Michigan Wolverines football heads into spring practice with a defense that returns key pieces, but also needs to replace some of its most important pieces.

Defensive coordinator Don Brown sat down with Jon Jansen on the 'In The Trenches' podcast to look back at last season and discuss his expectations for spring practice and the 2020 season.

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"We found a way to win in the opener," Brown began. "And then, I thought we played extremely well against Army, which took a lot of preparation time during the preseason, during spring practice and right through fall camp and in through the early weeks. You were making sure you were giving Army their undivided attention. In retrospect, I think it hurt us a little bit in the Wisconsin game because obviously, they’re a completely different style of offense and we didn’t play very well, and that starts with me.

"But the next eight weeks ... I thought the response from the Wisconsin loss was what you’d expect from a Michigan football team. Guys went to work, played hard, got it right and we went on a scenario there where we won seven of eight games and gave up less than 300 yards in all those games. And there’s some good teams there, Notre Dame obviously, Michigan State, Indiana was 24th in the country when we played them. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the job done in the Ohio State game and that’ll be something that we have to deal with and we are dealing with and we are preparing for. Bottom line is we just shut up and go to work.

"We also played very hard against a very talented Alabama offense and there’s some things that we did in that game, for stretches of that game, that were really, really good against a team that had speed at every skill position and talent across the board in their offensive line. But I think, those kinds of games, you really get exposed what your weaknesses are, so it helps you in terms of evaluating performance, evaluating where we need to get better and we’re certainly working hard at that."

"We just need to play the way we’re capable of playing," Brown pointed out. "I know that sounds like rhetoric, but don’t make the stage too big. Just prepare and do play the game the way you’re capable of playing and just play at a high level. Make sure we’re prepared and really the big thing that we’ve done a good job of, we’re building it into our practice schedule, but stay even-keeled about it, make sure that we’re focused on the task at hand and technique, fundamentals. We’ve got to just play the game the way that we’re capable of playing. Don’t make the stage too big."

"It starts with your bookends at defensive end, [junior] Aidan Hutchinson and [senior] Kwity Paye. And I really feel good about developing depth there with [redshirt junior] Luiji Vilain, who I think is coming along, [redshirt sophomore] Taylor Upshaw, who has definitely taken strides. He ran very well during the winter testing. [Redshirt freshman] David Ojabo, I think, has what I call that hybrid-type ability, somewhere between a linebacker and defensive end, very similar to Josh Uche. A little bit different body type, but hopefully similar results. It starts with those guys on the edges.

"[Sophomore tackle] Christopher Hinton is really doing a good job. Obviously, we got [redshirt senior tackle] Carlo Kemp back for his fifth year. [Sophomore tackle] Mazi Smith, in my opinion, is now ready to challenge for playing time, which is good to see. [Redshirt junior tackle] Jessie Speight has had time. Really happy with [redshirt junior] Donovan Jeter; he’s had a good winter, and just continues to impress. Up front, I think we’re much deeper in terms of that. We’ve got [early enrollee] Aaron Lewis here, who’s here and learning, but we’ll also get [incoming freshmen] Jaylen Harrell and Kris Jenkins. There will be a number of guys there vying for time. And I like the way [redshirt sophomore] Gabe Newberg ran around during winter workouts, as well.

"When you have leadership from Kwity Paye and Aidan Hutchinson that can be spread across the entire defensive line room ... Let’s just say this, I’m very confident in the leadership in that room. Coach [Shaun] Nua does a great job, [defensive analyst Tenarius] 'Tank' [Wright] will be working with Coach Nua. Aidan Hutchinson, Kwity Paye — couldn’t be better people. They’ll provide the leadership necessary for us moving forward. I think Christopher Hinton will have a big year. I really see him continuing to grow as a player. Carlo Kemp, getting him back for his fifth year. I think it was obviously cool for us. [He’s] very strong at the point of attack. Obviously, we missed him in the Alabama game and really he played the Ohio State game less than 100 percent. In fact, probably more closer to 50. But, you love his courage in the way he goes about doing his business, and he’ll just provide tremendous leadership in that role."

"At linebacker, it really starts with [redshirt sophomore] Cam McGrone, [redshirt junior] Josh Ross, [redshirt sophomore] Michael Barrett," Brown said. "Those are three guys that we feel really, really good about, in terms of experience, in terms of their ability to make plays. I thought McGrone really matured well during his redshirt freshman campaign. We just gotta keep Josh Ross healthy and obviously get meaningful repetitions here this spring. I feel solid there. We got a number of guys coming in, led by Kalel Mullings.

"Josh Ross is a worker. Even when he was down, whatever he could do mentally to work on his craft, he was doing. Obviously, you get the rust on and it’s hard to pull it back off when you’ve missed eight weeks, but he’s had a tremendous winter. He’s a tremendous leader for our guys and putting him beside Cam McGrone, I really feel that’ll be a strength of our program, for sure."

McGrone notched 65 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks last season. Ross dealt with an injury, and preserved a redshirt by only appearing in four games.

"The nice thing is McGrone is kind of settled in at the MIKE position," Brown said. "Josh is one of those unique guys who can play MIKE or play WILL. He’s stout, strong, so he can play like an inside linebacker. He is mobile, uses his strengths to his benefit in both run and pass. We feel really good about him.

"The biggest thing with Cam was the development of his confidence in the utilization of his hands. And you say, well why is that important? Your ability to get off blocks and to strike people, strike a three hundred pound offensive lineman, is a big deal. It’s a big part of it. In high school, a lot of those guys are able to just run through gaps or utilize your athleticism, which he does to his benefit, but now he’s coupled that with playing with strength. He’s 233 pounds and ran a 4.4 40-yard dash the other day, so he’s an exciting guy."

"[Early enrollee] Nikhai Hill-Green is a young guy, but he’s here, so he’s getting coached every day. He’s a bright, bright guy, so he’ll benefit from those two guys as inside linebackers and utilizing them as his role models."

Brown also discussed the Viper position, which includes the aforementioned Barrett, but Brown noted that some young guys will also compete for the job, after three-year starter Khaleke Hudson graduated.

"Michael Barrett and William Mohan — we call him Apache. We really feel good about those two guys, along with [sophomore] Anthony Solomon. We’ll let them battle it out. The nice thing with Michael is he could play SAM, he could play Viper. He ran a 4.51 this winter. He’s in great shape. He’ll obviously get first dibs, but the nice thing is we have guys behind him that we can give them jobs in different packages to help develop confidence as they’re going through the learning curve of the viper position."

"Secondary-wise, we really feel tremendously, like we’ve built the depth there the way you’d hope to," Brown said. "[Redshirt sophomore corner] Vincent Gray, obviously [senior corner] Ambry Thomas is the leader of the corner group. [Redshirt freshman corner] D.J. Turner continues to impress. [Redshirt sophomores] German Green and his brother [Gemon Green] have both had good winters. [Redshirt sophomore safety] Sammy Faustin. [Sophomore safety] Dax Hill, [senior safety] Brad Hawkins ... So, you’re talking about a number of guys, which is good because you’re creating competition, and at the same time, we feel good about the amount of guys that we could insert into different roles.

Brown agreed with Jansen that his secondary is one of the best U-M has seen in some time.

"Now, we just gotta go to work, do it, improve it and I think our guys will," Brown said. "… I’m really happy with the type of winter they’ve had, the way they’ve gone about doing their business and I’m looking forward to watching them compete in spring practice."

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