On what he's learned about the defense

Well, I think that, you know, the guys that had a lot of plating experience in last year's run have really showed that, you know, they have the experience of doing that. And, you know, the biggest thing is, is they're ready to hit somebody else in a different color jersey. I know that.

On what he hopes the tone of the defense will set on Saturday

Well, I use this word carefully because it gets taken out of context. Because, you know, as I've said many times, you can rush four and seem like an attacking-style defense. You can rush three and it looks like an attacking-style defense. Or you can pressure. And, you know, that's the biggest thing, is the players flying to the football, all right, and becoming an attacking style defense that we have to tackle better than anyone else. So that, to me, that's defensive football.

On how he continues to send that message

Well, I think it's something that you practice. And, you know, you get what you make important for the players. And that, to play any style of good defense, I think you need those two main characteristics. You gotta be great tacklers, and you have to be a tackler. You know, a great attacking-style defense. And, you know, with pursuit to the football, and, you know, all the different things that go along with that. So, you know, we have our pillars still that we've had. And, you know, we had them back in Baltimore. So the kids really believe in it. And they're gonna come to play here Saturday night.

On how he emphasizes communication on the field

Well, that's one of our pillars. Because it's both free snap and post snap. It's vital to the game. Especially, you know, either college or pro. And the more they communicate, the better they are. I always say a noisy defense is a great defense.

On what challenges offensive coordinators will have preparing for the defense

I think that, you know, there's coordinators that just believe in their core value of their offense. And they're gonna do what they do. And, you know, I think that they're gonna watch a bunch of tape from, you know, me being at different places. And also watch Michigan State. That's a lot of tape to watch. So I think that, you know, it's gonna be one of those things that, at the end of the day, they're gonna say, hey, let's just be us and do what we do and react to how they play us. And, you know, that's the perfect place to go into a game.

On the front four defensive linemen

Well, with Mason and Grant, you know, Mason's been banged up in training camp. But, you know, Grant, really, this past 10 days, you could really see him coming into football shape. Because, you know, I tell him all the time, the only way you get in football shape is play football. You know, you can do all the things we have downstairs. And they do a tremendous job downstairs. And you can pass a conditioning test. But you gotta put pads on and play football. And that's when you get into football shape. And, you know, he's really jumped out. And, you know, some of the younger guys that we're counting on, you know, to develop depth, you know, with the twos, they're starting to step up, and you're seeing them play. So it's gonna be fun to watch, for me, because the big difference is, is there's no preseason games. You know, so it's, you know, tackling's gonna be vital in this first game. You know, how we play in space and tackle in space, because Fresno does a nice job. They got a lot of hidden yardage plays where they get the ball out quick, make the first guy miss. So we need to be pursuant to the football.

On what Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant allow him to do as a defense

Well, I think that you can, with those two guys up front, for run and pass, you know, you can still do a lot of good things, you know, coverage-wise, and you can stay for, man, because of what those two guys have in the middle. And the two guys on the edge are, to me, they've had a really good camp, and throw TJ Guy in there with those, those D-Mo and Stu.

On how creative he can be with the DL

Yeah, I mean, you know, you're gonna have fun and do some different things pressure-wise and things like that. So, you know, it's fun that way when you're talking about creativity. But to me is, you know, match-ups. So you wanna match up who you think can beat their offensive linemen. And you can move those guys around and we have the flexibility in the package that we're able to do that.

On Rayshaun Benny

It's been a fight for him. It's been tough for him. And, you know, I think it's still something that he's working on as we go. And, you know, the more confidence that he gets, you know, with the injury, you know, the better he'll play. But he's still knocking off some rust. You know, he'll have a couple good days and he gets sore, you know, and does some things like that. And we have to back him down a little bit and then push him, you know, get him going full strength. So, you know, is he 100% right now? I don't think so. But, you know, I mean, he's good enough to play. Don't get me wrong.

On the depth on the DL

I think Enow's going to surprise some people. I think Ike's going to surprise some people. Trey Pierce, he's been banged up on and off, you know, during training camp. Once we get him going, I think he's going to surprise some people. It's going to be fun to watch. You know, that's the exciting part about coaching is seeing some of these younger guys starting to step up and get ready to play.

On the linebackers

Well, I think that those two are the two who are going to start out there, jump out there as starters. Jaishawn is a guy that we're just scratching the surface on how good he can be. He's different. You'll see when he hits people, they go backwards. And the more that he gets and stays within the system, and like I was explaining to him during training camp that when you get into games, it's easier because you're paring down your call sheet. You don't have the whole package in. You're using what's best, what you think's best, what we think's best for each game. So that'll help him play faster, but he's going to be a problem. He's built different too. Yeah, that's one of the widest backs I've ever seen on a linebacker. But he has the perfect temperament if you're drawing a linebacker up of what you're looking for. He's got great length. He can rush the passer. He's a good blitzer and he's a really good tackler. And he has that natural, and I know you've seen in the times that you've played too, that there's those certain guys that have that snap to them. He has it, he has it. And it's fun to watch. Irons, you know, he's doing a nice job. He's running the defenses, the MIKE. He plays with a lot of confidence. I told him that he tries to be too perfect at times, go play football. You know, that's something that he's working through right now. But I'm really excited to see those two. And Jimmy Rolder, if he can stay healthy, which how many times you've heard that? If he can stay healthy, I mean, he's had a really good camp and he's been out there and he's got banged up a couple times, not just little minor things, but the more he practices, the more you see him, you're going, oh, okay. That's what it's supposed to look like. And really the fourth guy, and everybody else is just trying to get reps besides him. The fourth guy would be Jay Hood. He's a physical downhill linebacker. If you were playing the old six, two gap stack monster and there's two backs in the backfield and, you know, nine on seven, you'd send him out there every time because he's a violent in-the-box type linebacker. But he's, you know, he's coming along. He's coming along and BJ, Brian Jean-Mary, the linebacker coaches, he's done a tremendous job with all those guys.

On who wears the helmet communication on defense

Well, I think that, you know, we've done both the safety position with Makari. We've done it with Earn at the MIKE linebacker. I'm leaning towards going with the, you know, the MIKE linebacker and the rotation of possible linebackers going in, but don't be surprised to see the safeties have it as well at times.

On whether there's strategy in who wears the green dot

Well, I think it, A, it's who's the best communicator and who knows the defense the best. That helps, that helps. You like it for it to be the MIKE because then the safeties can come down, you know, and hear the call, you know, we'll still do all your signaling system and all that stuff that you have. But you'd like for it to be the MIKE because he's right there in the middle. He can go both ways with it. But, you know, I've also done it where there's been games where you take your linebackers off the field for third down, you got safeties. So you want the safeties to wear them.

On Will Johnson

He knows the game, he knows splits, he knows receivers. He understands route concepts. You know, I described him the other day, he's like a unicorn because in all the years that I've coached, whether it's high school, college, or pros, I've never seen a corner lead like he leads because usually, you know, like I said, they call it the island for a reason because they're out there on the island and it's hard for them to do that. But he leads by example. You know, he has the secondary. He and Makari have been doing a great job with the secondary. And, you know, when I say he's a great leader, players listen to him because of A, how good he is, and B, how they see how hard he works. I mean, this is something, he wants to do this. And he wants to, you know, he wants Michigan to be great on defense. And he wants, you know, he has high expectations for himself and, you know, doesn't miss a practice, is always working, he's always doing extra. It's unbelievable. Like every scout that I know that's come in here, I'm like, I don't know where you guys would be picking, but I'd be jumping on the table for this guy because he is a can't-miss prospect.

On the depth chart at corner

Well, I think that, you know, with as much Zebra personnel or 11 personnel, whatever you want to call it, you know, you're going to have to have more than two or three corners. I think Shug has earned a position opposite, you know, Jyaire, and Zeke has earned the nickel role to start out there, but you know you need more guys than that. So, you know, J-Mac has really come on the last two weeks in training camp as a backup nickel. I love Ricky the way he is a physical tackling corner. He needs to work on some, just some other things, but I really like, you know, where he's at as well. So, and you know, it's going to be fun to watch and see how it all mixes out.

On the qualities he's looking for at the nickelback position

Well, I think the number one trait is a great tackler. And the number two trait is a great communicator because they're in essence a linebacker, but you know, they're talking to their corner, they're talking to their safety, and they're talking to their mic, and sometimes talking to their end, you know, at that position, and they got to have a great feel for the game. And he's really come on, you know, since spring ball. I think back in the spring, you know, I told him that, you know, I have high expectations for him just because of what I see as a talent, and he just needs to get more game reps and more game reps and more game reps, and you're going to see a lot of good things out of Zeke.

On the safety position

Yep, Wesley's coming. He's a good football player. You know, I already have the confidence with him. I can play him anywhere because he just knows the game of football, and he's played a lot of snaps. And, you know, that's how he carries himself. And we just, you know, to get him going, there's going to be different spots that we play him at. Right now, Q will be the other safety when we trot out there Saturday night, but Wesley Walker's going to be out there a lot.

On Fresno State

Well, I think they can run the football. You know, that's their best attribute up top, or up front. I think their quarterback, number one, he reminds me of Kyler Murray. He's a little shorter guy, but he can make throws. He gets the ball out of his hand fast. You know, and their running back is, he can do damage in both the run game and the passing game. He's not a big power back, but he's a guy that they get the ball in space, and he's a tough tackle. Receivers, you know, they lost a good one last year. I think that number 18, Jalen Moss, I think he's going to be the go-to guy on the outside, and it's going to be a tough challenge for us, coming right out of the gate.

On his first game at Michigan Stadium

I mean, it's definitely going to be exciting and fun, and you know, it's like, I was talking to my wife last night, you know, it's the thing that you don't realize you miss until you come walking out and you hear the band practicing, is the pageantry of the game, and what better place is there than the Big House? We got to make sure that Big House is rocking on third down for us

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