On improving at receiver

Yeah, just the one area that we really focus on is just being detailed. Get the opportunity to make plays. Got to make it. The boys had a great practice yesterday. Just, you know, continue to, you know, strive in that direction.

On Arkansas State

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, Arkansas State, very solid football team. They're 2-0 and had a big win last week against Tulsa. And, you know, these guys are, you know, coming to the big house. And they want to show that they belong. So, you know, they're going to, you know, they have our attention. And, you know, for us, you know, we just want to be detailed and make sure that, you know, we show up on Saturday.

On the receivers being better than they've shown

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, our guys are ready to roll. You know, they're ready to roll. The good thing about us is every game, every opportunity we have to practice, they grow. You know, it's a fairly young group. But, you know, every day you just see them growing. They're learning. They're getting better.

On the learning curve being different for Kendrick Bell who didn't play receiver in high school

You know, he sees it differently, being a quarterback. So, he understands the game probably a little bit more than most receivers, younger receivers, I should say. You know, the thing about Kendrick is, last year, you know, scouting, something we talked about, he's grown so quickly because he got a chance to, think about the DBs he went against last year in practice, Will Johnson, Josh Wallace, Mikey Sainristil. So, he went against those guys every single day on the scout team and got better. And then after practice, every day you see him on the jugs. You see him working on footwork, refining his skills. Offseason, he's spending time with his brother, you know, working. So, you know, he's definitely a little bit more mature, you know, beyond his years as a receiver. But it's not a guy that went from defense to offense. It's a guy that went from quarterback. He understands the game to playing receiver. And his athletic traits definitely helps him out tremendously.

On Semaj Morgan

Yeah, just, you know, for us, you know, receiver-wise, we're like, we're the new quarterback. You want to make sure that you're where you're supposed to be at at the right time. And when an opportunity presents itself to make a play, you got to make them. And, you know, Semaj was, you know, making the most of his opportunities. He's a playmaker for us. You know, one of the more dynamic guys in our room. And, you know, one of the things that we're going to put the ball in his hands and give him opportunities. And, you know, as he makes more plays, you know, more opportunities will be created for him.

On whether simplifying the offense has helped in practice

Yeah, yeah, I feel like we have a great game plan. And the one thing I say about our kids is they're smart. You know, they're smart, adaptable. They can, you know, anything. Not just the receivers, but O-line, tight ends, quarterbacks, running backs. It doesn't matter what position. We ask a lot of them just because of, you know, the style of play for us. And, you know, for us as coaches, we want to make sure we put the kids in the best position to be successful on Saturdays.

On CJ Charleston

Yeah, he's ready to roll. He's the most experienced guy in our room, you know, coming from Youngstown State and, you know, a guy that had a ton of experience. And he's played against, you know, big – I know we don't play a Big Ten team this week, but he's played against Big Ten schools before. So, you know, he's a guy that we're asserting him more and more, you know, just trying to – you know, he's super sharp, smart. You can play him in multiple positions. You know, he's definitely a veteran that you can rely on.

On Donovan Edwards as a receiver

Yeah, no, no. Donovan is – obviously you guys know his production speaks for itself. You know, his career throughout, you know, throughout Michigan, his career in Michigan. You know, he's a guy that you can create mismatches with, you know, getting them on safeties and linebackers. That's something that, you know, constantly, you know, we're going to, you know, involve in the game plan and whatnot. And as far as receiver skills, me working with him, that's something that pre-practice we talk about different things. And he'll come over during special teams. And, you know, if I'm doing things with receivers, he'll come over and jump in there with his ball drills, footwork drills, or just us talking about, you know, just techniques that we're going to use on certain routes because the running backs have the ability to do some of the same things, especially a guy with his skill set.

On whether he expects to use Edwards more int he pass game

Yeah, yeah. You know, we – it just depends on, you know, our opponent, you know, where the weakness is that we can exploit things that, you know, ways we can get Donovan going. And we really like our receivers, we really like our tight ends. You know, we like Donovan as well, you know, and some of the other running backs can do the same thing. It's just, you know, week to week, you know, what does the defense allow us to do? And that's how we decide, you know, like who's going to get the ball and what not.

On how adding pass game coordinator to his title change his workload

Yeah, just for me, just, you know, assisting Coach Campbell, you know, with the pass game stuff, just, you know, really being, you know, one of those guys that understand what the defense is trying to do and the structure of their coverages and, you know, coming in with ideas and, you know, we get together and, you know, just trying to make sure that the past game's efficient and, you know, we're putting the guys in position to be successful.

On what the staff is doing to help the players with details

Yeah, just constantly, you know, constantly emphasizing it, reminders, just making sure, you know, like I said, I think the biggest thing when you have guys that their first time playing, you know, extensive playing time, speaking more so in our room, is sometimes the guy's like, okay, I'm not making mistakes, but you can be certain detail at certain areas. For instance, if the route's at 12, make sure you're at 12. If you're supposed to be, you know, two yards outside the hash, make sure you're two yards outside the hash. You know, we want to make sure we're exactly where we need to be so that the quarterback, you know, when our number's called, that we're right at the spot that he expects us to be at.

On whether he noticed detail issues in practice before games played

No, I mean, you notice it throughout, you know, throughout camp. It's something that you just continue, you know, you're teaching. It's whether it's, you know, a 10-year NFL vet or whether it's a rookie in a league, you're constantly teaching details as a coach, you know. We're getting better yourself as a coach, and obviously you're making your players better, especially for us that, you know, when you're rotating guys, you want to make sure, you know, guys understand the importance of details.

On route running issues

Yeah, yeah. I speak on Fred's, you know, a couple weeks ago. Just one of those things where experience, right? You put yourself in an experience where, you know, you're adjusting to the ball and, like, go make a play. Now, he made a play on the ball, you know, it just wasn't good enough, you know, so that's something in film studies show, like, hey, you know, yeah, okay, you had a couple yards, but now go, you go be a defensive back here or you go high point the ball and it's yours. Go attack it, play with more aggressive mindset to the ball, right? That's a learning experience for Fred. Going back to T-Mo, just simply, you know, double move, just lost the ball in the light, you know, in the first night game. That's one of the things that, you know, me as a coach, like, hey, maybe I sent him to the stadium or something, you know, to get under the lights or something like that, so I have to be better there to make sure that you put the kids in a position to be successful in. You know, for us, collectively, pass catchers, whether it's receivers, tight ends, or running backs, you know, we're going to elevate our game to make sure that, you know, when opportunities present themselves, where we need to be on time, the right space for the quarterback in, go make plays. Ultimately, that's what it comes down to.

On the passing game struggles and perhaps losing momentum in recruiting

Yeah, I mean, that's always been, you know, teams use that as negative recruiting, right, you know, our style of play. You know, but for us, we're recruiting guys that, you know, fit our style of play, kids that want to be here and kids that understand that, I mean, we do have receivers there in the NFL. You know, you get the opportunity to play in the NFL system, a pro-style offense, and you're going to be developed here. And that's our, you know, that's our selling point to recruits. And they understand that we have talented players at every position here. So that has not been an issue for us.

On whether the program should've added more production through the portal considering the losses

Yeah, I mean, it's something that was discussed. You know, we're not like other schools where we're just chasing people. You know, I think the big thing for us is we do like what we have in our room. We added some pieces in there. Now it's time for, you know, the guys to, you know, including myself, we all got to rise. And, you know, the onus has been on that, you know, really challenging everyone in each room, you know, to elevate their game, you know, play with more details. And, you know, once that starts happening, I think you'll see more production in, you know, I think that'll kind of answer itself. But, yeah, you know, obviously losing guys like Roman and Cornelius play a lot of football here in Michigan. You know, the young guys, you know, now's their time. You know, now's the time for them to show that they can play at this level.

On whether he's singling anyone out with high expectations and challenging them

All of them, really. You know, I think, you know, you put the added stress on just picking one particular person. I mean, all our guys have very unique skill sets that I think it makes it harder on Saturdays for defenses to, like, okay, we're going to signal this guy out. But, like I say, once the production rises, you know, then obviously that becomes more stress for the defense. So that's something that we constantly, you know, guys have different skill sets that are better than others that you've got to utilize on Saturdays. And, you know, moving forward, that's our goal.

On Amorion Walker's biggest hurdles to seeing the field

Yeah, like just the transition from defense to offense. Although he was on offense his freshman year, we changed some things. So just that hurdle, that's kind of been the biggest hurdle now is kind of just getting the consistency there. Super talented guy, super talented player. He's getting more and more each and every day. He's getting more and more comfortable, you know, acclimate himself back into the receiver room. So, you know, hopefully, you know, we'll, you know, be ready to roll with A-Walk. You know, he's talented and I love him. And, you know, he's, you know, spending, you know, a lot of time, you know, working on his craft to make sure he gets on the field more.

On scheming his receivers to get open

Yeah, we do. I think the biggest thing is if you don't watch the All-22, it's easy to say that because the announcers are saying it. I don't think that's necessarily true. But if we are running into a situation where the DBs may be more skilled than receivers, then obviously from a conceptual standpoint, you do that. You scheme your receivers open, whether it's motion stacks, whatever it may be. But we've done a good job of that in the past. And if we need to do that, we have those resources. But I think more or less that's just, you know, no disrespect, I think it's more TV talk. You've got to watch the All-22 to kind of truly see it.

On what Kendrick Bell has done to get so many snaps

Smart, sharp. He's a Bell. As I told him, he's a Bell. He's really elevated himself in spring ball. We didn't have a ton of receivers in spring ball, so he took a ton of reps. And he's just grown from that, from spring ball to his summer development, the things that he's done. I mentioned earlier him getting with Ronnie and came back fall camp, had a great fall camp. And now he put himself in position to compete for starting job. And for us, guys that you can count on that's reliable, that's the ones you're putting on the field. And Kendrick, his number was called, and he shows up in practice all the time. And now it's just a matter of the more opportunities he gets, I'm sure that he's going to make it happen. So I'm excited about Kendrick and where he is. And there's still a ton of room for growth. He's a redshirt freshman, but he's definitely on the right track.

On whether he believes that Ronnie that a big influence on him

They talk all the time. Ronnie and I talk too, obviously. Having Coach Ronnie and Kendrick talk, and the things that Ronnie's seeing with the 49ers at the professional level, he's sharing some things with Kendrick. And Kendrick would come to me, ideas and different things like that, that he's talking to with his older brother. So, no, that's why Kendrick is playing more and more. Like I said, he's going out there, and he doesn't look like he's a redshirt freshman out there. He's an older guy, makes plays, and hopefully if he gets more opportunities, you'll see that.

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