On what a positionless defense looks like from an offensive perspective

Going against the defense that way? Wow, yeah, it's something that definitely puts us in the mode as an offense of being alert. Like, jersey numbers matter. Who's standing where matters relative to formation, whether they're standing over a tight end or running back, standing up at receiver, what type of bodies are standing over whom. And then when you get into the more exotic personnel groupings on third down, yeah, it definitely puts us to the test, but it's great, you know, it gets us ready for our schedule when people play multiple defensive packages and you got to know, like, hey, in this situation, this guy's playing corner, well, as soon as they go nickel defense, he plays nickel now, and what does that mean to us? You know, conversely, hey, they've got five D linemen or three D linemen and two edges in the game, so we're really fortunate to get to go against that stuff every day, and it's a great tool for us to, you know, at the one, two, and 300 level, be able to help our guys with details relative to plays, like, hey, here's some indicators about what the coverage could be or what it may be, where pressure's coming from. But, yeah, they got a lot going on, for sure, but it's only made us better, and it's something that we're certainly appreciative to deal with every day and not just getting ready for an upcoming opponent.

On whether players are identifying different positions

Yeah, I think it all depends on what we're doing, like what kind of segment or situation we're in, but it's something that our entire offense is definitely thoughtful about.

On the culture at Michigan

I think I touched on this in the spring. I think it's really just become a continuation and, like, has just gotten tighter and better and tighter and better, but we're super proud of the way we practice. This is a, you know, we got a group of young people that are super serious about football and super serious about the team, and I think it's just been a continuation and a growth of it, but how we practice, we take great pride in the way we practice, how we practice. When it's time to go fast and physical, we do it. When it's time to be respectful of the tempo and protect your teammates and all that stuff, we do it, and we don't waste a lot of time when we're out there. We get a lot accomplished, super organized by Coach Moore and the coordinators. There's an intent with every situation and every drill we do, and, you know, we may be out there for a long time on certain days, but we're getting stuff done, so not a lot of milling around.

On the third TE competition

Yeah, so fall camp's always a great opportunity here for guys to really develop, grow, make a name for themselves. You know, we have an old saying here. This is a meritocracy. You shall be known upon your talents and efforts, and so there's an ample opportunity for that. I think two guys that have really had outstanding fall camps and have grown and developed, and it's not just fall camp, but it's the off-season cycle as well. Zack Marshall and Jalen Hoffman have really done well, and they've turned heads, and when called upon, they've made the most of their opportunities, and they've really had good camps.

On Marlin Klein's recruitment process

Yeah, so I think Marlin committed sometime during the fall of 2020, if my memory serves me correct. So Coach Moore was actually the tight end coach that Mar committed to, and I remember the first time I watched him, I was just, A, taken aback by, like, the mountains, and the background where he went to school, and then, B, like, I had never seen somebody at that age, at that size run the way he did. Yeah, he displayed early in his high school career real deal, like, high-end physical traits. I remember there was a clip on either his junior or senior highlight film where he's running down someone that had made an interception, and, like, you're like, whoa. Like, it wasn't, he didn't have the ball. It wasn't a, like, he ran someone down, and chased him, and caught him on a pursuit play, and it was a wow moment watching the guy run. Yeah, he, you could tell, high-end physical traits for sure.

On what he's seen from the quarterback battle

They've, they're playing good. I think it speaks to Coach Campbell in the way that he teaches our system, and, like, how squared up, and airtight those guys operate. They see the game, and talk about the game like Coach Campbell does, so I think it starts with that. So sometimes, you know, when you're super focused and ingrained on your position you're coaching, and their execution of an alignment and assignment, how a play goes for them, I mean, there's moments where if you, you know, you closed your eyes, and somebody told you the result of the play, it's just one of the quarterbacks, and I think that starts with him, but also his players and their willingness to embody and soak up the information provided. You know, when we were getting ready for the spring game, you have the opportunities to be around players, and hear them, you know, more intimately, and hear them talk when we split into two teams, and hearing our quarterbacks talk to other players about reviewing a pass player, the installation of a pass play, it's like listening to a coach. So they're all performing at a high level, and our offense is able to function and do what we do, regardless of who's been in, but playing at a high level, for sure.

On spending time with Kirk Campbell as an analyst

Yeah, I would say that we take a great, like, point of pride in the fact that that was kind of our background here, and, you know, when I was leaving, you know, toward the end of the 2021 season to go to University of Massachusetts, got to meet with, or meet and deal with Coach Campbell some, and have remained connected. It's like one of those things, like, we've always kind of known of each other, but had never directly worked with one another. I would tell you, A, we take a great point of pride of, like, how our track here began, and what the beginnings were. I think it speaks to starting with Coach Harbaugh, and now continued by Coach Moore, their investment in people, and the quality of staff we have. I think you look at what analysts from here have gone on to do, whether it's at Michigan or elsewhere, I think it's a pretty exciting and attractive place to do the job, and we've got great ones right now. We're really, really super, super fortunate. You know, start with Josh Sinagoga. You know, I knew Josh while he was at Youngstown, recruiting Detroit, you know, the east side of the state. So I've gotten to know Josh. He's outstanding. He's really good. Nick Gilbert is another one who is kind of still connected in that whole tree with Kyle Devan, who was here in 2021, and Gilby's great. Jack Clark is a younger analyst here who started his career in recruiting as a student. Jack's as sharp as sharp could be, and we've got, obviously, the two OGs, Coach Ingles and Coach Jackson. I mean, they've, you know, forgotten more football than I know, so they're awesome. They've got great perspective. They assist each and every one of us on each and every day from A to Z, and then our two graduate assistants are outstanding as well, Nick Rossiello and Andrew Goodrich. So we've got...It's a big group that Coach Campbell manages really, really good, and we're fortunate to have great people here in that kind of support role.

On the potential of having a tight end being a leading receiver for Michigan this season

I wouldn't be surprised. I think you look at Coach Campbell's background and track record, you know, in 2021, I think their tight end had 70... They had a tight end with over 70 receptions. He's been exposed to getting the tight end of the ball. Col is able to, like, do a lot of different things, both in the run and pass game, and we have a saying in the tight end room, the ball finds talent, technique, and energy, and Col's got all three. So, yeah, I mean, I think that could certainly happen. Cole's, you know, been exceptional, is exceptional, desire to get better, but I think if you look at KC's track record, he's more than willing to keep throwing the ball through a tight end, for sure.

On the offense and where the ball will be distributed to

Yeah, well, I think there's a lot of layers to that. I think there's our, like, every week, every day base stuff in the offense that where you've got a pretty good sense of where the ball's going to go or who it's designed for. I think that's something that will always be a big portion of who we are. When it comes to getting ready for a game, so much of what we do, throwing and running the ball, it may be easy to us, difficult for a defense, the way we formation and motion plays. So, always being thoughtful about making sure your best players are a part of touching the football. And then, you know, people have asked that question or we've talked about that topic. We've got a lot of other really good players, too, and Col deserves recognition and all those things. But, you know, our wide receiver position and additional players at tight end and guys out of the backfield are really darn good, too. You know, Semaj Morgan and Tyler Morris is really good football players, too. And but that's something that you have to, you understand people are certainly going to key on where's number 18, for sure. But that's something we're aware of and that we've, you know, all of us at some point in our career have dealt with. But it's certainly something we're ready to take on and control week to week.

On when will calls be dictated on how heavy the sets go

In terms of, like, whether we're in 12 or 11? Well, we're always going to play with tight ends here. And there's going to be certain weeks where it's a lot of 12 and 13 and you get into the flow of the game. And you got to do what you got to do to win the game. But we play with a lot of 11 personnel and two. And if we need to be in 10 personnel to go and win a game, then it gives us the best chance to, A, effectively move the ball and score points. But, you know, B, run the football. C, throw the football. We're going to deploy our personnel as necessary. And then a lot of it is dictated by how the defense handles different personnels as well. So that's kind of like a big living, breathing week-to-week organism. But we've got really good players at both positions. We've got really good players in the tailback room as well where we feel like we can be super multiple and do what we need to do.

On opening up the offense

Yeah, I think it's um, I wasn't here the last two years. You know, obviously I watched the games and cheered from afar. But I think our kids have really taken on the onus of an understanding, high-level detail of both the run and pass game, that what we're able to look like is all about what they're able to execute. And not every team or every roster is the exact same. So I don't have perspective of what the day-to-day has looked like in the previous two years. But I know that we're very functional throwing the football, short, intermediate, long. I also know that we're really functional running the football inside, outside, you know, on the perimeter. So, you know, the kids may feel that. It's just to me, it's our system, it's our offense. And KC has done a great job in conjunction with Grant in building our run game and pass game and kind of making it one big group-together system. So it's been fun. Yeah, it's going good.

On whether he's seen Colston Loveland's speed improve

Col has moved around great. And I don't know if he went and ran a 40-yard dash or a 100-meter-yard dash, what the time would be. But when the ball snapped, he's got such, like, great functional movement skills. He wastes no movement. And he is so thoughtful about his plan of attack in both the run and pass game that he just does things, like, when you have a plan before the ball snapped and you have an understanding, high-level understanding of football and the system, you're able to do things a little bit faster. But, yeah, I mean, he's playing faster than what I was, you know, exposed to in the spring. He's playing really well. And, you know, that starts with him and starts with just kind of who we are as an offense. But, yeah, he's playing fast right now. So I don't know that he would go and be – I don't know how fast he is, you know, in terms of a measurement. But when the ball snapped, he damn sure looks fast. So he's playing really fast, playing really well.

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