[Barron]
I was trying out a few pieces of transcription software and though they didn’t speed up my process it felt like a waste for me to not just finish transcribing and post this for your consumption. This scrum took place during Saturday’s Ann Arbor Aerial Assault camp and exists thanks to Maize & Blue News uploading video of it.
You don't have all the NFL guys [this year]. I mean, you still have goals to get out of this camp? It seems like there's a large interest still and everything.
“Yes, yes. We use a lot of our own players and coaches other college coaches. Just-- there was changing in rules and IAWP status and some NFL players have siblings or they coach at high school so you don't want to go on that road at all. I think it's better at getting all the-- getting other coaches and so it's been good. It's been a good camp.”
The players are pretty involved. It seems like they are eager to teach--
You guys are done with camps, you've been back around the guys a couple of days here, spent more time with them than you had been in May. Of course, you were gone.
“Yeah. Less camps; we've been around here more. Been here since the beginning of June.”
There's a lot out true freshmen that are hanging out here. Have you gotten to kind of get to know those guys in a way that you hadn't before?
“Yeah, we're starting to, we're starting to. We've really had an emphasis to improve the commitment and the accountability and so far that's been been working nicely.”
What are these young guys who weren't here in the spring have to kind of--what can they gain here in the next couple of months?
“You can gain a lot by watching. Can observe a lot by just watching, and they're slowly working into the workouts. They're voluntary workouts right now so they don't become full-time until we start classes and orientation June 24th.”
What date are you starting camp?
“July 31st.”
[Read the last answer after THE JUMP and tell me that’s not a lesson learned from experience]
Is Jim Minick still working here?
“You always ask me questions you already know the answer to.”
Well--
“Well, you know the answer.”
Okay, well--
“No, he's not.”
What's he doing now?
“He is going to take a job in the military.”
What he did for you guys over the years-- I mean obviously you've known him forever. Are there are a lot of things you can appreciate he kind of keep together the last couple of years?
“No doubt, he was great. When we were first building this foundation he did a tremendous job. Did a lot of of jobs. Did them very well and has put us in a very good position going forward.”
You said July 31st; do you expect Grant Newsome to be dressed and ready to practice at that point or what's he been able to do?
“I do not expect Grant to be ready to go on July 31st. I suspect this year will be a redshirt year for grant and he'll be a student student-coach and rehabbing his leg. It's going well, so Grant will be a great influence on the team.”
There is still hope that he'll be able to make a comeback to football, though?
“Oh yes, oh yes. Yes.”
You mentioned it at one of the shows that you're going to have the team vote on next year's designation or get their input. Is that going to be something for the fall or is that--?
“We took a straw poll.”
Where?
“Yeah, right now we're looking into going to Paris and then Normandy and then London to finish up.”
A three-way trip?
“Yeah, Rome was great. Rome is great. There was so much to see one of the things that we thought about after the trip was to go to multiple places, not just stay in one place. There was so much to see in Rome, it was unbelievable, like there is in Paris. But we're there to see Paris, Normandy and London is the way we're striving for.”
Will it be a three-practice type week and still deal with it over just the one week span?
“Haven't decided yet. I would like to practice in Paris in and in London, in those two places. Split up the practices this time.”
There's a report out that Biff Poggi may be going back to the high school level. Has he left yet? What's the update on that?
“Yes, he has left here.”
What kind of loss is that for you? I know he was kind of your right-hand man in a way.
“Well, we have a lot--everybody, everybody's important. It's a team effort: everybody does a little and it adds up to a lot. Everybody in the organization's important.”
Jim, you said a couple weeks ago that Grant Perry was back with you guys. Originally you said that his suspension would go until the case was done. Was there something that changed? Just wanted to get clarification. Was there something that changed that led you to put him back on the team or back with you guys, whatever it was?
“He won't represent the team on the field in games until the case is finalized, until there's closure. He's always had the opportunity to get treatment; he's always had the opportunity to get academic support; he's always had the opportunity to be in the university. He's still a functioning member of the university and the the latest step was to allow him to train and work out with the team because...to have an opportunity if it comes this season; that seemed fair so that was the decision that was made.”
It's not your first trip to D.C. but how enjoyable was that on Wednesday? Looks like you saw President Obama as well.
“Yeah, it was incredible. Had 39 wonderful minutes with President Obama. Saw Mrs. Obama as well. He was great. He was really relaxed. Working on a lot of things: book and several things that he shared. Shared a lot of insights. Great learning experience for myself, Jay, John Levi. Talked about Legal Services Corporation then went to the ball game, went to a Nationals game.
“Got to see Joe Kennedy again, good to see him again and then the next morning to be walking the halls of congress was amazing. Got a tour of the congressional offices and inner workings. Never done that before, that was outstanding. I thought our meeting, our hearing, was very productive good. And then to top it all off, got to meet Senator Bob Dole. Ninety-three years old, working every day. Great American. Just a short trip. We were back in less than twenty-four hours, but a really wonderful trip.
“Debbie Dingell as well. Always drop in and see Debbie while we're there. She was great. Saw her staff. It was a very productive trip.”
Could Michelle or her husband be an honorary captain here?
“Yeah, we're making those asks. Making those asks. Official asks. There's been, 'Hey, we'd like you to do it' and now official asks.”
His schedule is open. He has the flexibility to do that, right? He doesn't have an official capacity at this point.
[long pause]
President Obama...
“We're going to ask. He's still, I'm sure, a busy man.”
I have a question about the camp. Pep Hamilton's come in. What kind of wrinkles or add-ins has he made to the camp this year as the new passing game coordinator. Has he done anything?
“Yeah. We're not doing the baseball. We're not doing the baseball. That'll be really one of the changes but it's been--the attention to detail is so, so high with Pep Hamilton. The structure, the energy is at the highest level so we're always learning things as coaches. We've been together for this whole last six months. Technician and that's what he brings, detail, and it's in a motivating way, it's in a demanding way. He really gets a lot out of us coaches and players.”
So there's no baseball. There's no bouncing castle this year, either. Remember last year?
“No, I don't remember the bouncing castle. No, that was the barbecue at the Big House.”
No, there was a bouncing castle here last year.
“Here?”
It was in Oosterbaan last year.
“Hmm.”
Are the kids taking the Wonderlic again this year?
“Yeah, right now.”
Why offer that?
“It's important. It's important when you play quarterback to be book smart and street smart, both those things. So, that's the testing level of being book smart.”
Were you more book smart or street smart?
“Uh, I was...well, I can tell you this: after after long division, I lost my excellence in math but I was strong on the other subjects. Wasn't able to get an A or a B in any of the legitimate math courses, the calculuses and things like that. Worked very hard to get my C+. But, uh, the other subjects were more of a strength.”
Do you have a new associate athletic director for football?
“We're going to keep the staff that we have to replace those duties.”
Here's the bouncing castle from last year.
“I stand corrected.”
I thought it was great. I wanted to run through it.
“What did we use it for?”
It was some kind of obstacle course.
“Was it?”
That was our office.
“I stand corrected.”
What has Scott Turner brought? We got to see him out on the field a little bit coaching and I'm sure he's enjoying that but what has he brought?
‘Another expert on the coaching staff. Very good with play design, technique, all facets of quarterback play and receiver play and receiver play. so it's been great. It makes us better coaches. NFL-kind of thinking especially on third down. He's really--all strong areas but I think he's really strong in the third-down area and that'll help us as well. It makes makes a team stronger.”
The freshmen are all supposed to report at the end of next week, right?
“Yeah, yes.”
Do you expect all that have signed to be here--
“On the 24th? Yeah.”
--next weekend?
“I do.”
No issues with anyone?
“Not that I'm aware of. All have graduated, matriculated and will start summer session and orientation on the twenty fourth. God willing and the creek don't rise, they will all be here on the twenty fourth, and some of them are already here. There's a few of here that were allowed to come and work on a voluntary basis. Gym is open to them. We're allowed to help them find a job. Couple of them are working.”
You're doing that again this year, having a lot of the guys get jobs, or is it because it's compressed without May, is it a little different?
“We're helping. Not all want 'em. Those that ask and those that we feel good about too, that we feel good about recommending for a job, that we know they're going to show up on time and be there every day and actually do the work, then we recommend those youngsters.”
Aubrey [Solomon] knows it's going to get a lot colder, right? He's in a big sweatsuit over there.
“I'm sure he's aware.”
It's eighty-five degrees out there.
“I'm sure he's aware of that. Great to see him walking the halls here. Great to see him on our side.”
As far as guys working the camp, not as many, no pro guys, high school coaches and trainers are kind of being X'd out. Do you think that's something that you guys as coaches are going to be able to get changed in the future?
“We believe that that pendulum could swing back, as oftentimes things do that are rules. Used to be able to text, then you couldn't text, now you can text again. Sometimes the pendulum swings back and forth, but yes, for this camp we didn't use any high school coaches, employ them. If we were to employ a high school coach that would mean anybody that they might have coached before that's already here would be ineligible and anybody that we would potentially recruit from their high school that's a sophomore or that's a junior or senior, we couldn't recruit him or they would be ineligible by the time we got them. That's the landscape right now. Even with the pro guys, pro players, you have to do a complete background search on who do they know that is already on our team or that we could be recruiting so we just stayed away. Just college coaches and our players.”
What's your feeling on that rule? Do you think it goes too far?
[Chortles] “Yeah, yeah. I think it's silly and ridiculous. It's been that way for fifty years that high school coaches can work camps and coaches can go work at camps at high schools. It's always been there way so this is a drastic change.”
Is there a mechanism by which you can submit suggestions or anything like that how they could change it to work better?
“Yeah, we suggest that they change it back the other way. Sometimes the pendulum just has to swing and you see where the--you know, sometimes it swings that way and sometimes it swings back the other way. Hopefully common sense brings it back to what it was. I don't know what else to say about that.”
The way you run this camp you do other different drills: you had soccer. Why incorporate that into a camp like this what do you want to get out of it?
“Just to look at athletic instincts. Even if somebody's not a trained soccer player they they would still be able to, if they are very good athlete with good athletic instincts like you would want your quarterback to have, then you would see those athletic instincts show up in other sports.”
Is that something you want to see from any the camps you hold?
“Just the ones we run here, yeah. Just with the quarterbacks, really. That's really about the only time we do that.”
You're not going to come up with any other things this afternoon or next week for the big men? Don't have any special drills for them set up?
“No, no. Concentrate on offensive lineman technique and defensive line technique. Plus you can't just throw over and over and over for eight hours straight. I don't know if you've ever thrown for eight hours straight, but it's not healthy and productive.”