[Barron/MGoBlog]
Your defensive line’s got some depth this season. Why is that depth going to be important for this team?
“I think depth’s really, really important with any defense nowadays with the way people like to run spread offenses and fast-paced offenses. A lot of them try to do that to try to negate a good defensive line. They try to tire them out, they try to get them running from sideline to sideline, and then they try to make them down to their level or average by being tired.
“Nowadays these D-linemen are bigger than they used to be and they’re carrying a lot of weight, so to have guys that rotate is really, really key for us. You saw that last year. We were a better defensive team when we had rotation, and when we got hit with some injuries it brought us down to not having the ability to rotate.”
Why do you see defensive linemen rotate and not offensive linemen?
“Well, offensive linemen don’t run to the football sideline to sideline. I mean, ours do. The good ones do, but there’s a lot of people that if you watch a defensive line, every play, whether it’s a pass all the way downfield or a sweep wide, you expect your defensive line to be running as hard and fast as they can to get there. Offensive guys are behind the ball sometimes so it doesn’t really matter to get down there that close.”
Have you found eight that have earned the right to be in that rotation at this point?
“Yeah, I think we have eight for sure, and there are more and more guys that are coming on. I would never rotate probably nine or 10 guys, but you always want the ability that if something does happen that another guy can come in and be one of those eight. That’s what we’re working for. Working for the ability to have a true rotation of guys.”
You really haven’t had a full, true eight guys here, have you?
“I think last year during the middle we were there. Then when Ryan got injured and Mario got injured, we bounced down under that.”
Who will you put out to start on Saturday?
“I really try to tell them that we have two starting lineups. You know, who goes out there for the very first play, we still have a couple days to decide that. Chris Wormley’s had a very, very good camp. Glasgow’s had a really good camp. Mone has really done well. Matt Godin’s doing very well. Taco. The whole group. I don’t want to single out one guy, because as we watch the film there’s an expectation, and to be in that first unit that takes the field very first of who’s in there the third or fourth play, they all have to do the same thing. I’ve been pleased with the effort and the work of all of them.”
[After THE JUMP: on communication during substitutions, working in Rashan Gary, and more Onwenu praise]
You know everyone’s going to be watching for Rashan to see what he does. Is it something where the first game you’ll try to bring him along slowly or is that not really--
“The first game’s the first game. That just means this one really, really counts. We try to make our practices look that way too. He’s done a very good job, as I said, as all of our guys have. Whatever unit is in there, you’re judged by a first-unit standard. Rashan has worked very, very hard and has done some very good things. Whenever the opportunity [arises], whenever we decide however our rotation is, I’m sure you’ll see him in there.”
Wormley got voted a captain. Can you talk about what you see in him that makes that a natural [fit]?
“How many guys do you ever have that stay their fifth year, he’s well over a three-point grade point average, his character’s impeccable, he gives you everything he has on the field. You’ve got a guy that’s 6’6, 300-some pounds and runs like a linebacker, and is very, very good with the younger kids. That’s what football does, to me, is when you have a young man like Chris Wormley and you have a guy like Dwumfour or Rashan Gary or Ron Johnson and he’s there to mentor them like he was mentored—I mean, I could talk for hours about Chris.
“He’s just one of those guys you love. That’s why you coach, really, is to get a chance to have a Chris Wormley. I could say the same thing about Ryan, Taco--that group of kids is a special group.”
You were here [and] you guys had the great 2011 season, then 2012 didn’t meet the same expectations. Is there something to take from that in this time?
“I always look at it as Michigan expectations. Maybe that group met Michigan expectation, but I think—and we talk about it a lot that if you’re a defensive lineman at the University of Michigan, average doesn’t work. And sometimes ‘good’ doesn’t work. You’ve got to play up to your ability. A lot of people, it doesn’t matter what they say, but a lot of people say this is a very talented group, okay? If that’s the case, we should see that every Saturday and we should see that in practice, which we have. Practice, you come out and you get better every day and you work up to what is expected of you, and that’s what this group has done this camp.”
What have you seen from Dwumfour and Johnson this camp?
“They’re talented. They’re talented young kids that you see—you know, one thing that separates young kids from veterans is consistency. You can go out there and you can make a play and you go, Boy, that was a really good play, and the next play you go, What was that? I think it’s putting good plays back to back to back. That’s what separates guys who are ready to play.
“That’s why we talk all the time about it in our practices that when we grade our practices--the defensive line grades every practice—and they get their grades, you look at them and you say, ‘Okay, these five plays were really good and then all of a sudden we had a couple that weren’t. You want to keep that consistency.’ That’s what happens with young kids.”
You had Michael Onwenu on your line for a little bit there during camp. What did you see out of him?
“Love the kid. I mean, he came over—Coach Harbaugh does a tremendous job of trying to make sure that guys get the opportunity to play wherever it is, offense or defense, and at that point we wanted to look at him on defense. He came over and studied the playbook, studied what he was supposed to do, stayed after, and did some really good things. Then they needed him on offense. He went over to offense and if you ask Ryan Glasgow, he said, ‘Yeah, he’s one of the toughest guys I go against.’ I’ve been very pleased with him. He’s going to be a very good football player, I think.”
Obviously you’ve talked about Don Brown before but now you’ve been through the spring, you’ve been through fall camp. What’s the mesh like there?
“Great. Don’s a great coach. The thing [is], players and guys you work with, all you look for is are they giving everything they have and is it for the kids and is it for the program, and he’s that all the way. There’s not a day that he doesn’t come out trying to make this team better with unbelievable enthusiasm and fire and these kids love that. It’s been great. It’s been a great transition and I really enjoy working with him.”
With Chris, he’s obviously a guy who can play inside and outside. Do you know how much you want him doing each?
“It all depends. It all depends what our needs are. Again, it’s about having guys fresh or guys that you say, ‘Okay, you go in this game. Now I need five of the best plays you could ever play and then we’ll give you a rest.’ If, for some reason, you get depleted inside where you don’t have that, that’s the bonus you have. Chris can always move in there and give you just that. So, to have a guy that’s played inside as much as he’s played outside is a real bonus. You kind of add another guy, rather than saying if these guys all went down or couldn’t go anymore or something happened, who’s the next guy? Well, you always have Chris, and now you’ve just put a really, really good one in there.
“The good thing about having a veteran group of guys is they all could play every position. I could take our inside guys and put them outside and I wouldn’t worry as far as them knowing the defenses and knowing what to do, and that’s the experience they have and that’s a real credit to them. Sometimes defensive linemen just learn their position and that’s all they ever learn, and that hurts them down the road when things happen. This group has really studied it.”
Is this the type of group you were building toward when you came back the first time, five or six years ago or whatever it was?
“You always want to build your fronts, offense and defense. You really want to be really strong there on any team, and you know when you’re getting ready with your team, you know four guys is not going to make it in this league. It’s not. You’ve got to have depth. You’ve got to have guys that can rotate. Our kids have worked extremely hard to get them in a position to be able to do that right now.”
About the process: you’ve got guys coming from different spots. You’ve got Ryan Glasgow, who was a walk-on. You’ve got Wormley; Taco was highly recruited. You’ve got guys from all over the place. Talk about the process of getting to this point now, where you’re deeper.
“I think one of the real things there is when you have a number of talented young men, the first thing people will say is, ‘Well, I don’t get enough playing time.’ There’s a real trust in our room that you’re the first starter and you’re the second starter, and you’re going to play as long as you earn it in practice and you earn it on the field. There can’t be any of a thing where [it’s like], ‘Hey Mom, I’m rotating. Get ready to watch me’ and you go out there and you don’t run hard to the football?
“I mean…the thing we talk about is, okay, I’m going to ask you to play three plays. You’re telling me you cannot go harder than you’ve ever gone for three plays? And they’re all in that. They’re all in that. They look at each other watching the film and [say], ‘What are you saving it for? Go.’ They don’t have to talk about it anymore. It’s just expected.”
We haven’t heard much about Lawrence Marshall. Can you talk about him?
“Yeah, Lawrence Marshall’s in that mix. Lawrence Marshall’s doing a really good job. I mean, he’s been here three years now and I’ve seen him get better and better. Lawrence Marshall’s right with that group.”
Going back to building that depth, from a historic perspective, is that something you’ve seen happen recently where more teams are trying to do that, to build the depth, or is that something that’s been around a while?
“Again, it kind of goes with the philosophy of offenses nowadays where they’re going to try to wear out your defensive line and then make you very average with what you’re going against. If you have competent, fresh legs going in there when they think you’re wore out and all of a sudden you’re getting hit with a guy that might be just as good as the guy he just finished with, you’ve got a real advantage.”
Did you recruit Ben Gedeon?
“Yeah.”
How much have you seen him stretch outside his comfort zone in calling the shots and running the defense?
“Ben Gedeon is a heck of a linebacker, and I would have said that same thing two years ago, three years ago. Ben Gedeon probably could have started for almost any team the last three years. It’s his time now. He’s—I mean, he did the same thing when he was backing up Joe [Bolden] and Des [Morgan]. He was this far from ever getting in there. [hold fingers ever so slightly apart.] It’s one small injury, one small [thing] and he’s there and you don’t even miss it. Ben is really—[he] really likes this role and really has taken it. It’s just like, okay Ben, you know you’re going to do it, and he did it. You’re going to see great things out of Ben.”
When you have guys moving around to different positions series to series and maybe even play to play, is there any challenge on the field with getting guys to arrange themselves like, ‘You’re playing nose this series’ or for someone to take the lead?
“That’s a great question, and that’s what some people worry about doing that but these guys have heard it said to them, ‘Guys, you like doing this, right?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘And you see the advantage, right?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Then don’t screw it up by not communicating with your buddy.’ So, that room, that defensive line room takes care of each other in ways that maybe a lot of people don’t, where if Ryan Glasgow’s running in the game and Matt Godin’s next to him he’s going to say to him ‘I’m the nose, you’re the three.’
“And even play to play, when a defense is called they’re going to talk to each other and say, ‘You’re doing this, I’m doing that’ where a lot of teams don’t do that. It’s because they want each of them to be successful in that play, and when you have that then you get guys playing like you want them to.”