The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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104 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW LINEBACKERS the same guy delivering the message. The chemistry among the back seven has Brown excited for what he'll see when they reconvene in the fall, and the outside linebackers are a big part of it. "Unbelievable. Right now, I'm really excited about the direction that group's gone," Brown said. "[Senior viper] Khaleke Hudson is playing at a high level, which I knew he would … he's playing well. His coverage skills are up, pressure mechanics and technique and fundamentals are excellent. He understands the linebacker rotation." He was one of the first ones who caught Campanile's eye this spring. "Khaleke Hudson is a really talented kid. He's a very humble guy, a hard-working guy," he praised. "He practices like a maniac, which is really, really impressive." Redshirt freshman athlete Michael Barrett has made steps behind him, having switched between linebacker and receiver in his career so far, and is "really doing a good job," Brown said. Meanwhile senior Josh Uche is filling in there and all over the place as Brown's "Swiss army knife." He'll play both rush end and Sam linebacker, and is doing everything asked of him really well. "Here's the nice thing about him … you can put him in to play outside linebacker when as a young guy, you remember the old saying, 'I might have traded him for two used footballs,'" Brown quipped. "Now he can go out and play Sam linebacker. "You can line him up at open-side defensive end and he knows what to do, how to do it in the run as well as the pass game. He can jump into package stuff, be a pass rusher extraordinaire." Uche notched only 15 tackles last year, but eight of them were for loss. He also registered a team-high seven sacks as one of the Wolverines' best at getting to the quarterback, earning honorable mention All- Big Ten honors from both the coaches and the media. "He's a jack of all trades," Campanile said. "He's got a ton of talent, a ton of ability. He's really one of the few guys I've been around in college football who can rush the passer and can also play coverage as a linebacker. "He's a really talented guy, a guy that obviously has had some success here and hopefully will continue to do that. I think he will. He stays after and studies extra. There's no secret formula. It's hard work. It's great to have talented players, but you have to have guys that love working hard." Two freshmen will also join the mix this year in Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas standout Anthony Solomon and Oakdale (Conn.) St. Thomas More's Charles Thomas. The 6-1, 200-pound Solomon is a sideline-to-sideline ball hawk who will start out at viper, where Hudson will tutor him. Though he started only one game, junior Josh Ross' 61 tackles last year ranked fourth overall on the team and lead all returners. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN "I can't put my finger on why, but we're playing a lot faster this time around — and we were a fast defense last year. The nuts and bolts of our defense are still intact, so our guys can just keep going and understand the playbook better now." DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR DON BROWN