us incredible meeting time, practice time, and availability and so to this point I like the focus of our players and what we’ve done and look forward to the contest, but you get to see what you’ve got when you play. It’s very hard to simulate a kickoff or a punt in practice and the intensity of the game.”
Who’s leading at the kicker spot?
“Well, you know, we’ve got three. This competition is going to go all the way up until pregame. And there’s really no need to pick one at this point because there’s none of them that have been in a game. Coach Harbaugh really believes in competitive excellence at every position, and those guys are duking it out. They’ve been taking- they took equal turns today in team. Each of them got four kicks. They’ve taken equal turns pretty much through camp.”
Who are the guys working there?
“Kyle Seychel and Kenny Allen and Andrew David- you know, the new guy, the freshman. They’ve done a nice job. Once again, we get the opportunity to practice 29 times so we’re going to take that opportunity. There’s not an established starter or whatever there, so…”
What about at punter?
“Well, at punter, Kenny Allen and Blake O’Neill are both punting. They will both punt, okay? They will both punt for Michigan this year. Blake has some skills Kenny doesn’t have, [and] Kenny has some skills Blake doesn’t have. And we’re a pro-style team on offense, defense, and kicking game, and Blake came here to want to be a pro in one year, and Kenny has really embraced being accurate. So here’s the thing: they’re both good. Kenny’s improved a lot. Blake adds some nice depth there, and they’ll both play. Don’t know how often you see a two-punter system, but we got one.”
[After THE JUMP: Kick and punt returners, and a personal connection]
It was said earlier this week that the kicking battles were some of the most intense. Have you been involved in a kicker/punter battle that’s been this intense?
“I’ve been involved…you know, over my years, give or take if you check my resume for accuracy, I’ve been involved in the kicking game since ‘86 and I’ve been part of- there’s always a time where senior goes out and another one comes in, but usually in a continuum of a program you’re redshirting a guy, grooming him, bringing him in, bringing him on. There was one when I first went to USC between Joe Houston and Jake Harfman because same situation; two seniors left, I was new, and they both ended up kicking during the season, so this is equally intense as any I’ve been a part of.
“The really thing that I’m proud of our players about is they’ve embraced the competitiveness of it and they’ve supported each other, because they know it’s not Andrew against Kenny, Kenny against Kyle, Kyle against Kenny, Kyle against Andrew; it’s them against the poles, you know what I mean? It’s really been healthy, healthy competition.”
To flip it around, as a special teams coordinator preparing for the other side, Utah with Phillips and Hackett is one of the best punter/kicker duos in the country. Have-
“They’re really good.”
Have you put a lot of thought or talked about how your guys are going to approach those two?
“Um, if sleepless nights counts as a lot of thought I have. I might say this- I don’t want to be that guy who doesn’t answer your question so I’ll answer it, but I’ll say this to you guys: you know, this football program at Utah I have unbelievable respect for. My father-in-law was the head coach there for double-digit years. Transformed that program from a team that had been to only a couple of bowl games to a team that went every year, a team that had a winning record against BYU.
“I played against them- I got married in that town, okay? There’s coaches on that staff, including the head coach, that were at my wedding. I’ve played against them when they were in the WAC and I was at Fresno State. I played against them in the Vegas Bowl when they were in the Mountain West and we were in the WAC. Played against them at USC when they first came to the Pac-12, so the growth of that program since 1997-98 has been spectacular. And really, Ron McBridge and Kyle Whittingham have, other than the two years Urban Meyer was there, have dominated a quarter century. I mean, they’ve shown great stability.
“In as much as- to get back to your question- they have a great kicker/punter tandem, and if you look at their punt return stats they’re really good in the return game. That program has shown amazing consistency, and Kyle Whittingham has been there as an assistant coach, too, through all this, and one of their formulas for winning is great defense and great kicking game.
“And I’ll tell you what, they put it on film. You look at the games last year [and] they swept California. They beat Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Fresno State, and they did it with defense and kicking game. If you’re not careful they can put you on a long field and it’s hard to dig out of that hole.”
You have a guy who can tilt the tables in Jabrill Peppers. Can you give us an update on what you’ve seen from him and what you think his role will be?
“Sure. Jabrill, as we all know, is a very talented football player. I always say talent is the raw material and technique is the finished product. Jabrill is one of those guys not only is he talented but he works really hard. He works really hard to be good, to do the little things well. He’s a return guy that you’ll see in the game, but you’ll also see Jourdan Lewis, you’ll see Dymonte Thomas, and you’ll see…uh…”
Keith Washington?
“Not yet. Not yet. One day. Jehu Chesson. And, you know, we are a work in progress right now, okay? We’ve really worked hard with this football team. I mean, coach Harbaugh’s done unbelievable work with this team to have them be a team and really play hard, but we find out who we are when we play Thursday, because you find out…like I always say, adversity introduces a man to himself. We will incur some and we will find out who we are and what we are as a team then. But, speaking to being a work in progress, you’re going to see a lot of guys going in and out of these games because we’re trying to figure this team out.”
Has there been more of a let’s-make-these-guys-into-a-team focus this camp than you’d see in a normal camp?
“You know, in my time working at USC with Lane Kiffin, who was a student-coach for me at Fresno State and then my time at Fresno State that’s really what the focus has been. That’s really what was exciting about coming to work for Jim Harbaugh is that’s what he’s good at is making guys tough and making guys a team, and that goes for players and coaches. You’ve got to come every day to compete here, and that’s of course been a focus, which I think it should be on anybody that’s going to be good.
“But like I said, this team’s a work in progress. This isn’t one of those ones where we could roll out a two-deep and you guys could probably count on it. You might even see some strange personnel moves because we’re just trying to find out who’s what, you know?”
Do you have a guy feeling? Going on the road and opening on the road is tough for any player but especially kickers. Do you have a guy feeling who might handle that kind of situation, that kind of environment, better?
“I do, but it’s going to stay in my gut. And it might stay in my guy until pregame, and it’s in coach Harbaugh’s gut too, and that’s really not that coachspeak/avoid the question thing. It really is what the challenge is to this football team is we’re going to compete right up to the time, and you might see a couple players kick in this game.”
The kicker who’s in your gut, what has he shown you in practice that makes you think he can handle that?
“He makes ‘em. And, you know, we put pressure on him and we’ve got a couple guys who can. It’s…but there’s more info to go. We chart every single thing we do every day, and all those charts do is show you trends and then you look at the film, but this is college football, not pro football. See, in pro football if a guy’s underperforming you cut him and you bring in a free agent. We have to coach these guys, support these guys, and help them be better and develop depth within our team, so everybody’s got to feel like they’ve got a chance at it, which they do.”
You mentioned Blake and Kenny both have strengths. Can you talk about what their strengths are?
“Well, you know, Blake grew up in Australia, okay? And he can hit all four panels on the ball. He can bend it right to left, left to right, you know, he can back ‘em up, release ‘em forwards. Kenny’s an American-style punter who drops it and hits a spiral, and Kenny’s gotten more accurate and Blake has really developed a good spiral. So it’s been really cool to watch these two teach each other that grew up thousands of miles apart, like, some skills.”
Talk about the returners. Can you specify who’s at punt and who’s at kick?
“Uh, like I said, there’s going to be- you’re going to see Chesson, you’re going to see Peppers, you’re going to see-“
Are some punt returners and some kick returners or are they all both?
“They’re all both, but you’ll see Chesson, you’ll see Peppers, you’ll see Thomas, you’ll see Lewis, for sure.”
With all the connections to Utah you have, does this game have a little extra significance for you?
“Oh, I can tell you it has unbelievable significance to me. It’s sort of like- one, I don’t like playing against my friends but hey, coach Harbaugh and his brother coached against each other in the Super Bowl together. It’s like pickup basketball. If we’re going to go out and play pickup basketball, I’m going to try to win. If we’re going to play beanbags, I’m going to try to win but, like I said, I have seen this program grow and watched it myself from the inside, okay? Like I said, it’s a place I have unbelievably fond memories for. I hold the head coach in the highest of esteem. That guy’s a great defensive coach, great special teams coach, and been there 10 years. Done a good job taking that team to the Pac-10 but let me tell you something: this is the opener for Michigan, and it couldn’t be any bigger. They have an unbelievably great environment for games, and it’ll be fun to go turn the heat up on our guys and see what we got.”