Everything Brian Jean-Mary said on Inside Michigan Football pre-Wisconsin

On whether this group is the most talented and deepest group of linebackers he’s coached

It is definitely one of them. Like you said, I’ve been doing it for a long time and have been blessed to be around some great units and some great individual players. I know it’s still early in the season, but if we keep progressing like I think we’re going to and we’re gonna be able to be as productive as we’ve been, I think it’s got a chance to be one of the best.

[Sign up for Maize & Blue Review for $1 and get PLUS access for 7 days!]

On what he hasn’t seen from Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham that he’d like to see

I think that’s one of the things, why they have been so productive over these last year and four games is they still want to be coached. And I think that’s a skill in itself. When you have highly talented kids like both those guys are, it’s easy to say that they’ve kind of reached the level that they want to get to, but they still take coaching at a high level, still ask the right questions.

And they know there’s still another level that they can get to as players to help us win. So I think the fact that they’re so humble and they’re willing to get better, it just adds to them being the players that they are.

On Hausmann’s ability to diagnose plays on the field

We always say Ernie is like a coach on the field. He’s like an extra defensive coach. He’s the green dot for us on defense.

So he’s a guy that’s communicating firsthand with Coach Wink. And he always comes back to the sideline, and he’s able to basically tell us what happened before we even grabbed the iPads, whether it was good or bad, or how he saw something that could be, just like you just described, something that they would go back to because maybe there was a receiver open or a gap was not covered. So, I mean, it’s a blessing to have someone with that high of an IQ that can basically dissect things the same way we do as a coach.

So it’s very, very rare. And obviously, with his athletic ability, with that skillset, that’s what makes him the player that he is.

On the importance of having a player with high football IQ at every level on defense

Super important. I think they can communicate with each other when they’re on the field, which is probably the most important because coaches are not out there with the players. And then like we talked about, when they come back to the sideline, they can, with their individual groups, it’s all the same message.

They’re all speaking the same language, and that really helps as far as adjustments. And as you know, it also helps with some of the curveballs that we’re going to throw for our offense. We practiced it this way, they’re doing something different.

We’re going to do something that maybe we haven’t gone over in a week or two. And we’re going to ask Rayshawn, we’re going to ask Ernie, and now with Rod being back there, hey, can we get this done? And if all three shake their head yes, we know we can go out there and execute it.

And that’s the benefit of having veteran guys.

On the flow of communication in the back end of the defense

Usually most of your adjustments, just because of the spread offenses that we face, and that’s prevalent in college football nowadays, most of the communication is really going to be between the back end and the linebackers. Because the coverage has to match the front, and with the way we pressure, that has to be the number one thing. Ernie’s really good skill set is that he thinks coverage first, which a lot of linebackers don’t do, so he’s going to make sure he’s on the same page with the secondary, and he can do that while at the same time making sure the front is correct.

On the challenges playing the edge for Jaishawn Barham

Just experience, kind of what we talked about with the guys that have been there and done that, and have done it for consecutive years. He’s got some natural skills that has nothing to do with coaching. Probably one of the most explosive players I’ve ever been around, and you can watch the tape and see that.

And it’s just learning the nuances. He’s always done some things on the edge. You know, on third down, we planned on getting him there because he just has so much ability as an edge rusher.

And I think he’s embraced it. I think he’s excited about it. But it’s just really just experience, you know, reading blocks.

You played O-line, reading some of the things that O-linemen are gonna do. Now you’re just doing it from the line of scrimmage instead of linebacker. So there’s gonna be some growing pains, but with the talent that he has, he finds ways to overcome them.

On what Jimmy Rolder and Cole Sullivan has allowed the defense to do

The number one thing, and we’ve talked about it since Coach Martindale’s gotten there, is with the linebacker position, we understood the talent that some of these guys have. And we’ve always talked about having multiple starters in that room. It’s very fluid.

And we’ve always looked at Jimmy Rolder as a starter. Like you talked about earlier, it was really health with him. And he’s been healthy, knock on wood.

And then Cole, we saw the natural skillset that he had. In my previous stop, I always joke with Cole, we thought he was athletic enough to be a tight end. We thought the way he ran and athletic ability-wise, we thought he could be a big-time tight end in college.

So you can see the athleticism really take off for him. And all he needed was experience. But the one thing I’ll say about Cole, probably like you talked about, I’ve been doing this for a long time, having had a player that dove in to trying to learn the position.

And in one year, has made that big of a leap. So it’s been a joy to watch.

On Rolder’s ability to process what’s going on in the field

Jimmy’s still one of our top guys. And I think you just said it too, just the experience. Sometimes you forget.

I mean, he’s a fourth-year player. It’s just because of all the time that has been missed because of injury. But he’s a very cerebral player, kind of sees the game, and you can tell it’s slowing down for him quite a bit.

He’s a guy that can help us get lined up. He’s probably the second green dot if Ernest is not in the game. So I mean, we look at him as much of a leader as Ernest is.

And I think he’s playing at a high level. The thing that he brings to the table is a physical nature that we always hang our hat on as far as being physical. But if you get a chance to watch him, there’s a lot of fur flying when he hits people.

On Sullivan mimicking what he’s seen from Barham and Hausmann

Yes, he’s been a sponge as part of his growth, just because of his length and his athleticism. Our outside linebacker coach, Pernell McPhee, has worked with him as a pass rusher, because we see that as a big part of his future also, that he’s going to be able to play some edge and kind of be a hybrid guy. So I think the fact that he’s been able to get that aspect, and like we talked about, he’s so much of a sponge, where he asked the right question, he’s always in there watching tape.

And like I said, he’s jumped in headfirst to try to learn to be a full-time, all three down linebacker. And I think still the best is yet to come for him. He’s still a pup.

On what makes a player good in the open field like Hausmann is

The big thing with open field tackling, it has a lot to do with anticipation, and it’s being able to shut out the avenues for the runner. The faster you can do that and force a runner to go one direction, the easier the tackle is. And that’s what Ernest does well.

He’s able to really shut down the cutback lanes and maybe the vertical seam, and make sure the ball carrier has to go outside. And then he has the athleticism to get them down on the ground, you know, once he makes contact with the ball carrier. And that’s a rare skill.

You know, I tell open field tackling is like, you know, driving on the Autobahn. You know, there’s a lot of, you know, speed that can be coming at you, you know, very, very fast. And you have to make split-second decisions.

And there’s a certain level of athleticism, but it’s also a lot of anticipation that comes with it.

On Troy Bowles’ development

He’s matured in the defense, I should say that. He came from a pretty, you know, complex system where he came from, but it was totally different than what we did, what we do, excuse me. And you can see his growth happening.

He’s a naturally aggressive kid, really good blitzer, and a really good tackler. You know, obviously comes from a football family, so understands the nuances of football. And you can see him growing in this defense.

And I think he’s another kid that’s just forcing himself on the field from the way he practices and the production that he’s had and some of the limited playing time that he’s, you know, been on the field. So he’s been highly, highly productive. So happy with that.

On the depth at linebacker who are eager to make an impact

I think one of, well, two guys. First one I’ll talk about is Chase Taylor. Chase, I almost see him in the same position that Cole was at this time last year.

You know, really athletic guy, big kid, kind of growing into his body, still learning how to play true stack linebacker, but it’s getting better and better. He’s gotten a little bit of a taste on special teams. We hope that continues, but he’s a big athletic body that if he keeps progressing, not to put the pressure that he’s going to be exactly like Cole next year, but we see a really bright future for him.

He’s a 240-plus-pound kid that can really run, you know, with good, obviously, size and length. And, you know, when I started recruiting him as a sophomore, he was a small forward on his basketball team, you know? So he’s got that type of athleticism.

So we think if he can make that jump next year, he’s going to be a big-time contributor. And then the other kid I would not want to leave out is Nate Owusu-Boateng, a kid that obviously had a really, really good spring, had an unfortunate injury in the summer, but is just now working himself back. You know, the word you use for him is explosive.

I mean, when going from A to B, I don’t know if there’s many linebackers that can get to that point, the point of attack, as fast as he is. So we’re just slowly starting to work him into getting back into playing shape. But I think you’ll be seeing some flashes of him in these next couple of games.