Don Brown Goes In-Depth On The Personnel At Every Layer Of His Defense
Despite the fact that Michigan returns five starters (not including junior defensive end Kwity Paye, who started the entire month of October last year) from a defense that finished No. 2 in the country in 2018, there are still seemingly more questions surrounding the unit than ever before during coordinator Don Brown's tenure (since 2016).
The reason for the worry surrounds the fact that the unit completely fell apart in Michigan’s final two games last season against Ohio State and Florida, allowing an average of 51.5 points and 497.5 yards between the two contests.
With that being said though, Brown isn’t too concerned about the group as a whole, or what other people think of it.
He gave an in-depth analysis of each layer (from front to back) of his defense last night, explaining why he’s so excited about the personnel he has at each spot.
The 63-year old began with the defensive line.
“We have ourselves a real inside guy with [redshirt sophomore defensive tackle] Donovan Jeter,” Brown revealed. “[Freshman defensive tackle] Mazi Smith is a talent who’s only been here for a short time so he’s not ready to go yet, but he’s a hard worker who will be very good for us.
“[Redshirt sophomore defensive end] Luiji Vilain has practiced in all five practices [after missing his first two years at U-M with injury], and his arrow is up.
“I don’t even have to talk about Kwity Paye or [sophomore defensive end] Aidan Hutchinson. Our Swiss army knife, meanwhile, is [senior defensive end/linebacker] Josh Uche, who is now 253 pounds.
“He can play a lot of different spots, and he will. [Junior fullback/defensive lineman] Ben Mason is an animal, and I’m excited the coaches let us have him. It would be against my better judgment to say he could play inside on the defensive line, but he’s a freak of nature who comes off the ball exceptionally well.
“At linebacker, [junior] Josh Ross is doing a good job, but [redshirt junior] Devin Gil might be the most improved guy from a body and speed standpoint. He’s been a steady-eddy guy who knows what to do and is hard to knock out of there.
“Gil should give [strength and conditioning coach] Ben Herbert a kiss right on the lips because he’s helped him so much. [Redshirt sophomore] Jordan Anthony, [redshirt freshman] Cam McGrone and [redshirt freshman] Mike Barrett are all showing very good things as well.
“I thought we’d be fighting for our lives in the secondary, but that’s the not the case. [Junior cornerback] Ambry Thomas has taken that next step leadership-wise, and is such a good role model for the young guys.
“[Redshirt freshman cornerback] Vincent Gray is going to be a real guy, and [junior safety] Brad Hawkins and [junior safety] J’Marick Woods are both vastly improved and more confident. [Senior safety] Josh Metellus has also turned himself into a real player.
“I have 16 or 17 names I could really trust putting into games, and there’s a bunch of guys sitting on the fringe — [junior] Jaylen Kelly-Powell is one, and he’s playing full time at corner right now.
“I can’t put my finger on why, but we’re playing a lot faster this time around — and we were a fast defense last year. The nuts and bolts of our defense is still intact, so our guys can just keep going and understand the playbook better now. We have an older group of guys helping the younger guys, and that is a beautiful thing.”
The Wolverines are expected to start four grizzled seniors on their defense in 2019, each of whom has been through the riggers and seen it all at Michigan — cornerback Lavert Hill, viper Khaleke Hudson, defensive tackle Carlo Kemp and Metellus.
Any football team needs leaders who take command of their teammates to be an elite unit, and Brown admitted he's seeing it from his veterans.
“When you have success, you have a chance to be confident, and when you’re confident, you have a chance for real leadership — leadership comes from within and isn’t coach driven," he explained.
“Metellus did a good job of taking charge when we started practice today, and got the guys’ minds and energy right. He’s been through it all — he’s had great moments but has also been criticized, unfairly in my opinion, because I’m the only one who should be criticized.
“Kemp was playing mike linebacker for a bit with me when he first got here, and was a fish out of water. He then played some defensive end, and is now over 290 pounds and is one tough son of a gun who has found a home [at defensive tackle]. He’s a leader for us and a great human being, and I’d go to war with him any day.
“Khaleke Hudson has taken his game to the next hemisphere, and he’s highly motivated to have a very good year — motivation is a beautiful thing. I didn’t prepare him early last year for the crackdown on the targeting rule, which went away midyear last season. There were hits I saw around college football that had been getting called, and then all of a sudden weren’t anymore. I’ve never been one to teach kids to tackle with their face.”
Though he’s not a senior, Brown had praise for one more individual who is expected to be one of the key aspects of U-M’s 2019 defense — Ross.
The junior linebacker basically split reps with Gil last year, but is now expected to step into the linebacker spot vacated by the departed Devin Bush.
“Ross can knock the paint off the top of your helmet,” Brown said with an angered look. “You don’t want to get into a physical confrontation with him, because he’s as mean as a rattlesnake.
“He’s also fast enough, so I’m excited about both his play and his command. We had all winter to get him ready for this role, and I’ve been very happy with him.”
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