On Jaishawn Barham's first season in Ann Arbor and steps he can take in year two

I thought for, first time in the program, and I think I spoke on this before, it's our success comes from our culture in this building, and the way we go about our process. And sometimes that's hard for people when they first get here. And I thought he did a really, really good job, because it takes time. It takes time to really feel like you're part of the team, no matter how talented you are or how much you bring to the table. And I thought he did a really good job. And as the year went on, I thought he got better and better as the season progressed, and he was more comfortable with what we were doing on defense. And he's been lights out this spring. You can see he's more comfortable with what we're doing. He's playing faster, playing physical, and it looks like he's having a lot of fun out there.

On how the program deals with player empowerment and NIL demands

I think, and obviously I have a strong opinion. Obviously that's where I came from before coming here. And I think that situation was handled probably as best as it could. I knew Nico from recruiting. And then, obviously, I think the world of Coach Heupel, you hate to see situations go down like that. But at the end of the day, college football is different than it was five years ago. It's really different than it was two years ago. And I think the best answer for that is, obviously, there's a financial piece to everything in college football now, but you want to make sure players are there because they want to be there. And it's just like a job. There's jobs where you can earn a good salary, and there's jobs where you're happy to show up every morning because you like being there, you like the people, and you like what you do. And I think that's what college athletics is turning into, too. There has to be more than just the financial gains of it. You've got to like the people that you're around, and you've got to really like showing up to work every day and the process of getting better and trying to win as a team. And that's coaches and players. I know the big argument is coaches leave all the time, and coaches can take different jobs and everything. But it works the same with us. You want to be somewhere where you feel appreciated, and you want to work somewhere where like I said, you can't wait to show up in the building that morning and see what issues you can fix and what lives you can touch in a positive way. So I know that's a long answer, but I think that's the gist of it. Everybody wants to earn a good living, but you also want to make sure you're happy with it. It's a short life. You've got to enjoy it while you're in it.

On where Barham improved the most and where he will take the biggest step

Last year, just playing within the framework of what we do on defense. We always say this is probably the most unselfish defense in the country. We do a lot to set up other players on the team, and that takes a certain type of person, and we feel like we have those type of guys on this defense. And I think he's grown in that to know when we all are successful, then the individual will be successful also. And I think not that he was selfish. I don't want to make that seem that's what I was saying. I'm saying with working within the framework of the defense and not feeling like you have to overdo it to try to go make a play, just work within what we're doing. And the improvement that we've seen this spring, obviously, we think he's a dynamic blitzer and a guy that can really get after the quarterback and rush the passer, and you've seen the growth of him as a stacked linebacker and how he communicates with the rest of the guys on defense. You see those steps in him becoming a complete player.

On challenges building a culture in the NIL era compared to five years ago

There was challenges. You know, if you talk to Coach Schembechler back in the day, there's always going to be challenges when you're talking to college football because you're dealing with so many players. You're dealing with over 100 players with different personalities, come from different backgrounds, and you're trying to mesh them to all have the same mindset. Now, obviously, it's a little bit of the financial piece that's just added to it. At the end of the day, this is one of the most iconic football programs in the country. You've got one of, if not the best, public universities in the country. There's so much about this place that's bigger than that, and we sell that more than we have to sell the NIL. Obviously, we're in that world, so we're going to be obviously competitive in that way. Michigan sells itself a lot, and I know there's a lot of people that would want to be here, NIL or not, just because of the program and what that means for them now and for the future.

On Ernest Hausmann as a leader and his offseason trip to Uganda

Ern has really taken the reins as the leader on defense, and I don't think anyone would disagree with me in saying that, which the position he plays, it lends itself to being the leader on defense when you're the middle linebacker, and he's embraced it. I thought he embraced it last year, and we had some, obviously, some great players that were—everybody knew was going to be there last year, even though they were true juniors, and he embraced that role, and I think he's really dove into it now and is the clear-cut guy that everybody looks to to lead the program. I think the trip back to Uganda was just another step in his evolution as a man and as a leader. When you get to that part of the world and you see some of the struggles of people there, but you see the joy in how they live, even what we would call an impoverished type of situation, but how they get up and they process and the joy that they have every day and how they embraced him and really, really enjoyed his company. I think he came back with a different perspective. I think everybody should have that experience in their life, and I know he's been able to spread some of the things that he's, you know, he learned over there. He's been able to spread that amongst the team, and I know he's going to have a long conversation. I think Coach Moore is going to get him to speak on that at some point before we kick off next year because it was such a unique and empowering experience.

On the freshmen linebackers

Yes, we actually have two of them. We have Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng. He's been good, if not better, than what our expectations were, and we also have Chase Taylor, who is from Stockbridge, Georgia. They both have come in, and first, you've seen the change in their bodies. Coach Tress and that staff down in the weight room have done an unbelievable job. Most kids that come in in the spring, you see the physical differences with them and the rest of the team, and those guys haven't missed a beat there. But Nate has done a great job. He had to sit out most of his senior year. He was very highly thought of coming here. We're glad we have him. Explosive is what you would say when you see him on the field. Very, very fast, very, very explosive, you know, intelligent, you know, plays the game the right way. We're very, very high on him. We think he's got a chance to be a really good football player.

On whether Troy Bowles has been practicing with the program

No, he has not. He has not practiced. We knew that coming in that he had to get a little cleanup surgery, and we told him we weren't going to rush him back. That was our big selling point with him was we kind of knew what type of player he was and what we were inheriting, and we wanted him to be 100% healthy because he wanted to go through spring. We said he could go through spring because he had been playing with it, kind of to establish himself. But we assured him that once he got healthy, he'd have every opportunity to come in and earn playing time. So, he's been here. He's been great in the meetings. He's been a full participant in the weight room and some of the conditioning stuff. He just hasn't, you know, gone 11-on-11 football yet.

On whether Bowles will be ready by fall camp

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, if he wasn't, then he better be a lot better than what I think. And I think he's good if we let him miss that much.

[Speaker 6]

We've got time for a few more for Coach Jean-Marie. We'll go back to the left side towards the front here, please.

On what he saw from Cole Sullivan and his unique athleticism

He does. We were making that – we actually had that conversation a couple of days ago. But what I saw from him last year was just a raw athletic kid. I think I said here last year, the previous place that I was at, we even looked at him as a tight end, you know, because he was that athletic in space and was such a big athletic kid. Last year, he had to kind of learn the position, but you saw some of what the future would look like for him once he got it. And you knew once that happened, you had a chance to have a really good football player. But you never know how quick that's going to happen. And what we've seen this spring, that page has really turned. He's turned into one of the guys that we're going to be counting on on defense to be a major contributor. He's, like I said, he's had some practices where I would say he's one of the better guys on the field. He's really transformed his body, if you guys see him now, you know, as far as just the physical part of it. You know, you can't teach the length that he has and the athleticism that he has is really, really eye-popping sometimes. Comparison-wise, I'm trying to think of who we talked about. But the thing that you see with him is because of his size, he could be that hybrid guy that could play stack and, you know, line up on the edge and rush the passer, which he's done a little bit this spring. And you can see that growth with such a young kid and the potential he's going to have to do that. So, no, we're thrilled to have him here. He's going to be a really good football player in the Maize and Blue.

[Speaker 6]

Just next to Clayton on your left there, Ryan.

On Jimmy Rolder's role heading into 2025

Jimmy, he's another young man. Man, we're so excited about him. We've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. We look at Jimmy as a third starter. He's a guy that's been here, and knock on wood, I think this is the healthiest he's been. I think the injuries have slowed him down the last two years. But this spring he's been healthy. He's had some unbelievable practices. And he's a guy we view as a third starter. He's going to be a major part in the rotation, possibly start in a couple games. But we're thrilled to have him. In today's football, it's hard to have three guys that we feel like that are on that caliber that they're a starter. And Jimmy is definitely one of those guys. We think the world of him and think he's got a chance to help us play big-time football this year.

On the depth in the linebacker room

We're not going to say loaded yet. We always like to say that at the end of the year. At the beginning of the year, everybody always feels good about their room. I think we have so many veteran guys coming back, kind of the three guys we talked about with Ernest, Jaishawn, and Jimmy. And we do like some of the young talent we have. I think Cole Sullivan has taken that leap to where we would feel as good with him in the game as we feel with the other guys. And then, like I said, we have some other young guys that we're high on in Owusu-Boateng and Chase Taylor. Like I said, we'd love to see what we're going to end up getting when we get Troy Bowles healthy and get him on the field.

On who the biggest 'health nut' is on the team among the coaches

I don't know what a health nut is. It might be Coach Moore. It might be. Coach gets up and works out every morning. I don't know how much of watching what he eats, but I know as far as the physical part of it, I think he's got everyone beat when it comes to that aspect. Coach is a big guy, so I'm pretty sure he's not eating fruits and berries throughout the day. You know what I mean? But I know as far as the physical part, I know he gets up every morning and gets after it.

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