Will 'obnoxious communication' make U-M defense best in the nation?
Michigan's defense was historic last year statistically and on paper.
Could a defense that lost two first-round picks and seven starters outperform a season in which it finished in the top 10 in most defensive categories?
In its second year in a new system, R.J. Moten, a junior safety from New Jersey, thinks this team's defense is more comfortable and ready to attack than ever before.
"I feel like everything is the way it's supposed it to be. We understand the defense. Our tactics got better. Our coverage obviously got better. We were able to put little things in," Moten said during a media availability on Friday afternoon. "I really feel like the whole defense is exactly what it's supposed to be right now."
After defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald left for the Ravens following his sole season in Ann Arbor, his former co-worker in Baltimore, Jesse Minter, took over.
Three defensive coordinators in as many years hardly suggest there will be an immediate success on paper.
However, the similarities between Macdonald & Minter made the transition seamless.
"People have said that about us when we were in Baltimore, that we were just similar. There was a time when he was in the DB room and then he moved to the linebackers, and I kind of moved into the DB room. But I think we both look at the game similarly. We both have a fairly calm demeanor about us, that allows us to stay in the moment and not ride the wave of emotion," Minter said. "But, we're different people, and we look at the game different at times. Like, he had moved to the linebackers, he might have looked at things a little more front-to-back, I look at it as a DB coach, my whole career pretty much, kind of see things from the back to the front. So, there's definitely similarities, but I think we're two different people as well."
With the defensive system staying the same, the Wolverine defense gained a year of experience learning what senior defensive end Mike Morris called "a complex defense from the outside but a simple one once you learn it."
With a year under their belts and a successful season to learn and build off, the defensive room is concentrated on maximizing their communication.
Mazi Smith, a senior defensive tackle, is the No. 1 freak in college football if you haven't heard. He's also a captain of Michigan's defense who has risen to the top as the primary vocal component of the unit. He wants them to be "obnoxious" in how they communicate.
"We always have said a loud defense is a good defense. One of the pillars of our defenses is obnoxious communication. And so, a lot of our calls, it might be a rotation of coverage, it might be where's the pressure coming from? It might even be just, hey, they're lined up like this, alert for this. And so I think our group has just bought into that being a foundation of how we want to play defense," Minter said. "I think they started to do that but I think, as they continue in the second year, and have a lot of carryover, that allows them to do that with a lot of confidence. The more confidence you have, the louder you communicate."
Moten is vying for a spot at safety and seems to have it secured.
As he continues to fight off competition, the third-year defensive back is settled into the defensive system, and he believes that obnoxious communication the Wolverines bring to the table will be the X-factor in taking them from a great unit to the best one.
"The obnoxious communication just comes from everyone doing their 1/11th. It just shows we're all on the same page, and we all understand what's about to happen and what we're supposed to do," Moten said. "If we have obnoxious communication, I think we can be the defense in the nation."
In the NFL Draft, five starters from Georgia's historic defense were taken. The Bulldogs return only three key players from last year's defense, and given their recruiting classes, that might not matter.
Still, no glaring Goliath is standing in the pit shadowing over Moten's claim that U-M's defense will be the pinnacle.
As they continue to embrace the "no star" defense that head coach Jim Harbaugh donned it to be, their aspirations are attainable, if nothing else.
"Doing everything another notch higher than a year before."
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