The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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that is about ready to make the turn. I see a guy competing harder than he's ever competed. "Now, he still has a long way to go, but he looks to me like he's finally said, 'This is my last shot, my last season and I want it bad.' "He has to be the guy that takes charge. He has to be the guy that Mike Martin was. The guy that sets the tone at practice, keeps guys in line. He has to earn that respect, so that when he speaks, everyone listens to him because they know he's going hard every play." With a slew of changes up front, and three massive holes to fill, Michigan will utilize its four weeks of spring practices, culminating in the spring game April 14, to teach the fundamentals to the defensive linemen on the move or in the infant stages of their careers. "Spring is about getting as good as you can at technique, and also is im- portant in showing them what they can do the next three months when they're on their own, to improve even more," Mattison said. "The one thing this defense did very well last year was they worked very hard at drills throughout the summer that we couldn't coach. "They didn't just go out and run. They didn't just lift weights. They worked on football-specific drills, and that allows them to be closer to where they need to be when we re- turn in August for camp." Mattison understands what U-M Senior Will Campbell arrived at Michigan as a five-star prospect, and now the 6-5, 322-pound defensive tackle will look to make a major imapct in his final season. loses with the departures of Martin, Heininger and Van Bergen, but he's optimistic the returning veterans and arriving freshmen can fill the void. "I know you can't have a great de- fense without a great defensive line. year senior Mike linebacker Kenny Demens, redshirt sopho- more Sam linebacker Jake Ryan and sophomore Will line- backer Desmond Morgan. Ryan, who had four tackles for loss in the Sugar Bowl, and Morgan, who posted 20 tackles (3.0 for loss) in his last two games, both finished the year positively. But overall, defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, was not happy with the linebacker corps' performance throughout the 2011 campaign. "Honestly, that is the defensive position we have to make the biggest gains," he said. "Yes, our defensive line has to Michigan returns all three of its starting linebackers: fifth- prove itself all over again, but our linebackers were not good enough, and we have to make that position better. It's in our pass drops and coverage, blitzing, eliminating missed tackles. It's in our linebackers' depth. "We had more missed tackles in the bowl game than we had all year, and a lot of them were from our linebackers. The other part of that is we didn't rotate guys in there because the guys behind our starters didn't earn our trust. We need Forever it's been that way," he said. "We won't know for a few months what these kids are capable of when the bullets start flying, but they un- derstand the task and they're ex- cited." ❑ Spring Preview: Linebackers to know that when they go in, no problem, they'll do fine and there won't be a significant drop-off. return of redshirt junior Cam Gordon. The 6-3, 222-pounder was slated to open the 2011 season as U-M's starter at the Sam, but a lingering back injury forced him to the sidelines for the first month and capsized his year. However, Ryan, who can improve dramatically, will not cede his job. "There were a lot of plays that he made just on his athleti- Ryan, perhaps, will face the greatest competition with the " Bolden and Kaleb Ringer enrolling early. Both will receive a long look this spring as they compete with incumbents such as senior Brandin Hawthorne, redshirt junior Mike Jones and redshirt freshman Antonio Poole for key backup posts or even to seize a job away from U-M's starters. Michigan signed four linebackers in February, with Joe " Mattison said. — Michael Spath APRIL 2012 THE WOLVERINE 33 PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN cism and effort, and if he really improves being a technician, the sky is the limit for him because he can run, he can play physical, he plays hard,