Big Ten Media Days 2025: Everything Sherrone Moore said during his breakout session

On avoiding losing players to money discrepancies

Yeah, I think you avoid it, first of all, by the players you recruit and the players you bring into your program and their beliefs and their thought processes. And I feel like we’ve done a really good job of separating the financial pieces and all those goals versus what they came to Michigan about. Our theme has been team over me.

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And in the world we live in today with NIL and revenue sharing and transfer portal and recruiting and all these different things that social media that can separate a team, we’ve done a really good job of bringing in the right people to make sure that we still have a team mentality even with all these things and all these various things that can happen. And college football is just different now. You’ve got to adjust. We always talk about adapt or die. For us, we’ve done a really good job. It starts with our coaches, how they evaluate and the type of people they’ve gotten to know and bring in our recruiting staff and doing a really good job of bringing those type of people in. And our team is as close as it’s ever been. They’re really close right now and to watch them grow and how they’ve grown through the summer has been fun to be a part of. Just ready to kick off fall camp here next week.

On Bryce Underwood took steps in the spring to compete in fall camp

Yeah, I mean I think you only get better at playing it by playing football. I think it’s definitely helped him. It helped his progression but before anybody asks, it’s an open competition so he is not the starter right now. There is no starter. We’ll figure out who that is in camp and we’ll do a really good job of evaluating that position to make sure we’ve got the best person to lead our program at the quarterback position. Yeah, I think when they’ve grabbed the team because they’re going to make throws, they’re going to make plays but when they’ve got the team, we knew it with JJ when he had the team and when we’ve got that person there at the front, then we’ll know we’ve got our starting quarterback that will help us because the starting quarterback is not only the guy that’s making the throws and touching the football first but he’s the guy that they’re all looking to when adversity strikes. He’s got to do a really good job in those moments so whether it’s Bryce, whether it’s Jadyn, whether it’s Mikey, whether it’s Jake, whether it’s whoever it is, they’ve got to do a really good job in those moments in camps when we provide them a little chaos to be great.

On the expectations on Underwood’s shoulders

Yeah, I mean, first of all, he’s 17 years old so he doesn’t really know what he doesn’t know yet and I think there’s expectations as a high school student-athlete and in the light he’s been in but it’s different at Michigan. It was the same when JJ was here and to be the starter quarterback at Michigan it’s a lot. There’s pressure but there’s not pressure. His job is to still be the best teammate, best football player he can be, whoever that person is so it’s going to take a village and for us to be a successful program, to be a successful football team, we’ve got to do a great job surrounding that person with the weapons on the football field but the weapons mentally to be successful.

On strides the team has made in the weight room

Yeah, I mean, there’s so many people who’ve hit on Bryce. He’s gone from 215 to 230 and it’s good weight, lowered the body fat percentage and gained lean muscle mass. A guy like Enow Etta, he’s 320 right now, came in at like 250. Andrew Sprague, a guy that’s changed his body. David Palepale, a special shout-out to him. He was a guy that was 370. He’s down to 345 or 340, touching 338 and a lot of fat mass is gone so there’s so many examples throughout the program that have really done a really good job so that’s a special shout-out to Justin Tress’s staff and Abigail O’Connor on our nutrition staff and what they’ve done. It’s incredible to watch it so it’s going to be fun to watch them. Big team, strong team, fast team, physical team, but we all got to put it together on the field.

On Justin Tress adapting to his role in year two

Yeah, I mean absolutely. I think he’s taking full control of that team and full control of the locker room and the respect that he has with the players on and off the field. You can see that permeate throughout the staff and throughout him so he’s definitely taking the reins to that crew.

On whether the nickel position is one of the more wide-open position battles in fall camp

Yeah, I mean that’s a great question. That competition’s going to be fun to watch because there’s so many guys that can play it. Obviously, Zeke played it but see Zeke as a corner that can play nickel if we need him to. There’s so many dudes that can be in that position at different spots in different areas of the field in different situations that it’s going to be a fun battle to have so all the safeties are in it and a lot of the corners are in it so it’s going to be cool to see even working Jyaire Hill a little bit there so to put different guys in different positions to be that nickel guy will be fun.

On what Makari Paige did at the end of the season that makes them feel good about using a bigger safety at nickel

Yeah, we’ve done that before. We’ve had bigger safeties there not just Makari but the year before we did that. We did a little bit with Makari the year before and other guys so definitely an option for us and a guy we can put there a guy like Mason Curtis would be another guy we can have there. Brandyn Hillman is a guy we can have there. TJ Metcalf, all those guys. So it’s going to be a competition that will go throughout camp and even guys will rotate in the season for it.

On working with Chip Lindsey

I think where me and Chip were really similar is just he wanted to do the best for what’s best for our offense, what’s best for our players and even when I was calling offenses it wasn’t about like I wanted to just, people say, oh we just wanted to run the football that’s not really true. There’s times we did but I wanted to be balanced. Sometimes that balance got out of whack because either I got mad or we wanted to set a tone and we did that but it’s really about balance and people say we didn’t throw the ball. JJ McCarthy was quarterback of the year in the Big Ten as voted by the coaches so you can’t say that we can’t throw the ball when the quarterback is the quarterback of the year. So I really feel strongly that it’s all about balance and he wants that. He’s been a guy that’s had a 1,000 yard rusher, had a 3,000 yard passer. Fun stat about Chip, he was the offense coordinator at Southern Miss that had 2,000 yard rushers and a 3,000 and a 4,000 yard passer and I was at Louisville at that time and had like a 1,000 yard rusher and 3,000 yard, so like he understands football, he understands the game. Where we’re different, I don’t know. There’s a lot of different things that we think about different plays differently. Not necessarily total philosophy but Chip’s not like a hey I just want to be an up-tempo, spread guy. He’s a balanced guy and do whatever’s best for your program and team. We’ll have those elements in the game. We’ll be able to do things like that but we’ve always had that. We just chose not to do it as much where we might, where we might not. I think that all depends on the situation in the game.

On the game against Oklahoma and anticipating it as an alum

Yeah, my anticipation for that game is that it’s a big game and it’s going to be our first road test. People might not want to hear from the Oklahoma side but I’m a Wolverine. I think about it like that. I’m a part of Michigan football. I’ve been here for eight years and I love this program. I love this place, so my allegiance is not to Oklahoma, regardless of going there. It’s to Michigan and to football players at Michigan so it’s going to be a huge test because they’re going to be a good football team and Brent Venables is a great coach, but my thought process and allegiance has nothing to do with I went to school there. It has all to do with we’re going to go win the game and we’re going to do everything we can to be physically and mentally ready to do that. Yeah, I mean, kind of removed from it so just seeing the change in their conference and they’re in the SEC now and you know they have to change because they’re in the Big 12 so it’s going to be necessary for them to be successful and to adapt to what they have to do in that conference so but really that’s my only feeling on that.

On Blake Frazier and the competition at tackle

Blake Frazier is almost 100% healthy so he’s working in there feeling really good. Be the best guy. Really be consistent throughout the training camp and show that he can stay healthy. Blake Frazier is a talented guy who I think we have so it’s going to be a fun competition. There’s really three guys in there, Evan Link, Andrew Babalola and Blake Frazier that are all combative for that spot and I could see a situation where you’re playing two guys in the season maybe all three at some point somewhere on the line so I feel like he’s got just as good a chance as those other guys and he’s put himself in position. He’s another guy that’s went from 250 pounds to 295 pounds coming from high school and I don’t think he’s gained any fat mass. I think it’s been straight muscle mass so he’s going to put himself in position to be successful.

On whether he likes Zeke Berry at corner and other guys competing for time

Yeah, I really like Zeke at corner. He obviously showed high upside throughout the end of the season and I feel like he’s going to be in a good spot. The other guy that’s really standing out is Shamari Earls the freshman corner. He’s 6’2″, 200 pounds or 195 and super fast, super agile. Caleb Anderson the transfer from Louisiana like Lamar did a great job with him. Another tall, long guy just kind of in the mold of the corners that we’ve brought in the Josh Wallaces the Aamir Hall’s, those guys that have come in and had really good senior years, graduate season years, and Caleb kind of fits in that mold too and then Jojo Edmonds is another guy that will fit in that phrase so I feel like there’s some young guys. I’m excited to see Jayden Sanders and Elijah Dotson who’s going to play safety and he’s going to play nickel. Those are some young, talented guys that I feel like they could jump in the fray but we’ll see when we get the fall camp.

On Bryce Underwood’s NIL deal and the conversations he’s had

First of all, there’s this random number that people throw out that they think Bryce got which I don’t know where they got it from but good for them. Bryce knows that the conversation I have with Bryce is that Bryce, you come here, I’m not giving you anything. You have to go earn it. Verbatim out of his mouth, I would want it no other way. His family, he’s always been raised they don’t want to be given anything. Jay is adamant on making him work and he’s probably harder on him than anybody else so he knows that it’s got to be earned and to be the starting quarterback at Michigan, I’m not going to give you anything. You’ve got to go earn it. It’s a historic tradition and all the quarterbacks that have played before understand that the work it’s taken to get there so he knows and understands that it’s going to take work to get there just like the other guys.

On the Ohio State championship meaning less because they lost to Michigan

I mean, try to clickbait the players. They won. They won the national title. They were the best team at the end of the year so I give them all the credit that they give. They were well deserving, they played really well and obviously they won it all so kudos to them.

On bouncing back from an 8-5 season

Yeah, I’m hell-bent on being undefeated every year. That’s the standard. You don’t want to lose any game. That’s the goal to be a coach. You want to be undefeated every year so for me, yeah, the standard is not 8-5 and the goal is to be to win every single game and to be successful and hoist the trophy again because once you win one, you get greedy. You want to win another and that’s the goal over here but we know it’s going to take work so can’t be worried about the past, can’t be worried about tomorrow because they don’t owe you anything so all we’re worried about is today and that’s all we’re going to do is work to be the best version of ourselves today.

On the post-game scuffle against Ohio State

Oh yeah, we definitely addressed it and there’ll be no more flag planting. There’ll be no more grabbing the flag. We talked about our new tradition and what we do when we win a game is go meet the band, go sing our victors and stay over there until the other team departs and that’s how we’ll operate. Shake hands after the game, show sportsmanship, be cordial. A lot of guys in college football know each other. All these guys, they’re kids at the end of the day. They’re 17 to 22-year-old kids and most of them are friends. A lot of them talk before the game so let them have that but then as a team, they’ll be together as a team and then leave as a team.

On whether there were discussions between him and the administration about what happened postgame

No, I think it was pretty well documented what happened, so there wasn’t an administration conversation of anything.

On losing close games last season

Yeah, I mean you look at obviously you win against the team that won it all so you’re pretty close and the games you lost, you think there’s moments where you can grab them but I think any in football in general, there’s always the games where you think like oh there’s one snap here, one play there. It doesn’t matter, you lost. Our job is to make sure that we don’t have those times anymore so that we can make sure we don’t have to have these conversations of well if we would’ve scored in the red zone or if we would’ve had this stop or if we would’ve got that pick. It doesn’t matter. Football doesn’t work like that. You either win or you lose so our job as coaches to make sure it puts us in a situation to be successful and help the players to do that so we’re inching to that and all we can do now is get to training camp and see how far we can get to it.

On stopping elite talent like Jeremiah Smith

Yeah, can’t give away all the secrets because he’s pretty good but do everything you can to make sure the quarterback’s uncomfortable. I mean that’s pretty apparent of the piece but yeah he’s going to make plays because he’s probably the best college football player that’s out there so it’s he’s elite so you got to do everything you can to put the game out of his hands but it’s going to be hard to do that so you got to do everything you can just as a team to go win offensively, special teams, defensively. It’s got to be a team event to win that game so we’ll get to that game when we get there. We think about that one enough, but it was an awesome performance by Coach Wink Martindale and our staff.

On the depth at linebacker

Probably eerily similar to ’23 with those guys. Mike Barrett, Junior (Colson) and Ernest and those guys. This group might be deeper because of Ernest, Jayshawn, absolute freak show, Cole Sullivan who’s going to take the college football world by storm and Jimmy Rolder. Jimmy Rolder played as good as anybody on our defense, just needs to stay consistently healthy and he’s done that so and then you add a superstar freshman like Nate Owusu-Boateng and Chase Taylor, that’s six guys that can play for you so really ready to see what happens in fall camp and how they take the reins on that.

On what Jaishawn Barham can do defensively

Yeah, I mean first this is the size 6’3″, 250 pounds playing linebacker is really scary but then he can play the edge, he can go inside and pass through situations and rush the passer or outside and rush the passer so he’s the guy that gives you a lot of versatility and what he can do and how he can manipulate the defense.

On what he likes about Donovan McCulley

Yeah, first off big, tall, strong, fast, explosive, big playability he gives you what we kind of got with Nico and you know Nico that 2020 year we thought was going to take off even more and that’s what he reminds you of. Now, you’ve got to put in the work to see what he’s going to do but in the spring he flashed more often than not being a big-play receiver so we’re excited to see what he does and in the locker room he’s been great. He’s asserting himself as a leader, he’s an older guy and he’s really taking the reins of that receiver room to be a threat on our offense.

On adding Jake Garcia to the quarterback room

Yeah, I mean just another talented quarterback, talented arm in the room. We wanted to have as many talented players as possible to push everybody. It wasn’t because of injury it wasn’t because of thinking that somebody wasn’t going to get back, it was all because we just wanted the talent, we wanted the depth in the room just like when you have in any room. When you have depth, when you have competition, you get better so there was a connection and we wanted to make sure we got another talented player in the room.

On adding CJ Hester and John Volker to the running back room

Yeah, both guys that I think have played college football that add depth to the room that give us more bodies in the room that definitely add special teams value to the room so they’ll challenge and push those guys that are the presumed, you know, the Justice Haynes, the Jordan Marshalls, the Bryson Kuzdzal we’ll push those guys and make sure that they’re on their stuff as we go out through the year.

On the continuity of the coaching staff

Not underrated, just excited about having everybody there. The continuity is awesome just having everybody back and Wink is having the time of his life which is awesome to see when guys have fun and he’s mentioned to me that a couple of times of how much fun he has around our players and how much they inspire him and for a guy that’s done it for so long to say that about college athletes and about college coaches is really cool so it’s just great to have our staff back obviously adding Chip. Chip has a cool element even though we make fun of him for his accent a little bit sometimes but he’s phenomenal he’s a phenomenal addition but there’s such cohesion in the staff everybody gets along, everybody hangs out with each other everybody sits together you go to practice and Chip and Wink are talking to each other that doesn’t happen all the time. When that happens it provides a special niche for the program.

On whether he feels the defensive line is as deep as the 2023 unit

Yeah, 10 deep. I think you got 6 inside guys and 4 outside guys which is crazy and I was talking about the other day, it’s like the 2 line, it’s going to feel like they’re dealing with the one defense it’s like, dude you better buckle up when you go to practice because it’s deep you’re going to be going against Derek Moore and Rayshaun Benny and Trey Williams and Trey Pierce, TJ Guy but then you got they’re not starting then the next week you got Cam Brandt, Dom Nichols, Ike Iwunnah and Enow Etta and Damon Payne, it’s crazy how many guys and Cam Brandt. This is a group that’s going to be awesome to be a part of and deep and fun to watch so super excited about how they’ve challenged each other too throughout the summer.

On how good the defensive end pairings could be

As good as any in the country I feel bad for the offense sometimes when they’re going against Derek and TJ but every year it’s like you go against the Michigan edge rushers and you feel like every year there’s a new guy that pops out it was Josiah Stewart last year before that, Braiden McGregor and Jalen Harrell, people forget about them and you had Ojabo and Hutch. It’s like every year it’s going to be TJ and Derek but then you got Cam and Dom Nichols and like it’s going to be fun to have that. Glad they’re on our team it’s a fun duo but it’s going to be hard to stop those guys with them and then the running backs Justice and Jordan, they’re going to be a great duo because Justice is a home run hitter but so is Jordan. Jordan’s that physical thunder that you need it’s going to be fun to watch those guys.

On preparing for the season when you don’t know what the NCAA is going to do

Obviously you can’t talk about that but not hard because you’re just so excited about what’s going on and the program and the team our players just don’t get distracted by all that, our coaches don’t get distracted by all that because you can’t worry about stuff you can’t control so all we’re going to do is worry about what we can’t control and go play

On whether there’s a suspension plan in place

Yep. We’ll wait and see if that happens.

On managing a fragile ego of a young quarterback

can’t be fragile when you’re the quarterback of Michigan that word can’t exist for a quarterback position, you can’t be a fragile guy you can’t be sensitive you got to be able to be coached, you got to be able to be pushed hard, you got to be able to manage criticism because it’s going to come. You throw one bad pass and people are going to yell at you or message you on Twitter so you better turn off social media and don’t worry about it and worry about the people that matter. For us it’s, again, just creating a village for whoever that person is to make sure that they’re successful like we did with JJ, like we’ve done with any quarterback department, make sure we love them and show them what really matters.

On the difficulty of playing somewhere and coaching elsewhere and having the two sides come together

Not very hard. I’ve said before, it’s pretty documented how much I love Michigan, I’m fully invested in Michigan and what it’s done for me and what I continue to do for Michigan so it’s not hard for me to turn that page and understand that I’m all about Michigan.

On being in the moment as a coach

I mean I think for me I’ve always just lived by the motto, be where your feet are so wherever I was, I was going to try to do the best I could wherever I was, when I was at the University of Louisville I was there for 5 years, that’s what I did when I was at Central Michigan, I was there for 4 years that’s what I did and now this is year 8 at Michigan I plan on being here for as long as they’ll have me and being here for a long time my goal is not to try to think about where I’ve been or where I’m going to be, it’s be right here and that’s it.

On whether he feels he can run Underwood more

I mean I think whenever you have a quarterback they’ve got to have the ability to do that but if you run your quarterback you better have two even JJ would ask me if he could run I’d say no, no you’re not because I don’t want you to get hit it doesn’t matter how big you are, the dudes that are going to hit you are bigger those are things that we’ll make a decision on if he becomes a starting quarterback when those times come

On the competition at punter

Yeah, I mean I’m excited, I think Hudson right now is in pole position to take that because of what he did in the lead up but we’ve got a couple guys that we brought in but just ready to see you know, fall camp will tell a lot of who’s going to take the spot and what it’s going to look like but just ready to see what happens in fall camp

On Mikey Keene getting back into the swing of things

Yeah, I mean when you play 2029 snaps of college football I think you can, I’ve seen guys you know just doing research on our players and our team Rod Moore is a true freshman, came in in June and ended up being a starter for us on our defense so if a guy like that can do it out of high school, he’s played a lot of college football he can definitely do it but again, we’ll see what happens as we go through camp

On the value of bringing back offensive lineman

It’s huge, there’s no substitute for experience on the football field, especially in the trenches so to have guys that started the whole year and have the confidence to do that, I mean Evan Link went from right tackle to left tackle in the bowl game and played really really good actually in the bowl game and the Ohio State game at that position so people forget he was a retro freshman and you know, Gio El-Hadi was probably the guy that played the most snaps, Greg Crippen had really never played he’d been behind an Outlander, Remington winner and a first team all Big Ten player, so to have guys that have played football, that have played in games and then bring in transfers that have experience like Lawrence Hattar and Brady Norton those guys will just help push the group along with the talented freshmen that we have so, stoked for it stoked to see where we’re at and I think we’re going to be in a good position because of it

On what Andrew Sprague has done to compete for a starting spot

Just uber-talented, he’s got all the ability. Had a little injury in training camp so possibly could’ve been competing for a starting spot early in the season. Really, throughout the season, just showed his ability and did everything he could to show the ability that he could be the starter for the bowl game. Knew when Myles wasn’t playing in the bowl game, moving Evan and putting Andrew there at right tackle was the best five combination and ended up being a great decision. That competition at right tackle is super heavy, right now he’s in the pole position to be the starter because the game he had against Alabama and what he did. There’s guys behind him pushing. Ty Haywood, a true freshman came in 6’6 320-something pounds. Light feet, ability to go push him at that position. So, we’ve got a lot of guys in different positions to push everybody to make sure that nobody feels comfortable. And I think that’s what makes you a really good offensive line. And that’s what made us good in 21, 22, and 23. There’s always somebody behind pushing. And if we can do that and continue to do that and prove that way and bring in the type of guys to do that, then we’ll be super successful offensive line.

On being more explosive as a team

I mean, I second it. You know, you want to be able to be balanced. And when you feel one-dimensional, that’s not a way to operate anyway. And for us to be as successful as we were at the end of the year, one, kudos to our run game, but two, kudos to our defense and how we played football, complementary football. And really kudos to our coaching staff to be able to do that and play complementary football, including our special teams and J.B. Brown, the special teams coordinator, and be able to manipulate field position, do different things like that. So it’s all part of the plan. And I think we’ll be explosive. That’s the plan. So we’ll see as we get through camp and see what happens. But I feel good about the direction we are and where we’re going for the offense.

On adding Juan Castillo and Soup Campbell back to the program

Both a wealth of knowledge, obviously, one for the offensive line has been awesome for Grant. But Grant’s really taken the reins and the leadership of that room has been cool to watch him. Well documented as he’s been right under me as I’ve gone through my progression here in Michigan. I was the O-line, tight end coach. He was the student assistant, O-line coach. He was a G.A. coordinator. He was a tight end coach. He’s the O-line coach and probably one of the smartest human beings I’ve ever been around. Him and Andrew Babalola are one and two. They’re the smartest people I’ve ever been around and had a conversation with. And if they’re in a room together, I walk out because I know I won’t have the answer for questions that they ask. So those, you know, Juan has helped Grant tremendously from a scheme, but from a fundamental standpoint. And then Soup Campbell, I mean, to say the least, he coached Bellamy. You know, he played there at Michigan. So he provides so much experience for Ron, but also gives another voice for the receivers that you can split it and you got Ron over here, but then you got Soup over there. So you’re never worried about the receivers. So it’s been outstanding to have both those guys back with us.

On Rod Moore’s health status

Yeah, I know. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not going to predict it. So we’ll see where he goes. But I know he’s been running full speed. I know he’s been cutting. And those are good signs to me.

On Mason Graham in Cleveland

Scary. Yeah, they’re more of a penetrating style defense, so it’s just different for him. And I know he had some adjustments he had to make when he first got there. It’s going to be fun to watch him. It’s going to be fun. I’m excited for him and his future and what he’s going to do. And especially, he’s got a pretty good running mate there on the edge with him. So I think that’s going to help him, his adjustment in the NFL. He’s a stupendous player, great kid, so it’s going to be fun to watch.

On the belief in being able to compete in rivalry games that might be one-sided

I think just the players, the players and the coaches, the trust in each other. Really, we talked about that when we prepared for the game. It’s not about belief. People are like, oh, you’ve got to believe. We’re not believing. We trust each other. We trust our process. We trust what we’re going to do and trust who we have next to us and embody what Michigan is all about. And that game is bigger than anything. It’s what we work for, 365. So we take a lot of pride in it. We always will. And to us, it means a lot.

On Gio El-Hadi not playing the way he wanted to last season

I just think he has a high standard for himself. He wants to be one of the best linemen in the country. And he knows he has the talent to do that. And he knows he’s, you know, since he was a freshman, I’ve told him that. He has all the ability in the world to be an All-American. So that’s his standard. And if he doesn’t reach that, then he feels like he’s slighted it. So it’s very mature for him to say that. And excited to watch what he does when he, you know, he progresses as he has. Even more so as a leader. And he’s really taking the reins of the offensive line and to watch them grow. Because I think the big piece of the offensive line being good is being together all the time. And they’ve really taken those reins to do that this summer. And they’ve grown together. And when you do that, then you have a really tight-knit group. Because you’ve got to look through the eyes of one lens when you’re playing with five guys. And they’ve really done that.

On whether he’s seen El-Hadi’s improvement

Yeah, absolutely. He’s done that. He’s had his best spring so far since I’ve been here. And looks like a dominant guard at the Big Ten. So just got to carry it over to fall camp.

On knowing when true freshmen OL are ready to play

Yeah, you’ll know. You’ll know when they’re ready. When they stop getting bullrushed from the quarterback a couple times. Derek Moore and TJ Guy stop bullrushing. It’s hard for them to get to the passer or they start moving them. You’ll know. But it’s going to be a process to see. Because playing O-line at Michigan is hard. Playing O-line as a true freshman is really hard. So to see if they can do that, then kudos to them and kudos to us. It’s going to be fun to watch the development of those guys as they progress. Because it’s a talented group of guys. All four of those freshmen, Andrew Babalola, Ty Haywood, Avery Gash, and Kayden Trehorn, are all competitors and all talented players. But not only is that the mental piece, too, that they’ve got to really hone in on.

On whether Andrew Babalola can start as a freshman

Could. Talent, ability. But the intelligence factor of knowing the scheme and knowing the playbook and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes in what he does, that’s a huge piece to it, too. When you have that at that position, it’s pretty special. There’s very few guys that can do it. He can, but it’s not a given. Evan Link has been there and he’s had a heck of a spring and a really, really good summer. So we’ll see what happens.

On picking the best OL

Yeah, I think consistency. The consistency that we had in spring, the strength and speed that we developed in the offseason, but really the consistency that I saw in the spring allows me to think that we have that ability. So if we can continue to do that in camp, then that will come to fruition in the fall.

On the right guard battle

Yeah, I mean, Efobi, Brady Norton’s another guy. Lawrence Hattar is another guy. Even Jake Guarnera, you know, he’s playing center, but he’s also playing guard. I’ve always been a proponent of whoever the best five are, that’s who we’re going to play. We’ll figure out where they are, but find the best five guys. So I feel even better this year that we’re going to be able to do that. I feel like we have at least ten guys competing for those five spots, where I think it was maybe six or seven the year before, where I feel like there’s ten guys competing, so no one can relax. And when you have that, then you feel like you’ve got good competition, and you can get better every single day.

On whether Efobi and Link will switch positions

No, Efobi will stay at guard. Evan will probably play tackle, but he can play guard too. Blake’s a tackle, but he can play guard. So it’s just going to be who those five guys are, because then you’ve got Gio, and you’ve got Krip. So good problems to have. And you’ve got Andrew Sprague, and you’ve got Ty Haywood, and you’ve got Avery Gash. So it’s like Avery Gash ain’t out to mix. So we’ve got a lot of guys that we think that can definitely challenge at those spots.

On Hogan Hansen and the TE room

Yeah, I think he’s going to be a really good player for us. I think Marlon has taken really huge steps. Obviously, Bredesen. Bredesen’s a little bit different breed, but he’s still a tight end. We’ll see how Hogan progresses through fall camp and what he does, and we’ll keep working on that piece. But excited about the room. Another guy that’s really stepped up is Avery Gash. He’s had a really good offseason. And a guy that keeps showing up and might have as fluid his ball skills as any of them is Deakon Tonelli. He’s really taking the next steps of a guy in his third year and ready to take that next step to be a player. So want to see him take the reins and be the player that he should be, but we’re getting there with him. So I think the room’s going to be really good.

On Jalen Hoffman

Yeah, Jalen, too, obviously had a big spring game. And he’s kind of in the Max Bredesen role, but just probably a little bit more size and a little bit more athletic. And Max, he can tell you that, just not the blocker that Max is. So he’s a guy that’s helped us, and he’s going to help us this year.

On Kendrick Bell’s status

Yeah, Kendrick is healthy. He’s ready to go. He’ll be in fall camp, full go. He’s been back, he’s been doing OTAs, and he looks great. Put on some great lean mass, I think above 200 pounds. Looks big, big, strong, big, big. But also still has that explosiveness and twitch that we’ve wanted to see. So he’s going to push, Donaven. He’s going to be another X that’s a big body that can play on the outside lane. So been fun to watch his recovery and see how he’s done, and he’s attacked at full speed ahead. So he’s going to be in a great place to challenge him, too.

On WR separation

Yeah, I mean, I think there’s two parts to it, right? Like, yeah, you can scheme people open, but you also got to get open. Man coverage, you can run as many mesh routes as you want, but if they’re attaching onto you and you can’t get open, then it doesn’t matter. So there’s things that we definitely can do and will do to scheme guys open, but there’s also part of it you got to get open, too. Sometimes you got to make the right reads and zone coverage. You got to make the right reads and man coverage. So it’s twofold, and at the end of the day, we got to be a team to be successful and make sure we make those things happen.

On what worked at the end of the year and how can it be applied to this team

I mean, just the instilled confidence that they have and the confidence that they got in those games. It wasn’t a magic potion or something that we did, and it wasn’t the way we changed practice because we practiced the same, but the energy, the focus, the level of confidence that they had in those games was definitely different than the others, and we’ll just continue to apply it like that and just work. The leaders on the team saw it. The leaders on the team see it and continue to let our leaders be leaders and empower them as much as possible to make sure we continue that.

On why the energy was up

I think the energy was up because you find out who you are in adverse situations, right? When you’re 15-0 and you win a national championship, everybody’s happy all the time. Everybody’s dancing. Everybody’s slapping each other. But when you are 6-5 or 5-5, you really figure out who you are, and we found out who we were. We found out we got a great culture. We got great kids. We got great coaches that love each other, that take care of each other, and that’s when you find out who you really are, not when you’re 15-0. It’s fun to be 15-0. Don’t get me wrong. I want to be that again. 17-0, 15-0, whatever it is. But you find out the build and the makeup of your culture and the people who are around you when you’re in adversity, and we found out who we were.

On the depth at running back

Yeah, I know. I mean, great. It’s going to be a great competition. Obviously, Bryson Cutsdale is a guy that really took on the reins in the spring. Micah Kapana is another guy. But I wouldn’t put out Jasper Parker, this freshman from Louisiana, man. He’s built like Hassan Haskins, big, strong, physical, but he’s a freshman. So we’ll see what happens. And the other two guys, CJ and John and Donovan, so we’ll see what those guys do and how they are and where they are in camp, so all that will happen. So the best thing about that room is Jordan and Justice. They’re 1-2 right now, but they better not fall off the cap because they’ve got guys pushing them, and that’s what makes rooms great when you do that. They’re 1-A, 1-B right now, yeah.

On freshman playing at OL more frequently

Yeah, I mean maybe it’s what they eat or what their parents are. I don’t know. I think it’s, one, the God-given genes that their parents have given them. Whatever it is, whatever they do, I would like that. I have three daughters, so I would like to have scholarships somewhere and play somewhere. But those student-athletes that we have now as freshmen, it’s crazy to see how fast, how big, how strong they are. And even you look across the country of all these true freshmen that are playing and are making an impact in college football, it’s just different now. And even in high school, there’s kids reclassing to become freshmen earlier. You’ve never seen it before. So it’s different. It’s a different age, but you’ve got to adjust and you’ve got to adapt and have plans in place to play them if they’re ready or get them to play if they’re not ready.

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