On what he saw from Kalel Mullings and the split carries

Yeah, I thought the split was pretty good, but he has earned those carries and he started earning those carries last spring. You know, Kalel has proven to be a very accountable guy, not just within our room but special teams. There's not a coach in this building that doesn't respect what he's doing and has done. He's obviously a team player moving over from defense. So, yeah, he's earned the opportunity he's gotten.

On Donovan Edwards

Yeah, I mean, he played hard, he ran hard. You know, just didn't have the opportunity to maybe crack some of the runs into the second, third level of defense. But, yeah, the kid ran hard and played hard, so I wasn't displeased with how hard he played. You know, some of the opportunities that Kalel kind of broke some things and it just kind of worked out that way.

On finding the balance with the RBs

Well, we're just going to keep playing. You know, I don't know, I got to be honest, I don't study it the way you guys do, obviously. But, yeah, we're just going to keep playing. And, obviously, he has shown in the past to have some big play guys, you said, in games previously. And hopefully those will continue to happen for us. And we've all got to play better. You know, we've all got to do a better job. Maybe I do a better job of coaching. Maybe he's got to do a better job of finishing off some runs and things like that. But I'm not, you know, use the word fear, I'm not afraid for having him in the game whatsoever. The guy's a leader on the football team. He's one of the definite leaders on our offense. He's proven to be able to make plays in this program, as he's done for many games. So we're going to expect the same, just keep playing. You know what I mean? So nobody's in a panic of any sort.

On whether Edwards needs to get into a rhythm

Well, I just think we're just going to play the game and those opportunities will come. I think one of the things that can happen with running backs as you move forward is they're always looking for a big play. Let's say you're known for making big plays. So now all of a sudden it's not happening right away. You start trying to overcompensate to make a big play, just stay within the structure of what we're doing, and the big plays will come. But just keep playing the game. And, you know, I do think the run game is also a softening up process. Right. As the game wears on, hopefully you've been, you know, been punching and punching and punching. Some things start to break open later in the game for guys. And so we're just going to keep playing and kind of go from there.

On Alex Orji's presence impacting the RBs

Well, I think, you know, when you have a quarterback in run, that's equating the numbers in the run game. And when you start equating the numbers in the run game, hopefully that will open up some things for the running backs as well because now you have to account for someone else. So I think that's an added benefit to our offense. Definitely an added benefit for the running back. Now, does that potentially take some touches away? Certainly. But at the end of the day, we're not here to set records. I'm not worried about all that. We're worried about the end result. And guys just continue to get better, help this program win, help our offense be successful in whatever endeavor that looks like. And at the end of the day, just get wins.

On Jordan Marshall

Yeah, I think Jordan's going to be a dynamic, dynamic football player. He's an excellent player. He's got an unbelievably bright future, I believe. He's smart. The kid studies the game. It's important to him. He has shown throughout camp that he's capable of making plays. Now we just got to get him out there and to make him, and I would hope that we'll be able to get him on the field this weekend.

On the next steps to getting Marshall on the field

No, I think it's just opportunity. I think we ran 56 plays, something like that. So it's not a lot of plays. And we've already talked about what, three? And I'm sure someone's going to ask about Ben Hall next. So I know what's coming. So with that being said, there's four guys. So we ran 56 plays. And so a lot of things are just game situations. And where are we at in the game and the flow of the game? And to your question, well, does a guy have to get in the rythm? Does a guy have to carry the ball 20 times a game? Well, if he carries it 20 and you only had 56, that's very limited for everybody else. So which one do you want here? But, yeah, he's going to earn his right to get on the field, which he already has just as far as getting him in in the timeframe within the game and situational stuff. But he's going to be a great player here. There's no doubt.

On making sure Edwards wasn't frustrated after the game

Yeah, that was the biggest thing, I think, with he and I, just full transparency of, you know, he's voted a team captain by his teammates, not the coaches by his teammates. He's voted somebody that the guys want to follow and they want him to lead. And so with that, if things aren't going as well as you may like them to go, there's certain demeanor and there's a certain way that you still have to present yourself. And frustration, sure, we all get frustrated at times. But you still have a responsibility to lead in a positive manner and just to keep going because people are going to be looking at you. How do you respond when things aren't maybe going as well as you would like them to go personally? And so we did talk about that. And I'm very happy and pleased with the way he's responded to that. He's like, no, coach, you got it, you're right. He's a consummate team guy. And, again, nobody in this building is worried about Donovan Edwards and, you know, what lies ahead for him. He's going to be perfectly fine.

On the biggest difference in recruiting between Ohio State and Michigan

You really want to? No, I'm not. You say it. No, I can't. I can't. No, seriously. I don't know if differences are the right word because we're all recruiting the same guy and we're all recruiting the same kids. We're all recruiting the same kids.

On whether he feels like he's had to cater his pitch to recruits differently

No, you know, we've had history the past few years of running the ball more here. But it just depends what guys are looking for. And, you know, I'll say that I'm not. We're good. I don't know how to answer that question. I'm going to leave that one alone because we're going to start going down a rabbit hole. We don't need to go, so we're good. But, no, we recruit the guys that want to be here. How's that? All right.

On what stands out about Texas' defense

Yeah, that's a great question. Very, very, very well coached and top-end players. You know, obviously I'm studying the linebackers more and the safeties, but the Benda kid and Anthony Hill, you know, they're nickel. They got the Taft kid, the safety running downhill hitting people, so they're a very, very talented team, athletic, play with a lot of energy. You can tell that they enjoy playing this game and feel good about the scheme that they're running. They feel comfortable and confident in that. High, high-end football team. And so it's going to be a great opportunity and a great test for us to go and perform. And, you know, we talk about something's got to tip the scales when the talent is equated, and so we'll figure out what that is. But they had a very, very talented defense and well-coached, as I said. We got good players, too. You know, and I'm all respectful for people. You know, when I first got here, I said, oh, my gosh, you know, you got to play Texas and you got to play this team and you got to play this team. And, well, they got to play us, too. It's not like Michigan hasn't had a history of success. And it's not like Michigan doesn't have a history of having great players and elite players as well. So that's when I can say I'm optimistic, yeah, because we have a really good football team, too. We have really high-end players as well that like to play and like to scheme. And the same things that I just said about their defense, I can say about our team. And so now the talent's equated, and we got to figure out how to tip the scales in our favor. And I'm a firm believer, and it goes way back, right? For as long as this game's been played, I would probably like to think this team that plays the hardest and plays the longest and is detail-oriented, right, and fundamentally some of those teams will win. And so that's our job as coaches to get our players prepared to do that.

On the difficulties of replacating the offense against Texas

Well, I think time. You know, it was the first game out, a lot of new starters working together. And it takes time for that to gel. Like I said earlier, you know, in the run game, that's a softener process. So those guys are all starting to gel more and more. And every single rep, they become more comfortable with the guys sitting next to them on either the right or the left. And so hopefully that will continue. But again, we're playing a high-end opponent coming in here, too. So we've got to gel fast. You know? I'm still thinking about your question. I was looking at you like, all right, you were just trying to stir it up, right? Of course not. Of course not.

On Ben Hall

Yeah, you know, I wanted to get him in the game. And in full transparency, once again, I failed as a coach to make that happen. And I told him as such. And I've got to find ways to get him in the game because he's earned the right to do that. He's had a really, really good summer. As far as training camp goes, he's had a really good past week and a half, two weeks. He deserves opportunities to play. I think that he's hard to get on the ground when he runs vertically. If he's a guy that starts running sideways, you know, he becomes very average. And he knows that. And I'm not saying anything out of turn. So I'm not trying to upset him or his family. But I've told him as such, when he runs downhill vertically at you, he's hard to handle. So we continue to impress upon him to do that. But he's a really good player and has an opportunity to just continue to grow in this offense and build his role. But I'm excited about him as a player and as a young man. He's always asking how to get better. Matter of fact, I just got a text message when I was walking in to hear about, you know, Coach, you talked about leading. What can I do more to help lead? And so he's always on this quest for knowledge and to get better. So I'm excited about him.

On whether the running game was some minor things away from being more successful

It does. And you can say it's a block away, but sometimes it might be a running back make a guy miss or run through it, another tackle. So I don't want to put that on one block. It's a collective unit, right? And holistically, yeah, we're close. And you can see it, and that's the one thing we kept impressing upon during the game is, hey, we're right there. We're right there. Just keep going. Don't get frustrated. Just keep working the process and it's going to come. And some of them started to hit a little bit later. And so hopefully we'll continue to get better and go from there.

On whether Jaden Everett is on his staff and what he brings

He is. Well, I've known Jaden, I think we're going on 13 or 14 years. This goes all the way back to my days of coaching at Notre Dame when he was a young coach. I guess that'd make me an old coach, but he came and I got to know him at that point in time. And we were just staying in constant contact. And so I think he's a really, really dynamic coach. He's smart. He's detailed. So he brings value. And one of the things that I talk about with our players all the time, my own children, and just people in general, that you have to bring value. What value are you bringing to whatever room it is, whatever organization it is, whatever relationship it is? And if you're not bringing value, then why are you here? And he definitely brings value. And he's known Sherrone. They go back to, I think, their high school days. So yeah, he brings value. And our players, he's already jumped full steam ahead. And our players love having him around. He's another set of eyes. And so it's good to have him. He's already bringing value to us.

On the value Fred Jackson brings

Fred? Oh, man. Where do you start? The guy's only been here for 80 years. You know? No. You know, Fred Jackson was a guy, quite frankly, no one really knows this, but Fred Jackson was a guy that kind of mentored me when I first started. He was coaching here, and I was coaching at Kent State, which was back in 90, my goodness, I'm dating myself, 95, 96. And I met Fred, and he took time with this young guy. He was coaching at Kent State that he didn't know. We just happened to have a mutual friend in Vance Bedford who used to coach here, who used to coach me in college. And he introduced me to this guy, Fred Jackson, who I'd seen on TV. So I was like, man, this, you know. And so I kind of started to try to emulate him in a lot of ways. And he kind of took me under his wing. And, you know, here we are, you know, some 20, 27, 28 years later, and to have the ability to still be here and impart a lot of the same wisdoms and to reinforce, I should say, some of the wisdoms and some of the things that he gave to me many, many years ago was unbelievable. You know, you look at our room, I think collectively between Fred and myself, and now we brought Jayden in here, there's something like 90 years, like, you know, anywhere from 85 to 90 years of coaching experience in that room. And so you'd like to think with that being said, there's a plethora of knowledge for our players to draw from. There's going to be very few things that haven't been seen or done, you know, with that amount of experience on the staff. So hopefully that brings value to our players. But he is a wealth of knowledge. He's probably forgotten more football than most of us will know. But he's got this unbelievable demeanor, kind of like the grandfatherly figure, if you will. But he's got such great energy I think he's 72 years old. He's got an amazing amount of energy. He's every single day got a smile on his face. He calls a spade a spade, calls it what it is. But every single day I'm honored to work with him. And I mean that. It's an honor to be able to look at him every day and just be like, wow. You know, I'm coaching with Fred Jackson, you know, because I have that much, I hold him in that high of reverence that I always have, and always will. And so he, yeah, I mean he's synonymous with this university and this football program as far as I'm concerned. And so it's great having him. Absolutely unbelievable having him. See, that's the best tribute I could give the guy, right? So he owes me some money now. What else?

On whether Everett was with the program last week

He was with us last week. He got here the day we ended training camp. Yeah, that's Saturday afternoon. And he showed up on Sunday. So, yeah, he showed up. So it's been just over a week. Just over a week.

On whether Mullings has a max number of carries

You know, I think a lot of it's just game situation, how it's going. You know, if someone gets hot, I'm going to try to let them keep going and have kind of gotten in that groove that you're talking about, right? And just kind of let him and let him eat. And he kind of got into that. And there was an unbelievable foreplay drive that he had there, obviously the two big runs. But people fail to realize one of the things that Kalel does, and they all do, but Khalil really stood out. If you go back to the play where Orji kept the ball and he got like a 10, 15-yard run, watch how many people ran after Khalil because he carried out the fake. Right? And that's something that people aren't really watching. So there's much, much more to just yards and how many yards per carry. There's so much more that plays into this. And if you go back and how did they pass protect? Did they pass protect? How did they play without the ball in hand? And that takes zero amount of skill. That's zero amount of skill to play without the ball. That's strictly effort and want to and intentional and purposeful behaviors. And that's something that Khalil continues to bring. I think all of our players do, but I just use that one example of one of the things when we start talking about him and one of the things that makes him so valuable because he's selfless. And that's not to say to anybody else, but we're talking about him in particularly. But those things stand out. And so to say how many reps is he going to get and how many carries is he going to get, that's a crystal ball. I have no idea. We go into the game and game situations will transpire and happen and we just roll with it from there.

On whether Mullings is durable

So far he has been, as far as I know, at least for me he has been. He hasn't missed anything. But again, it's only been a week, so we're good.

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