On Jyaire Hill

I think always at a corner position, you've got to get experience. He's getting on the job training. I think he's been trying to work harder, just trying to get better each and every day at practice. I think a guy like Will has been a mentor, somebody that's kind of set the standard for that room here for the last couple years. I just think in being around him more and more just allows him to see how it's done, see the approach, see on a good day or a bad day how you're feeling, just trying to be the same guy every day. I think Jyaire has a lot of talent. I think there's things that he's going to continue to get better on each and every week, and I'm excited to see his growth.

On the impact of not having Rod Moore

Yeah, I think Rod Moore is a unique player. I talked to you all, I think, early in the spring or early in the fall. When you lose a guy like him, just his experience on the field, he's like a coach. Hopefully, he plays 10 years in the NFL. Once he gets done, if I'm still coaching, I would love to hire him to work with me, and I'll learn a lot from him, just the way he thinks, around the players, his involvement. He's in all the meetings. He's helping and coaching. I just think a guy with his experience, I don't think a team would be better without him, but I think a lot of guys are trying to step up and trying to do their role. But I just think he's just been here so long. It's one of the unique traits at safety is just making everybody calm around you. I think that's something where Makari and Q and those guys are trying to take over those footsteps, I would say.

On USC's wide receivers

Yeah, I think Lincoln Riley, as you know, we get the opportunity, which is challenging. But when you're at Michigan, the OCs that you play each and every week, they're some of the tops in the country. Lincoln Riley's been doing this for a long time. I know you all always see him on the sideline. He has the smallest call sheet. It's a lot of variances that he can do. I think what he does really good is get the ball in his playmaker's hands. He knows he can see whatever coverage you're doing. He knows what he needs to get to. When you change it, he'll go back to it. He runs repeat plays. I just think they're doing a really good job of just spreading the ball around. I think they have the outside bigger receivers that they can have there. I think the tight end does a good job. If you lock down the guys outside, him down the middle, he just does a good job of spreading the ball around. I think the quarterback, I think everybody can talk about him, whatever they want to say. He kind of waited his turn. I think he's one of the best quarterbacks in the country, seriously. I think if you watch his tape, you see what he does, the placement. He's on his back foot getting hit, and the ball is on the money. I just think everybody that plays him this year will see a quarterback that is ready for his challenge, has been prepared. I think he's one of the best players on their offense as the quarterback, without a doubt.

On whether he plans to keep Jyaire Hill at CB2

Yeah, I think right now we're going to try to spread the reps around all the time. But as of right now, the guys that's been starting are the guys, I think each week you try to look at the body of work. The guys got to put in the work each day, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then after that, as a staff, we get together and say who's starting this week. We don't want to have this set starters and guys that are playing better. The more they play, the better they play, the more roles and the roles that they have extend. But you got to do your job first before we can start moving you around. But right now, those guys that we have in are the guys that we have. Got to do a good job of developing, get them all ready to go. You never know when your number's called, and I think that's what you kind of see with some of the guys. Like Aamir, when he's been in there, he's done a great job. B. Hill's been in there, runs around with his hair on fire. I think you can see that. So I just think we have a good group. This is a lot of guys' first year playing, and I think at the end of the day you got to get them better. That's not an excuse to me. I think that's a challenge, and I think it's exciting to see guys perform. It's their time. They got to be ready to go. So I take that as a challenge. Whatever they're not doing well, that's on me. What they're doing well is on them. So I just do that every single day, and I think that's what the guys are trying to grow to.

On whether there's value for players going through growing pains

Yeah, I think if you look at it, you know, Will always tells those guys, you think about his very first play against Colorado State, they go deep on him, right? So, you know, when you play corner, it's a premium position. Everybody knows that. That's why the guys in the NFL get paid the way they do. He's just a very unique player. I think you'll look back and see all these guys, their growth here, just the stages of their careers. You know, you have to play them. I think that's the beauty of Michigan here. In recruiting and all that stuff, you know, you're going to have an opportunity to get on the field and impact the game early here, and I'm really excited about that.

On what he learned from the Texas game and the adjustments made

Yeah, I think the first thing you have to look at, you know, you watch Texas, and I like to talk about the opponent we're playing, but I think when you mention Texas, I think what you see is you see a team where sometimes you watch on tape, you know they're really good, and then when they get there, you see they can spread the ball out to a lot of different guys. So you might not be accounting for the tight end as much or something like that, and then those guys have really good days. I just think the execution and the detail of execution and what our players do really well is where we're at, right? When you got a new staff, new players, it's not the same crew, you know? I think Sark said something about 46 of the players out of the 70 that got on the bus in Alabama, whatever game, were the same guys, right? So they're an older team. So for us, I think you just got to make sure you stay the course and continue to develop the guys, and I think you'll start seeing guys' improvement, and they'll get better throughout the year. That's my goal every game is can we get better each week, and hopefully by the end of the season. You know, you have a finished product, but I don't want to peak too soon. Of course, I know everybody wants to, but we got to get better each week. So I just think, you know, that's this league, right? You're playing the best teams every year in conference, and then we had Texas out of conference. So I just think it just tells you what we believe of our players here, the challenge that our guys are up to, and I think as coaches we just got to continue to continue to put plans out there our guys can execute, and I think our players also know that they have to execute, and we have to coach better. This is a partnership, right? You know, it's not all on us. They'll say it, and it's not all on them. We're in it together. We got their back, and they got ours. So that's just kind of how I tell my guys each and every day. I think that's the program here. Great question.

On Aamir Hall

Yeah, I know Aamir is a hard worker, blue collar. If I showed you his tips and reminders on Saturday morning that he gives me, I mean, he fills out every single thing on there. He leaves no stone unturned. I just think the kid is, you know, you come from a program and you come here. At first I think it's just a lot going on, but then once you get settled in a season, I think it gets a lot easier for a guy like that. You know, he's at Michigan, the academics, the football, the schedule, how we do things here, you know, the challenges that we have here. You know, you got to be an elite student athlete here. I think all those sometimes weigh on transfers, and I think you start seeing them blossom once the season gets going and they get in the routine of football and how we do things. So I'm excited about Aamir. I'm a big fan of that guy. I love his family, his dad, his mom, his siblings, his brother. I just think he's, you know, he's – I wish we had him for more than one year, but I'm really excited about his growth, and I'm excited to see him moving forward.

On how much Hall's playing experience shows in the DB room

Yeah, I think when guys get rattled, I think that's the thing that experience counts for, right? I think when you've been through hard times in life or if you've been through hard times on the football field and you mess up, the more experience you have to get over them. You know, I know Greg passed away. He always talks about that, right? Like, it's the experience and how fast you can get over it. So, you know, that's something I always think about. You know, when I think of him or different things like that, it's just, you know, it's the next day, it's the next day, it's the next day. How fast can you get over it? I think the more you play, you know that it's the next play, it's the next play, it's the next play. I think you kind of see that with Will sometimes, right? Had a couple of balls against Fresno. He finishes on a high note, right? So, I just think when you get older and you get more experience, I think you can kind of flip to the next play. So, I think that's what helps Amir and some of these older players that we have. Yes, sir.

On which defensive pillars his room is focusing in on the most

Yeah, I think the pillars, I think, are just the standard of where we play here. You know, I think every team has the different ones, but I think a lot for us is pre-snap communication, right? A lot of teams we play have all these motions and orbits and shifts and stuff, and I think that's something where a safety needs to make sure he takes that over, right? You have to make sure everybody's calm, everybody's on the same page, right? I think the effort that we always talk about, you know, you should turn the tape on, it should be a little scary, like, man, those guys are getting after it. You know, we need to get back to that all the time. I think there's flashes of it, but I think we have to do that all the time. I think that's what good football looks like. You know, the ball destructions, I think I always told the D-linemen that they should lead the country in PBUs, right? We got big guys up front, they're doing a good job on second and ten getting their hands up. I think that's very unique about our guys up front because I think our D-line does a really good job. So I just think those type of the pride of pillars in our room that we always talk about, we try to focus on all of those, you know, the effort, the angles, the ball destructions, all those things, but, you know, we harp on them every day. We have cut-ups that we show those guys. We try to watch other teams, pro teams, other teams that maybe not done it, like non-conference teams that we see, and we just try to show them examples. I think kids learn by showing them examples of what they are doing and not doing. I think the more and more they see how it looks and feels, I think the better and better we'll be on defense. But I know that's probably a roundabout answer, but I think that's kind of what we've been focusing on in our room. Now, of course, you look at, as a DB coach, you know, you want all these takeaways and turnovers, which I also agree. I'm not disagreeing, but I just think that, you know, the near hand back when the guy's scrambling and we get our hand up and the ball goes out of bounds, yes, we did get an INT, but that's just as good. So I just think those guys, you know, just trying to work on the process, not the result. So, yes, sir.

On which pro team's tape he turns on the most

I'm going to be honest. This is going to sound crazy. I've never been to an NFL professional game in my entire life. I've never been to a baseball game my entire life. I'm a college fan. I like college football. I just watch a lot of the Michigan guys here. Right. Or guys that these guys like Sauce Gardner down the street. You know, he's from — these guys work out with some of these guys. Pat Surtain, Will worked with him sometimes in the summer. So I just try to find different guys that these guys are connected to. And then our guys that are playing on on Sunday. I think that's really cool to see. Like, you know, you just you're a year away from being there or two years away from there. And, you know, a lot of our guys are older. So some of these guys are here. They play with these guys. So, you know, all the guys at the Bengals, anytime I can show them any good clips, the Lions, I'm showing them, if that makes sense. I just try to watch as much good examples of good football, whatever level it is, and show the guys those examples. I think players learn by seeing, not just by hearing.

On creating more turnovers

Yeah, I think it's a lot of different things. First of all, I think it's effort to the ball. If you get to the ball, great things happen there. Right. I think like trying to knock the ball out on the on the running backs or receivers, trying to punch the ball out. I think we haven't had one of those this year. We had some takeaways, but not that. I think that's a goal that we've been talking about. Just showing them examples. You know, you know, these kids learn by 30 seconds, 30 second clips. So if I get something on Twitter and I see a guy with a great punch out, Peanut Tillman, shout out from my hometown. I always show them those. So I just think the more they see it, the more they see it's on their mind. So just the takeaways of just knocking the ball out, getting our hands up, understanding you got to get chest to chest, no PIs on different routes and different angles. We just try to work that in Indy every single day, especially Tuesday and Wednesday, and then pre-practice those guys work together on different pillars during pre-practice.

On tips and reminders with Aamir Hall

Tips and, oh, so, you know, every week we give our guys a quiz, reminder of all our different things. And, you know, it's just different plays, different motions, different communications, what's their top red zone calls, different things like that. And, you know, his test looked like I wrote it, you know, like, I mean, he's just very detailed. So I was really impressed by that. He does it every week. So that just tells you the preparation that he puts in each week.

On Mason Curtis

I love him. I love Mason Curtis. You know, I think Mason will be a big-time player here. His time is coming. You know, early in the year he was with us, and then later on he's been going kind of back and forth. But I think Mason Curtis, if you told me, a young guy that's not on the field right now moving forward, that'll be in front of y'all, I'm a big fan of Mason Curtis. He reminds me of Makari Paige a little bit. If you ask Makari, Makari probably says he has a little bit more upside, not in a bad way, just because he's just a younger player, you know, just learning. Like, Makari came in doing a lot of different things. This guy played outside linebacker, then he went to receiver. Now he's just learning DB. So a lot of the football one-on-one, he still has to work. But I think y'all will be really excited about Mason Curtis. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get an opportunity maybe later in the season when things start slowing down to help us out on Saturdays, whether it's on teams, whether it's at the secondary. But I'm a huge fan of Mason Curtis.

On Will Johnson's season so far

You know, I think Will is perfectionist. I think y'all all know that. You know, I think he has a good tone about himself and temperament and where he's at. You know, the kid wants to be perfect, right, every single play. I think you have to understand on TV, the best in the country, sometimes they can catch the ball. Now, as a fan, maybe as a coach, we might see it a little different, whether you knew what the coverage was or not. But all you see is did he catch it or did he not catch it. So I just think sometimes, you know, you don't have to talk him. You just got to keep reminding him that. And I think he knows that. He's just a perfectionist. His parents did an unbelievable job with him and his sister. He wants ten targets, zero catches, three INTs every game. Now, can you get that? You know, it's really tough to do that, right? So you think about the Texas game, he had no targets. So the game before, he did have targets. So I just think his mind is understanding how different ways you can impact the game, whether it's your effort, sideline, communication, being a leader, I think all those things. I think Will is a quiet type at times, but I think this year he took on it being like a vocal leader. And I think that's going to help him moving forward this year and next year. Anybody have any more questions?

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