The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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five-star and the No. 14 player nation- ally in the 2012 class, Michigan fans may dream of inserting the Kansas City, Mo., native immediately into the lineup next fall. And there is rea- son to buy into the premise he could do just that — the Wolverines have said goodbye to defensive line start- ers Mike Martin, Will Heininger and Ryan Van Bergen, and lack the proven depth to assume second-stringers will become first-team starters. Defensive coordinator Greg Mat- W atching 6-3, 320-pound nose tackle Ondre Pipkins rise through the recruiting rankings, settling in as a tison is not hesitant to play rookies either, starting true freshmen Blake Countess (cornerback) and Desmond Morgan (weakside linebacker) in 2011, while four other first-year Wolverines saw action in reserve roles last season. However, Mattison does not feel the solution to Michigan's concerns up front rest with throwing neophytes into the fray upon arriving in Ann Ar- bor this summer. Instead, he is seek- ing to fill U-M's holes from within, making three key personnel moves: • Senior Craig Roh will move to strongside defensive end (five-tech- nique) from rush end to replace Van Bergen. • Junior Jibreel Black has slid in- side from rush end to defensive tackle (three-technique) to help replace Heininger. • Sophomore Brennen Beyer will BY MICHAEL SPATH where you just might not be a good enough athlete to do what we need all the time. So let's put him in a position where his athleticism now becomes a strength there." Making these changes, and focus- ing on the versatility of the entire de- fensive line — five-techniques will play the three and vice versa while the interior athletes will be expected to play both tackle posts — has helped U-M turn Team 133's biggest weak- ness into a potential strength, if the novice defensive linemen can develop this offseason. "It goes back to our philosophy that you've got to be strong up front or you don't have a chance," Mattison said. "We're going to do everything we can to give our defensive line- men, and our team, the best chance did very well for us last year. He was a productive football player, played with great technique, but we felt he could be a real plus moving to the five." Roh's goal is to weigh 280 pounds or more by the start of the 2012 cam- paign. Van Bergen tipped the scales at 288 pounds during his senior year, giving the coaches the flexibility to play him outside on running downs and inside in third-down passing situ- ations. "When you make switches with SHUFFLING THE DECK for success. Once you have the right people in place up front, and playing well, the rest of the defense comes together." go from strongside linebacker to rush end to compete with classmate Frank Clark. "What you do is you look at your team and say, who do you know right now that you can win with, and let's get all of them on the field," Matti- son said, days before Michigan began spring practice March 17. "Let's find a way to make sure our best 11 are on the field at all times. "Craig has proven that he's one of our 11 best. Jibreel has been one of our best, at times, and then take a look at what he did that wasn't his best, and you adapt as coaches to find the right place for him. "Sometimes you're at a position Senior Craig Roh, who notched 32 tack- les, eight tackles for loss and four sacks in 2011, will move from rush end to strongside defensive end this season. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN rush end to strongside end may prove the most important switch because, as a three-year starter, he could have been resistant to change, setting the tone for the entire team. The 6-5, 269-pounder had good rea- Roh's willingness to move from THE FIRST DOMINO son to decline after spending each of his first three seasons playing a dif- ferent position — the quick in 2009, outside linebacker in 2010 and weak- side end in 2011 — but with only 6.5 sacks in 38 games, Roh was open to the move, understanding he lacked the bona-fide pass-rush skills to re- main in a role in which causing havoc for the opposing quarterback is the top priority. "For Craig to become as good as With A New-Look Defensive Line Like Roh, Black does not possess Michigan Enters The Spring the elite athleticism to be a differ- ence-maker off the edge. The 6-2, 260-pound, Cincinnati native has a higher ceiling playing inside at tackle. He will have to add weight, 10-15 pounds this offseason and ideally 20- 25 over the next two years, but Black should be able to fulfill the responsi- bilities of an interior lineman. "What we want to do is become more athletic, become a faster de- fense, and Jibreel Black will be a much better player inside because he's very quick, and very athletic for that posi- tion," Mattison said. "He's just OK outside, not as athletic as we need from that position, but inside, going against a slower interior lineman, now the matchup favors him, and now he's plenty fast, plenty athletic, plenty quick." he can be, I feel he has to move to a position where there is not as much space to run around in," said Matti- son, appreciative of Roh's effort. "He strongside end and Black to three- technique defensive tackle were ne- cessitated by need at the two posts, APRIL 2012 THE WOLVERINE 31 The decisions to move Roh to PUTTING PLAYMAKERS ON THE FIELD talented guys like Craig, they have to buy in because you can't make a move like this unless you trust a guy to not just lift, but eat to gain healthy weight," Mattison said. "Craig im- mediately bought in, and I'm really proud of what he's doing."