On whether he's comfortable that he has what he needs with the defensive front for next year and beyond

I think you're always looking to recruit good talent, but we have great players here. Whether guys stay or leave, they're going to have to make decisions based on what's best for their family and their future. I think we do have some great young talent. I think guys have taken huge steps here in the last month, month and a half. Ike, Trey, Enow have all gotten better. Benny being banged up, coming back. All those guys have done great jobs. What they do after the season, they're going to have to do what's best for them and their family. They'll meet with coach and myself and we'll go over. But right now, it's just like one-game mentality, one- day mentality. We talk about the jot all the time, just one thing. What are they going to do today to get better, to beat the next opponent? That's where we're at right now with it.

On the adjustments made in the second half defensively

The only thing I can talk about is my position. I feel like early on we pressed a little bit, like you're trying to make every single play out there. So you just kind of settle down, take a breath, play your technique. And when we do that, we're pretty good. And again, I think that's been the biggest thing for us, just settling down.

On game planning for an offense like Michigan's who hasn't completed a 40-yard pass all season

Yeah, any game plan, no matter who you're playing, whether you're playing Ohio State or the San Francisco 49ers, you're going to try to take away. As a defense, you try to take away what the opponent does well. So you're going to try to game plan for that and then break it down from there, make sure you're sound and everything else. So you're going to try to take away what they do really well to put yourself in the best position to win. That's what you do on defense.

On how much easier game-planning becomes when the big-play element isn't there

I don't know if the big play element's not there because they've had explosive runs. Again, you try to take away what the offense does really good and limit that and then make sure you're sound everywhere else. So I think that's what we would try to do. Without knowing, without game planning anybody, day one, Sunday, you walk in, you're getting ready to play an opponent. What do they do really good? Let's take that away and then work from there.

On the stretch between now and signing day differ from his other stops

I mean, football's football. As far as the aspect of it being the last couple games, you're trying to get the best product out there, put the guys in the best spot to be successful like you've been doing all year. No matter where you are, it doesn't matter what level, as you get closer to that signing day, you're really good players or we're still really good players and people still recruit them. And then you have some players that have developed into really good players throughout their senior year. Maybe you saw something that not everybody did, and then their senior year all of a sudden everybody else sees it, so they're trying to recruit. And again, you hope by this time you have good enough relationships with guys that they feel comfortable with you. The space is totally different now with the NIL and everything else. So that's unique no matter where you are because as you go through it, it's a different space for everybody. So I wouldn't say there's that much difference, the different level of player is, but at the end of the day when you're two weeks out from signing day, you're still recruiting your butt off trying to keep guys here and you're trying to get guys. And that doesn't change no matter where you are.

On how often money comes up in conversations

I mean, it's one of the first things that people talk about. And again, you've recruited guys for so long that the first time they come here as a sophomore or a junior, probably not the first conversation. But where we are right now, and as you get closer to signing day, it definitely comes up. Because, I mean, for a family that has two working-class parents or one working-class parent that makes X amount of dollars, when you can bump that income up almost by 100% because you're going to go to a school and play football, I mean, that's a lot of money for a lot of people. So, again, at the end of the day, I tell guys all the time, and Coach Moore does a great job with it, we want what's best for you and your family. And coming to Michigan isn't just the NIL price tag, it's the education, it's the connections, it's what's going to help you the next 40 years of your life, not just the next four. And those are the things that you've got to try to convey to the recruits. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It's a lot of money going on for families, some families that don't have a lot. But that's going to be anywhere now moving forward.

On how it is to overcome a breakdown in the 1/11th

Offense is totally different than defense. Defense, you can mask mistakes with effort. You can have a guy be out of a gap and a backside backer make an unbelievable effort play. He's running his butt off and he's trying to cancel gaps out. So defense is easier to mask mistakes. The offense has to see a guy. A D-end can get reached and the D-tackle does a great job and makes it bounce and the running back has to cut it back, even though if he kept it outside, he'd have the edge. So defense is totally different. On offense, you have one cog. Not spin the right way, the machine don't work. And I think that's what's different on offense. You have to be perfect with your details. I think that's the biggest thing. I haven't watched them that closely. I tell you, with the iPads, I've watched the smallest amount of offensive games, in-game, than I've ever done in my whole career because you're sitting with the iPad and you're just looking at it. So I never really watch the offense. But that's the biggest difference with the offense. You get one thing spinning in the opposite direction or not spinning at all, the machine don't move. Defensively, you don't want that. I'm not saying that, but defensively, you can mask mistakes with effort. That's the difference.

On his pitch to voters about Mason Graham and the awards he's up for

He does an unbelievable job of taking care of his body to put himself in the best situation. And football IQ, he's one of the best I've ever been around. Like, literally, he can recite calls from two years ago when he was a freshman. He can talk about blocking schemes. He can talk about pass protection. He can talk about how people are trying to attack him, how people are trying to get his hit. I mean, unbelievable how his hand placement is. Like, I tell him all the time, he'd be a great coach. Like, he's going to be a great coach whenever he gets done playing football. The biggest thing for him that he does to me, if you watch him, watch how he plays with leverage. Like, the football stuff and pre-snap, all those reads are great. But watch him play with leverage. Like, he is always lower than the guy. He always has great hands. He does an unbelievable job with his feet. And he's the first one to come off the field, and he'll say it. He's like, Coach, my base was too tight. Or, Coach, he banged my hip. Or, Coach, he did this. Like, it's unbelievable his football IQ is second to none. And, you know, I had the Fisk kid who's now starting for the Rams as a rookie, and it's the same thing. Like, their football IQ is so high. They dissect plays before it goes on. That's why he's a great player. And so is Kenneth. Kenneth, the big KG, does a great job with it, too. Those older guys have seen so many blocking schemes and so many different types of football game plans around them that they do a great job with it.

On whether he thinks the second half against Indiana is the best his unit played

It was good. I don't know if it sticks out as, like, the best half. I mean, statistically, you'd probably say it was because they had such few yards. But they played well. And, again, they stopped pressing. They went. Things were easy. They took a breath. You know, the thing with the D-line is people attack us differently every week. And going back to the question before about the offense, hey, you're going to take away what they do really well. Well, we've seen a couple games where they've done things that they've never done. Like, we've seen more screens and more movement passes and more quick game than we've ever seen, than I've ever seen. So they're going to attack us differently. So it's like almost being like a triple-option offense. Like, you don't know how they're going to defend you, right? So you don't know how they're going to attack us because they want to soften up the middle a little bit. And, again, they played great in the second half. They did a good job. And, you know, at the end of the day, when we're settled down and playing good up front, everybody plays good. And that's offense and defense. Starts with the front.

On whether NIL is something that's brought up with what Michigan can offer or do recruits bring it up?

I think more it's a little bit of both. I mean, some guys bring it up right away and some guys don't. I think the guys that are higher-end kids that have been to a couple of different places bring it up But, you know, for us, I don't talk about the money. Like, we don't talk about that. We have NIL opportunities, and then they meet with our GM, Sean McGee, and he does a great job talking about that and explaining it to the families. So each case is individualized with who brings it up and when they bring it up. But it's part of recruiting. You can't run from it anymore. Like, it's just like, hey, what jersey number I'm getting? Like, what type of cleats am I going to wear? Hey, what's the NIL package? What's the NIL space? I should say not as much package but more space. What are we doing with it?

On the offseason being critical for the program moving forward on defense

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, this is going to be a huge offseason because you've got to replace, right? Like, we'd be naive to say that every kid is coming back. That's just not the way it works. Like, we have unbelievable players here that have worked their tails off to get in position to go play in the NFL, and that's what they're going to do. Like, a lot of these guys are going to go do that. And, again, we're going to support them either whatever they want to do. So you're going to have to replace those guys. You hope that the development of the young guys are good, and then you have to bring some key pieces in, like everyone in the country does. Like, we just got done playing Indiana. They had 13 transfers on offense. I don't know how many they had on defense, but they had 13 transfers on offense. Texas, they had eight or nine guys. Oregon, eight or nine guys. So you're looking at the top programs in the country, and they all have a ton of transfers. So you have to do that. It's just the way recruiting goes now. I think it's by committee, honestly. Like, I'm a big believer in, like, if you get a bunch of guys in a room with a bunch of set of eyes, the margin of error is smaller. If there's one set of eyes looking at it, you know, the margin of error is bigger. So if you get five or six guys, a couple guys from the recruiting, and that's what I think we've done a good job with. You sit down as a defensive staff, there's a couple people from personnel, a couple people from recruiting, and you all look at it. You might not agree with everybody, but the margin of error is smaller. And all the kids that we've done that with have been super successful.

On Derrick Moore and Rayshaun Benny at the top of the list for offseason retention

I mean, absolutely. Those are guys. I mean, they're great players for us, great playmakers. You know, we don't really have, like, hey, this is the number one guy. We have above the line, and all of those guys are above-the-line. Any of the guys that have played for us that have done – and would benefit them one way or another, we're going to try to help them make that decision. But you'd love to have those guys back, for sure.

On what Moore and Benny bring to the defense

Yeah, I mean, Benny, every time he's out there, he's making plays. Like, he's productive. He's tough. He's physical. I think he plays with unbelievable emotion. He's a high-energy guy. And then D-Mo's the same way. You watch D-mMo, we laugh all the time because you get all these guys with all these sacks, every single one of them – maybe not everyone, 90% of them – it's D-Mo knocking this guy back, and the quarterback's trying to escape, and he escapes into somebody else. So D-Mo causes a lot of that stuff. So I just – he's an unbelievable player. He does a great job with his hands. He's physical at the point of attack. All those negative runs, you watch him. He's flattening the run wall out. He's a great player for us.

On his unit living up to high expectations this season

Yeah, they've played well. And, again, I'm pleased with the unit. The results for the team isn't where you want it to be, right? So, like, you're always going to be down there. But as the group plays, I think the biggest thing is not where you want it to end. Like, do guys get better every week? And I feel like all guys get better every week. And that's the thing to me that is the most refreshing. Like, the biggest thing you talk about is, like, what are you going to do every day to get better for the next day? Just get a little bit better every day, and I think those guys have done that. You watch the tape from where we started to where we are now. I mean, guys playing with hands, guys playing with effort, guys playing with pad level. Those guys are unbelievable, and they do a great job. And that's a credit to them. Like, they work. Like, you watched practice yesterday. Yesterday's practice might have been one of our best practices as a front, assignment-wise, running around, pad level. Like, it was awesome. And to have that at this point in the season, that's what you want. And it's a tribute to those guys. They do a great job.

On Dom Nichols' development

He's special. He's going to be special. Like, he has gotten so much better with his hands and his IQ. He's going to be a special player. You knew, like, when you put him out and you say it's pass, just go get the quarterback. You could see it. It's like a basketball player, right? Roll the ball out. Go play one-on-one. You see he's got great talent. But sometimes that piece doesn't fit with the four other guys out there on a basketball court. Just like a defensive end, sometimes if you're just a great pass rusher, you might not fit into the system because we have to stop. You earn the right to rush the passer by stopping the run. And his run defense has gotten so much better with his hands. It's been awesome to watch. And, you know, he's a big 255, 260-pound kid that is going to be a man and absolutely be special. He's going to be a special player here.

On the other freshmen developing

They're doing a great job. You know, we go opportunity scrimmages every Monday. All those guys have gotten better. You know, I feel like every kid, the biggest thing, for our position up front, like, you have to physically be ready to play. Like, that's the biggest thing. Like, the year you spend in the weight room, the six months, the eight months, whatever that is, like, it's priceless. And what Tress and Abigail do with nutrition and Tress does with strength and conditioning, that is just as important as every rep we're taking in practice right now. And they're doing a great job. You see guys getting stronger. You see guys playing with a better base. You see guys using their hand and being able to lock out. And I think that's a big thing. So we're excited about those guys, for sure.

On how quickly he became indoctrinated in the OSU rivalry

Day one. When I came here, the very first day I walked off the plane, I went to a spring practice. Hadn't met a coach or a player yet. We get off the field. I walk in the building, and I'll never forget it. I walk through, and I'm like, yo, I don't even know where the team room is. And I walked in the team room, and you saw it. And that night I talked with Cherone, and he's like, hey, make sure you're watching Ohio State. And I was like, what? It's spring. He's like, it's the game. It's the big game. So, like, again, it's huge. It's the game. So quickly, to answer your question, quickly.

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