On how Colston Loveland has been used in recent weeks

Colston has been great of late down the stretch. Obviously, he missed the game as a result of injury. But really ever since he's come back, he's performed at a really high level. He's a huge part of our offense. We've been able to get him open. He's gotten himself open. When it's a realistic play to be made, he's making it right now. So that's a credit to him. He's playing really good. Really fortunate to have him. He's fun to watch, fun to coach. Makes me look like a good coach. So he's awesome.

On the other tight ends not getting open and making plays

Yeah, well, I don't know that that's entirely true. I think a lot of what we do goes through him. He's definitely our featured player. So I don't think it would be fair to say he's the only one getting open or the only one making plays. I don't think that's accurate. Tyler Morris made a spectacular play in each of our last two games. Peyton O'Leary made a huge third-down touchdown catch in the red zone. In our past game. So he's not the only one doing it. But he's doing it. Cole's doing it at a really high level for sure.

On whether there's concern about more production on offense

Of course. Of course, you always want more, whether it's rushing, passing, total offense. Of course, you're always searching for more. But the biggest thing we're searching for is winning. It is winning the next game and doing whatever we need to do offensively to accomplish that.

On the scheme getting people open compared to Colston getting open

I think it's a combination of both. Obviously, there's been some, not necessarily trick plays, but one-off plays where he's been virtually cut loose over the course of the past couple weeks. But then at any point in time, you're going to have to defeat man coverage. And he's been able to do that. He's got good spatial awareness. He's got great fundamentals and tools. And then there's a moment in each game where it's like, hey, you've got to go get open. And he's been able to successfully do that. And that's a credit to him. So it's been both, for sure.

On Loveland's usage resonating with recruits

It has. I can't speak specifically about recruiting, but I think when you look at not just this year but over the course of the past handful of years, how much we use a tight end, how many snaps they play. And it's not just him, but we play with a lot of tight ends. Yeah, it certainly hasn't hurt matters. With the amount of targets and catches and his target percentage and the completion percentage when we throw him the ball, it's certainly been helpful without a doubt. Yes?

On whether being used like Loveand is a question being asked by recruits

Of course. Yeah, and that's certainly something that we're very proud of, the type of player he is, the type of season he's having, where we can really say at times the offense goes through our best player at tight end. We're fortunate. We feel like we've got a generational one in him. But, yeah, we certainly use that to our advantage.

On how hard it is to deal with the heat as a playcaller

Yeah, I think it's something that's hard to go through regardless of the level or like the place that you coach. You know, I was here when it wasn't always – when it was tough for Josh Gattis, for Coach Brown. It was tough for me at the University of Massachusetts. It was tough for me at Ferris State when we didn't play good. There's nobody that wants us to perform better than – there might be people that want us to perform at a high level as much as Coach Campbell. There's nobody that wants that more than him. He's organized. He's detailed. He certainly isn't retreating. But we very much aren't like a finger-pointing operation. Like, we're all responsible for how we perform on offense as offensive coaches. I know our players will stand here and tell you the same thing. We're like this. We are like this here. It's about the team, the team, the team. So, yeah, I've gone through it at a different place when it wasn't going good. I've watched some of my closest friends and mentors go through it. I'm watching it happen right now. But, you know, we all understand what's at stake, what the expectation is, what the standard is here. It's something we're working toward each day.

On the importance of starting drives strong

Yeah, I mean, playing better on first down makes everything better, right? But, like, we talk about first and second down success and efficiency. Like, if you want to look at the best third down offenses in the country, they're probably the best or as good a first and second down offense as anybody else. So we have to perform better on first and second down. We've got to put ourselves in better circumstances to be able to make third down shorter or not deal with a third down. But you're absolutely right. Like, the statistics are pretty staggering. When you have a successful play on first down, what that set of downs ends up looking like. Or when you have an explosive play on first or second down, what, like, the drive ultimately ends up looking like. So that's an area that we're, you know, super focused on. We did not perform at our standard or level in our last game in that respect. And despite that, we've got to get better.

On where there's anything right or wrong about drive starters

No, I think that, like, whenever you're struggling in a unit, like, I think there's – if there was one single, like, defined answer, like, here's why, well, heck, like, we'd fix that like that, right? So I think there's a lot of context to it. I think it's looking at the opponent we're going against, having our best plays and our best players always involved in those moments. There's a level of execution for sure, getting ourselves prepared to deal with, like, all the different looks we're going to see, looking inward at our self-scout about what we've done in those circumstances. So we're to that point in the season where you've got to be thoughtful and look at all of it. And you don't want to look at so much you see nothing, right? Like, you have to, like, focus on some specific areas, but that's what we're working really hard to do this week.

On Deakon Tonielli's growth

Yeah, Deakon hasn't had the opportunity to play yet, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't gotten better this season. You know, for a long time here now, on Mondays here, the guys that don't play in the game, you know, practice and have a pretty lively, active, we call it an opportunity scrimmage. So he's made strides in that area. He's performed well in the training environment, certainly. He's continuing to get better. And I touched on this, I think, the last time we talked. I think maybe we were talking about Marlin, about how college football is not a movie. Not everybody's going to play as a true freshman. But I think when you come to play at a place like Michigan, if you don't, like, show up or you're not in the game through your first two seasons, people kind of start to wonder, like, huh, like, what's going on? Almost like, what's wrong? It's hard to play here. It's, you know, we have a very crowded, tight end room with depth and maturity and experience and talent. And not everybody's, like, path to playing is the same. Not everyone's going to kind of follow the same exact steps. But he's doing a good job of hanging in there and continuing to work to get better.

On what kind of player Tonielli is

So as a pass catcher, you know, Deakon's got really outstanding body control and ball skills. But he's also has the frame and the size to play in line for us. So definitely has, like, some real utility and valuable in that respect, the tight end, for sure. So he's kind of a combo guy, to answer your question. Yep.

On the tight end blocking

Yeah, so I would tell you I've been pleased with their effort and physicality, for sure. Like, you know, the want to and willingness to do it. There's always going to be a layer of, like, the fundamentals and execution of that kind of stuff. And, like, we had this conversation not long ago. It's almost never going to be good enough. Like, it's always, like, you're always demanding more, you know, lower pads, better angles, better aiming points, all that kind of stuff. So that's an area that collectively me and the players are responsible for to get it accomplished. But been happy with how Marlon has performed in that respect, how Cole has performed in that respect. Bredy is obviously special at it, for sure. But when called upon, you know, Zack Marshall, Hogan Hansen, and Jay Hoff have performed adequately in the run game. But there's always more we can do. You know, we can always create a little bit more movement. We can always create a little bit better angles, a little bit more of a bigger hole for the ball to go through and stuff of that nature. But, no, we've been happy with how they've performed in the run game. But all that being said, the high-level detail of the fundamentals and the execution is always something that we're looking more for.

On what has allowed Hogan Hansen to play early

Hogan is a guy that's really committed to knowing what's going on. He's an analytical guy, wants to know, like, the how, the why. And I've touched on this, there's just at some point in fall camp, he just cut it loose and started doing everything fast. And when he's had opportunities in the game, he just, like, the ball's kind of found him. You know, I've said this before, the ball finds three things, talent, technique, and energy, and he's got them. He's willing in the run game for sure, talented. You know, like Hogan, we have all these big personalities and veteran players in the tight end room. But, like, you know, when you walk out of the meeting room, if you just see them standing next to each other in pads, Hogan looks just like they do, you know, like big, athletic, long, can run, really happy with where he's at. He's playing a bunch on special teams for us. You know, like JB, Coach Brown always talks about, yeah, he's a special teams coordinator's dream. He's this big 6'5", almost 6'6", guy that can run, and his athletics, got good spatial awareness. So really what has allowed him to play is not only was he making a move at tight end, he made a move on special teams. So, like, you know, we tell our guys all the time at a position like tight end, like if you want to get on the field, you want to guarantee that you're on the bus, so to speak, we'll be on the special teams depth chart. Now Hogan's, you know, spent various games starting on a number of units, so happy with how he's doing.

On how NFL-ready Colston Loveland is

I've never coached in the NFL, but from my time here, time at, like, Ferris, I've been around a handful of NFL players. I've only ever been to one NFL practice in my life. If he's not ready to go play in the NFL, I don't know who would be. Like, he's outstanding. I think when you compare his movement skills, his athleticism, ball skills, all that kind of stuff, I think you could compare him against NFL players. Like, now, obviously, you know, it's going to be a reset button for him whenever he goes to the NFL, but without having the experience of having coached in the NFL, golly, if he's not ready to go play in the NFL, I don't know who would be. So I say that very much as a compliment to him. So I think he is.

On whether he's seen a difference from Loveland as a leader

I think he's really grown in that area. You know, when Colston is certainly, like, a great communicator, he's very well liked on our team. But I wouldn't call him, like, introverted, but he doesn't always talk in big group settings like that. I've definitely seen an increase in that. And I know this, when Cole talks, everybody listens because they respect, like, you know, the work that he puts in, how he carries his business, and also all that he's accomplished. But, yeah, he has been more vocal, which is, you know, really proud of him about that.

On whether there's a frustration or surprise when tendency breakers are well-covered

Not necessarily a surprise. Like, you know, like, we throw the ball with Max on the field. It's just very often that he's a part of the pass protection when we do that. He does run routes. Of course, like, in that area of the field, you're kind of hoping not to steal one but to catch folks off guard, and it just didn't happen. But that was certainly one. Like, if there's a guy you're rooting for to get cut loose or, like, come wide open, it's 44. All that he's done and continues to do for us over the past couple years. But, yeah, I think, you know, obviously I would stop short of saying that was a complete trick play. But, like, yeah, we were trying to build off something we had done the week prior, letting Al run the ball with similar formation, same motion and kind of stuff like that, and it was well covered. Those dudes that we played last week, Oregon, they were well coached, pretty disciplined on defense, as you guys saw, and as, you know, if you followed them, as you've seen. So, you know, kind of sometimes you got to tip the cap to them. But, yeah, you're hopeful that, you know, stuff like that prides itself open for sure.

On opportunity scrimmages on Monday

Well, so a lot of it's relative to, like, who played in the game and how much they played. But, no, it's offense versus defense. But it's something that I think has been paramount to the development of our team here over the years. Like, I remember in 2021, you would look out there at an opportunity scrimmage, and there was a true freshman Max Bredesen, a true freshman J.J. McCarthy, like, guys that eventually would go on to have these great, you know, careers here in 2019. I remember there were certain weeks where you'd look out there, and Eric Hall may have played in one before he really started playing. A lot of Hassan Haskins, like, guys that then go on to be, whether it's here or somewhere else, really good players. So it's critical to us, and it's great. Like, Mondays, the best way to get over a win or a loss is to go out there and coach football. And for some of the guys, it's the most time you get to spend with them because they spend the majority of their time, you know, on the scout team throughout the week. So as an offensive coach, like, you know, I get to go and coach Brady Prescorn for the entirety of Monday. So it's awesome. Love it.

On whether Jadyn Davis has a lot of reps during the scrimmage

Yeah, all the quarterbacks do. Yeah, all the quarterbacks that Jadyn's one of them that takes reps on Mondays. Yes, sir.

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