On the process of how he ended up at Michigan

At the end of the spring ball at my old school, I looked at my credits, how much credits I had left, I talked to my grandmother. My grandmother was just like, 'You need to graduate as soon as possible.' Ever since with Bama, with me transferring, I've tried to listen to whatever my grandma says. All I'm trying to worry about is graduating. I graduated at the end of July, I had a couple schools reach out to me. Some Power Five. I was still being patient, waiting around, and then looking to see the right fit. Hoping that some of the old schools that offered me would offer back. Then they started coming in towards the end. Michigan had reached out. I just said, oh yeah, I'm coming home. Definitely coming home. Original school I was looking at and I have some of my guys here, Blake Corum, Nikhai Hill-Green and Derrick Moore. Just a perfect fit.

On how Mazi Smith makes his job easier

Mazi's a beast. Mazi is the unsung hero. Mazi does a lot of dirty work. Takes on double-teams, things he doesn't get a lot of credit for. That pressure, no one knows that Mazi took two, that's how I got so Scott-free. Mazi makes my job so much easier. People like him, Kris Jenkins, Mason, the freshman, taking on double-teams or beating up those guards and centers, when it gets time for us to do those pick games or come around or come underneath. It makes it so much easier so they're so used to a big guy going it so they're trying to power scoop and do all that.

On how close Michigan was to get his commitment during his recruitment

It was really close. Honestly, at the time, when I chose Bama over Michigan, I was real young in my career. It was really just Roll Tide, it was a little wave going on. Had some guys from the DMV up there. Latrell Lewis, he's now in the NFL, he was a big part of my recruitment. Trevon Diggs. Those were my hosts and I knew them previously from the DMV. We kind of clicked immediately when I went on visits and stuff like that. It kind of made me feel comfortable. Since I left there, I still keep in contact with them. They're one of the people, after I made this move, that said, 'Hey, bro, that was a good move. That was a real smart move.' They still call me, mentor me and tell me when I'm doing things right or doing things wrong. Things I gotta improve on, stuff like that.

On expectations versus reality with Michigan

I feel like they're pretty equal. This is like a blue-collar team, what you see is what you get. You work for every snap. The other day, Coach Jay Harbaugh said something, I want to say like two weeks ago, about recommitting ourselves every single week, every single day. That's what we have with this team. You have to recommit every single day. It's football, no one is going to feel great but how bad do you want it? We're playing for the man next to you. The man next to you is going 100% so why are you going to half-ass?

On the circumstances of his departure from Alabama and Houston

Maturity. I'm going to be real. Me, personally, it was just a hard time adjusting not being able to play immediately. Certain things were said that didn't go immediately. You live and you learn. Everything happens for a reason. It happened and I grew from it. I'm here today.

On whether he thinks NFL teams will hold leaving the schools against him

No, because life is all about adversity. It's not about your start it's about how you finish it. Of course, everyone is going to be held accountable, too, for their actions but it's also going to show, OK, look at the time period, what have I accomplished? Did I stop? Did I give up? Did I take the easy route out? Did I stick it through? Did I graduate? Did I redirect my narrative? That's exactly what I did.

On whether he's coming to Michigan with something to prove

Exactly. Not something to prove to everyone else but something to prove to myself. Change my narrative. Oh, he doesn't go to class or how dedicated is he to football? Prove myself right. I am a scholar, I am a student-athlete, I love this game. This game has given me so much opportunities, taken me out of Baltimore, Maryland. Just give back to the game.

On his conversations with Jim Harbaugh

I don't know. I reached out right when I got into the portal. It just went from there.

On what he would want people to know about him

I'm a very dedicated person. I was given everything very quickly. I started football very late in my career and became a five-star real late. A lot of the little maturity things that some of the people, some of the five-stars that were—they already knew how to take on. I didn't know how to do it. It was just me by myself and I've always been raising myself. Handling my own thing. I just want people to know that you live and you learn. I'm one of those people that, yeah, I burnt my hand on the stove but I learn from it. Every L wasn't an L. It was a lesson. I've learned from all my mistakes. You can ask my teammates, you can ask every single teammate in every single organization I've been a part of about how I am as a. person. That's the biggest thing. How do people view me? How do my teammates view me? I'm that guy, in the middle of the night and anything is going on, you can call me. If you're having a bad day, you can call me. I'm just a real team-oriented type of guy and I've always been that kind of person. That's the one thing I'm real big on. My character. I really care about my character. The physical aspects, you're going to hear some different opinions but how the other man views you, I really care about that.

On people at UT-Martin who helped him

I had one player there that is currently still right there, Rob Hicks. Me and him played in the All-American game together. When Rob transferred over, Rob was just like, bro, listen, we don't need to be here. Rob was the first person to throw that in my ear, like, hey bro, you're way better than this. He just kept being strong on me and real positive influence in my ear. Coach Jason Simpson held us to a different standard. He didn't let me practice a certain way, he didn't let me play down to my competition. Emphasizing, hey bro, you've got to get that degree. You've got to get that degree. The biggest thing, honestly, is my grandma. My grandma, throughout this process, no one wants to see their—I consider my grandma my mom. No one wants to see their son go through their ups and downs. My grandma, she never turned her back on me. Really helped me kind of stay grounded. It gets me emotional because she's not here. She's literally the reason why I made a whole (180). When you sit right there and you see a woman that's like, hey, you can do anything, do it for me. You're really bought in at that point.

On how he's developed over the first five weeks of the season

I feel like I just have to keep on earning the coach's trust. I trust Coach Minter, trust Coach Clink, trust Coach Roney. They're going to put the best players on the field at the right time. You earn snaps during practice. If I do what I need to do during practice, all three days consistent days. Of course, I should have more snaps. Any consistency in those days, it'll be the same reason why I don't get as much snaps. I can respect it. You earn your time in practice. You show over time that you can be trusted in practice and in the games they will throw you out there. It's up to me to perform.

On what turned on the switch to listen to his grandmother

When my grandma started getting sick. My grandma, she was one of the strongest people I know. Beat COVID twice. When she really started getting sick and I really started seeing her health regress. I'm just like, woah, her time is really limited. I have to really maximize every single thing that she's said to me. Every single thing that I do. That's why I wear this bracelet everywhere I go with a picture of her inside. Every single time I am having a bad day or if things might not be going my way, I look at it and my grandma is right here. How would I react? I do exactly how my grandma would do it. Sometimes, you can be mad. We're all human so you're not going to be happy all the time and you're not going to be mad all the time. It's the way that you handle things. That health part of my grandma, that really changed a lot of things. Brought me to a different perspective. OK, everything isn't a guarantee. Right now, this is a luxury playing football at the next level. Especially at a Power Five. A lot of people don't get this opportunity. My grandma was really stressing, 'You have a chance to be good.' Be straight. Make sure your siblings are taken care of. You have to take this serious. Just keep on stressing. I've taken care of you, I've grown up, too.

On Jay Harbaugh saying the team had to recommit

It was wise words. We have wise words after every practice where a player or coach gets elected by Coach Harbaugh, they say a couple of wise words. I don't know how the selection goes as far as wise words but he just said it and it's something that needs to be said. When you have a team that's as good as we have, the one worst thing that can happen is complacency. OK, we're winning games and we're as good as we're gonna be. That's the worst that can happen instead of keep on striving on how good we can be. Look at all the mistakes instead of all the good. That's what the good teams do. Look at all the faults.

On whether he wears the bracelet on the field

It's real, real thin. I tie it real tight. It's loose now because I just got out of the shower. I tie it up real tight. Put it underneath my glove. It's a small little picture. Has the name of my grandma in there. I just look at it and keep it with me at all times.

On his speed

I still have to knock a lot of dust off. I still have to get back to being comfortable. That's why you might not see me have as much snaps as the other guys are as power. I understand that. You get in where you fit in. Whatever I can do to help the team. What I said earlier, it all starts in practice. In practice, you're trying to burst off the ball. Trying a real strong three-four yards off the ball. Really run that tackle off the field so I can have a two-way go. Really making my shoulders turn paralell. I'm real good at jumping the ball. Seeing the first move and just reacting off that. Just really about polishing all those movements. Later on in the season, hopefully in the CFP, you're going to go against tackles that can move as fast as that so you want to be able to counter. What else can you do? Are you able to switch it up? Can you basically power up to speed and dip that corner. Really box them out. That's what we're really working on right now. We're not preparing for the team right now, we're preparing for later on in the schedule. The harder teams. We're always worried about the next game, too. We're definitely worried about the next game.