The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503142
[ L I N E B A C K E R S ] 96 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2023 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Junior Colson Gives Thumbs Up To Michigan's Coaching Moves Michigan experienced two different coaching situations on the defensive side of the football this winter. Junior linebacker Junior Colson appreciates how both turned out. First, former U-M assistant coach Chris Partridge returned to Ann Arbor, following three years as Mississippi's co-defensive coordinator and a safeties/linebackers coach. Partridge formerly coached those positions at Michigan, along with handling special teams. Some veterans were here before Partridge left three years ago. Not so with Colson, but the new boss needed little time to impress Michigan's defensive man in the middle. "He's phenomenal," Colson said. "He's a great guy. He really knows the game of football. He knows linebackers. He's been able to dissect our film and to coach us on the field." That's the new part of the equation, one Colson insists went very well this spring. "We're all just excited to learn," he said. "We're all excited to get better at everything. You can tell with the excitement everybody has and the passion we're playing with." Despite an interview with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter wound up in his second year in that role for the Wolverines. That proved good news for the entire defense, Colson assured. "It's phenomenal," he said. "Being able to stay in the same defense is awesome for us. You get more comfortable in the system. Understanding why he calls plays in certain situations makes it so much easier." Colson noted sophomore linebackers such as Jimmy Rolder and Micah Pollard are shadowing him a fair amount these days. Despite the strong coaching they're receiving, Colson has made it his mission to pour his growing knowledge into them. "Coaches can tell you so much, but players are the ones going out there and doing it," he said. "We've got our own experiences, our own thoughts. You talk to guys about how you see it, how you've done it." — John Borton rable first career sack — against junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy in Michigan Stadium last fall. Hausmann made 10 tackles that day, and he will now turn that intensity toward pleasing the home fans. In the process, he'll keep everybody on their toes. "Ernest Hausmann is a great pickup," Minter pointed out. "In our stadium, he's made big plays. He's played in a game there, he's played in a lot of the Big Ten venues and played at a high level at Nebraska. I couldn't be happier about his addition. "Number one, Junior and Mike are as incumbent starters — they feel him. He's right behind them. He's not slow- ing down, so it makes those guys have to play better, have to study more, have to do everything they have to do to keep their job. He's chasing them, and he's not going to back down either." The fourth linebacker Partridge was supposed to inherit — whose expected return Minter described as "huge" — wound up leaving the program. Senior Nikhai Hill-Green, who played in 14 games in 2021 with 50 tackles but sat out 2022 with a lingering soft-tissue in- jury, hit the transfer portal after spring ball. He's headed for UNC Charlotte and head coach Biff Poggi, a former as- sociate head coach at Michigan. That move likely elevates sophomore Jimmy Rolder into Michigan's two- deep at linebacker. Rolder appeared in 13 games as a true freshman last season, making 14 tackles in his rookie cam- paign. He'll have competition from class- mate Micah Pollard, who racked up 8 tackles in a dozen games as a freshman in 2022, and junior Jaydon Hood, who has gotten into four games as a line- backer over the past two years, includ- ing three in 2022. "Jimmy Rolder, Micah Pollard, Jay- don Hood — those guys are all develop- ing, progressing, trying to get to be the next guy," Minter said. "Who are we giving snaps to? It's tremendous com- petition." Minter and Partridge thought the competition victor would be just out- side the two-deep, but that's no lon- ger the case. It underscores the need to get at least one of that group ready very quickly, and to keep developing the others. "I would say our weakness last year was not the way Junior and Mike Inside linebacker Junior Colson earned second- team All-Big Ten distinction from the conference coaches last season while leading the team with 101 tackles. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN