On what the win meant to him now that he's had time to reflect
The game itself, how hard-fought the game was, all three phases, how hard everybody played, how everybody rallied together obviously all the things that are going on, just to watch the kids play the way they did in that atmosphere and in that environment and come out with a win against a great team, offensively, defensively and special teams-wise. They're a really good football team. To watch that team do it for coach who couldn't be there at that time. It was a special moment and people don't understand the work that gets put in, the hours that we put in here on and off the field to be successful in those situations and in those moments. It was a lot bigger than just that moment. It came out the way it did but I am very appreciative of the opportunity that coach has given me. Just the opportunity to be here. Blessed to be here and want to continue to work as hard as we can to reach our goals.
On whether the unknown of Jim Harbaugh coaching create nerves
No anxiety. We're preparing, ready to go regardless of the outcome. We'll let that take care of itself. We all want him to be there and hope he is. If he isn't, we'll operate at the highest level we can.
On whether it's Michigan vs. Everybody or is Michigan America's team
A little bit of both. Everybody that's against us is on the other side. If America is with us, let's go, you guys are with us. If not, tough. We're just going to keep doing what we're doing.
On whether his role during the week changes
No. With coach being here during the week, operate the same as we usually do.
On Josh Gattis
It'll be cool, it'll be great to see him at the game. Obviously, we're very close. Very good friends. It'll be cool. Once the foot hits leather, we're against each other. We'll know some plays, we'll watch some plays develop and say, oh, that's that one. As far as how it's gonna be called and what's going to be called at those times, I don't think we'll have a lot of tendencies on that.
On whether he has conflicting feelings on possibly being the head coach of the team's 1,000th win
I definitely want coach to be the coach when that happens. I would say to me and to everybody else is that he's the head coach of this football team and I'm just standing in there and making sure we don't mess it up, For him, it's a super honor, he's led us to so many wins.
On how different the offensive scheme is now compared to when Gattis was running it
Scheme-wise, no different, we're just tuned in to the players we've got. Doing different things, obviously. We've got really good players in the backfield, we've got really good wide outs and it just depends on what we need to win that game. Whatever it is going to take, we'll operate at a high level and do that.
On how his role changed on Saturday
On field, we try to operate as normally as possibe. Let me continue to adjust with the offense and the offensive line and when Jesse was up handling the defensive side, had full trust in them and the staff. That's what coach wanted us to do so that's how we operated. When I could get up there, I would and be around. We just operated like normal.
On pass protection against Penn State
The first one was an incredible jump of the ball by number 44, Chop Robinson, who is a first-round draft pick. It was loud, especially at the beginning of the game. That definitely was a factor and then fundamental things that we can clean up which we'll do, it'll help us. Besides those, that one stands out because he had the sack and J.J. was running around and it was loud. Oh no, we can't pass protect now. Then we threw the ball later on in the game, people probably didn't notice it was fine. Those things happen especially against really good players. That's part of football. You have to adjust and make adjustments to help you win football games.
On where he's seen Gattis grow since he left
There's some similarities of what we do and some similarities with what he did here. There's differences, obviously, different players. I just think he's done a great job wherever he's been. Just using the talent that he has to get the best out of them.
On whether he thinks Michigan as a whole is as united as its ever been
I think it was from the start of the year we knew this was a special team. What we had in the locker room, the leadership on the team, the leadership took it more in hand and said, hey, all of this is against us, what are we going to do about it? The guys have a one-track mind, everybody has a one-track mind of, OK, what are we going to do this week to beat Maryland? Nobody is worried about anything else. I think when you're at the top, everybody is always trying to knock you down and you feel like we've always got a target on our backs which is great, we love it, so we're just going to continue to do what we do and that's stay together and just keep going.
On some of the feedback he received for his postgame interview
Just, in general, just understanding the care and love I have for the players and this program and this university. I think they saw that. It's real. When you work so hard and to see that come to fruition, it's really cool. Sometimes your emotions get the best of you. Obviously, apologized to mom and grandma, I'll do it again, love you guys. A lot of positive stuff from alumni, Desmond, Charles, those guys sending text messages. Really cool to see the whole university. Santa, Warde, everybody come together and be so close. Gotta cool message from one of our financial aid, Shelly, thank you Shelly. It's just really cool to see it all come together. We've got a special team so ready for Maryland this week.
On postgame film review of the run game
Pretty good. We definitely wanted to do that (to smash), it was definitely something that was set up. Thought that it could give us a little bit of an advantage in the run game. Sometimes you have to put some extra big bodies out there and see what happens. Guys did a really good job. Very proud of how they played and how they composed themselves and how they worked together as a unit.
On how he would describe the last four weeks
Exciting. Fun. Camaraderie. The team. All of those adjectives, all of those things, all those verbs, nouns, put together to keep attacking a championship. All the craziness, all that stuff going on, it's just brought us closer and closer together. Made us even more tunnel vision. You can't let all this outside stuff come into play and you just have to attack what's in front of you. That's all we're doing is just worried about today. How we can get better today and that's it.
On whether he went back and looked at his postgame interview
I've heard it enough. No, I haven't, I've seen it on the internet and all that. I was there so I remember it. No, I haven't really. Really, for me, that was my emotion, I wear my heart on my sleeve. I apologize for the language but don't apologize for the emotion.
On how fun it's being part of a staff that's willing to emphasize OL play
I think the coolest thing is that all the other players, they're willing and unselfishly willing to allow that to happen. You've got a quarterback that's in the running for the Heisman, you've got an All-American running back. You've got some elite receivers and tight ends. At no point in the game did those guys say, hey, we've gotta do this to win the game. We've got to throw to win the game. Give me the ball, I want the ball. Quarterback could've easily said that and he didn't. I think that was probably the cooler thing to see and the cooler thing to be part of. It's fun to do that, though. Those guys really see the value of that and the coolest thing, I think, is when we do that when our defense is on the field and I see Jesse's face and he just does this. OK, this will work. Really cool to be part of.
On a potential hearing on Friday
Obviously don't like it. We'll have eyes and ears and figure out when we can figure it out. Obviously, we'll communicate with Dave and communicate with the staff as we need to. We're going to try and do what he would like us to do and keep working on Maryland and make sure we're ready to play that game.
On what practices look like between OL and DL
They're just battles. We do a little less against each other as we go through the season but we do some good on good stuff. They're just continuing the battle. We'll get one, they'll get one. We'll get one, they'll get one. Just fun to be part of. The guys work extremely hard. The battle has increasingly gotten better so very excited for that.
On whether he thinks Michigan is being persecuted
I mean, not necessarily that. We know the things, we hear the things coming from the outside noise and we're just using it as fuel and just attacking every day.
On how many guys on offense he thinks could be drafted
I mean, it would be easy to say the whole starting offense. Obviously, some guys aren't draft-eligible. We'll see when the time comes.
On how he came up with the tagline "Smash"
I don't know, I think it was early in the years here. It might've been on a power play or a counter play, somebody I heard on a big collision yell smash and it just kind of stuck. Then it went through, it wasn't something I was like, 'I'm going to do it like this,' it just kind showed up and kind of happened and stuck with us.
---
Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards
Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer
Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @lucasreimink
Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify
Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube
Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram
