On Makari Paige

I think the defense he ran in high school was a lot of man coverage, so last year he was kind of understanding the principles of zone, how to communicate and how to adjust based on formations. You saw him, again, like I've mentioned before, he's grown a lot in the spring, he carried it over into the summer and he's doing a good job so far in the fall. The thing about Makari is that he's been playing very physical. He had a good opportunity to get an interception in the game. He understood the coverage, he kind of baited the guy into throwing the fade ball. He didn't capitalize and the receiver did a good job of trying to defend the ball but he's understanding all the concepts very well. I'll put him at nickel sometimes, I even put him at corner. He understands the zone concepts there, too. His growth has been good. I want to keep challenging him, getting him a bigger role.

On evaluating not getting the interception but making the play

What are contested passes? You watch a lot of games on Saturday sitting there getting ready for our game, there were a few games that I thought you see DBs contesting the ball constantly and it forces the offense to continue to try and figure things out. A lot of those games, the teams I was watching, they ended up winning. I was telling our guys before the game, we have to contest more passes. Whether we intercept it or not, we have to get our hands on the receiver, we can't let them be comfortable catching the ball in open space and running with the ball, trying to make a tackle in the open field. You put yourself in a more vulnerable position. Do I like PBUs and contesting the ball? Yes. Do I love them? No. I love interceptions, of course. We told them it was a good job but we want to continue to push harder and go finish on the ball. The one thing in practice that I've seen more this year than we have in the past is that we are collecting more interceptions during practice. We keep planting that seed, it'll prosper. We'll reap what we sow and we'll get more interceptions. They're coming.

On Mike Sainristil

He's doing veteran things. He's out there anticipating issues. Doing a very good job of disguising and understanding what they're trying to do to attack us. Like I say all the time, he's doing his job. He's also doing things that make him great at times when he can do his job and do someone else's job. Making sure his job is taken care of. You see him do that with his effort. His unbelievable effort, unbelievable strength, unbelievable passion just trying to make things play and do things right. He wants to be the best DB on the team. He wants to be the best DB in the nation, that's his goal. He'll play receiver, he'll do anything you ask him to do but wherever he's going to be, he wants to be the best at it. It's just his drive, his personality, his mental makeup. A leader. He's going to continue to be great in that role but I continue to see him get more of a role at corner, especially this week. You'll see that he has a lot of upside. Very fast, very strong, physical. He's kind of a coach on the field. I love having him around the room because I love being around him.

On Amorion Walker

I love working for Jim Harbaugh. I like his mind. We could be in the middle of practice and he could decide, hey, this kid wants to (play) at corner. No problem. It's my job to figure out, like with Amorion, what he can do. We're started working with him in a third-down package. Primarily on man coverages, give him an opportunity to showcase his talents and get comfortable. When you're playing defensive back, if you're not confident or comfortable, it's going to be hard to make plays, it's hard to want to be out there. We're finding his role. He's a versatile athlete and he's a natural at corner, to be honest with you, when it comes to the athletic piece. We've done a lot of meetings and stuff and he actually picks things up pretty fast, so he knows zone coverages and the man now. He and Mikey and a couple of other players, the more that you have a head coach that he loves that—guys who want to be more of a team player and they have the ability to do it, too? As a coach, it fires me up because every day I may have a different guy to work with to see if he can do it. Give those guys an opportunity to be successful.

On benchmarks he wants to see the DB group take to be the best in the nation

Really, it's the consistency of practice for me. I think if we practice on a level that we're not making mental mistakes, communicating, we're getting opportunities to intercept the ball and capitalizing on that, I think that carries over to the games. We play against one of the best offenses in the country as well. Coach Moore was just up here. We're good against the run because we see it every day. We're challenging them with passes because our receivers are excellent. Receivers and our quarterbacks are excellent as well. In order for those guys to continue to get better and play up to national championship games and win the Big Ten title and all that stuff, we all have got to continue to build on it and keep pulling the best out of one another. Like I told them, we've got to be consistent at practice, consistent in the games. Bring the passion. As you see on the field, that's how we practice. The more havoc you cause in the secondary and the more the quarterback is confused, the more opportunities you have to be the best secondary in the country. It's going to be a group that's communicating great, physical, anticipating issues and we have to take the ball away.

On balancing a player being versatile compared to be specialized in one area

It all starts in recruiting, I believe Mikey was being recruited here as both as well. So was Amorion. We kind of identified those two in recruiting. Just kind of the versatility piece of it. The big thing is, what do they do well? Mikey can play nickel and corner, and slot receiver. We are giving him those opportunities in those situations in practice. Amorion is the same thing. We want him to specialize more at receiver. Our offense has a lot of complexities and I can find my way in my group. Corners don't have a lot of responsibility, they just to have to do a great job out there on an island. We mix in zone and man coverages but I can do a good job with him one-on-one. Teach him the aspects that I need. Who it starts with? Definitely always starts with the head coach. Nobody is going to make that move without the head coach. Sometimes we bring it up, sometimes he sees it. With Mikey, he saw it. He came to me about Mikey. It was the best decision that we made in the secondary.

On a preference with a left or right corner

Back in the day, we used to do field and boundary corner all the time. I still do have a preference on that. I think the boundary corner, if you have two corners and one is a lot more physical in the run game, understands and reads the keys better on the boundary, we definitely try to cater towards that. The problem is, the offenses dictate that you can't do field and boundary. They go too fast and you can't keep traveling guys across the field. By the time they go from the right side, to the left side, back to the right side, they feel like they've played a whole game. It's best to keep them on one side. I think that benefits the players, thought. Now you get an opportunity to know both sides of the defense. People think, well, he just plays corner. Well, the boundary corner has different responsibilities, different checks and different techniques than a field corner now that they play left and right, now they know boundary and field. Same with safeties. You've got a free safety and a strong safety. We've got left and right safety. I want them to know how to play in the open side as well as the tight end side. Same thing we do in base. I think the more kids you train that way—I'm a versatility guy. The more two-way players, the more players that can play field and boundary, the more safeties can play field and strong, then you don't have to put whoever is on the depth chart next because that's what he plays. You've always got your best four, five, six players on the field.

On whether it's harder to have a corner travel in CFB compared to the NFL

I think it's two different games. The tempo, depending on the teams you face, it's going to be more challenging for us. In the NFL, they huddle a little bit. There's no huddle for us. They're fast, they line up right away. They call the offense while they're lined up so you can't be running around doing those things.

On whether he grades harsher depending on the competition

Not really who you're playing. A lot of times you want to be extremely detailed all the time. It's your delivery, it's not harsher, I grade tough period. How I deliver the message when I meet with the players the next day definitely depends on our attitude, how we played, our effort, how we strained. If we did well, love them up but you also coach them a little harder in that situation. If they're not doing well, sometimes you have to find a way to get the message across to them. I believe in being honest with them, how you deliver the message depends on the player, the situation, the mood. I definitely like telling guys the truth. We're secondary guys, you need to know the truth. If we continue to do this certain deal then you're not going to get an opportunity to play much because you're going to give up touchdowns. Well, if you're going to give up touchdowns, let's do this way this time. You see the guys grow from game to game and definitely at practice.

On how he prepares for tougher competition

Everybody can come here and beat us if we allow them. We can't beat ourselves. Last week, I was crazy, this week I am going to be crazy and the following week I am going to be crazy. It doesn't matter. You guys watched enough TV last week to see that if you take anybody lightly or if you don't handle your own business, things can change. Your outcome could not be what you want. It doesn't matter what the competition is. I tell our guys every day, is that guy when you wake up and you brush your teeth and you look in the mirror, that's your competition every day. Doesn't matter who you have lined up in front of you. It's your job, you have to battle yourself every day. It is my job to help them pick their battles and how they're going to win them. We don't look at the competition, we look at ourselves and handling our business. I know it's cliche, but that's how I'm built. I'll always be that, as a player and a coach.

On Mimi Bolden-Morris

I think she's very smart. Always upbeat and excited about being here. She's willing to learn, that's the biggest thing. There's two parts to people, you're willing and able. I think she's both. I think she's extremely willing to learn, asking questions about the secondary. What's this coverage? What are you guys doing here? I think that's going to be great for her in this industry. She's a humble person and doesn't have an ego. I think she's in the right profession and I'm excited to see what happens for her down the line.

On whether he would like to see Walker be a permanent corner and if a two-way player is a novelty

For us, the way we practice, those guys are built for it. We practice very hard. Our strength and conditioning coaches do a great job. As a coach, we're very creative with ways of finding packages for guys to play. Would I want him to be a permanent corner? I want him to be a permanent athlete on the team, period. I want to see him catch a touchdown, when they threw that ball to him, I was standing there watching that play and he beat the guy on the first step and I'm excited. Here we go, here we go. Then he comes right back over, switches his jersey and goes right back to corner. I like for him to continue to get better at both, to be honest with you. He can be a very exciting, electrifying weapon for us. I look forward to see what he can do.

On Mason Graham

Mason, even Rayshaun Benny, people don't mention him much, those guys are doing a really good job. Of course, the veteran guys have helped lead them. When they come in, we don't miss a beat. They're physical, they're smart and they play fast. I think the rotations that our coaches have done up front, and the linebacker corps and the EDGE guys have really helped those guys stay fresh. They're really doing a good job of capitalizing on their opportunities.