Michigan Football: Mike Zordich Working On Cornerbacks' Confidence
Michigan's cornerback play was better than expected in the opener with Minnesota before falling flat in consecutive losses to Michigan State and Indiana. Redshirt sophomore Vincent Gray got his swagger back a bit in a loss to Wisconsin, though he wasn't perfect, but cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich still considers his group a work in progress.
Both Gray and fellow redshirt sophomore Gemon Green have eased into their roles, unlike some of the shifty-hipped corners of the past like Jourdan Lewis, Lavert Hill and Ambry Thomas, and have had their ups and downs.
It hasn't helped that the pass rush hasn't gotten home for most of the last three weeks. U-M became the first Big Ten team since 2015 to go five halves without a sack or a turnover, and lack of pressure has put the corners in a tough spot.
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Zordich refused to point fingers at the men up front.
"I'm not going to blame it on the pass rush. I've got to blame it on us not doing our job and sticking with our fundamentals and techniques more than anything else," he said.
But he's also as perplexed as anyone at the number of flags his guys have gotten this year. They've gotten as many pass interference and holding calls in four games as they did almost all of last year, he noted, despite preaching not to grab and hold.
Things took a turn for the worse after a solid opener against Minnesota. They lost some confidence on some perfectly placed balls by Michigan State's Rocky Lombardi — plays lost at the line of scrimmage when they weren't using their eyes correctly, Zordich explained — and it's taken a while to get it back.
"For whatever reason, we've had officials at our practices and there weren't many flags," he said. "All of a sudden we go into game two and they're raining down. A little part of that was it happened once, we got a little out of kilter mind-wise, then got a little nervous in routes, to be honest.
"We've got to have great mind and body control in everything we do. That's a position in the spotlight. We've worked really really hard at practice in individual and even in team situations of not having those types of penalties."
Green was a bit nervous out of the box, Zordich said, but he's settled in. He didn't get better against Wisconsin but was "pretty steady" in his coach's eyes and is continuing to figure it out.
The light went on in July that he had a chance to compete for a starting job, and he's continued to ascend.
"I think he's going to be just fine," Zordich said.
Gray, meanwhile, looked confident for the first time in the opener after getting beaten badly against Michigan State and Indiana. He wasn't perfect, but he had a bit of the swagger he seemed to lose after the previous few weeks' disappointments.
Zordich's message — receivers are going to catch some balls. It's how you respond that defines you.
"Watching game film, there was a bounce in his step. He played with emotion," Zordich said of Gray. "I even told him, 'look at you. You're a totally different guy, totally excited to be on the football field.'
"That's what we need. He's got to play with emotion. This is a great game, but without playing with emotion it's hard to be successful. He showed that last Saturday ... he's on the right track and got better last Saturday."
They've also tweaked some things to make it easier on their corners. They're going to continue to be aggressive — "Don [Brown] is an aggressive style coach, and that's who we are and going to be," Zordich said — but they'e also added a few wrinkles.
They showed some of them Saturday with some success, though the 49-11 score hid most of it.
"We have to adjust as coaches, as well," Zordich said. "We can't keep beating our heads against the wall. We have to let guys get settled with fundamentals and techniques, and we're helping gather some confidence with the wrinkles."
Yesterday's practice was "pretty damn good" as a result, he added, the best Tuesday practice of the year. He guaranteed that one or two great plays for his group would be all it took to get them back into gear and playing at a high level.
He's pleased that his group, for one, has not given up.
"It has been difficult, there is no doubt, but I've got to give our guys a lot of credit. These young men have been really battling and scrapping every week," he said. "They're locked in, know they aren't doing as well as they could, but we know we've got to coach better, too.
"Everything goes in one big pot and we've got to fix it. Yesterday was very impressive ... hat's off to them. Now have to carry it over to Saturday evening."
Rutgers awaits, a game the Wolverines desperately need to get back on track.
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