The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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weeks ago and has been immersed in building a championship unit since joining the staff in January. He and Harbaugh have proven to be a great match intensity-wise. "We're working hard," Brown said. "I went to the bowl game and went right back on the plane, had that [re- cruiting] dead period so a couple of weeks in the office to kind of watch tape, figure out what we're doing and where guys would go. We got out on the road and finished recruiting. "We used the last couple of weeks to figure out exactly what the plan was going to be in the spring, where to place specific personnel because we made a couple of changes. We'll just come out and have a good plan, make sure guys are excited, playing with a lot of energy and try to make it simple for us and tough on our opponents." During his interview with Har- baugh, Brown told the head coach he wanted to bring pressure 65 percent of the time. Harbaugh joked that he actually heard him say 85 — and that's when Brown knew they were on the same page. "Like I told [the players] the first night, there are two ways to play this game, and it involves pressure — one, you apply it; two, you feel it," Brown said. "I'm not big on feeling, so we're going to apply it. "It's not a hard formula to sell the players. They want to play on the balls of their feet and attack and get after it. You've got to find specific ways of how to go ahead and do that. We're kind of sorting our way through it, but early indications and the mental capacity to this point are encouraging." They'll start with a four-down line- men scheme, Brown added, though they won't be exclusively that. What they pull out on any given play will be for the opponent to figure out. "We'll do it all," Brown said. "We'll Brown's intensity and vast knowledge shined through from the moment he stepped on the field for U-M's first spring practice. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS