Opening Statement<\/p>\n
I can tell you this. Today I thought was a great day. We\u2019re heading in the right direction. Love just the way Coach Whitt does things, the discipline, the toughness, just everything about his programs. It\u2019s fun to be back around. So good start.<\/p>\n
On what appealed him to the Michigan job<\/p>\n
Well, the Michigan brand, the Michigan name, being able to recruit in that logo was a big deal to me. They just won a national championship a couple years ago with one of the best teams in the history of college football. So, just the ability to do that, I thought, was appealing. To do it on the Big Ten stage was appealing. And to do it with the players that I knew were coming back to this place. So there were a lot of reasons, you know, Coach Whitt. Anyway, there was a lot of good about it.<\/p>\n
On his impressions of the defense<\/p>\n
Well, I\u2019ve been super impressed with our ones so far. I think we have a really good defensive line. I like the secondary, especially when we get everybody healthy. The linebackers are really, really taking a step forward, because we lose a lot of key guys in that position. So I think they\u2019ve done a good job of stepping forward. So bottom line, I like the personnel a lot. I think we\u2019re heading in the right direction. I\u2019ll be able to tell you a lot more about that here in a couple weeks.<\/p>\n
On marrying a complicated scheme and simplifying it for players<\/p>\n
So the better we own it, the more we can do. It\u2019s always a fine line of, I mean, you can outsmart yourself, so we\u2019ve got to be careful with that as coaches. But I don\u2019t want to be so simple that the quarterbacks, you know, they\u2019re getting ready to take the snap and they know exactly what we\u2019re in. So we\u2019re going to change up the fronts. We\u2019re going to change up the coverages. We\u2019re going to change up the pressure looks that we\u2019re giving them. The better we own it, the more we can do. I think that\u2019s the best way to answer it.<\/p>\n
On what he wants the defense to look like<\/p>\n
So I had a press conference type thing we did a couple weeks ago, and I compared it a lot to the 2023 defense that was here at Michigan. The reason I was familiar with that one is we had a common opponent in 2024 that Michigan had played, or the offensive coordinator. And so I was studying film on this offensive coordinator. Well, sure enough, they had played Michigan in 23. And I\u2019m watching them. I\u2019m like, oh, my gosh, that defense looks just like us.<\/p>\n
So I spent the next couple of weeks studying the Michigan film. I think that\u2019s a really good idea of what it looks like. But we want to be multiple in the fronts, three down and four down. We want to be multiple with our coverages, and we want to be multiple with our blitz packages, man pressure, zone pressures, two high pressures, three high pressures. And like I say, the better we own it, the more we can do. It\u2019s not a grab bag. We\u2019re not just grabbing stuff out of a bag, but it\u2019s intentional, and we\u2019re calling things for a specific purpose. And done correctly, I think we can have a ton of success here with the caliber of players we have.<\/p>\n
On the roots of his defensive scheme<\/p>\n
So this is the crazy thing. I actually played in this defense. This is way back in the late 90s when I got recruited to the University of Utah. Coach Whittingham and his dad were both coaches at the University of Utah, and it\u2019s something that they had developed back when Coach Whitt\u2019s dad was an NFL defensive coordinator. And I\u2019m one of the very few people that\u2019s actually seen Coach Whittingham and how he called it. And I can tell you this, he was the best defensive coordinator or the best defensive mind I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n
So we haven\u2019t tried to change it too much. Now, there are always tweaks and things that we\u2019re doing as college football evolves. I think we\u2019ve evolved some things, but the roots and the bare bones of the defense go all the way back to those guys.<\/p>\n
On his impressions of the linebackers<\/p>\n
Yeah, they\u2019re young. They haven\u2019t played a lot, but I see a lot of talent. Troy Bowles has stood out as someone that\u2019s doing some good things. Nate Owusu-Boateng has done some great things. Chase Taylor. Bottom line, the group is going to continue to get better and better. There\u2019s guys behind them pushing hard right now. So I like where they\u2019re going to be. I see potential, and I see a lot of talent in that group. We\u2019ve just got to get some experience. But the best part about spring ball and fall camp is we have 40 practices or so to get those guys ready.<\/p>\n
On the defensive line he\u2019s able to ID as potential contributors<\/p>\n
So, Jonah, we brought him from the University of Utah. He\u2019s got a ton of ability, super athletic. I love Cam Brandt, who you guys have seen play here. Dom Nichols has played a bunch here. John Henry, that you guys don\u2019t know much of, was a first-team All-American last year. We add him to the mix. The defensive line should definitely be one of our strong suits, one of our strong points for the year. And I expect those guys to play great.<\/p>\n
On whether Smith Snowden will be nickel corner<\/p>\n
Well, time will tell because I like Zeke Berry at nickel. I like Smith Snowden at nickel. Both of those guys have had experience in there. We\u2019ll put those guys in the best position to be successful and try to find the matchup that we can get the best three or four corners on the field, depending on what the matchups are on the opponent that we\u2019re playing. But, yeah, I see Smith playing some nickel and I see Zeke playing some nickel right now.<\/p>\n
On the winning now trend versus building a culture<\/p>\n
Well, I think it\u2019s both. I mean, you\u2019re building a culture. You\u2019re building an identity that we want to have. I\u2019m not saying that anything really had to be fixed, but we\u2019re building our own identity. So is it a rebuild in that? Yes. Do we expect to be good in year one? Absolutely. Do we expect to be competing for championships, all that? That\u2019s why we came here. So I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair for anyone to say they\u2019re in a rebuild. In college football, no one puts up with that in today\u2019s world. But there are definitely things that we\u2019re building.<\/p>\n
On how much he\u2019s looked at Jesse Minter\u2019s defenses<\/p>\n
Like I say, that\u2019s probably the year I\u2019ve seen the most of that. And last year\u2019s 2025 team, just trying to understand what the personnel was coming back. But I would say we resemble a lot more of that 23 team. We do run simulated pressures. We run all-out pressures. We run two high pressures.<\/p>\n
We run one high pressures, man pressures. So you\u2019re going to see it coming from different directions. I just don\u2019t want quarterbacks to ever just sit back and know exactly what\u2019s coming. So we\u2019re going to give them a bunch of looks.<\/p>\n
On the adjustment of facing Big Ten offenses compared to those he saw at BYU<\/p>\n
Well, I mean, definitely offensive coordinators are different. The style of play could be different. But even in the Big Ten, you\u2019ve got teams that will pack in and try to pound you. You\u2019ve got teams that will spread you out and try to chuck it. You\u2019ve got teams that will spread you out and try to run it. We saw the same thing in the Big 12, where the Big 12 has a bunch of high-powered get-after-you offenses.<\/p>\n
I know the Big Ten\u2019s the same way. I\u2019m excited about getting to know this league. I\u2019ve had so much respect for it over my career. And just having played against Michigan a couple times, having played against other Big Ten teams, we\u2019ve got tons of respect for what these coaches do in this league and how well coached they are.<\/p>\n
On the biggest differences recruiting at Michigan vs. BYU<\/p>\n
Well, I mean, ultimately, you pick a target on a guy that you want, and you go after him, and you do everything you can to get those guys. So nothing really changes between BYU and Michigan. That\u2019s the same. I will say from coast to coast in the nation, I would say more people know about the Michigan brand, what Michigan represents, the national championships they\u2019ve won here, the Big Ten championships. So it\u2019s more of a national, well-known brand. But at BYU, it was still a national brand. We were recruiting high-level, five-star guys there, too. So recruiting is recruiting. It\u2019s a battle. It\u2019s about relationships, and it\u2019s about getting the right players in the right positions.<\/p>\n
On how to describe his coaching style<\/p>\n
Well, we are. I mean, coaching\u2019s about relationships and getting players to trust you, and then I\u2019ve got to be able to trust them. Trust goes both ways, right? And so I\u2019m putting my arm around these guys and saying, hey, I want you to do this to see if they\u2019ll really do it. And then there\u2019s times out on the field where, like today, it happened where I yelled at the free safety and I said, hey, I want you to cheat this way. He cheats this way and gets an interception.<\/p>\n
And I need those players to be able to trust what I see, and it\u2019s through those interactions and those opportunities that you actually gain the trust of those players. I was once a player a long time ago, but I understand how important that relationship was with my coaches and with Coach Whittingham, who was the defensive coordinator at that time. Those relationships last a lifetime, and I\u2019m trying to build those with these young men. That\u2019s my philosophy. I\u2019ll treat these guys like they\u2019re my own sons, and I\u2019ll push them, but I\u2019ll be the first one to kick them in the butt, and I\u2019ll be the first one there to give them knuckles when they do the right things.<\/p>\n
On where he wants to be with the depth chart and personnel at the end of spring<\/p>\n
Okay, ideally a really good three deep, but you have to be great in your two deep in the Big Ten. There\u2019s going to be injuries that occur. There\u2019s going to be guys that have to go in the game. You have to rely on backups the way college football is, so that\u2019s the first and foremost. We\u2019ve got to develop depth, and then we\u2019ve got to own this defense. We\u2019ve got to know the scheme inside and out.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve got to know what I\u2019m saying. Like today, what I told you, if I\u2019m bumping the free safety to the boundary, they\u2019ve got to know why, and that comes with time. That comes with trust, but I would say that just ownership of the scheme and what we\u2019re trying to get accomplished, and then building a great three deep is a big deal to me.<\/p>\n
On Taylor Tatum working with the safeties<\/p>\n
He is. Yep, he is, and he\u2019s been running with the safety group right now. There\u2019s a lot of ability there. It is a position change for him, so he\u2019s doing that fight right now on trying to transition from running back to a safety.<\/p>\n
On what allows his defenses to create so many takeaways<\/p>\n
Well, so we\u2019ve had as many interceptions as any team in the country for the last two years combined. I think a lot of that goes with how we disguise. A lot of it goes with the multiplicity of what we\u2019re doing to quarterbacks and just never really letting them just set their feet and feel comfortable. I think that\u2019s a lot of it. Yeah, we try to be super physical, and it\u2019s something that we stress. We practice turnovers.<\/p>\n
We fight like crazy to be good at getting turnovers in the last couple of years we have. And it\u2019s something that Coach Kalani stressed at BYU, that he and I were super familiar with one another. We were both together on Coach Whittingham\u2019s staff at Utah. This system has been in place for a long time. It works. It\u2019s time-tested, and we believe emphatically that it\u2019s the best system in the country.<\/p>\n
On having BYU\u2019s leading tackler being a second-year linebacker<\/p>\n
Well, that\u2019s a big deal because we\u2019re not necessarily going to have that this year in Michigan. We need some backers to step up and to be experienced in the defense even though it\u2019s going to be their first year starting in it. But I would say this. In general, I think linebackers just get better and better and better the more they play. And you\u2019ll see the same thing with our guys, and that\u2019s what happened at BYU is our guys, the first year they were good, the next year they were better, and then last year Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glask were two of the best in the country. So you\u2019ll see the same progression in the guys here.<\/p>\n
On what makes John Henry Daley a good player<\/p>\n
Well, so some guys just have that it factor on how to get home, how to get after the quarterback. He\u2019s got the it factor. Sometimes you don\u2019t even know why he\u2019s getting after the quarterback, but he is. I mean, he\u2019ll make a move that somebody else will do the same thing. He gets home, the other guys don\u2019t. He\u2019s just got that true knack to get home.<\/p>\n
He is tenacious. He\u2019s got as good a motor as anyone out there. He plays very physical. That\u2019s part of the reason why he\u2019s really good is because he can bull rush you. He can beat you with speed. What that injury looks like, time will tell. I do know this, he\u2019s progressed very well to this point and is just getting better and better. So we expect him to be with us.<\/p>\n
On why he\u2019s found multiple fronts being successful<\/p>\n
Well, so everything we do is sound. We\u2019re not guessing. I\u2019m not just throwing, hey, this front looks like something cool that we drew up on a napkin. We\u2019re not doing that stuff. This stuff is sound. It\u2019s balanced as far as we\u2019re not putting six guys to the field and one to the boundary and just hoping it hits.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not doing that stuff. It\u2019s sound. It\u2019s evenly spaced, but it\u2019s coming from different directions. And it\u2019s tough to pick up. One of the blessings I had when I was assistant coach, I got to coach six years on offense, and I got to know how we protected things, and I got to know how we tried to beat certain coverages or certain defenses. I know how we slid protections to pick up blitzes. Well, now I can take the flip of that and just try to beat the offensive mind on the other side of the ball. That has been a huge thing in my career is just knowing the offensive side of the ball and trying to create havoc.<\/p>\n
On the importance of having a good offensive scheme to help the defense<\/p>\n
Well, I\u2019m lucky. I get to coach with the best offensive coordinator in the country right now. Jason Beck does phenomenal things. His offenses are explosive. They take care of the ball. They\u2019re physical. And Jim Harding does an amazing job with the offensive line. So when you face this offense, you\u2019ve got to be ready to dig in and be physical, and then you\u2019ve got to handle all the zigging and zagging emotions and stuff that\u2019s going on because they really test your eye discipline, which is something that correlates in the season when you\u2019re playing other teams. And then, you know, they\u2019re going to test you low. They\u2019re going to test you high. They\u2019re going to test you in the run game. So it is a true test every day when we step out against those guys.<\/p>\n
On how much the staff thinks about the whole operation when discussing scheme<\/p>\n
Okay, so Coach Witt has a program where we work together well. And so Jason and I plan practices. We\u2019ve got to be ready to stop tempo. They run tempo. We\u2019ve got to be ready to stop the kind of offenses they run. It\u2019s great work for us, and we get it from all different directions from this offense.<\/p>\n
Like I say, they\u2019ll pack it in and pound you, and they\u2019ll spread you out and throw it. They\u2019ll spread you out and run it. So everything you see in college football today, basically you\u2019re getting in one offense, and we\u2019re seeing the hardest stuff from our own offense.<\/p>\n
On whether he had a sense that the culture needed to be rebuilt<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s not my place to speak on anything that went on here because I wasn\u2019t here. All I know is what we believe in. We believe in toughness. We believe in discipline. We believe in having guys go to class and handle their business off the field. It\u2019s always a work in progress, but we believe in what we do, and that\u2019s kind of what we\u2019re looking to build. I can\u2019t comment on anything that\u2019s gone on here. I wasn\u2019t here.<\/p>\n
On what he sees from the corners and whether the team will hit in the spring game<\/p>\n
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, football is about blocking and tackling and getting better at the fundamentals. We have to do those things. So we\u2019ll be physical at times this spring for sure. Now, we\u2019ve got to be smart. We\u2019ve got to stay healthy. You talked about the corners. Like that group, Shug is an elite player in my opinion. Zeke Berry is an all-Big Ten player.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re getting Smith Snowden from the University of Utah, who I believe is one of the better corners in the country. And there\u2019s Shamari Earls, who shows big-time ability. So I really believe this. When we get to the season, we\u2019re going to have four or five of the better corners out there. And I love the way Coach Guilford coaches those guys. They\u2019ll be ready to go.<\/p>\n
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