MGoPodcast 15.28: Champions Circle Golf Outing

[Music] welcome to a special edition of the MGO Blog podcast we are live at the Champion Circle Golf Classic we have something unusual for our podcast which is access to players and even Chiron Moore so hopefully we won't screw it up too much we're starting off with Max breson and Jack Tuttle how are you guys doing today great awesome they are not live they are mut what happened there um yeah all right we're going to try that again how you guys doing doing great they are still not ly well that's interesting it's my life all right yeah I so max I'm I'm happy Max is good we can't get Jack Tuttle Jack tutle has been in college for seven years and we can't get him on he's been waiting for this moment I mean it was just a button I think I had to push up a little bit okay Jack try it now Jack what is what is what are you doing he's just talking like he should be talking what's going on I don't know this is you didn't check this out before we started I I I did but that was 20 minutes ago I me what what things can change can't they they can yeah so max we're gonna we're going to start with you I guess that's good so last year you moved a fullback MH um when did this like who approached you with that that position change and how did you like come to feel about it so it isn't really as much much of a position change is like it's thought of like I'm still in the tight end room yeah I'm a tight end I just happen to like my best ability is in the back field and off the ball like true fullback um type of a true fullback type of Versatility and it's not as much a position change it wasn't like hey right we want you to do this it's just we kind of found over time like that's what I do best and um it's just time on task we just found that it's my best ability so do it more so so you've you've gone over a whole season of of of playing fullback are you aware that last year Pro Football Focus they graded every fullback every tight end in America you and AJ Barner are one and two in run blocking uh someone told me about that like I forget when but uh me and Barner took a lot of pride in that and we were always kind of we're joking around a little bit like who's going to take the one spot so all right because it it was it was really remarkable because you you have Jim Harbaugh he comes in here he's got CAA he's got you know khid Hill he's got Ben Mason he's got all these fullbacks and then in 19 and 20 Michigan does not have a fullback and the 2020 season not very good then Max breson shows up and all of a sudden Michigan starts winning Big 10 titles because they got a fullback on the roster they don't know it yet and when he's actually wearing 44 they win a National Title so thank you for your contribution out well the overtime on the Rose Bowl I thought was really emblematic of what you guys were able to do because the first play they go off um a double tight end side and Barner and uh Coulson Loveland cave in that side they get eight yards and then on the Rose Bowl winning offensive Play It's you with the kickout block on their nickel and oh did you like once you get locked onto a guy do you have like a sense for like okay this I'm going to win this block I'm going to move this guy and like or is it just like you're just in the moment and you're just trying to get your job done is like uh I'd say that feeling comes with time o over this season like that's um where I've definitely grown but especially with like reps and practice you kind of like on that play you can already like feel the space before you get there so the blockchain just um depending on like space time like speed but uh yeah you definitely have a feel and that's kind of I'd say that's one of the biggest attributes you have to have is a feel for where you are on the field right when you need to win the block when you need to like create movement and when you have like something already good going to just right because there's some guys who you're going to come up against and you're just trying to like hold them off like if it's a defensive end versus a nickel or something but if you get a nickel you're going to want to like create more space right yeah I mean you always want you always want some sort of like call like vertical drive back like okay you always want to create that space and like I mean I if it's a defense B like same thing um but certain you like certain body types you can do yeah because I better I chart these games but I you know I'm a Layman I've never I've played football so it seems like a lot of the time a kickout block which you do a lot of is sort of mutually agreed upon between the offense and the defense like cuz they want to hold Edge so they're going to be in the outside and you want to kick them out and then one thing that you were able to do more frequently than pretty much anyone I've ever like charted is move the guy who you're kicking out so is that like an accurate characterization of like a kickout block is something that there is often just kind of there and you don't really need to like I mean as long as you're there Walling the guy off it's not that hard but then the hard part is to create extra space yeah exactly that's actually like a really great point for said never played football that's actually a very very good point charted a lot of football it's actually a very good like a very good like analysis that like almost if you switch if you look to the film and like in the like moment of impact if you switched the jerseys like and didn't know who each other were you could make an argument for both sides on off so it's a really good point um but yeah then like you're both really trying to do the same job like he wants to be locked out he wants to be in the same spot that he started and you want to ideally not let him you want to stay in the same spot you started and then the battle happens but yeah like that's a really good point like it's it's mutually agreed on like if you watch like a true kick out or like a true split Zone like you can make an argument that either side is on offense if you just like took that little piece so yeah that's like a great way to put it we have Jack now yeah I we could try Jesus Jack it's not his stop do that um so keep on trying all right we're going to keep on trying try try him now try keep going I don't know what we did there I we had working until we didn't yeah all right well just want want to give him Max's headset yeah let's do that thank you Max all right all right jack tutle we're talking to Jack Tuttle so you been around the block yeah um you come into Utah as a top 100 recruit if I remember correctly then you're at Indiana you're behind Michael penx there's no shame in losing job to Michael penx and then you transfer here with no Prospect of winning the starting job and what was the thought process like behind that well um Mike Hart was at Indiana before and he came to Michigan so I had a couple conversations with him on what I wanted to do for my future and um you know I had one last year and I had options um but I just wanted to be around good people uh I know I knew Coach Campbell was there I know coach Moore was there and Coach Hart um and it was okay I'm going to go be with people I'm comfortable with I'm going to go try and help them win a National Championship and do everything I can for them so I made that decision said hey you know I might not start obviously JJ McCarthy was the guy right absolute stud um but I'm going to go do everything I can and um was able to back up back him up last year and uh when I did play played well and had a blast so you played in a lot of third quarters yeah I played in a lot of third quarters we we did some smashing last year for sure it was uh it was a good time it was nice we got to call it Tuttle time we called it Tuttle time yeah so but now JJ McCarthy's in the NFL you have a shot at a starting job I you you took an injury year like was that part of your thought process when you came here or was that just like you know I've taken my six year I have an opportunity for a second I'm going to like take shoot my shot yeah we well to be honest we didn't really know um at the beginning of the year what I was going to do there was a couple options I knew I had the injury in the book there was some other stuff uh at the beginning of my career uh that was unfortunate and um you know second half of the years talked to Coach arbaugh I was like yeah man we'll want you back and we'll see what happens obviously with JJ and everything else but want you back so we went through that whole process and it actually wasn't all that it was pretty easy got the Year back pretty fast and um decided I was going to play uh I was I was prepping for this yesterday and I saw a video of you welcoming Britain kovi back from his mission that was like 30 years ago I Britain kovi killed Michigan in Jim Harbaugh's first game here did they did he really yes he did like the Michigan's first game with Jim Harbaugh was at Utah who was the quarterback Travis Wilson I don't remember I just remember this like freshman slot receiver from Utah just ripping Michigan a new one yeah and I was just like I can't you're like a connection to the very first game of the Harbaugh era it's wild he was unbelievable he's a good kid too well he yeah he and he so was a freshman he took that mission then I think he had a CO year so he was in he was like just in college football for eight years or something it was it was unbelievable it was traumatic he came back I remember actually weling him back in the airport um yeah that's the video I saw I actually played him in high school did you yeah my freshman year he was a senior or something like that he was at timw or something like that in Utah and I was at Mion it was my freshman year and um I played like half my freshman year in Varsity and the first half uh was like in the second halfes but remember going in against him and I was like he carved us up and we lost to them cuz he had like 200 something receiving yards 100 rushing I experienced that yeah so as a fan ridic but I was like I was happy to be on the same team with him for he was he was incredible but he was it was Travis Wilson by the way with Travis Wilson who's also unbelievable he was from uh San Clemy actually California Kid six seven I I like I had my old note still in here dude yeah wow this is this is old we haven't he brought up our charts before we started blinging them out yeah so you're in the competition for the starting quarterback with JJ McCarthy in the NL but you weren't able to play in Spring practice y y so I mean you were here for a year so you're probably not that far behind the aall but it's kind of must have been disappointed not to be able to show what you can do yeah no doubt um definitely made that decision in the season whenever I had the the little injury um you know we made some decisions I could have gotten the repair a little bit earlier but just decided to uh delay it till after the Natty just in case anything happened I needed to play sure um so we delayed it till January and uh decided that you know I would unfortunately Miss spring and that that hurt you know not being with the boys out there um you know watching film I still got to be with the guys and I took a different perspective uh to the film room and was able to uh you know help out and have an extra set of eyes on the other guys so everyone got a ton of reps uh I thought it was a fantastic spring I'm super proud of the boys and and just really the leadership out of the quarterback room to the team I think every single guy had a leadership role and um and really just played their tail off in spring so what's it like being behind an offensive line that can block yeah uh you no hate to uh anyone previously but uh yeah I got I got injured a couple times because we played Penn State D lines I mean I I have a crack Stern them that's what people don't really realize like most of the injuries were just in the pocket stuff and just animals on the D line so like last year I think I was really hit only once out of bounds in a game wow so I mean the o line took care of me and I'm blessed to have such a fantastic go line yeah cuz you were on the team with penx and then penx got hurt and then you got we were both getting smashed and like I remember Michigan was playing Donovan McCully as a quarterback as a true freshman a couple years ago and I was like and it was he looked like a he looked like a future really good receiver yeah so we we've seen quarterbacks at Michigan like Devon Gardner behind B offensive lines who just kind of internalized the fact that they're never going to have protection and has it been an adjustment for you to be like I can sit in the pocket for a couple of seconds I can get to my third read where you weren't able to do that previously no doubt I think I had a inner clock in my head uh I remember there was an average time in the pocket where like hey we had to make our decision like around two seconds or a little under it and then we needed to timer went off uh so coming here last year there was an adjustment to that but honestly I think having you know like that 2 and 1 half 3 second clock in my head uh I was able ble to you know digest and get through the progression um pretty quick and then if I needed to step up in the pocket and move it was helpful I had time you know I could adjust uh so I think being right in that middle area not just standing there um holding the ball forever um you know what I mean so it's a good little middle Zone and I thought that actually helped me last year I was like okay I can chill a little bit but also you know urgency there's yeah you don't want to go back to high school exactly it's just like I'm in the pocket for 5 seconds I can do whatever I want exactly how how much decision making do you end up doing uh like before the snap versus after the snap versus you know a second after the snap like where do you see a lot do you think you see most of what's going to happen before and then okay all right if this guy does this then I'm going to do that or like where's those where do those decisions usually get made you know I guess it depends on the play a little bit but just a regular passing play uh there's pre snap uh pre- snap plan and then there's a post Snap plan um and so when you look at a defense pre- snap you're given Antics trying to see any clues or tips they're giv to you about pressures or coverages um and when you do snap the ball you get post post Snap verification of what you thought or it changed from what you thought so um you hope pre- snap you do get the protection right right the time but if you don't and you see it post Snap okay he's coming can replace him with this receiver I got to throw my hot now um you have a post Snap plan um for what they actually did so uh there is a lot of mental play when it comes to quarterback but and you must have seen a lot of very confusing like reads and practice oh no doubt yeah our defense is a tough defense isn't it cuz like Max was like shaking his head show up everywhere but you know I tell you what Roc Coach Campbell does a brilliant job of preparing us for those moments and any different type of Defense we're going to see uh so we step up to the line say hey there's three possible things that can happen here uh and we give Antics and do all we can to get tips and narrow it down to maybe one or two and then post Snap we're like okay it's this defense here's what I'm going to do all right so well thank you guys this's excellent talking to you nice to meet you more responsibilities to take care of yep let's uh get that fixed we'll we'll we'll work on it in a sec okay what the perfect game day outfit underground printing has unique great fitting U ofm apparel and officially licensed apparel from legendary Michigan names like Woodson Howard euper and more ugp also specializes in custom 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plan you can trust if you're looking look for a second opinion visit us at Peak wm.com MGoBlog today hey fellow Michigan fans this is Matt demerest realtor and lender for a decade now you've heard me on the podcast talk about mortgages and I've helped hundreds of fellow Michigan fans in that capacity including Brian and Seth but many of you don't know I'm a real estate broker as well I promise to make buying selling or financing homes simple and cost effective anywhere in the state of Michigan whether you're upsizing downsizing buying a vacation home or building a real Real Estate Investment Portfolio send me a text or give me a call it's never too early to make a plan and the call is always free my number is 734 882 8194 again 734 8828 one94 or you can find me online at realtor and lender.com that's realtor and lender.com whether you want to buy sell or finance a home or even all three I promise to provide the experience so many of you have come to expect over the years and as always thank you and go Blue n mls10 11726 Equal Housing [Music] [Music] lender alone Lake not a ripple inside just a seing me see the day first the day first look out [Music] an never see that again never see that again [Music] child's laughter from across the street carry from the make me smile there just such joy in that sound joy in that sound a loud guitar or set of drums maybe just a buy just kick my and never hit that again never hit that [Music] [Music] again fresh cut grass a joint getting p not CH burning damn it I love the sound and smell of popn popn morning blue fresh coffe Brewing just as soon kick my never SM that again never SM that again [Music] [Music] hair a l lips her hair across my chest slowing down in the afternoon to give ourselves a rest give ourselves a woman's s feeling of skin to skin all right here we are are we oh we're we're we're live this is that's us this is this is our most very professional podcast in a minute here all right so we didn't know exactly when we were get somebody and I went to the bathroom and kept somebody came back and I was like oh here's Max breson and I was like I'm going to be Chris Farley on SNL at you which was not the right thing to say CU he has no idea who Chris Farley is but this is an MGO blug podcast this is Seth Fisher I'm Brian Cook how you doing we are live at the Champion Circle Golf Classic and already down One mic yes we're already down One mic uh so there's going to be a silent auction online today featuring uh signed Michigan football memorabilia of VIP Michigan men's and women's basketball experience an NFL Red Zone Ultimate Experience I don't know what that is a Baltimore r Ultimate Experience so we've got John on the uh on the tip here and then dinner with head football coach Chiron Moore and an authentic Michigan basketball Locker this is all online so you don't actually have to be at a AO to uh participate in raising funds to keep Mason Graham on campus I mean if we get enough do we get another year no no he's going to be like the first tackle in the draft now he dt1 for for 2025 after he was ranked a low four star because his arms were too short but we we talked to Max Bron and Jack Tuttle I thought I I asked him if he knew whether Pro Football Focus was ranking them one and two and he's like yeah yeah we were we were battling over that during the season so well guy you guys missed it after the after the show that Max turn to Brian is just like man that no one asked me those kinds of questions before I mean I was just trying to get like you know confirmation of like things I've thought for a long time but nobody has ever like confirmed for me like I I want to like want to dig in to what you do as it's not I mean it's not the kind of thing that football players like to sit and like yes we have a m i have a mutual understanding with this stranger that he's going to stay outside and I'm going to stay inside right that's that's the way it works out yeah and like I mean we're trying to ask him questions that aren't the usual questions they they get asked but aren't so specific that they say I can't answer that right there's always a a fine line to draw because uh you know we were like what what did you do on this down and they're like wa I can't tell you that yeah cuz I did that for like a couple of times previously I've got we've gotten access to players and I said stuff like that and they're like no no this this is uh this would be breaking uh kayfabe that's not correct that's not how you use the word kayfabe no but but yeah yeah they and I gotten it wrong before too oh yeah well no if I'm wrong I just want him to tell them that I'm wrong because I'm I know yeah that I've been wrong many times before I'll be wrong many times again well and the the thing is when we're wrong I think it's more interesting because it means it like well first of all it usually mean somebody busted it so bad that somebody else took the blame well yeah but you know yeah there was a speaking of other people taking the blame what oh thank you to underground printing for making this all possible reishi and Ryan have been our biggest reporters from the beginning check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan Fan Gear there are three store locations in ant Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at underground shirts.com we'd also like to thank our associate sponsors Peak wealth management Matt demish realtor and lender Ann Arbor elder law Michigan lawr human element Sharon's heating and air conditioning venue by 4M where we usually record this the scar Brothers autograph fandom rewarded and Champion Circle the nil fund keeping our team together who invited to this us to this shindig yes I would not have said shindig if you didn't write it down well I would have gone with hoot NY really I would call it a shindig yeah I guess cuz uh because of firefly I I uh there's there's a beautiful uh fruit tray inside that I want to go interrogate like Kaye okay so I guess I guess if we're here and we're we're waiting on uh other players we should just kind of like talk about like Vibes about what we're looking forward to in uh 202 yeah when people ask me I think I just answer I don't know I don't know what they're going to do for quarter like Alex org is going to have to be really really good at running and they're going to have to be okay with running him all year which is an interesting situation to be in because uh you know it was a c change when JJ McCarthy became the starting quarterback you know in the 21 Ohio State game he was running all the time like he had a package and half of it was JJ McCarthy runs the ball right and then he became the starting quarterback and was like we're not going to do this very I mean this has always happened every single Hardball quarterback like he they cannot keep the ball it makes sense yeah it's it it make like you want to keep your guy healthy I understand that but you're going into a situation where if Alex orgy is the starting quarterback then his main feature is that he's going to run the ball 15 times a game yeah and you know I it's it's going to be interesting because we didn't see anything indicating that the offense had been radically changed to be shaped around Alex or's strength not not at all you wouldn't put that in the spring game cuz you got Texas weak too yeah so but I mean is it going to be the thing where like there's the ruers game plan and the Texas game plan no I'm saying that like you just don't want to put it on film over the whole offseason so they know exactly what's coming yeah I think you don't have a choice in game one you got to rep that stuff live and you're going to give them a week to prep for your single wing stuff but like I just I look at this roster and like you have kle mullik uhhuh K mullings is a fantastic sort of two-way back he was a great lead blocker last year he was a great running back last year you got himit yeah you have Donovan Edwards another fantastic two-way player and the most explosive running back in the country exposive running back you have S Morgan yeah who like is like not just an end round guy Michigan targeted him downfield last year but as an end round guy like he had a Jimmy's and Joe's play on a Jet Sweep against Alabama so this is like a set Personnel that you could do some Fritz Chrysler stuff with yeah well and if you're going to do Fritz Chrysler who they used to pass to back in those days is tight ends well yeah and you got couston Leland couston Loveland who's a guy who doesn't tip whether you're running or passing youve got and and Max bredis who that's an offense like if you yeah that's an offense like your best like your most talented offensive players are like oh man we got to we got to have a spinning fullback but you can't you can't Implement that without like implementing it you know you can't like kind of dip your toe in and and I it's not like they grabbed Personnel this off season to do that I mean the Ohio State Wing got ch um Chip Kelly Chip Kelly who's like yeah I don't even know if that's a good move anymore I mean if if Ryan day is not in charge of the offense anymore and they got will Howard like that kind of makes sense like that if they're going to be that offense now I mean but that's that's that's actually a very interesting parallel M because Ohio state is also entering a season where they have a quarterback who is not going to be that highly rated by the NFL yeah and supplements his uh yep supplements his ability with his running ability just throw Quint with meet hey qu great to meet you man or do we not have enough headss I broke one of the headsets already so all right so we got two headsets for three guys we're welcoming in this the whole safety room uh we got mcari pagee Rod Moore and Quinton Johnson uh first of all Rod how's the injury going do you have a prospect of getting back on the field this season uh I mean I'm going to take it day by day it depends on how everything's going once I get to that point into making that decision but uh it's going pretty good right now just taking like I said taking it day by day um attacking the rehab that I have and then just going about it just doing that so you guys are are safeties and when football's broadcast on television you guys are usually not on the screen and when you are on the screen usually it's not good so like what's the like biggest misconception that you guys face like when you're talking to fans or your family members about like playing the position I feel like they don't really know like what we do back there for real so like they don't see us or they you know what I'm saying let you make an interception or something other than that they don't be knowing like we doing our job we doing our job very well too and you know making plays not just in aess making plays be in the right place or making that tackle last tackle too like they don't get recognized for real like that so cuz if you guys are doing your job really well you you don't show up right yeah so like you I have very little opinion about out yeah because that's one way to put it I mean like no no it's like you laid out am bka in the Ohio State game you uh in the 22 game had those two pass breakups that were but you're like Pi too yeah the pick too and then so Mari pige is the under underappreciated Michigan player from these teams I mean but is but after the uh Ohio State game uh Marvin Harrison Jr tells the press that he has never seen coverages like this and after the Washington game uh Jaylen McMillan the Washington receiver says the same kind of stuff so intellectually it feels like you guys are on like another level for most defenses in the country because of Minter because of McDonald like how hard is it to keep all of this stuff in your head and not bust like it seems like I would expect you guys to be making more errors than you are I think I can answer this um I think it just comes down to preparation and uh a lot of experience a lot of practice a lot of time together um we did a good job I think Coach Harbaugh did a great job allowing the defensive coaches to uh play with lot the players to play with the same type of defensive scheme so there a lot of carryover and the players took that and um really took in their own hands to to learn it and then uh teach it to the other guys so once they got time to go out and put on the field we was already pretty much one solid unit so Rod are you angry at uh Jaylen haral why why would I be angry at him because I think you were going to pick that ball off at the end of the Ohio State game even if he didn't get pressure on the quarterback oh yeah I would have but he made it easier he did he made it way easier it's a it's a much more impressive play because you're you're coming over the top of that coverage right like you've successfully baited McCord into that throw and you're you're GNA pop up there it felt like like I knew where he was going with the B whole time well it's Marvin Harrison Jr it's not that hard I mean I if you want to be honest I didn't know he was over there you didn't not until after really so you were just you were just heading over there because you you saw his eyes just the route theout the route yeah the route so like what's what's the hardest thing about playing safety like uh for you there's no answer because you come in and you're playing as a freshman against Ohio State nothing goes wrong that's the answer i' seen some stuff that they've seen some BS I would just say probably balancing cuz you kind of you're like the quarterback of the defense so you have to be able to know what the people in the front's doing right in front of you in the corners you to know everybody's job so I think is balancing that and knowing what you got to do at the same time so how many times when you come out you see the offense's alignment are you making changes on the Fly based on what the offense is doing and how much of it is every play so like every play you're seeing what the offense is doing and then how many times like are you disguising coverages because if you disguise a coverage every time they're going to get it right they're going to figure out that you're doing it but like what's the like just depends on the play play call we got and some of it you know you can move around a lot more sometimes you can't really you got to stick it in depending on down distance too so it really just depends on situation we in so one thing that I noticed when Jesse Mentor came in is that you guys got a lot better at handling Tempo so was that because McDonald comes in he comes in from the NFL and he's really not spent a whole lot of time in college and their rules for spotting the ball are different so how did that was there a difference when he came in where you're like you got one-word calls where if they're going Tempo we're going to we have like a set of different plays that we can run and was that an adaptation or was that not something that you really picked up on usually everybody was on the same page and knowing what we had to do when the tempo came yeah sometimes it would it' be looking at the tiine it just depends on what game it is what the game plan is all right and honestly like as a defense we also just got way smarter having that year under McDonald to learn the system right and then as time went on just the understanding of and the field knowledge got that much better as the years went on so Quenton kind of mix of both you kind of emerged last year I mean you were injured early in your career was in high school right and I mean you came in as like a 4-3 guy and it took you a while to see the field and then you're behind these two guys but eventually it like we we CH all the plays and we're like I'm sorry man why is Quinton Johnson out there and then it's like you're making interceptions you're laying out guys and you you had you had Keon last year too I mean the depth of last year's defense was absolutely crazy and everybody played in a way that I don't think I've ever seen like another defense play where it's like you were getting 30 snaps a game he was getting 30 snaps a game you were getting 30 snaps a game like what was that like you guys competitive about that or was it just like I know that quent can play so it's like he's out there and and I'm fine with that yeah I mean I mean it's not mean competitive obviously because we play the sport but at the same time we support each other you know what I'm saying we want them to play we want them to make them plays too so I mean yeah we at the end of the day we all one group one team so was good for him was good for us yeah so it was like the thing that helped everybody the depth is when because it was probably the what was it the first two three games me and K was out so yeah q and Keon was starting so they getting those live reps and getting real reps helps everybody learn a lot faster so then when me and Mari came back it was easy to split the ref so like whoever it was a starter in there if was if it was Q Keon me Q whoever was out there was just a starter every every time so did you guys call Keon after you got hurt and be like yeah come back no no I call Keon but yeah Keon Keon living life though yeah I'm I you don't have to answer that I just making a joke about so prospects for this year you guys are how's the defense shaping up for 2024 it's very good well yeah I mean honestly like the defense it might not be at you might not have the same depth that we had last [ __ ] but you got a lot of guys that are older and wiser in their development of football like I've been saying kind of in some of the other answers that the years go on the smarter the players get the more comfortable they getting the system the more they understand their job and responsibilities that they do have on the field so you should keep seeing a natural progression of where the defense should be and how even last year we had a really good defense we get year should be that much better okay all right well uh thank you guys it was awesome talking to you good luck this year on the field thank you there was a mcari pagee rod Moore and Quinton Johnson uh apologies for the uh mic issues we're having but that's life yeah we're ready [Music] we welcome in Coulson lovely a tight end for the Michigan Wolverines last time I saw him he was picking his family out of the crowd when about when uh they were about to go celebrate the national championship so it's good to see you again likewise good to see you guys yeah so entering your junior year Michigan has graduated a couple of high-end wide receivers it looks like you're going to be a primary target like what are your goals in terms of just numbers for this year uh I got some number goals I like to keep those to myself okay but uh yeah like you said uh had some key guys graduate big parts of the team but like like you said we got guys returning like me Don a lot of guys on the o line you know everywhere on the offense but um mainly like the young guys coming in like I think lot we got a lot of underrated guys so you know we got people that left but we got we got guys that are ready to fill in and proove themselves so you came in as true freshman and you're kind of popping up during the season you know and and you're com you're coming out of Idaho mhm and but you're getting some snaps you're making some plays and like what was the moment during your freshman season where you're like I I can I can do this like I can do this now yeah um I think it all started like the Illinois game I think that's when I got uh scony who was in front of me I think he was hurt that game or taking limited reps or something and uh so I played a lot of snaps that game close game uh made some key catches and then after that I was kind of like oh yeah I could definitely you know I could I could definitely do this then got a first touchdown o State and then after that it was kind of rolling yeah and and so fast forward to the Alabama game and this is something that you know I don't know how like I see something happen and I'm kind of like oh was that planned and never really sure but kind of early in the first half you're matched up against Malachai Moore and you crush him off the line of scrimage and and eight yards and when it comes back to that fourth and two on the on the final drive they motion you in it's the same package and they slip corm into the flat and Malachi Moore goes with you do you did you did you think that might happen at the time was it like okay we we going to get this guy because I I like I I did this in the first half or is that just like you're just running the play yeah uh really running the play but I mean that's shout out to uh our OC calling plays like they see that obviously we're we're giving them a bunch of looks we're doing the same thing same formation bunch of different routes Concepts you know so uh yeah I mean that was a great play call there obviously flat was wide open they bit on the Run heavy but like we you know mean we were running we were running it all game so yeah we know you know everyone when they play us they'll they'll stack the box they're ready for the run so it was It was kind of free so ra waving at Greg duy might have to play on mic in a minute shout out Greg Dy yeah knows everybody y um yeah another qu another specific play I wanted to ask about was the oate game in 22 when you turn it up and you know they got you got lean Ransom diving outside was that a I mean is that planned into twoo or you like are you watching him to see how how how's that connection made uh yeah yeah uh just practice obviously practiced that play all all week um and yeah me and me and Cornelius kind of got hung up uh it was corner up he B on the corner before I even really did anything so once I yeah like I almost thought they had the play call down knew it was coming yeah so it was like oh he's out there I'm just going to cut my cut my route a little short and go now and JJ put a ball put a ball rout on the money and it was a touchdown are they going to line you up more outside more this year do you think uh yeah I think I think we'll I I'll be able to line up everywhere and uh you know wherever wherever the team needs me to be to be successful well cuz one thing that kind of jumped out to me a big 10 championship game you had that touchdown against Purdue that's back shoulder throw it's just kind of like a go up and get it throw yeah and it Harbaugh never did that like Harbaugh never wanted to throw just like a a 50-50 ball but with you he was like all right I'll make an exception for for colon yeah yeah no that was super again another crazy uh touchdown great ball by nine just put it where no one can get it except me either going to be a catcher and incomplete and uh it was exactly how we drew it up so we were talking to to Max bres earlier and I brought up the fact that he and Barner were one and two and Pro Football Focus is run block rating did you get any stick from them for not being up there with that oh yeah yeah they gave me some stick but everyone hates On The Run blocking but I think I'm a pretty good pretty good run blocker no I mean but yeah no Barner and uh Brad I mean those guys are in the trenches getting it done for real yeah those guys really do that Brad really does that do you want to hand your mic to we ALS uh I did I get unplugged here what happened here okay we also welcome in samage Moran how you doing Sage good how you doing see my guy I uh I was going over the Alabama game recently and it was it was remarkable how big of a part of the game plan you were and I was looking at one play specifically whereas the roll out and they had to throw it to mullings but you were in the end zone and you were hopping up and down cuz is you knew you were going to be open right mhm and I mean that's a lot of faith to put in a true freshman in in the Rose Bowl and that like do you think that's going to be a springboard for you as a sophomore to like really break out yeah I feel like um you know the momentum I had last year not saying it was the best freshman year you know ever but you know I feel like I did do you know a little bit more than average so I feel like coming from last year going into this year I feel like my teammates and my coaches have a little bit more trust in me and more belief in me and I feel like you know some of the guys ready to see what more I could do and you know I'm also ready to see what more I can do on the field and well yeah like you're a slot but they targeted you downfield quite a lot for a guy who is uh just coming in and you know stereotypically you're not going to be a guy who you're going to Target 30 yards down field but one of your first catches is like a back shoulder fade like Jeremy Gallum light there it's like yeah you know that's just the trust that's just the trust factor that came in you know you know they they they trusted me to know what I was doing you know at the certain times I was in you know like you know like that um my first touchdown the back shoulder of the little fade R I ran you know that was just a normal play and JJ just picked like who he wanted to throw it to so you know what I'm saying like anybody could have got it on that play so you know what I'm saying I just feel like that was a trust Factor they even had me in the game you know I mean that's remarkable cuz usually freshman wide receivers come in and they don't even know where to line up and that did that happen to you yeah yeah I'm going be truthful that used to be me that used to be me yeah I'm going be truthful did you say anything to that Iowa safety when he tracked it down that's crazy I actually played with him in high school we was on the same seven07 team so uh I actually already knew him yeah yeah yeah that's my guy Co shout out coin man good effort you know what I'm saying but hey I wasn't really tripping though I mean I I bro I was tired I I made like three I made like three four cuts and then I was running far so yeah that was 87 yards sh yeah I but you know I believe [ __ ] Blake Blake you know you know he you know he he he pretty much sure for anywhere so you know I knew we was going to get the score you know so I'm just like I'm glad we went down there I'm glad we don't got to drive oh 80 yards you give it to Blake and we're going to be done yeah so you guys are entering 2024 new quarterback new offensive line like how's the offense shaping up in your opinion I think I think we're looking good uh looking good in Spring obviously just finding some new pieces finding some stuff out uh lost a lot but man we got a lot of like I said I've been said earlier a lot of young guys a lot of underrated guys that I think are going to pop on the scene and uh we're just we're just staying down doing our thing grinding and uh going to let it all show week one you got any predictions for who the starting quarterbacks can to be uh uh I mean man they're they're all competing and working right now it's going to be big camp for all of them uh but we know whoever whoever's starting week one is going to be put us in good hands and they're going to be in good hands we believe in all of them can you throw samage yeah I can throw really got to get good get that in the Playbook yeah might have to talk to Coach Campbell all right we're getting the signal let you guys go it excellent talking to you thank you guys appreciate D woo w [Music] n [Music] nah n [Music] n [Music] [Music] n I [Music] n [Music] we welcome in Chiron Moore head coach of the Michigan Wolverines how's it going sh great doing great excited so this has been a whirlwind year for you and I just want to ask you like you're on the plane going to Penn State uhhuh how how does the news that Jim Harbo has been suspended sort of percolate through the team yeah I'll show you you'll show me we're on the plane yeah you know I'm actually sitting right by coach there's a seat between me and Coach coach is sleeping he's knocked out and uh we land and I look at my phone and I think as we're landing at the internet comes on or whatever and I see it see the news and I just show him and he just like what and like we show Ward and we show everybody and everybody just finds out on the plane so you know at that point we were just like we didn't know that was going to happen didn't know what was coming so we just you know try to put together a plan that we thought would be successful and Coach you know coach being coach was you know really about say hey how can we you know should I fight this what should I do right and the coolest thing about him is he he told me he said if I don't fight it and I just take the suspension he's like they'll make it about the players and it won't make it about me he's like I don't want it to be about me I want it to be about the players he's said cuz we're going to win anyway right and uh you know that time he told me he's like you're going to be the head coach uh for these three games and you know we just galvanized each other and went out and executed so you've been the offens coordinator you've been the offensive line coach you've never been a head coach and then all of a sudden Michigan's first tester at Happy Valley top 10 pen Penn State team you're all of a sudden the head coach yep are you freaking out at this point like what what is your what was your emotional reaction to I mean I wasn't really freaking out it's pretty it's kind of a scary Cal right because the preparation that we've had all week the preparation that we really had all year starting in January kind of prepared not just me but the players in the team for the moment and I just looked at the team and the players and they said they had my back I had their back and we were together so that's what it was all about well and and this game develops you know you have a lot of pressure early and and so you you got to go on the ground and you don't call a pass that's actually in the record book in the entire second half that's a lot of balls for a first time at coach yeah you got to do whatever you got to do wi that wasn't planned I didn't even think about it and I didn't really know until the end of the game that that happened so yeah just try to call plays that I thought were going to work I mean it it makes sense in the context of the defense they're showing you right they're just spiking gaps and you're like okay I can play I'll add more gaps yep that's right yeah so I mean was that a conversation on the sideline like here's what they're trying to do to us like let's just hit them I mean I think our our players are really smart and we our coaches are smart we kind of know you know when teams are doing things how we have to adjust and it was all about adjustments and we made made the right adjustments so you win the Big 10 you draw Alabama in the the Rose Bowl MH and from the moment you draw Alabama like what's the process of drawing up that game plan I think the first thing that we all did when we saw we were playing Alabama we all looked at each other and nodded and said that's who we wanted I think our team didn't want to play anybody else but the best and Mick Sabin what he's done over his time period probably one of the Great greatest coaches to ever coach a game college or NFL and that team how they had been you know they lost early in the year but then they came back and beat the defending national champions you know for us we wanted to play a team like that and prove not to everybody else but to ourselves how good we were and so from that point on I mean soon as we got that that notice I was on the plane back I was watching Alabama film the players were watching Alabama film and it was it was a constant process of a game plan to develop uh what we had on in the Rose so I go back and I chart this game and one thing that I noticed is there's a lot of Alabama linebackers pointing yeah it's my favorite thing so I follow a guy named Dan Casey on Twitter and all season he's posting about something he's calling RB mesh traffic yeah which is the first touchdown you score with Corum coming out of the back field do you follow Dan Casey on Twitter or I do I me one of our one of our players last year Keegan would always send me past Concepts ironically of stuff that he'd have up I mean I think he's a really good coach and a really good uh football mind so it's pretty cool he has some cool little ideas and things so we definitely look at those things I think if you always got to learn from everywhere not just you know in your building but outside your building what you're doing so we definitely uh looked at some of the stuff but yeah we were that was a play we'd had drawn up for a while and it was just about the time to do it and our players knew when we got to that certain point that it was going to be called I mean they just all looked at me like are we going to call it now and I said yeah call so final drive of that game you come out uh a couple of runs you have the orgy kind of fake end round that gets broken up y it's Fourth and two and you motion into a tight Bunch it's the same thing that you did in the first half where you got Colson leveland to blow Malachai Moore off the ball for eight yards uh is that in your head when you're calling that play yeah 100% yeah I wanted you know that play was developed as we did the game plan to make it feel and look like that same play you know I think every I was told a long time ago that every great play call tells a story in their game plans and in their play calls so you know we wanted to make it all look the same you wanted you want the shift come in we even move the back uh to make it look the same and earlier in the game we just ran our inside Zone uh Duo play and you know after that we just you know we made the same thing it was fourth and two and threw it out to Blake so you did a clinic earlier this year I watched a a clip of it and you broke down like your how many Gap plays you run how many inside Zone plays and Duo was 6% uhhuh and I've been charting these plays and I've been labeling half The Running Place Duo so how do I get better at distinguishing between inside Zone and Duo well I can't tell you that secret right no I just like too many people watch this tell you so it's not my fault cuz it's really hard to tell yeah okay it is that makes me feel a little better okay so entering 2024 your first year as a head coach permanently mhm uh a lot of people left the team expectations are kind of nobody really knows what to expect especially in the new Big 10 how are you feeling about the upcoming season I'm excited I think our team is always execute the best when they got a CHP on their shoulder and you know really for us it's not about what other people think it's about what we think I think in the building and it always has been so we're just excited to prove ourselves right and play game by game is it tricky cuz you have a a quarterback competition have Alex orgy who's a very different kind of quarterback than Jack Tuttle or Davis D so if he's the starter is your offense going to have to be significantly different than if someone else is the starter guess we'll have to find out this is what I talk about questions that I shouldn't ask because they can't answer yeah I know yeah if Texas is trying to get stuff off the MGO Blog podcast then they're trying yeah that's right that's some preparation yeah so going in the Washington game MH that felt like like Alabama was the game plan game and Washington was like if we execute we win kind of so Donovan Edwards those first couple of plays people are on Donovan Edwards because like he runs one of them into the backside of his off line for changing direction but I'm just like I want him to press the Gap and I don't care anything else as long as he changes direction is like what is what does it take to really get Edwards like fully actualized cuz he was really good when corm went out it was kind of iffy through most of the last season because he doesn't have that Rhythm yeah I think for him it's just consistently doing what he's done I mean I love Donovan and you can watch every big game he's ever played in he plays really well so for us it's like just continue to get him the carries and let him be consistent but he's an excellent player he's an excellent Runner he's an excellent pass catcher so just excited to see what he does this year so offensive line you're turning over the whole offensive line is that a a cause for nervousness or you confident because you know G H's played a few games Greg krippin is a guy who you've been talking up before you needed to talk him up you have uh Josh P I think that's his last name y who and Miles Hinton who started a lot last year yeah so how confident are you feeling in the offensive line yeah I mean I feel the same way I feel every year even the guys that we had last year they'd give be they'd be a pain in the butt uh during the summer and during the fall camp and we'd go through the same things and you know they they wanted to be perfect all the time and it takes time to build chemistry in the Old Line like you're not you're not ever going to be what you are at the start of Camp what you are in game one or two and or game three or four so you look at our offensive lines and I can go back back to last year you know we weren't running the ball as well and people were like oh they're not running the ball and all of a sudden against Bowling Green the first play of the game we run for a 70 yard play and it's like okay now you can run the ball well it's not that it's just like it takes time to gel regardless of who's in the game so I know we placed Olu and had Drake last year so it's always a different line and you're not going to keep those guys for 10 years so you you got to train them so feel good about the guys we have you had I mean it was just extraordinarily fortunate that you had two is transferring seamlessly cuz that's like the hardest position on the offense to learn mhm and I that's not really a question I told him before we do this don't do the Chris Farley thing here we are but like I mean I remember I was I was charting Olu I think against Hawaii and I was like I cannot believe this guy is this smart already yeah like was he came in with a total knowledge of the playbook in fall and just complet commanded that position well it took time for him I mean he didn't he didn't know it just out of the blue he's a very smart dude but I mean he came in as well as Drake and they were like Olu came in in January and he knew the Playbook by I mean the middle of spring he knew the whole thing but it took time for him to actually do it it's a difference of knowing it in your head and then actually executing on paper because there's adjustments and things you have to maneuver and do so for him it took going through camp and really executing in high level and then got him where he was executing the winning Remington and outline so when I've watched offensive line coaches talk it feels really idiosyncratic where it's like this offensive line coach teaches one technique for a particular play and he thinks that any other technique is completely insane yeah um so when you got these transfers in you have you had larius you had miles you had the two centers were you correct dirting things from them or were you like we got to do it this way instead of the way you were doing it before there's a combination of things um I I'm a big believer in I I have a couple things that I want done a certain way and then you know attitude efforts one you like you're going to play a certain way you're going to play violently you're going to play physical you're going to finish us you're not going to play but the the technique part changes because everybody's built different everybody's body structure different your bone structure is different so you can do different things different ways so like Trevor Keegan and Zach Zer for example they didn't do things the same way people probably thought they did but there are certain little technique things I mean they' started for 35 and 40 something games and as they went through they're like coach can I do this I was like does it work yeah all right let's do it do it that way and change it up so everybody's different so there's different things that we definitely allow those guys to play with a new technique so as a head coach are you still hands on with the offensive lineman or do you do not have time for that I'll be down there when training camp starts I'll be down there they already know it's hard to I can't I can't get away from that much but uh I I got to watch the whole team yeah I mean you were offensive lineman how how did you stay angry every single play and how do you get the other guys to do that too CU I know that's a big key part of being an offensive lineman is just having that you know that extra effort all the time I think it it should be just your motivation on your goal and your job is as an old lineman you're the Big Brother all the little brothers around you so your job is to protect them in any way shape or form so that wasn't never hard for me and it isn't hard for our guys when it comes to game day they they do a pretty good job of that well it must it must have been hard last year year cuz you know larius comes in he's been a start at Arizona State for four years he's on the bench for most of the first four or five games you have Trent Jones who started for the first half of the 2022 he's on the bench and both those guys come in halfway through the season and or towards the end of the season in tr's case and they perform like how did you manage that cuz most teams these days you know if you're a backup you're out transfer and you're gone but these guys were actually loyal to Michigan like what does that say about the camaraderie of the r it just talks about the culture of who we are and and it's it's way bigger than one person you know the sum of everything and the goals that we want it takes everybody I always tell our guys like it takes 10 linemen to win a championship and like it did last year sometimes all on the same play yeah could be haven't done that one yet but thought about it I uh so now we put the IG in your head so we're going to take it's already been in there so okay what's the craziest thing that Keegan and zener came with you they were like we got to run this and you're like no uh I mean there's multiple It Was Keegan was every week and like he's he's a smart very one of the smartest football players period I've ever been around I mean he helped he helped those centers to get better because he knew everything and asking him things on Game Day adjustments he was a huge part of everything so right but I mean there's some there were some plays I'm just like bro I don't know how we're going to run this first of all there's not enough people on the line of scrimmage back and no I'm not giving you the football so you could have given it once no like take it out of JJ's hand and let him throw it no that's not you know against Hawaii like that he you let khil throw it one time I know and the crazy thing about that is Don was supposed to throw but he had a broken hand that's true oh yeah also that play would have been a touchdown if it was just regular play action yeah yeah I know it looked better that way though it was it was more fun yeah yeah I like a little so let's go back to that game 22 Ohio State mhm you're not really moving the ball qums out you're having issues and then all of a sudden you have these was it back to back the back toback drives with the huge plays there was a third and 10 they zero Bliss us we threw it to CJ he broke a tackle and then we broke a tendency of p and 10 uh first time first time you know throwing a shot play so threw a deep post to CJ and uh was a yeah so Norm I saw that three guys are all converging on the Dig and there's and like there's only you know cam Martinez is going way out the wrong way like a cover two and yeah he got turned around so bad deal for him but but I mean it did it did look like they had that scouted that maybe I guess you guys had set that up enough that they were like keying on that dig and then were not expecting him to go on the to to even throw the post on that one yeah well you guys probably ran more digs than any any team in America last year possibly and then you come into the Alabama game and that Tyler Morris touchdown like they have a safety who's just on dig Duty and then you have like both Donovan Edwards and Morris matched up against their linebackers like was that part of the game plan is like Alabama has seen us throw 50 digs this year no it was really just it was man covered so everybody was covered and we just got the match up we wanted so Tyler was on the linebacker so thought thought would be a good match up for us okay right because I like when I ever when I see anything I'm like was this part of the plan is this and so it's good to get some some clarification on kind of the things that I'm not really sure about yeah yeah all right what last question cuz we're going to we're we're getting moved along here are you um what do you what do you want from the fans this year like what can we do be loud every game make this place the hardest place in college football to play and then just support our players on and off the field because I think through the tenure I plan on being here for a long time and I want to win every game possible but there's probably going to be some adversity at some point until we are the adversity but in those times of adversity you know support our players because nobody wants to win more than they do absolutely and like you know I've I've been doing this for a while and I've seen some things in the the before times with Rich Ry and stuff where just ugly stuff yeah like people turn turning on players and that's never appropriate and but we got to win we want to win no it's I mean it's it's it feels like a different culture man I I want to appreciate cuz you were definitely part of that turnaround and you know the the fans see it and the fans feel it and we're you know well one thing that he said um is that when Jim Harbaugh came in he said that there will be no hugs and it felt when Chiron Moore showed up there started being there were some hugs there were some hugs all right thank you man appr thank you apprciate it thank you shiron thank you you [Music] n [Music] n [Music] are we weling Davis Warren and cl mullings Alex orgy oh [ __ ] uh oh are youing want me to I'm sorry [ __ ] a little B that's all right that's all right we welcome in Davis moing and Alex orgy I'm sorry I messed that up all good two guys competing for the starting quarterback job uh you guys mad at each other no no that's good not since I've been here no not since I've known him so what's it like aftermath of national championship aftermath of JJ McCarthy there's an opening and now you guys have to pursue it like before kind of knew who the guy was going to be but now there's this uncertainty yeah I think just as a whole room you know we all just came together and knew that like this team goes as we go as a room and so whatever it's going to take for this team to be good like we're going to do and I think the biggest regret we would have but I know speaking for both of us is like is is not that we're not doing our best or putting our best out there or trying to be the best guy we can be because I know we're both trying to be that right but that we let the team down by creating an environment where we're not supporting each other and being a group and that that would be and and create an environment where the guy out there it it doesn't feel that way and it's not the best version of that guy and the best version of this room so I think that's kind of the mindset I've taken and I know Alex has done the same thing and it takes both of us and it takes the whole room and the whole team to make that happen and it's been really a special thing you might be the worst scouted quarterback in history cuz you had the co year when you were in high school and before that you had leukemia yep so I mean this must be a moment where you're like now I can finally show what I can do yeah I think you know I I don't let it you know I don't want to be defined by exactly what happened to be in high school but I do know that it's a big part of my journey it's a part of where I'm at now and um I think I don't really look at as like a huge chip on my shoulder cuz I always believed in myself and knew that I was capable of getting this level but it is it does feel good to feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be in a in with a team that I want to be with in a room of guys QB room that I know I belong in and I want to be with all the time and and to feel that way about where I'm at in my journey is it's it's very freeing so it's it's been a lot of fun and Alex you come in as a a very different kind of quarterback than uh a lot of the other guys you've been doing a lot of running uh when you've been on the field outside of the spring games how is it different for you now that you might be the guy who's the guy like what percentage of the time do you think they're going to call like Alex orgy read option stuff versus are we going to throw the ball here uh I think that what's awesome about you know the Contemporary state of our offense of our quarterback room uh is you know just the the way that our you know offensive coordinator coach Kurt Campbell is able to use all of us you know we saw it in Spring ball we're going to see it a ton in Fall Camp just the way that he knows all of our strengths better than anyone else uh he knows the way that we're able to operate he knows our capabilities and he always finds a way to you know call plays that we all know we can all operate at a high level um but he finds ways to call plays for the quarterback who's taking the snap at the moment that they can operate to an elite level he makes sure that you know the plays that you're best at that's what he's going to call in the most competitive times in practice and even the plays that you know you're not the best at we're going to find ways to you know bring you up to par or get you to that Elite level and you know get to where the stuff that you were Elite at you're operating at a pro level and so he does the way that he calls plays is awesome I mean there's never been a time in practice or scrimmage or anything like that where I don't think any of us have really you know ever even had a second thought about the play that he's called it's always going in there with full confidence uh it's been awesome I think that as far as mixing in the Run game um he'll do it as much as he feels needed as much as he feels like you know we can get that extra hat in the Run game you know get put someone defender in a bind with uh with a different read or whatever it is but also just you know he's a really fun guy uh to be around just when he's especially whenever he's calling plays or creating plays uh it's awesome to just see a great football mind like that on a daily basis so you you played last year but very like sporadically youd come in for a couple of snaps here and there and like a lot of guys have to kind of ease into it you know they get an easy throw to start but for you it's just like you got to go like what is that like like is when you got on the field how nervous were you or was it just like I got this um I would say I was somewhat I was you know I was always ready uh to go in I think that the little bit that I played my freshman year helped a little bit with just you know my first time being in front of 110,000 was you know kind of later in a non-conference game so it was you know a little less nerve-wracking in that moment but uh so then this past year whenever uh I was called on I just felt like I was ready when it was late in the Michigan State game you know we're up 420 I just felt like you know let's just play ball right here well and you take a cheap shot late in that game yeah it happens and then you punch in a touchdown right after I was like oh he's he made him mad now felt pretty good exactly but then uh just like going into like later in the season and the postseason I would just I kind of knew a little I was a little more sure what my role was and kind of more familiar with how you know coach Kirk and Coach Coach Moore wanted to use me and you could go through me and coach mois text messages from all last season it would be random times during the day during the week game day whatever it is and I'm just texting him letting know I'm ready just because I don't want there to be any doubt whether I'm warm whether I'm ready to go whether I know my plays I'll let them know no matter what I was ready to go in and I think that throughout the season whenever I you know they wanted to use me and take a top 10 draft pick out out of the game to put me in there I mean the least I could do is be ready I think that for them to put me out there and not be prepared uh mentally physically and all that uh just to play the game I think that it would been uh disrespect to their play calling a disrespect to you know the people who were giving me that opportunity So you you're from Texas right and Michigan comes in and recruits you did you know a whole lot about Michigan before I mean obviously they're one of the biggest programs in the country but did you have a connection with Michigan before they started recruiting you or uh didn't know a whole lot uh they recruited my oldest brother when he was a junior in high school um and we didn't even end up getting to visit uh but so he didn't really know a whole lot but my dad as soon as I told him that Coach Harbaugh texted me in the middle of English class he started losing it he's bringing my phone I'm like Dad I'm still on the phone with Coach right now and uh he was just super excited just because he knew who Coach Harbaugh was as a player and as a coach and as a Michigan man and then he also knew what Michigan was as far as uh extremely high caliber and you know a classic of a program a football program as we are as well as the education and the opportunities that we have outside of football ball and so you know I was committed to Virginia Tech for a long time and then whenever uh Michigan kept reaching out after uh I end up decommitting they just you know they stayed consistent uh quarterback coach and then you know Coach Harbaugh was just recruiting me and letting me know that I always had a home at Michigan and then when I ever whenever I got the chance to visit up here I mean it was a match made in heaven I think that it was awesome just to see you know in up close in person the opportunities that I would have to be an elite football player and an elite human being Davis got any predictions for a starting quarterback well I was just remembering back when he came and visit and I was like who is this guy I mean he's he's I mean coach herb and Coach trest put some work in on on this guy to you know beef him up even more but like even when he came in in high school we were like geez this guy's a unit and uh and I was like oh he's coming to the quarterback room like he plays and then you know obviously we've become really close buddies and hanging out and doing trivia my first time ever throwing up here in Glick was actually with Davis and Max bres I want to say Peyton was there too probably and it was just like uh Coach Harbaugh had told me cuz I was just you know a weekend just wanted to you know throw around at least you know get ready before Spring ball I early enrolled and uh they were just telling me like yeah D cuz and it was right after the season too it was right after the loss to Georgia not a ton of guys were around but you know Davis was still here he was working out here and there and uh you know was introduced to him obviously didn't know really many people on the team uh besides I want to say I knew k JJ and Davis at the time yeah uh and so just you know having someone to talk to having someone to throw with was awesome and being able to you know just put a ball in the air with a a guy who was also teaching me a little bit of the offense here and there uh was just awesome to to be around and to interact with do you guys have a favorite Hardball Story I mean there's so many I mean there's any player that's ever played for him probably has a ton but then also just being a quarterback and how much he was in our room yeah there's a lot yeah um tough I mean there's some that safe for safe for children yeah some that you don't I would just say as a he was just an incredible coach and as a whole yeah and whatever it took to win he would do if he needed if he needed to tape an ankle if he needed to throw a Band-Aid on someone if he needed to wa did he taped ankles no but I'm saying if he needed to he would if he would do whatever he would do whatever and and and I think um he was really just and and especially as a quarterback he just wanted us to do great and do great things and I even seen him at the pro day and and he's actually living not too far from me where I'm from in Southern California now and uh so his little little kids playing in the same youth football kind of program that I played in so he he's he's a guy who who I'll never forget and always be grateful for I think both of us for bringing us here and now Donna's getting hyped up third string quarterback Don right here I don't you you got he has the best qbr I think I think he does yeah straight completions and bombs minimum 10 attempts though I don't know about that anymore he'll get them this year get I'll say you my favorite thing about Coach Harbaugh was besides like the Monday meeting stories or just being in the room with him whenever we finish a little early and him telling us whatever I think it was just no one that we had a you know a quarterback as our head coach that you know kind of had been in our shoes before and you know was relatable so you know no matter what it was you know even seeing the stuff that JJ went through whenever he had his best games or his worst games you know coach harball would always keep him even kill um and something that coach Kirk preaches often is never get too high with the highs or low with the lows and it was awesome to have Coach Harbaugh knowing that no matter what JJ did no matter what any of us did in the game you make the wrong read you throw the wrong ball whatever it is Coach Harbaugh is not going to let anybody else on that sideline another player another coach another staff member fan he's never he's never going to let them get to us before he can he would always you know get to us and let us know like I was there my second year in the league M dick was yell my face did I did that and I I did that I made that M he got my he got in my grill but you know what and I think him just understanding that as a quarterback and knowing just how how you feel mentally is that in that position and quarterbacks play their best when they're free and they feel like they can just cut it loose and I know that he played that way and I know that JJ played that way and that that same thing is still instilled in us and and we're going to play that way um even though he's not not here anymore and and I'm sure Justin Herbert's going to play that way too so it's it's pretty cool all right thank you guys it's been a great talk thank you so much nice meet apologize for getting your name all right [Music] n [Music] 10 15 minutes yeah ain't no thing yeah all right let's go all right welcome in the cover athlete for NCW a25 Donovan Edwards when did you get that call uh I got that call oh thanks for saying hello too by the way you feel me yeah like you know what I'm saying we say hello first before we get straight into it yeah yeah yeah but uh when I get it I probably got the call uh early March so yeah because like one of their lead developers is a Michigan guy so yeah and you did score like the winning points in the national championship game in the first quarter so you not too bad so I want to ask you a question about one of those runs because has something similar happened in the Penn State game you're run an inside zone or a doer or something and you're really pressing up against the offensive lineman and people on the internet think that you messed up because you didn't act more decisively and to me like you need to press that those on the DU one the second one the first one the first one okay that wasn't that wasn't Duo okay it's very difficult to tell for sure yeah but like you want to press that Gap and you want to burst outside you got to got to commit people inside yeah so that that wasn't a duel that was just a straight um inside Zone nobody can tell yeah n the way that the way that we be bling you can't really tell huh uh but no see I like with my what I went wrong like I just like predetermined it okay um you know I was looking at you know the whole like where the fronts are and you know I have like I visualize you know like who's blocking where like what's the scheme cuz I know like you know who's supposed to go where what kind of scheme it is so like this is where it should go and it didn't go there because I thought was just going to just go straight there it's going to be like a straight line make a safety Miss whatever but you know uh just kep my eyes up it was it was a like a wrong read for me for sure it was yeah thanks I mean your your wrong reads are some of the best wrong reads in the in in history cuz like I mean you score a 50 yard touchdown a wrong read then that's like even better like yeah screwed up didn't yeah I but I mean when you when you're doing that cuz I like you said the inside Zones look like Duo right cuz they're going to extend those doubles for a long time and when they're doing that you just end up with that linebacker they're watching you so when you're that committed to a gap that linebacker commits too well that wasn't Duo though all right all right we're clear on this we know we know so I remember I remember last but my thing too my B I should have been more patient and that's see like my sophomore year like you know uh I was in more of like a fi and a rid of them versus like last year like I you know like I did the match I was averaging like only eight carries the game you know so it's like some games I'll get four some games I'll get I think I only had maybe like three to four games where I had 10 or more carries maybe just 10 or like 12 it was only it was only like three or four so I was just like forcing everything I started to force stuff and some of I like I could have had like really bigger plays but like you know I was just going in there was like you know like okay I know I'm going to go in here with this and I I'm going to try to make the most out of it that I can to where like it just wasn't shaking out so pressing yeah versus like that inside Zone run the first the first carry that I had National Championship I could have been a lot more patient that's where like the second one like okay I all right hell yeah you feel me I was way more patient on it andn mind but yeah that's why I was able to make something happen cuz you know I was more patient and I was actually more comfortable in the game so people talk about this with running backs is like you got to getting in a rhythm is like a real thing it's a real thing for sure cuz like your best stretch at Michigan was after you know corm goes out you have that great game against Purdue like you're you you just feel like there were a couple runs against Ohio State I remember too but you're just like locked in you know this felt like you were a little bit off last year is that is that largely because you Wen getting I mean that's a that's a that's a a real statement right there yeah um I a lot just went into the things that you know I don't want to talk about which I could talk about one day but it's just not not not right but you know it's just that's a real thing like you know like I got 20 carries in three games like I average what like 170 something yards in those three games so like that's a real thing like you got to get into the feel like you know when you get you can get three yards great and the next play could be 20 yards you know and I just wasn't getting that kind of feel last year which is okay you know I'm not really tripping we won a national championship we won games yeah you know not really tripping about it but ultimately I think that it's made me a better player going into this this upcoming season to we're not a better teammate now you know U you know now I'm not pressing myself as uh as I used to I'm just letting the the game Flow like you know you're getting touches and you know you're getting a lot of touches this year right I hope so like kod said you feel me I mean I have I have an inkling that you will get touches this year but last year I was watching a video I think was at this event Sam web you were on a golf cart with him yeah and one thing you were talking about was it okay let me let me hear Let me hear it you were talking about cororo and you're were like I heard when corm came back I was like I mean you got to go get your money and then you could have gone to the NFL draft this year people you could have gone I could Michigan wins the National Championship it's a it's a it's an excellent point where you can be like yeah I won the National Championship Cas and then get up out of here peace but you came back and like why did you come back uh so made I made a pros and cons list um now I get a degree um you know I could be more involved in the community you know I could could be more supportive I could really do the things that I kind of missed out on my freshman sophomore junior year that I didn't necessarily do um you know and then the other things were like emotional things like mental things it's like well sh I could control that excuse my language like it's like sh I could control those things you know what I'm saying like I and I could be more stronger in those things so it was just it was kind of a no-brainer for me to to ultimately come back like I could have went call it fifth round fourth round sixth round one of those you know like day three I could have went day three but ultimately I could prove myself that I'm a day one day two kind of guy yeah uh coming back this year so you know it's and ultimately I just want to be able to do more in the community I want to be able to uplift people I want to be able to spread a message that I want to be able to spread and you know ultim I think that I'm at the pedestal now to where I could do so yeah last year I thought one of the more interesting Packers had you and kle on the field at the same time we did yeah you call mullings for so yeah and like and I mean we're not going to call him a fullback cuz I don't want to disrespect but man can block disrespect like that and like I I I was I was really intrigued to see more of that this year because I think it's like cuz you can split out wide like you can take an end around like I just think that's hell on all opposing defense so what I need you to do is tell Chiron that I want more of that okay I will I'll tell him and Kirk that I mean just go down to the Bentley pull up some single wing oh yeah got got to get Fritz Chrysler on this no do yeah yeah I mean I mean when we talk about what this offense can be you know a lot of the a lot of the pieces are there you know you got Max brison's kind of blocking in right you got Coulson lovelin who's going to be a block pass threat every single play you can't you can't fix that smage can get you out space and like and then the guys in the backfield I mean you're just a Expos to play to wait waiting to happen khil has so many different things that he can do you know you guys can off thr a pass we've already seen that no he who who all who's all of you guys kle and you yeah KH n see I I could I could say no no no I could say though on we know he Flo that day you know what I'm say he he he shoted like it was curry with the you saying follow he he had a much harder task than you did right's got pretend running up and he can't even see what he's throwing it's the same thing imagine get a imagine seeing a linebacker coming dead straight at you get a smack still throwing a well he he steps up in the he steps up in the pocket you just took the shot like if you when when I like in the in the Big 10 Championship I was like I when we grade those things we give a plus to the quarterback if he stands in and takes a hit and throws that you got a on that he also doesn't like he doesn't have he can't be roughed cuz he's not the first guy to touch the ball so it's open season on man throw the ball that [ __ ] [Laughter] hurt uh so prospects for 202 four how you feeling about the upcoming season uh I feel I feel very confident um I think that our team is in a very great spot um I I don't know if you guys have heard me say this but and I know that we probably the people uh you know our supporters and our fans know that um all of us have a trip on our shoulder um you know everybody on our offensive line you know uh miles sent Josh p k rahee um DM uh Gio Percy Gentry you know none of those guys really had the numbers called much much of last year right so you and same with myself you know same with our quarter base uh situation you know and same thing with like Teo and samage you know how we had CJ and Roman none of us were really the guys who are really relied on as much oh we definitely are relied on but you know like you you had you know KS you know you had KS Blake JJ you had CJ Roman all these talented guys you know and now it's our turn to be able to show you know what we can do so there's no doubt in my mind that I'm that that's for for sure that you know that but we're very confident that we're that our team chemistry is high and there's no doubt in my mind that we will be successful over underrun pass attempts this year for you what's the number uh five I don't know I'm not I'm not the play caller you got to say over I'm not the play caller I can't get you I won one every game no no yeah for real yeah I would love that too you feel well we were calling for flea flickers every game and then that started actually happening it did yeah and then they started using fle flickers to pick up 20 yards it's like all right well I mean that's that was the they were covering on top of those things cuz it was scouted yeah you got to do what you got to do man if we get a wrap up or yeah y it was lovely talking to you man good luck this season pleasure man thank you that have been great to see you man likewise appreciate you guys having me on yep go Lakers that's right whoa peace and blessing where you go why you say whoa why is this West Bloomfield man West bloomfi oh oh he's from up the street I thought you me the Los Angeles Lakers no no no no no we're what's wrong with the Lakers they're old what's to wrong with the Lakers you're you're old too see you folks [Music] n