Khaleke Hudson Talks Unfinished Business In 2019, Al Washington's Departure
Devin Bush was the leader of Michigan’s linebacking unit last year, and his absence was felt severely when he chose to sit out the Peach Bowl loss to Florida.
With Bush off to the NFL, the unit’s leadership responsibilities will now fall on the shoulders of experienced senior viper Khaleke Hudson.
Hudson actually considered joining Bush and the other Wolverines who departed early after last season, but ultimately chose to return to Ann Arbor for one last go-round.
“Yeah, I considered leaving and my options were up in the air,” he revealed last night. “I wanted to come back though to get my degree, and I felt like there was more on the table for me.
“My mom and I stressed the degree aspect because football doesn’t last forever.”
Michigan’s 0-2 finish to last season (losses to Ohio State and Florida) also motivated the Pennsylvania native to return. He and senior safety Josh Metellus have been quite vocal about the unfinished business they'd like to accomplish in 2019, and he addressed those comments last night.
“There’s no question it motivates us to be better,” Hudson explained. “Last year didn’t end the way we wanted it to, and next season is our final year.
“We just want to give it our all so we don’t have any regrets at the end. I think I played pretty well and everything in 2018, but I wasn’t happy that I got kicked out of two games — I have to fix the way I hit. My intentions are to do better this time around, and I will do better.”
Hudson and the rest of the linebacking crew will have a new coach mentoring them in 2019 after Al Washington departed for Ohio State in January.
Anthony Campanile was brought in from Boston College to fill the position, and Hudson explained that transitioning to a new position coach isn’t as hard as some might think.
He first addressed, however, whether or not he was surprised when Washington left.
“No comment,” the senior said with a smile. “He’s still my guy, and I respect him for everything he taught me. He moved on though and there isn’t much else to say.
“It’s not difficult working with a new coach, because you just have to work together to know what he expects out of you and vice versa. You want to listen to everything he says and squeeze every bit of information out of him. You always tell him what your side of things and what you’re seeing out there, and you just want to take in all the coaching you can get.”
Hudson admitted that things have been going great with Campanile so far, even though the team is just five days into spring ball.
He also revealed that plenty of players are ready to step in and fill Bush’s shoes, specially junior Josh Ross.
“It feels good to be back in the building and get things going again,” Hudson exclaimed. “I can’t even pick one guy who has been standing out so far, because they’re all exploding to the ball and doing great in our meeting rooms, which is the most important aspect.
“Josh Ross is a great sideline-to-sideline athlete and is a hard hitter, and reads offensive players well. I don’t think there will be a drop off with him in there this year — I think he’ll do as well as Devin Bush did and maybe even better.”
It should be very beneficial in practice for the Michigan defense to go up against the new offensive identity that first-year coordinator Josh Gattis has brought to the table.
Up-tempo and less huddling is how head coach Jim Harbaugh has described it so far, and Hudson gave his own brief description of what he’s seen from it.
“They’re more spread out,” he revealed. “They’re moving fast and having fun out there, and it’s been good going against them and changing it up a bit. The receivers are really looking good — [redshirt sophomore] Tarik Black, [senior tight end Sean] McKeon and [redshirt junior tight end] Nick Eubanks.
“The running backs are as well — [redshirt freshman] Christian Turner, [senior] Tru Wilson and [redshirt freshman] Hassan Haskins.”
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