Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown was responsible for a good portion of Michigan’s 2020 recruiting haul, many coming from the northeast. At least 15 will likely play on defense, and Brown was pleased with what he’d seen from the group.

“[They’re] very athletic,” Brown said on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show Monday night. “This is the most athletic group we’ve signed on defense, and the biggest, so we’re really excited about it.”

He touched on a number of the players individually, starting with four-star in-stater Braiden McGregor. McGregor is already on campus rehabbing his injured knee. He also likes defensive linemen Aaron Lewis, Kris Jenkins and Jaylen Harrell.

“He’s a Michigan guy — he’s a big guy,” Brown said of McGregor. “We’re expecting big things from him.

"[Harrell] is in the mold of a Josh Uche type … can really rush the passer, played middle linebacker, but he also has tremendous size. He’s 6-5, 240 pounds. So, again, athletically, we really feel like we’ve signed four guys who can flat-out play up front, for sure.”

Some will play immediately, he noted. Others will be developed as their careers progress.

“Some guys may just be ready to rush the passer, but they’re an A-plus pass rusher. Bring him in and let him rush the passer,” Brown said. “If a guy has a trait that he’s exceptional at, let him do it.

“It might be a defensive lineman who’s a great run-stopper. It might be an inside defensive lineman with great movement skills. Well, if he’s got good movement skills, then we can play him all along the front … and really, you’re searching to get your defense to be a threat at every position.”

On the season, Brown said the team got off to an “interesting start,” adding he obviously wasn’t happy with the way they finished.

‘I didn’t think we came flying out of the gates, by any means,” he said. “We had some new faces to blend with some old faces. Had to solidify positions, especially up on the front. It really took us a few weeks to hit our stride a little bit, but I really felt the guys after the Wisconsin game, their effort level, their energy but, most importantly, their focus on the mental piece of the game intensified and really gave us a chance to play the kind of football that we’re accustomed to around here.

“We won eight games where we were averaging 11.25 points against and thought we really hit our stride coming out of that Wisconsin game. Sometimes a negative can turn into a positive, and that was certainly the case. We’re not happy with the way the season ended, of course, but we’ve obviously got a great opponent in the Citrus Bowl with Alabama so obviously a chance to go out in the right way.”

NOTES

• Brown was pleased with the way redshirt frosh Cam McGrone progressed throughout the year.

“The thing with Cam, athletically, I would have to say he’d be in the top 10 percent in the country at linebacker. This guy has tremendous ability,” he said. “He’s a very smart guy, and really, as a young player, the thing that requires the most time on task is the use of your hands at the collegiate level, which ties right into the next level. That was his biggest jump.

“He’s a tremendous athlete. He’s a very smart guy … really started to use his hands well. Sometimes guys that are very fast don’t play fast on the field. He was able to translate and play fast almost immediately, and it certainly showed even in the Wisconsin game, as well.”

• Brown gave Alabama’s offensive line credit, but he said he was confident in his guys to hold up against them.

“We’re pretty talented up front, as well,” he said. “[Sophomore end] Aidan Hutchinson really had a tremendous year really all the way through. He and Kwity Paye and Mike Danna will divide both [offensive] tackles’ [Alex Leatherwood and Jedrick Wills] attention.

“We feel like we match up there really well. The one thing when you think about us, we can’t be stagnant. We can’t stand still in front of them. We’ve got to move and grove and do the things that have gotten us to be seventh in the country in defense.”

• Ambry Thomas’ story was one of the most impressive of the year. The junior corner overcame colitis to play the entire year when it appeared he might have to redshirt.

“First off, he’s a tremendous person, a great leader; an attention-to-detail guy,” Brown said. “It was really concerning in the month of July because he was more in the hospital than he was out, but managed to miss maybe four or five practices at the beginning of the camp and then got in there and was never out of the lineup ever again, the entire year.

“When you’re battling a physical ailment that he had to battle, you’re not sure what you’re going to get out of the player. It was probably, for me, the No. 1 success story that I can point to in terms of individuals on our defense.”

---

• Talk about this article inside The Fort

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine

• Sign up for our newsletter, The Wolverine Now

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett

• Like us on Facebook