Everything Steve Casula said during his spring press conference
On what it's like being back at Michigan
Oh, man, I could go on for hours how it feels to be back. I was blessed to be part of Team 140, 141 and 142 and feel so great that I get to be part of 145 and many to come. Both myself, wife and my kids, we consider the state of Michigan but certainly Ann Arbor, so to speak, home. This is the fifth time I've coached at a college inside the state of Michigan. In that sense, that means something to me. Being able to be back with Coach Moore and countless others, our players. The great respect and admiration I have for our players and program, it's something I think about every day how much it means to me and my family and how excited we are to be here.
On the culture change
I've seen it kind of continue in a lot of ways. Yeah, I was here in 19 and 20, there were definitely some tough moments and there are some tough moments in 21, too. You kind of started to see the turn a little bit I think in spring of 21. In fall camp in 21 and some big moments in big games that kind of turned the direction of things, maybe not the direction of things but maybe how we went about obtaining our success, kind of grew and evolved. That was awesome to be apart of, one of my proudest things is I was part of Team 142 and to be able to admire it and root it on from afar has been great and cool to see. That's definitely something that, yeah, here's the norm. Impressive to see our players have been the agents of change, so to speak, in that respect.
On the vision he has for the tight end room
I think even a year ago and in year's past, the tight end position has always been extremely important and valuable here. That's a tradition that we don't take lightly. You look at huge moments in the 2023 season, whether it would be a long touchdown run against Penn State, a long touchdown run in overtime by Blake against Alabama. Somehow, someway there was always a tight end involved. Some of the big plays that Col made in the pass game. That's kind of become who we are, tight ends are counted on in big games. In addition to Col, Max Bredeson is as important of a player that we have. He may not show up each and every week on the stat sheet but when you want to talk about someone who allows us to establish our identity in terms of running the football, Max is vital to that. In addition to him, a guy that's made a big move this spring is Marlin Klein. Obviously everyone has been aware of Mar for a long time but I think Mar will be a guy who gets a lot of great opportunities and he's worked hard and he's worked to earn and deserve that so we're really excited about where he's at, too.
On his tight ends being able to block
That's kind of who we are. I think you look at the big games here over the past handful of years, we gotta run the ball. You gotta run the ball in our conference, you've gotta run the ball down the stretch late in the season, you've gotta run the ball in the weather we're in and that's something that starts with our head football coach, Coach Moore, first and is continuing with Coach Campbell and our offensive line coach Grant Newsome. Our players own and honor that every day.
On what Colston Loveland is working on this offseason
The first thing I would say about Col, above and beyond his talent, anyone that has ever met him or dealt with him, he's about one of the nicest and humblest guy you could ever encounter. I think the biggest challenge for Colston and any player that has had the track he's had is he's done some exceptional, exceptional things in the biggest moments possible. That has become his new standard and working to hold that each and every day which he's done this spring. He's a guy that is really open to coaching and searching to find the best way to do things. I haven't presented with, hey, here's a ton of solutions to problems that don't exist for you but fine-tuning certain details and 400-level understanding of not just what we're doing but why we're doing it and how to do something and why we do it that way. He's interested in growing as a player every day. He wants to be coached and he's fun to coach. He's super into football. Obviously, he's unbelievably gifted but he works and earns that every single day.
On what his impressions were of Sherrone Moore during his previous stop
Obviously, his role has changed, he's busier. The biggest compliment I could give 'Rone here and now is that he's himself. He's being him and he's leading us the right way. Even when he was the tight end coach when I was first here, he gave off those leadership vibes and in big moments, when he spoke, it was powerful. Then, when he became the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach going into the 21 season, continued to see him grow into that leadership role. In a lot of ways, he's still him. He is. He's busier, like I said. He's always treated people with care and respect and has always been positive. Big smile on his face. He treated me outstanding when I was an analyst here. We had a great relationship and really fortunate to be back here with him.
On how close he worked with Moore in his analyst role
I worked with 'Rone a bunch. Pretty collaborative as it still is here. Got to know him very well. We actually met when I was coaching at Davenport University and he was at Central Michigan. He had that West Michigan corridor, all down into Chicago in recruiting so we would just like bump into each other five times in the same day at different schools and stuff like that. That's how we got to know one another. Just quickly became connected when I got here in 2019, so got to know him really well, got to work with him a bunch.
On what kind of coach Lou Esposito is
It's funny, I was with Espo from 2010-12 at Western Michigan and then 14 to 16 at Davenport. My son's birthday was yesterday and I remember when he was born, like two days later we played the first-ever spring game at Davenport. Now you look up and eight years later, give or take, a couple days we're going to be coaching against each other again in a spring game at the University of Michigan. He's one of my best friends in the world. Our wives are best friends, he's living with me right now which is awesome. Espo as a coach, he coaches guys hard, loves them harder. He's very similar to Coach Moore in that respect. Big-time energy. Has had a ton of experience as a Division II head coach and a coordinator in the MAC. I can't say enough good things about Lou. I'm the wrong guy to ask, he's like family to me. Espo's awesome.
On Marlin Klein
I wasn't here with Mar in his first two years but there's nothing on a football field that Marlin probably can't do. We feel comfortable — I said this the other day in a staff meeting, if Marlin Klein had to go play every play in the game, we'd be good with that. We view Marlin very much as like — he's in a starting role. Whether that means on the first play of our season he will be on the field, I don't know that. Don't know what the play will be. Marlin has had an outstanding, exceptional, spring. I'm really proud of him for just kind of hanging in there and stacking day, after day, after day, after day. Not that every day has been perfect but Marlin is incredibly gifted, he's serious about football, he trains hard with Tress and Lock. He goes about his business the right way each and every day and so excited and fortunate to be his coach. Marlin Klein is really, really good and we're really excited about him.
On Max Bredeson and coaching him as a TE and FB
We're fortunate to be able to segment our individual as such where I get to spend individual time with himself and some of the other guys we use in that fullback role. He's with the tight ends full time but, you're right, he wants to be a dual-position guy on the roster. It's been fun to coach him. I coached the fullbacks at Western Michigan, did it as well at Colgate so it's really fun coaching the fullbacks again and getting coach him. He's really talented and is a great kid, has a great heart, cares deeply about this place. You guys know who Max Bredeson is, he's the third Michigan athlete amongst his brothers and that means a lot to him. To see where he came from, he got here, I recruited him when he was in high school, he got here I think he was 215 pounds and he wore number 82 and he had this knee brace on. He was swimming in his practice jersey but you knew pretty quickly that he was going to play here. Then, to follow from afar the player that he's become, it's a credit to Coach Newsome, Coach Moore, himself, too, and what he's taken advantage of resource-wise and in the weight room. Can't say enough great things about Max. He's awesome to coach. Really gifted, really smart, about the right stuff. Great. Great kid.
On the other fullbacks
Jalen Hoffman has had a great spring playing fullback. Really excited about Jay. Max has kind of taken him under his wing. Jay is going to contribute here in some shape or form in some point of his career without a doubt. Been really impressed with Jalen and the spring — he's kind of really, you could almost see he's put himself in line behind Bred and is going to do what Max does. Part of getting good is emulating a guy that's really good at it and Max is and Jalen is doing that. Jalen is really talented and another great kid.
On the intensity in practice
It's definitely been a continuation. Kind of what we touched on earlier about that spring of 21. These practices are physical. I think that's part of, maybe not the secret, part of the recipe for success here, in my opinion. It really starts in the weight room, training room and nutrition. Just Tress, Sean Lockwood, Abigail O'Connor, Phil Johnson and his staff, they do such a great job of having our team prepared to practice. If they do get injured, getting him back, preventing injury and all that kind of stuff. The offensive and defensive systems have been taught at such a high level, it allows so many people to functionally practice. We play so much football here and it's physical, it's intense. You look over the course of the last three seasons, we're 40-3 doing it that way. It's physical and it's intense. Beat Ohio is a real thing and Quest to Atlanta is a real thing. That's stuff we're really proud of. I'm really fortunate and proud to be part of it. Our kids love it. They love it. I think that's just become ingrained and part of playing here, coaching here, those are your favorite moments in practice. It starts very much with the other portions of our programs and is obviously headlined by our head football coach. You get what you emphasized and what has been emphasized here over the past handful of years has been fast, physical and intense football practices and I think that's what you've seen on Saturdays. It's great to be part of that.
On reuniting with Davis Warren
Davis, I was able to connect with him and be part of his story to be recruited here. I wasn't alone in that but I did work with Davis and his family a bunch. The day Davis showed up here, man, he could really spin it. It was really impressive throwing the ball. No fault of his own, he hadn't played 11-on-11 football in a while. To see the maturation in that respect, I actually made this comment to Davis today, it's awesome to see his growth in that area. I think he's really taken to Coach Campbell's coaching as all the quarterbacks have. To applying some of those great skills that he has to 11-on-11 football. I love Dave, he's a really good kid that is really good at football and takes school seriously and is about the right stuff. It's been great to see where Davis has been at and I'm really proud of him.
On what's next for Colston Loveland
I think just being able to make those game-changing plays over and over and over again. Then, really, have no bad plays. He really doesn't. Col, I think, as a sophomore this past year, in my opinion, was the best tight end in college football. I feel that way now. Just continue growing. He is a lead-by-example style of guy but I think when he talks the players really listen. In my opinion, Colston, on any given snap, is the best player on the field. With that, that's a major compliment to him but I think there becomes a duty and responsibility, you have to do it every day and he's about it. I can't say enough good things about Col. He's been great and he's been fun to coach.
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