Notebook: Mike Macdonald Has Some 'Wrinkles' In Store For Aidan Hutchinson

Michigan Wolverines football junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson entered into the season as a projected first-round 2022 NFL Draft pick and preseason All-American, and he's certainly living up to the hype through two games.

Hutchinson made two sacks during last week's 31-10 win over Washington, earning a nod as Reese's Senior Bowl Defensive Player of the Week, after notching one sack and a forced fumble against Western Michigan the week prior.

Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald has put Hutchinson in a new role as more of a stand-up edge rusher as opposed to putting his hand in the dirt, but he's tried not to over-coach him.

"Don’t get in his way. When you have great players, you try to put them in positions to succeed, and the expectation is that he plays at the level that he’s playing at," Macdonald said. "We’ll have wrinkles, and we want to move him around, but we don’t want to overthink it either. We don’t want to get in the way of that, but Aidan’s doing a great job.

"If you want to look at how to play football for Michigan, he’s the first guy you look at."

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Hutchinson has a plethora of moves that he's been able to showcase, Macdonald pointed out, but made sure to note that he doesn't want him doing too much.

"Yeah, we don’t want our guys to have too much stuff, because then you don’t get good at anything," Macdonald explained. "But I’d say Aidan has a 104-mile-per-hour four-seamer, then a 96-mile-per-hour two-seam and he can go with a 93-mile-an-hour slider, if that makes sense."

Several of his teammates have said they feed off of the energy of Hutchinson, a team captain. But Macdonald pointed out that there are energetic guys all over the field. And as long as they are doing their jobs, Macdonald is more than fine with them showing emotion.

"I think there’s a lot of guys that we feed off the energy of," Macdonald said. "First of all, they were feeding off the energy of the crowd. That was … I’ve never seen anything like that. That was crazy. That was just an unbelievable atmosphere, so shout out to our fans. That was incredible.

"We’ve got a lot of guys that bring a lot of energy, and I think it’s more collective than just Aidan. The one thing we preach is that, it’s not easy to make plays, so when you make plays, go celebrate with your teammates, get a picture on the sideline, have fun, man. We work too hard at this to just make a play and be all bummed out about it. Have some fun."

• Michigan has produced only one turnover through two games, though there have been opportunities, including a few dropped would-be interceptions. Macdonald said those takeaways are going to come in time.

"That’s always been a big emphasis. We haven’t turned the ball over as much as we’ve liked to," he noted. "So we definitely need to capitalize on those. We work on that daily, and expect us to convert on those moving forward.

"It’s all about in relation to where you are on the ball and your assignment — if you’re in man, you play differently than when you’re in zone … It’s kind of a play-by-play thing. I wouldn’t say that they’re making the wrong decision on how to play the ball; it’s just a matter of coming down with it."

• The Wolverines are rotating more bodies in on defense. It's both by design and happening organically, Macdonald said.

"The one thing we told our players is, ‘If you’re playing well enough to play, you’re going to play,'" the defensive boss explained. "And then we’re going to figure out what you do well and put you in those situations. A lot of it is matchup-based.

"But I’d say it’s intentional, but it’s also, let’s play the guys who can help us win."

• Redshirt junior inside linebacker Josh Ross is playing a huge role on the defense in general, having just led the squad in tackles with 11 against Washington, but he's particularly getting more involved with the pass rush. He has five quarterback hurries in the first two contests, and is reliable as a blitzer.

"That gives him a role on third down, so you can keep the same people out there and give them different looks, but shout out to [linebackers coach] Coach [George] Helow on that one," Macdonald noted. "He does a great job of coaching those guys up on how to blitz with speed and intensity.

"Pace is a big point of emphasis with him, and Josh has a great knack for it. He coaches me up on some of the moves that he does, and it’s different than some of the things I’ve taught guys in the past, and probably a little bit better, to be frank. Credit goes to him and Coach Helow on that one."

• Michigan hosted dozens of recruits for its game against Washington, and they were able to witness first hand what the Wolverines' defense looks like under Macdonald, who said it's exactly what they've told prospects from the beginning.

"I hope they see what we told them it’s going to be," he said. "We’ve kind of told them how we’re going to operate from day one, and I’d like to think they’re seeing that come to fruition in real life.

"I think that’s what they’re seeing; I hope that’s what they’re seeing. They can take our word for it. We’re not just blowing smoke up their butt."

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