The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2020 THE WOLVERINE 41 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL those guys' plates that we're going to continue to address. We'll continue to address the positives, but also work- ing on improving on some things we need to improve on." Ideally, Gattis said, they would have used the spring to split the reps equally between the three quarter- backs and let them compete. Instead, they'll get back at it this fall and see what transpires. — Chris Balas DEFENSIVE LEADERS EMERGED, OTHERS MADE MENTAL STRIDES THIS SPRING, EVEN WITHOUT PRACTICE Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown appeared on Jon Jansen's "In The Trenches" podcast May 13, and noted how happy he has been with the way his players have re- sponded to the virtual meetings the U-M coaching staff has implemented this spring. "Guys are never late and very at- tentive," he revealed. "I don't think I've had one discipline issue through the entire seven weeks. You can tell their old love of football is there and that they're anxious to learn. "The No. 1 question I get is, 'Coach, when are we coming back? When are we coming back to play?'" Brown explained that these tough times are perfect for the athletes to "attack the mental part of the game," citing a better understanding of U-M's schemes and concepts. He also singled out four players in particular who have made leaps on the men- tal side of things, praising the prog- ress that sophomore defensive tackle Christopher Hinton, redshirt junior defensive tackle Donovan Jeter, red- shirt sophomore defensive end Tay- lor Upshaw and redshirt freshman defensive end David Ojabo have made. "A lot of these guys are outstanding athletes," he said. "You've got to make sure you have them ready to compete at a high level, especially mentally for the young guys so we can stay effi- cient and minimize mistakes." Brown also pointed out one posi- tive from having to meet with his players virtually — the fact that there are no time constraints, stating he has "plenty of time to install, review and teach the guys," which will allow them to "hit the ground running" whenever they do meet in person again. He was also sure to single out sev- eral of his experienced defensive vet- erans who have turned into leaders this spring, naming senior defensive end Kwity Paye, fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp, junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross, redshirt sophomore linebacker Cam McGrone and senior cornerback Am- bry Thomas in particular. — Austin Fox DON BROWN PROMISES TO DO A BETTER JOB PREPARING FOR OHIO STATE Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown held a Zoom meeting with reporters May 21, and the focus was on Ohio State throughout much of the session while discussing the Wolverines' recent defensive strug- gles against the Buckeyes over the last two years. Ohio State defeated U-M 62-39 in Columbus in 2018 and 56-27 in Ann Arbor last season, and holds an over- all record of 5-0 in the series since Jim Harbaugh arrived at Michigan prior to the 2015 season, prompting the Wolverine head man to reaffirm publicly May 20 that "we've got to beat Ohio State." "I think Coach [Harbaugh] ad- dressed the Ohio State issue yester- day," Brown said May 21. "He's the boss and that's what I'm going to try to do, too. As far as that goes, I'm get- ting in line right behind him." There has been plenty of discus- sion publicly during Harbaugh's ten- ure that the Wolverines haven't put in the appropriate preparation for The Game over the last five years, with OSU quarterback Justin Fields stating after this past year 's show- down in Ann Arbor that they beat U-M because Ohio State "takes it more serious." Former U-M defensive standouts in Charles Woodson (1995-97) and Devin Bush (2016-18) have also stated publicly since the 2019 regular season ended that Michigan needs to put more of an emphasis on the rivalry. "We acknowledge it," Brown con- firmed, quashing those rumors a bit and stating he's already began planning for the 2020 matchup with Ohio State. "We move on from it, and hopefully I'll do a better job because I don't blame the players for anything. "You blame the old guy right here. I've got to do a better job getting our guys ready, and I promise I'm going to." Despite the Maize and Blue ending the 2019 regular season with a dis- mal defensive performance that saw them give up 577 total yards to OSU in the Nov. 30 loss, they bounced back with a better showing in their 35-16 setback to Alabama in the Cit- rus Bowl Jan. 1, with the Crimson Tide's 35 points tying a season low. "I thought we played pretty darn well in that game," the coordinator admitted. "We played toe to toe with them, with it being 21-16 in the fourth quarter. Our guys were certainly up to the challenge, but we fell short. "I take the positives from it and then we go into the offseason. We took all the pieces that are negative and we practice those plays against assorted looks. We took the same thing from the Ohio State game and will be prac- ticing against those plays too." Brown concluded by stating that in college football, it oftentimes comes down to "a group of plays you just want back" that can decide games, citing the Alabama loss as an exam- ple of that. — Austin Fox Despite being just a redshirt sophomore, linebacker Cam McGrone is beginning to emerge as a defensive leader, according to coordinator Don Brown. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN