On his journey to OL coach

It was an unexpected journey. You go from playing and having a pretty bad injury and not knowing what you’re going to do with your life. I started coaching thinking I would do it while getting my master’s degree and then go off and do something else in the world, and then next thing you know, seven years later, I’d be the offensive line coach here. It’s a tremendous honor and one I don’t take lightly. I fully understand the responsibility to uphold the standard that’s been in that room since when you played, and even well before that and when I played, and then now with what Coach Moore has done the last three years.

On why he decided to stay in football, particularly at Michigan

It’s Michigan. It’s easy to say that, but I think until you’ve been a fan of Michigan, or especially for the guys like myself who have been fortunate enough to wear the winged helmet, it means something. And it means something more than just a job, just a paycheck. This is home. There’s a responsibility that comes with that. To try to continue that tradition and uphold that standard that all the previous players and all the previous coaches that have ever been in this building. Once I started coaching and I really felt that, I just couldn’t walk away from it. Just a tremendous opportunity to be able to still be here and now take over the offensive line.

On working with Sherrone Moore

I've been very fortunate — I was Sherrone's assistant for two years in the tight end room, when he was the tight ends coach and I was the student assistant, technically. Worked with him when I was a grad assistant when he was the offensive line coach. Being fortunate enough to work for him when he was the offensive line coach and I was the tight ends coach. We’ve worked side by side for six years now. I think he’s got a pretty good sense of who I am as a coach and as a person and all that. When the move happened and he became the head coach, he said, ‘Hey, I want you to coach the offensive line,’ and I said, ‘perfect.’ I don’t know if it was a traditional interview, but you’d like to think that I kinda had that six-year interview. It’s been an honor to work for him, and so excited to be able to continue that.

On the challenge replacing starters on the offensive line as a new coach

It's going to be different, there's no way around it. You're going from losing, really, an incredible group of players, of people, who had hundreds of games started between them across the last three years. It's going to be a challenge but I also think of it as a great opportunity. For myself, for the guys in the room, most importantly, to kind of have a clean slate. That's going to be the challenge I'm going to make to those guys. Hey, the guys who left, those top six guys who left, they set an incredible standard for us to try and uphold. It's going to be a great opportunity for the guys to do that.

On how he builds the offensive line

I think the biggest thing is you've gotta find the best five. That's another nice thing, a great part of the opportunity is that it really is a clean slate. Myles coming back, has some experience starting at tackle, Josh (Priebe) coming in will be a huge, huge addition. It's really a clean slate and it'll be our job as coaches to find the best five as coaches and develop those guys and, obviously, well beyond those five. As you know, more than five will have to be ready. Find the best five to start and make sure we have 10 or 12 developed that we feel comfortable playing.

On Greg Crippen

I think Greg is a great example, especially in today's day and age, of a guy who has put his head down and worked. The reality is, we brought in two All-American level centers the last two years. Instead of being upset or transferring or kind of going in the tank, he put his head down and just worked. The reality is, he starts for 95, 98, 99 percent of teams across college football last year. We felt like that in this building, there would be no drop-off if we needed him to play. Obviously, you saw that in the Iowa game, he more than handled himself. It's a huge, huge asset for us, even though he's going to potentially be a new starter, quote, unquote. He's prepared like a starter, he's played in games for us and it's been awesome to see. You saw last year, I'm not sure there's a single player who was in the building more watching film. He was here until 11 at night, at times you were kicking him out of the building. He's prepared himself for this opportunity and I'm excited to see what he does with it.

On Giovanni El-Hadi

I think it's one thing that was encouraging for us to see from Gio last year was to really kind of see him start to find his voice. The maturity and the other pieces that come with that. I think the exciting opportunity for a guy like Gio will be to step into that leadership role. Hey, you got to learn from 5, 6, really, really good players the last three years. Hey, it's your time to go step up not only on the field but also in the room in terms of having your voice and being one of the leaders on the offensive line.

On Myles Hinton

I think the challenge for Myles will be to go be that premier tackle that he has the talent to be. Obviously, that's not a knock on him because he was battling injuries a lot last year, even when he was out playing. Making sure we get him fully healthy, he can stay fully healthy and go out there and perform at the level you're capable of. He's got an unbelievable amount of talent, you look at him, you've seen him in person, he's a big dude. They don't make many dudes who are that big and move that well and look that good. The challenge for him will be to go out there and put it on tape the entire year. He has that ability.

On other players auditioning for tackle

We'll have a good mix of guys this spring. We'll have guys like Jeff Persi, Andrew Gentry, guys who have played in games for us. Persi started against Rutgers back in 22. We're fortunate that we've had a whole bunch of guys who weren't tasked to be starting in the last couple of years just because we had so much older experience on the offensive line that we feel like they're very, very good players. I'm excited to see them compete. Again, that's the awesome part of this opportunity for those guys. We're going to have, essentially, five new starters. There will be plenty of competition and I'm excited for spring ball to see that.

On the interior offensive linemen

You've got guys like Amir, Raheem, Nate, there's a lot of guys on the interior of the offensive line who are going to have a great opportunity to step up along with those early enrollees. I'm a firm believer that competition brings out the best in everyone and I think back to my playing experience, competing with Ben Bredeson and all those older guys on the offensive line as well. It really pushed me to be the best player I could possibly be, I'm excited for that opportunity this spring.

On the early enrollees

I think the most encouraging thing amongst Jake and Blake and I'll say the same for Hogan and Brady, too, I spent time with them. Just the level of maturity. You can imagine, you're a 17, 18-year-old, your first experiences in college football are the Rose Bowl and then the national championship. They were very much about their business. Not being a distraction. On-time, where they were supposed to be. As you know, that's one of the most important things, especially as a young player is handling your business. There's a big adjustment being a freshman and playing college football, especially at a university like this. Just seeing that level of maturity makes me excited that we get that, if that continues, then we attack the on-field piece.

On Josh Priebe

The first thing is just experience. Having a guy who has started a lot of games, especially in the conference, was a huge appeal to us, especially the fact that we're going to be a younger room this year. Being able to have a guy who can come in and compete to start but then also provide some of that experience, albeit at a different school, have experience in this conference and understand what it takes to succeed at this level.

On the changes in the staff that has happened since the national championship

I would say it's obviously change. The conversation that I've had with other people in the program is that change is not always a bad thing. Obviously, Coach Minter, Jesse was incredible, one of the best defensive minds in football, but I know, when it's been official, the person that Coach Moore is going to bring in is going to do a heckuva job. Like I said, it's not always a bad thing to have change because it's just another perspective, another voice, maybe another style of coaching. That's not a slight to any of those guys on the defensive side who have left, obviously, they're all great coaches and that's why they're going to where they are. I think it'll be a cool opportunity for the program to bring in some different voices and different perspectives. Hopefully, it'll make us better.

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