Michigan Football: Young ‘Beasts’ On Defense, More Media Day Notes
INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan players took the individual podium after head coach Jim Harbaugh this afternoon and spoke on a variety of topics. A few young guys in particular earned praise from the U-M trio in attendance ...
Redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross, junior linebacker/defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins made up the Michigan contingent, and all were adamant there’s been a change in the locker room. Ross called last year’s 2-4 record a “wake-up call” and something the program really needed to recalibrate … Haskins said the energy was much better across the board.
Of note, and obvious — how much slimmer Ross and Hutchinson looked. Ross admitted he needed to be “faster and more flexible” after last year’s disappointment, and he’s down to 225 pounds and in the best shape of his life. He’s been doing yoga (seriously) in addition to added conditioning, and he said the line of players joining him after practice for extra work is very long.
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They’re embarrassed at what transpired last season, and they’re intent on proving it was a one-off.
“That’s not Michigan football,” Ross said, and he and the veterans are taking it upon themselves to ensure the young guys know the standard.
Hutchinson, too, is noticeably smaller. He wants to play at 260 to 265 and he’s about there — he said he’s able to move so much better with less weight, adding he loves his new position (standing up on running downs, hand down on passing downs to get to the quarterback).
He stopped himself before saying what NFL scouts told d-line coach Shaun Nua they wanted to see, but we believe it was speed and athleticism. He’ll get the chance to demonstrate both at his new position, and he and Jim Harbaugh both noted the defense will be much less “predictable” this year.
Last year, as many have noted, offenses could supposedly tell what the Michigan defense was going to do just by sending someone in motion. That won’t be the case here.
Ross got emotional talking about former defensive coordinator Don Brown, and he won’t say a bad word about him. He did, however, say he feels new D.C. Mike Macdonald's defense takes advantage of his strength — being able to run downhill and make plays, take on linemen head on, shed them and make tackles — and Hutchinson said he was blown away at what Ross showed on film.
“He’d go at a guy 100 pounds heavier than him, and ‘boom!’” Hutchinson marveled. “He was a beast.”
He said he sometimes popped in the spring game tape just to watch the way Ross played, calling him one of the more overlooked players in the conference.
We asked Ross if he was concerned about the other spot and Michael Barrett’s size moving from Viper. One of the big concerns, of course, is how he’ll be able to hold up physically in a 3-4 defense given how much more responsibility will be on the linebackers.
“Mike’s 239 pounds now,” he said of the redshirt sophomore.
Mic drop.
But that doesn’t mean he’ll be the guy to man the other linebacker spot, Hutchinson said. Second-year frosh Nikhail Hill-Green is putting himself in position to play, and true frosh Junior Colson is turning heads.
“He’s a name you’d better get used to,” Ross said. “What, 6-2, 230 pounds and fast? He might get in there.”
Hutchinson was even more direct.
“That kid is going to be a beast,” he said. “An absolute beast. I’m not sure who the other linebacker will be.”
Both Ross and Hutchinson agreed that redshirt freshman Mazi Smith was the guy on the defense they expected to have a breakout season.
“Mazi Smith, Mazi Smith, Mazi Smith,” Ross said when asked who the top candidate might be. “He’s going to have a huge year.”
Hutchinson was more cautiously optimistic, though he agreed Smith had great spring and big-time upside.
“He’s huge, and he can really move,” he said. “Now we have to see him do it consistently in games. I think we will.”
Asked who the top pass rushers were in the spring, Hutchinson talked about end David Ojabo and Taylor Upshaw before raving about Mike Morris. He had an “incredible” spring, as we reported, and appears set for a huge step forward this year.
As always, Haskins wasn’t the most loquacious of the bunch. He appears to be in great shape, however, and loves being the “overlooked” back of the bunch. He and Blake Corum are particularly tight — he can’t get over how hard the frosh works in the weight room — and he believes there’s a role for both.
He also loves the coaching he’s getting from new running backs mentor Mike Hart. He takes it personally, he said, as though he’s still playing, and it means a lot to him to bring Michigan football back to where it should be and to beat Ohio State.
That remains the benchmark, after all. Buckeyes beat writers did their usual baiting, trying to get the Michigan players to perhaps say something they shouldn’t. Haskins came closest, saying he expected the result of The Game this year would be ‘upsetting to Ohio State fans.’
Hutchinson admitted there was more talk than ever in the locker room about Ohio State and that added emphasis had been placed on the game, for certain … visually, vocally and everything else. Asked what that meant for the Michigan State rivalry, he remained diplomatic, noting both games were big.
However, he added, if you can beat the Buckeyes — the team that’s proven itself on the Big Ten and national stages for a decade plus — you can “beat anybody.”
“I want to be clear, though,” he said. “It’s not like we didn’t emphasize it before.”
Watch for plenty more from Big Ten Media Day in the hours to come …
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