Notebook: Michael Barrett talks comfort with the defense and more
Michigan linebacker Michael Barrett met with the media on Monday to preview the upcoming game against Hawaii.
Barrett was asked about his comfortability with the defense now that he is carving a role out for himself.
"I feel pretty comfortable," Barrett said. "I've been in it and it's kind of the second year in the system, second year learning everything. I feel pretty comfortable out there after spending the offseason kind of tuning into the fine details of the defense, kind of learning all the different things."
Here's everything else he had to say.
On whether he feels the decent is faster due to him being a fast player
Yeah, I don't want to toot my own horn but I'm a little fast. I feel like we're flying around as a whole. I feel like we have a lot of guys that can move, a lot of guys coming off the edges in the secondary or even the interior. I feel like we have a lot of guys just flying around.
On whether he takes on special teams as part of his identity
Just coming in here, Coach Jay harps on the importance of special teams. Special teams have always been a big part of my success here. Big part of where I've been able to get on the field so I've always took that personally, took that an importance to what I do. I know that special teams can change the game so I always want to focus on those details, take it serious. I know a lot of guys don't really take special teams that serious but I feel like special teams can win or lose you games. I take it to heart.
On whether he goes through tryouts to claim a role on special teams
When I first got here, I was a quarterback in high school. When I first got here, the quarterback of the punt team is the PP. So they were telling me that I could get reps there. When I first got here, our old special teams coordinator, Coach Partridge, he was telling me we could do different things with me back there coming from being a quarterback and things like that and that's kind of how it started and he let me move into that role, helped me learn the small things of the punt team and it just went from there.
On whether he would like to be on offense seeing Mike Sainristil make the switch
I thought about it. I will always have offense in my heart a little bit. I've always, even when I played offense, I always wanted to play defense so it kind of goes both ways. I just feel like however I can get on the field, however I can make an impact, I can make that big play or make that big hit, whatever I can do to help the team, whatever I can do to bring the energy to the team, that's what I'm going to do.
On how long it took him to get comfortable with the defense last year
It did take long. It was a new scheme coming from our old defense. He kind of brought it in, taught up step-by-step. It took probably the summer to kind of learn the whole defense, learn everything that goes into it. Just with the new defensive coordinator we just kind of have the same scheme, a lot of the same wording and stuff like that. It kind of helped get me comfortable with it.
On whether he's seen the quarterback battle take a toll on Cade McNamara
Not exactly. I feel like both of those guys could be a starting quarterback anywhere in the country. I feel like, going up against those guys, both of them are locked in, they're both competing, they're both competing at a high level. I wouldn't say it is uncomfortable, I feel like it's bringing the best out of both of them. Just the competition at that level, I feel like it has to bring the best out of whoever it is.
On how the defense changes when J.J. McCarthy is at quarterback in practice
You have to make sure that your rush lanes are perfect, you have to make sure you have your edges because if he gets outside and we're in man coverage or something, he can beat you with his feet. He's a fast one so he can get out of there. He'll slip out of a couple tackles and we'll laugh about it because we can't really tackle him or touch him in practice. We just have to make sure we keep an edge on him, keep the pocket tight whenever we rush him. Don't pass the quarterback. Things like that so he doesn't get the escape on us. It's kind of something you have to focus on when he's in there.
On the expanding CFP
I feel like it will kind of make it more exciting. It will give a lot of different teams, or different schools, a chance to get in that bracket. I feel like it'll make it a little more interesting. A little more competitive and things like that. I think expanding it to 12 teams, it'll have more teams to get that chance to win a national championship.