Everything Biff Poggi said on Inside Michigan Football pre-Nebraska

On the conversation he had with Sherrone Moore when originally asked to be the acting head coach

Jon, it was, as I said before, it was a really hard week for everybody, and it’s one of those things when you get to be my age, you hope you never have to do because when you really care about somebody, you don’t want to see that. I took it as it was something I needed to do, and to serve him, and to serve the players and coaches, and so it was really like a very cut-and-dried business discussion.

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On the personal excitement he gets to call himself head coach at Michigan

The only thing I had about that was, don’t screw it up. You can’t be Sherrone, be yourself, but do it the way you know he would want to do it, and so those were the thoughts. And you know, like last week, in all candor, I was incredibly anxious during the week because I wanted to make sure I had everything nailed down the way he would like it done, and then I walked down the tunnel, and I was like, oh yeah, I’ve done this over 300 times. This is what feels right.

On how his relationship with Moore has developed

That’s interesting, Jon, because when Jim, yeah, I was here in ’16. That was a Rose Bowl year, right? Orange Bowl year? Yeah, and then I went back to do St. Francis, and Jim called me in 21 and said, can you come back? And I said, sure, what would you want me to do? And he said, kind of whatever you want. I said, well, I sure like to hang around the offensive line. And he said, well, we got a young guy we’re gonna put in there. And so I went down, the day I got here, I went down to his office, and I said, I’m here to serve you. Like, I’ll do anything. I’ll take the trash out of the room. I’ll do whatever you want. I don’t want you to view it as a set of eyes looking for somebody else or an intrusion. Whatever you need. And he was so unbelievable. He said, you know, welcome. Anything you think you can add, or you want to say, please say it, feel free to. And we have had, since then, such an incredible relationship. And it has gone on since then. It’s ongoing. It is, as I said, I have children his age. Honestly, I’ve never met a guy in the game of football like him. Because, as you know, the game of football can get a little cutthroat and a little climbing over each other to get something. Maybe not always nature’s nobleman coaching, more focused on themselves and their players. This guy is completely the opposite. This guy is in it. This guy’s in it for the reason you used to get in it 50 years ago, helping change the trajectory of young people’s lives. And he and I have those conversations. Most of the conversations we’ve had over the years aren’t football. They’re really like father-son conversations. And so that’s how that started. I felt like I wasn’t going to come back into football after Charlotte. And then Sherrone called, and I said to my wife, all right, we’re gonna go do this again.

On whether it felt weird to have sleeves on

Oh, yeah. And long pants. I got a note from — I actually called Doug, and I said, Doug, what can I wear this weekend? And he said, Warde said you have to wear sleeves, pants. And we’ll let you maybe wear your visor. And I said, okay, well, and walking down the tunnel. I was like, geez, I feel like a mummy. You know, I mean, I’m like, I can hardly even move. And I went out on the field, and Warde was there. And I said I basically feel like I’m wrapped like a mummy. I can tell you something. If it would have gotten any hotter on the sideline, clothes would have been coming off. They would have been coming off.

On his choice of wardrobe and why it made him feel comfortable

Well, I always thought it was rather peculiar that baseball coaches would dress in uniforms. They see a bunch of old guys with pot bellies wearing uniform. Yeah, then you see the basketball coaches with the really cool haircuts and the Lululemon pants and or the suit and stuff. And I always thought that was so ridiculous. So when I became the coach at Saint Frances, in Baltimore, we had to play everywhere because nobody wanted to come. We didn’t even have a field. So we played in Florida and in California. And we played it through the worst times of the year. And it was so hot. I’m like, hey, look, I’m wearing what I want to wear. And I’m wearing what I wear to practice. Because to me, that seems kind of appropriate. So that’s what I wore to practice. I will tell you this, the Michigan players were horrified that I didn’t wear the sleeves, that I wore the sleeves. They were like, what? You can’t go out like that. I didn’t recognize you. Exactly.

On what stood out to him on defense

I thought Wink had an incredible plan. I sat in some of his meetings during the week, and his plan was magnificent. It was interesting. I said to him, wow, where, where did this come from? And he said, oh, this is something I pulled out that I used against Indiana State. I’m not kidding, like 1992 or something. As you know, as a player, football is football, right? And it repeats itself. He had them in unbelievable places. He kept it simple for them. They were able to play really fast. Because of that, these are former Army guys that were coaching Central Michigan, they want to take the air out of the ball and shorten the game and run it. And we were flying around on defense, making big negative plays. I think it was two and a half yards per rush or something like that. I thought the kids played outstanding. I thought the coaches did a great job getting them ready. I will say this, respectfully, we’re good on defense. The Oklahoma thing, they’re really good, by the way, when you look at other people in the country, they’re really good. But I think we’re pretty good on defense.

On Jaishawn Barham on the edge and what it allowed the defense to do

Well, he’s an incredibly disruptive player. Athletically, he’s very unique because he’s big, but he can really run and he is twitched up. Wink views him and others, but him as, so disruptive that you got to account for him. So find him, right? We’re going to move him around, find him, find him before you snap the ball, and his matchup against a tackle. You having played there quite a while, off the edge, you have him, you have Derrick Moore, you have TJ Guy, you have Cam Brandt, you just have so many guys that can give you so many different problems. Now with Jimmy Rolder coming along and playing so well, and Cole Sullivan, we can get a guy that’s a real force off the edge in a pass rush game.

On Jimmy Rolder and Cole Sullivan taking the opportunity with more snaps

I think that they’re playing unbelievable football. Jimmy is right up top as a tackling leader. He’s all over the football field and a tough kid, smart kid. Cole is exactly the same way. Cole’s long, can really run, very physical. Both of them love the game of football. In that linebacker room, don’t (forget) Ernest Hausman, right? I mean, so think about this. And again, you were a great tackle. So now you got to slide the protection to Jaishawn, but you got number eight on the other side. What are you gonna do with him? It presents problems.

On the secondary communication against Central Michigan

I felt the secondary played great. I thought they played really great. Zeke was limited, he’s a very experienced returning guy. Sug just makes plays. He just makes so many plays. I thought Hillman played really well. The bigger the game, the better he plays. And then, young freshman, 27, comes in the game. And I think he played 37 snaps. He’s exceptional. What a talent. Shamari Earls got into play. I think we played a total of maybe 80-some guys in the football game.

On Bryce Underwood’s growth through three games

Every week he’s grown, obviously. I would like to think this game, the past game against Central Michigan, was a game where he transferred from, he took his step, his last step as being a freshman, and his very first steps is now becoming a more seasoned player. Like, I don’t want anyone in the building calling him a freshman anymore. It’s bad for his mindset, and it’s bad when the press does that, I think. He is now becoming a seasoned player, and with that, Jon, comes expectations.

On how a young player improves on the next road opportunity in a tough environment

Well, he’s got it. He has experience imprinted on his hard drive, that’s how you play. As you know, you can’t do a whole lot of thinking. You have to do reacting and playing, and he has a couple of full games, one excellent game, where he’s done that, and I would say this to you, no disrespect to anybody, but coaches don’t win games. Players do, and my advice to him was what I told him after he threw the interception against Central Michigan. I love that. I’m fine. Push the ball. Play hard. Be creative. Be you, and if he does that, we’re gonna be okay.

On whether he expects more quarterback-designed runs for Underwood against Nebraska

There will be nothing held back in the playbook in Nebraska. Absolutely nothing, and if you look at the plays that were called that broke down for one reason or the other, that he created, he was himself, he was a player on the field making plays, those were some of the biggest plays in the football game.

On whether he saw the offensive line build confidence against CMU

Yes, I did, and look, we got to get better there. That position, as you know, is a very difficult position to master, especially when you have young players. It is an incredibly intricate position, but we did. We got better, and I’m proud of how we did. Look, we had 600 and some yards. Almost 400 rushing, you can’t do that unless your other line plays well.

On whether he sees the receivers believing they can go up and get the 50/50 balls

Yeah, we have big receivers that can body people up, and being very frank with you, Jon, they have to pick it up this week. They have to make those plays and make more of them.

On the plan to get Dominic Zvada back on track

Well, JB does a great job with him. My feeling on kickers has always been this: I think he’s the best kicker in the country. He’s in a little bit of a slump, and you stay the heck away from him. Just not too many voices in his head. You figure out those demons yourself, kid, and start knocking them through the little yellow poles that are sticking up.

On who is his favorite superhero

It is the Batman. Not Batman, the Batman. And actually today in the meeting, Bryce and I bought really cool Batman masks for Bryce and for Barham, so I’m gonna let them wear them today.