On the playcalling

It's been a great experience. I think just like how we tell the players, we want to be a better team in week two than we were in week one and week four than we were in week three. We take the same approach as coaches. I want to be a better play-caller this week than I was last week. For sure, any time you're in a new role like that, it's an opportunity to learn and grow. I think, so far, things have been smoothly. Certainly, the results have been good. Are there plays we would like to have back, things we could get better at? Absolutely. We're just focused every week, every night in the office, even driving home. Whatever it is, that's what you think about. How can we be better? Playcalling is no different. Want to be the best I can be.

On how to manage the emotions of calling plays

I think that's one thing that's a strength for me. I'm not a very emotional, rollercoaster, type of guy. I like to stay neutral so that really helps me. I think being in the box also helps me. That's an underrated aspect of calling plays because being in the box, it's a very sterile, almost clinical type of environment. It's quiet, it's temperature controlled, you have all your papers in front of you. Kind of just sit there and think, get an opportunity to think things through and not let emotion get the best of you. I also think having Sherrone as a co-play-caller gives us both an opportunity to think stuff through. Where you don't have pressure on you at all times, gives you a chance to watch and to think. See things from a bigger picture. Kind of see the forest through the trees, which maybe other guys don't get the opportunity to do when they have to call plays every single play.

On how he's been able to develop a relationship with Sherrone Moore

I think that's one area we've been really strong in. We work together really well, we complement each other really well, for sure. The only bad call is a late call. When I was coaching with the Ravens, the defensive players used to say that all the time. Still say it. I just keep that in mind. You've gotta get calls in fast. Give the players time to line up and think and do their job. If we're wrong, we're all right. As long as everybody is on the same page, running the same play, it's all good. In terms of the relationship with Sherrone, I couldn't think of a better person to be partnered with. Just in terms of our skillsets are very complimentary. He's an unbelievable leader, he's unbelievable, obviously, offensive line coach but coach in general. Big picture, scheme, run game, pass game, there's really nothing he can't do. He's helped me in every single area. I just feel blessed to have the opportunity to coach with him, there's nobody else I'd rather be doing this with than Sherrone.

On whether there's concern that Michigan hasn't aired it out enough

Certainly, for us, we know the identity we have here and the personnel we have is conducive to running the football. That's what we want to be and that's who we are. It's an all-weather conference, you've got to be able to run the ball late in the year. That's how we built the team, that's how we built the offense. We make no apologies for the fact that's what we do. With that being said, yeah, we want to be good at everything. There are some things that you can do off the run game. Whether it's play action, whether it's movements. Those are certain areas we've been very efficient. Had a lot of success. Like to still keep building, like to see us connect on those shots down the field. Again, we have an unbelievable foundation. A young quarterback who is going to be a superstar. We've built a foundation, we don't turn the ball over, he's very efficient, goes through reads, he makes checks. Really excited about J.J. and the future and where the offense is. With that run game, it's just been an unbelievable foundation to be able to win games but also to build everything else off that.

On the collaboration and resources to put together a gameplan each week

Extremely blessed to be with Sherrone, and extremely blessed to have the coaching staff with Mike Hart, Grant Newsome, Ron Bellamy and all the other guys that are here, too. Our analysts are some of the smartest coaches as well. Obviously, you mentioned Jim. His football knowledge is just unsurpassed. It's all he's done his whole life, he played until he couldn't play anymore and he's going to coach until he can't coach anymore. His level of knowledge and experience is just unparalleled. He really is just an amazing coach. I think about when I was with him 15 years ago, or whatever it was, at Stanford, he was a great coach. You could see it then, we had a lot of success. Coming back and seeing him 15 years later, it's almost like he's a grandmaster of—it's running the team and how he handles the team and the mentality and the mindset or the culture. Or even specifically with the offense. He sees something before it's a problem and helps us fix it. Or if it's an idea he has for a play that's usually pretty good. We're set up for success with the guys we have here.

On analytics

Analytics is just another tool like any other information that we get. It's no different if Ron Bellamy says, hey, this corner is playing really heavy inside leverage and I think we can throw a go-ball on him. That's a piece of information that you then look at assessing based on other factors when to use it or not use it. All that information is great but, ultimately, it's all it is. It's just a data point.

On where J.J. McCarthy has grown the most

He's grown in so many ways. I think his poise is on a really elite level. He stays neutral just like we talk about. Never too high, never too low. Great example for the guys on the field. I think that his ability to know when to hold them and know when to fold them, to use a poker reference, has improved tremendously where you can see him scrambling for first downs and you can see him at the end of those plays getting down and protecting himself, which we love for him to protect his body but he's also protecting the football. He's not a guy that carries the ball through contact very much. We appreciate that. Those are two areas where he's grown tremendously. I think, also, just in terms of running the whole offense. He's only 19 years old, he's started only 9 games or something like that, or less. Watching him operate the offense, watch the checks, fix the protection, know where to go with the ball is really exceptional. Some people focus on numbers, focus on stats. Obviously, his numbers are really good. You watch the whole process, we're just really happy with where he's at.

On the relationship between McCarthy and Olu Oluwatimi

Olu is extremely valuable for us. Not only a great player but a great mind. I think if you look at the offensive line, you'll see a good center. They're usually the guys that make the whole thing go. Olu is not only physically talented but he's really intelligent and he's a really hard worker. Knows the whole gameplan, which is huge for J.J., as a first-year starter, to have that type of guy out there with him that can help him fix some of the stuff and just be a really consistent blocker. Their relationship is great, Olu is a guy we're so fortunate to have. That's a guy who will be playing on Sundays next year. Him and J.J. have a great relationship. I think everybody has got a great relationship with Olu. He was voted an alternate captain after he was here for however many months. That speaks for itself. We're ecstatic about Olu.

On developing the consistency of the deep ball

The thing I would say is that it's certainly an area we've got to improve. We've got to own that, no doubt about it. The thing that we see in practice, we see those connections happening. As players, as coaches, we're very confident that it's going to show up in the game. The game just has a limited number of reps. We're here talking about one play. Yeah, Andrel could've made an unbelievable catch and caught it, he would tell you that. If you talked to J.J., he would tell you that he threw the ball with not enough air and a little too far up the field, made it a tough adjustment for him. He can throw a way better ball, especially for a guy that's so wide open. For a young quarterback, that's part of the learning process, too, of not every throw has to be right on the money. There's different degrees of how open someone is, where it has to be put through a small loophole where everyone has to be, hey, I'm so wide open just get him the ball. I know J.J. is going to learn from that and, sometimes, you have to make those mistakes in game before they really sink in and make that part of your game. We're very confident that those connections are going to happen.

On where he wants to see the offense continue to improve

That's exactly what we emphasize and that's exactly what we've done. Our offense now is lightyears ahead of where it was in week four or week five. To your point, we want to do the same thing in the next three weeks. I think it's important to make our strengths our strengths. We're going to need our run game, we're going to need to take care of the football. Those are two things we've done really well. We need an efficient passing game, too, which we've done. We're going to need some of those deep ball connections. We're excited. We feel like it's all right there for us. We feel like we can coach everything better. I know coaches feel like they can execute better. We're seeing improvement every week. Excited for these last three.

On the red zone

It's really difficult. It's harder to run because the safeties are certainly closer to the line of scrimmage. It's harder to throw because you don't have the threat of stretching the defense vertically. Both things are harder to do in the red zone. As far as the goal line at Rutgers, we just feel like our offensive line, with our running backs, you put the ball inside our one-yard line, man, we've gotta go straight ahead and punch that thing in. Maybe we did it one too many times. Obviously, we have other plays we can call. Eventually, the guys got the ball in. It's all good. Really happy with the improvement we made from the Michigan State game.