Michigan Wolverines football defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator Steve Clinkscale didn't sugarcoat anything when discussing his position group with the media Wednesday afternoon. He likes the progress the cornerbacks and safeties have made, but there are areas that need to improve, too.

Namely, Clinkscale wants to see more turnovers created, better plays on the ball and improved eye discipline in coverage.

While the Wolverines have largely held up down the field, with the unit ranking 22nd nationally in pass defense (190.7 yards allowed per game), Michigan has notched just three interceptions this season and has missed on some opportunities to break up longer passes down the field.

"I think we need to make more plays out there, but we need to let the game come to us," Clinkscale explained.

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"We’re doing a lot of different coverages so they’re not isolated as much as they have been, so teaching them the concepts, the formations — our concepts, what we’re trying to get done — has been the biggest learning curve. I feel like we’re starting to trend to them understanding that a little bit better, but I like for us to continue to be aggressive, continue making tackles.

"I think we need to stop letting the ball get over our heads at times, and I think we need to have better eyes, across the board — from the nickels to the safeties to the corners."

Clinkscale has harped on his desire for more interceptions during multiple sessions with the media, noting that there have been several potential picks dropped to this point. Hanging onto the ball has been an emphasis in practice all season.

"I definitely want more takeaways from the defensive backs," Clinkscale reiterated. "We’ve had plenty of opportunities. We haven’t dropped as many as we have — of course, we’re working on the jugs machine every day — but when we get that opportunity, we want to capitalize on that."

'Eyes' were something Clinkscale brought up on numerous occasions. He said he's caught some of his players staring at the quarterback rather than a receiver or another key, something he's trying to clean up on a daily basis.

"When I’m in that meeting room coaching them up, it’s eyes," he said. "I stand on the offensive side and watch their eyes all the time, because we got to make sure we’re looking at the right lane.

"And as it keeps going, we keep pressuring people and playing coverage and giving different looks, [other teams are] going to keep trying to do things to create easy, gimmick plays, like we saw at Nebraska. You could see our eye discipline isn’t what it needs to be."

Michigan's defensive backs have been penalized only four times this season, some on holding calls. Part of playing coverage is not grabbing or interfering with the receiver, which also gives the secondary player a chance at making some of those plays Clinkscale is talking about.

"That’s a natural instinct. Whenever somebody runs away from you, everybody out here is going to grab them," Clinkscale said. "I know we get a, ‘Oh man, what are they doing?’ Well, they’re not trying to grab.

"I continue to try to work their hands lower. The lower your hands are, the less you’re going to grab. You grab up top, that’s holding. If your hands are low and you get a little jersey, a lot of times they’ll come up to you and say, ‘Hey, don’t do that.’

"The reason why I like to keep their hands low is that now that tells them run. The big thing with all we’re doing, you can’t be handsy. Your feet and hands help you at the line, but then you’ve got to run. If you put your hands on the receiver down the field, you’re going to hold him.

"We continue to keep working on it. We show it on film — when we do it, I address it. I’m one of those coaches, I address it immediately. And then we’ll watch it again on practice [film] — ’You’re doing it in practice, this is why you’re doing it in the game.’ You can tell in practice that they’re trying not to grab."

Still, Clinkscale continually hammered home the point that he likes the way his group is trending in its first year under his tutelage and in coordinator Mike Macdonald's system.

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