On being better on third downs and Davis Warren
You gotta be better on first down. You gotta get more positive gains on first down. I know he took a lot of grief to himself for it, but I thought he played pretty well. Made some plays for us and did some things. Out-of-pocket plays, touchdowns both times. He took a lot of the blame, but as a team we gotta be better on first down.
On Kalel Mullings not breaking as many tackles
I mean really, just again, same thing. On normal downs you gotta be better. There's somebody right in his face right now. It's hard to make the guy miss. He did a really good job of getting the ball back to the line of scrimmage if we needed him to. For us, we just gotta be better as a team.
On how he felt the staff prepared the team
Yeah, I think you saw two different halves. You saw the first half where it didn't feel like there was enough energy, enough excitement. I thought the team, I thought they were prepared and mentally ready to play. Which they didn't execute. But the second half, it felt like it came out. But what you saw was a test of what the culture is. The guys never quit. Our players kept fighting all the way to the end and had many chances to make it a one-score game. Had a possible pick. I thought it was a great call by Wink with the alignment and movement. Giving them a show of one look and giving them another. Almost created a pick and then had a chance to get down in the red zone and score a touchdown. But credit to them, they're a good football team. So it's credit to them as well.
On what he would chalk up the in-game issues to
I mean, the one penalty with the special team, we got to clean that up. And then, really there was only one substitution deal. Which hadn't really happened all year with any tempo deals. So that was one that we definitely had to take care of.
On Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill's status
Yeah, I mean, both working through it. Pushing. Seems like Jyaire's working—he's trending on probably playing. But we'll see. And then we'll see with Will how he goes this week.
On how he would assess the coaching operation through eight games
Yeah, I mean, I think we just got to continue to get better. We got to find ways to get better in every way. We are where we are with our records. But, you know, we've got a chance to go fight and go win some more games. So that's the goal.
On whether he's changed much from the start of the year to now
We've changed different practice things and schedules of how we progress through practice. I mean, as you go through the year, you get more banged up and do different things. So you've got to adjust the players. We'll keep adjusting and making the best game plans available to go win.
On the dropped touchdown catch on replay
Yeah, I mean, I think everybody's – we're all looking at every play. And the review – the angles that were shown for us to see weren't shown at the time. So we didn't see the drop. But I think it's knowledge that all the plays should be reviewed. So it's something that, you know, obviously you saw the TV copy of the ball went right through the guy's hands and hit the ground. So it should have been reviewed. But we'll look at that.
On whether they have someone looking at all scoring plays
Yeah, we have guys in the box. Everybody watches every play and every film. So I think that's a collective effort of everybody always watching that. So whether that angle in the box, we didn't see it initially, whatever it is. But it was obviously seen on the TV copy.
On defending the run game
Yeah, I mean, I think early on in the game, those guys did a really good job of spreading it sideline to sideline. And then, you know, they got some creases. It's not like there's been just a load of explosive runs in the run game. They've had to definitely earn it. And we've made them earn it. So you've got a really good team you played last week. So really good team and really good scheme. So we've got to do a better job of fitting our gaps and doing those things to stop the run.
Another good one on Saturday, obviously, in the run and stopping the run, I guess. Just how key is getting, I mean, I know you asked about getting the call going again and then on the other side.
On Indiana and walking the fine line between recruiting and loading up in the portal
Yeah, it's part of it. You've got to figure out how you want to build the program, whether it's with the high school range or all in the portal or a mix of both. We're always going to rely on our high school players and the guys we want to build from within and keep the culture. But, yeah, you're going to have those transfer grads to supplement different spots, which we'll have and we'll continue to do so. He's done, obviously, an unbelievable job of what he's done with his team. They play discipline. They play fast. They play physical. Offensively, they do a really good job of spreading you out. But doing things, keeping it simple for their players and making it difficult for your defense. And defensively, they just play great team defense and try to make you make a mistake.
On how he can explain the two different trajectories between Michigan and Indiana
Yeah, I think for them, they just did a really good job of bringing in the right guys, bringing in the right people. And I think Coach Cignetti's done an unbelievable job with building the program, how he has. He's done it before, done it in the past. And for us, we just got to continue to do what we need to do to progress. So we're looking at the future, looking at this game, looking at today. We're trying to figure out how we can get a better day. That's what we're going to go do.
On how he would evaluate Kirk Campbell
Yeah, I mean, I think for us, it's got to be a collective effort on how we do this and how we formulate the offense. So we've got to just be better as a whole group. It's not just him. It's got to be everybody. Everybody's got to be a team, and we've got to do everything together. So we'll figure out what's the best ways for us to continue to move the football and be successful.
On what has lived up to the Michigan standard
I mean, obviously the record's not where we want it to be, but I love watching the fight. Like I just said, you go in the second half of that game, and a lot of teams were laid down. A lot of teams just said, ah, it's over. Well, we told the team, you know, we want to go out three and out. Then we want to go down and score, and that's what they did. So it's a lot of pride to do that, and that's the standard that you want to live up to. So the record's not where it is, but we want to keep fighting. And that's the goal, and that's what we're going to keep doing. And then I guess is that just the message to fans? I mean, 40 wins in three years.
On the message to the fans
Yeah, we're just going to keep fighting. We can't worry about outside noise, praise or criticism for us in this building, for these players. Like I said before, they're the most disappointed people in the world right now. So my job is to make sure that they're in a good headspace, make sure that they're taken care of, and we can continue to push forward in a positive way and continue to go try to win.
On the special teams penalty and Gary Danielson's criticism of the challenge
No, I didn't hear about anything on the Internet. I kind of bogged out the Internet and all the things going on there. But the rule basically just, you know, lining up on the center with that number. So it's something we've got to adjust, we've got to get better at, and we've got to make sure we fix internally. And then, you know, it felt like at that point in the game, the players were fighting. I wanted to fight for the players. You know, it was a big-time play by Colston, going up and making the catch, coming down with his elbow, hitting the ground, his knee hit, his elbow hit. And, you know, it was too close to not fight for the players. So that's what I was going to do.
On what can be built on this week
Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, the stops that we had on defense and then offensively how we moved the ball, especially on that first drive and coming out at halftime, building on that. So, you know, the job now is to continue to get better, to continue to fight, to continue to strive to make positive impacts on the team. And that's what we're going to go do.
On the importance of getting a sixth win
Yeah, we've got to get it. It's huge, huge for us, huge for the program. It just gives you another chance, an opportunity to go play football, to get better and impact this team and put another win in the win column.
On the key to getting the sixth win
Yeah, I mean, really just, you know, the same things that we all talk about, take care of the football, take away the football, and then create explosive plays in the pass end, run game, and limit those on defense.
On the response from recruits this year compared to years past
I mean, obviously I can't talk about recruits, but we've been, I think they see the atmosphere. I think they see what has happened. I think they understand the vision that we explained to them and what this is going to be like. They've been pretty positive. We've gotten some good commitments, got some good guys to join the family and look to continue that trend.
On not having a QB committed in the 2025 class
We'll be fine.
On how much of the gameplan is scripted heading into the game and how much can it veer from the script
It's scripted. A lot of the stuff, even when I was a coordinator, I had a first 15 and sometimes it would be a 10 depending on the game and the team we were playing. So it's scripted out and the guys practice it for at least two days and know exactly what it is. Just got to do a better job executing it. When you've got a good football team, they've got players they want to run. So for us, that's what it's going to come down to, execution.
On the surprise the team is where it is now considering the confidence in the preseason
I can't worry about what's happened in the past. That's all I can worry about is today and tomorrow. So that's all I'm worried about. Continue to push forward and get better, and that's the only thing I'm concerned about.
On Andrew Gentry's injury (out for the season)
Foot injury of some sort. So he'll be back healthy in the spring, but yeah, he'll be out for the rest of the year.
On Jeff Persi and Andrew Link's status
Yeah, Persi got a lower body thing, which I think he'll end up being okay. So we'll see how it works out this week, and then Link will end up being okay.
On Rod Moore possibly playing this season
We'll see. I'm not really sure. I'm not 100 percent sure where he's trending. I know he's been moving around a little bit, but we'll always just go with the doctor's opinion and be more cautious than anything with that.
On taking over play calling
No, we haven't talked about that.
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