Michigan Wolverines football defensive coordinator Don Brown is doing what he can to prepare his defense for football this year, from virtual meetings to playbook study. The response has been as good as he could have hoped, Brown told former Michigan offensive lineman Jon Jansen on his In The Trenches podcast.
“Without a doubt … one of the other things I noticed, when we’re running our virtual meetings, guys are never late, very attentive,” Brown said. “I don’t think I’ve had one discipline issue through the entire seven weeks. You can tell, the old love of football is there. They’re anxious to learn.
“The No. 1 question I do get though is, ‘Coach, when are we coming back?’ When are we coming back to play?”
His response, in addition to “I don’t know,” is one of his go-to phrases.
“…I think it’s really important is you have to control the things you can control, and that’s take care of your brain, which our guys have done, do the very best they can to find some options to maintain their conditioning, do a great job of the mental process,” Brown said. “Because now is the time we can really attack the mental part of the game; the schemes, the concepts, those kinds of scenarios. Just control the things you can control, and when they tell us on your mark, get set, go, let’s make sure we’re ready to go.”
Many were ready to make the leap after winter conditioning, Brown added, before the rug was pulled out from under them a week before spring ball was to start due to COVID-19 concerns.
While he only saw them for a short time, he noticed huge differences in many guys.
“I watched them a lot during from afar during winter workouts, was able to put hands on them one winter workout. It’s funny how you say it’s only one workout, but you can tell when a guy makes the jump,” he continued. “You look at a guy’s body language, the way he carries himself. He’s not looking around with that nervous energy … much more focused and confident.
“That’s what you’re searching for in young guys because you know they’re coming of age. I can see that definitely on the rise for several of our guys in that area. I see it developing in the Christopher Hintons, the Donovan Jeters, David OJabo jumping in as a pass rusher. Taylor Upshaw. A lot of these guys are outstanding athletes. You’ve got to make sure you have them ready to compete at a high level, especially mentally for those young guys so we can stay efficient and minimize mistakes.”
They’ve reduced defensive installs to eight, he said, to make it easier.
“Obviously, we take them through the installs. The one thing I’ve learned here, and I tell the coaches on defense, don’t neglect the teachable moments,” he added. “If you’re into a concept for example, working on a run concept and guys are struggling, instead of feeling I’ve got to move on, get them all this material, take the teachable moment, make sure you give due time to whatever concept you’re working with so players have a complete understanding.
“I also think another feature for us, and I’m certainly telling our guys, we’ve been in this system for four years, and obviously tweaking it every year to a certain degree. But at least in a lot of the commonalties, our guys really know it. More importantly, the upperclassmen know it like the back of their hands, so they’re able to work with the young guys and teach them the concepts, because obviously the best leadership comes from within.”
Brown praised senior linemen Kwity Paye and Carlo Kemp, junior end Aidan Hutchinson, linebackers Josh Ross and Cam McGrone and senior corner Ambry Thomas as guys who have been leaders throughout the spring. Safeties Brad Hawkins and Daxton Hill are a year older and ready to go, he added, which will help allow them to “hit the ground running as long as our conditioning allows us to,” he added.
“If you’re looking at it negatively, you can’t see them in person, fighting in a virtual world. If you look at it positively, you don’t have any time constraints,” Brown said. “You’ve got plenty of time to install, review and teach your guys, so whenever they hit the ground running, whenever that is, we’ll be ready to go.”
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