Everything LaMar Morgan said on Inside Michigan Football pre-USC

On the production of his group at this point of the season

I think it’s a growing process for us in building, each and every day, just practice habits, equal game day reality for our guys in the back end. I think communication always grows when you have a lot of different guys playing, and young players don’t understand the importance of communication. But I think the effort is there. I think the want-to is there. I think we can continue to get better each and every game.

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On meshing the DBs with varying levels of experience

You really want to have the right group of guys in there together. I think you can play a younger guy with a guy like Rod, but you don’t want to look out there and you see all freshmen out there at the same time, or very inexperienced players at the same time. But I do think the guys in the safety room are continuing to get — it’s a little bit older than the corner room.

I think if we can just get some of that game reps with some of these young guys, I think they’ll blossom. But I do think when you have a guy like Rod, a guy like B-Hill that’s coming along, a guy like TJ that’s coming along, those guys in that safety room are communicating a little bit better like in the years past that we had here. But we lost some experienced players last year, when you have Makari Page and Q that had been here four and five years in the system.

They just know it in and out. So I just think the preparation that Rod has, I think the communication that he has, it kind of sets the tone and the pace in the room. The way he writes notes, the way he communicates, and, of course, the way he plays.

On seeing Rod Moore return to the field against Nebraska

It was crazy. Wink kept asking me when he was going to go in, and I knew he was going to play, but I kind of wanted to make sure that I just put him in and nobod before the series just ran up to him and said something to him. So I just kind of slid him in there, and then he made a couple of plays, and Wink was like, man, is Rod in there?

So I just kind of wanted to do it like that where I just think it’s the right way to do to help the kid just kind of just get back in the groove. He’s playing like 20, 25 snaps a game, and he’s very productive, but we just got to continue to build him up, and I think he has a great plan. We got a great medical team here that’s just trying to get him back to his old self, and I think he’s getting closer and closer each practice and each game.

On the reaction from the defense when Moore made plays

I think when you start looking at if he doesn’t make that play against the reverse, that’s probably a touchdown or a huge play, and if he doesn’t make the play against the throwback screen, that’s either a touchdown or a big-time play, and we were beat on the interception, and he made three big-time plays, and it’s just, he just has a knack for it, but it’s not because of the time.

I would say it’s because of preparation. Like, he writes notes like he’s just got here and he’s walked on the team and he’s trying to earn the stripes. He’s never complacent. He’s always working to get better, so nobody on defense, players or coaches, would expect anything else, I guess, from Rod than that.

On Brandyn Hillman’s impact on the secondary

I think he’s a physical kid. As a high school quarterback, he’s really tough. He’s blue-collar. The way he plays is the way he practices, besides, you know, taking a guy to the ground, but he’s flying around at practice. If you went to practice, what you do, and people come out and see, I mean, you’re going to notice that player, and, even when he doesn’t feel like it, when his body’s tired, when he feels beat up, he’s the same guy all the time, you know? And I think his game can continue to grow here. I think he’ll be a big-time safety. I kind of said that last year as well. I think now everybody kind of sees what this kid can do.

I just think he’s focused. He’s taking his game to the next level, and I think he can continue to get better, and I think he’ll be a big-time player here.

On players in the safety room he has seen step up

Yeah, you know, Mason Curtis, you know, was kind of banged up early in the year, and he’s kind of came on in his last couple of games, tackling well in space. He’s 6’4″, 210. He’s a big ol’ kid.

Mangham redshirted last year. He’s played a lot of ball, the last couple games, and I think that’s really good for him. We got some young guys in that room that are just trying to, you know, a little bit of musical chairs at times, especially when you get Rod back.

I just think it allows you to play some young guys that need the experience with him in there, like Jordan Young had maybe almost 15 to 20 snaps last game. I think that was huge for him. So I just think when you have older guys that can communicate at safety, sometimes you can slide a guy here and there in there for 10, 15 plays, and they can communicate at a high level because the safeties are helping them out if they have any questions.

On what it takes for a younger play to step up at safety and get snaps

I think first of all, it’s in the meetings. In the meeting setting, we ask a lot of questions of the kids. We ask them how they see it. How would they do this? You know, do y’all see this as a snug set? You know, what would you do if motion here?

I think a lot of communication in the meeting room. But then if the kid in the meeting room answers correctly or he says what he sees, I think he gains respect with his teammates. And then he’s got to do it in a live setting where bullets are flying at practice and be able to execute at a high level. wYou don’t have to be perfect, but your mindset and your focus have to be. I think when you do those things, they start seeing the older players. Hey man, good job here. Good job there. Oh, I didn’t see it that way. And they kind of gain a little bit of credit from their peers.

And then to me, if you do it at practice, you do it in the meeting room, and you do it consistently, I think it opens up an opportunity when the time is right to put you out there. But I always don’t want to put a kid out there one play before he’s ready. But I also know kids don’t get better unless they get reps.

On whether turnovers can be contagious in the secondary

I think that’s something that guys are fired up about, trying to get the ball back to our offense. Our guys are excited to watch our offense play, and they know we can get those guys short fields, especially if we can get a three-and-out, and then we go back and get the ball back to our offense again. It could be a 10 to 14 point swing.

And I think our guys kind of thrive on that. I think there’s some missed opportunities that we could have had this year, a couple more. I think Cole had a couple of interceptions that he could’ve have had, but I think you can see guys being unselfish and excited when the guys get the takeaways.

I mean, we missed the one against OU. That could have changed the game as well. I just think the guys are more focused on the ones that they miss than the ones that they make. And I think if you continue that up, that means the guys are hungry for more.

On what he’s seeing from the cornerbacks, including the younger players

I think, you know it’s kind of next man up mentality a little bit at times. I know it’s kind of tough as a player. In college football, you can’t leave a guy out there and play him the whole game. I still remember watching old tape before, even in NFL, like you’re up by 40, the starters are in the game still. You just can’t do that here. You got to develop guys and get them reps.

And then when opportunity is for those guys, and then maybe an injury here and there, then you got to be ready. We were fortunate with Jayden Sanders when Zeke went down in the game against OU, he was ready, played 30 snaps, you didn’t know. Then we went the next game, he ended up starting, did a great job.

And then we had Nebraska, you wouldn’t even know that he was out there in a good way. He’s made some great tackles in open field. And I think a guy that got here in the summer, that wasn’t an early enrollee, he just kind of picked up on the defense fast. And that’s because a lot of film study, a lot of meetings with guys, always meet with Coach Stokes and Coach Brad Hawkins, and myself. Those guys have done a great job of just learning. And I think there’s another group of guys that are the next guys up that are going to show up more and more as the season goes on.

On what has separated Jayden Sanders from other freshmen he’s been around

He’s from an old school program in East Texas, where a lot of programs aren’t like the way we are here, but football’s important, discipline’s important, character is important. And I think a lot of these kids, if we can get them from those types of programs, when they get here, it’s easy for them to understand the importance of those things. And then I think he’s got great parents. His dad played at TCU. His mom was an athlete in track at University of Houston. So if you got that on both sides, I think the kid is just wired the right way.

And I think the last thing about him is it means something to him. He doesn’t want to let his parents down. And I always say, if a kid’s scared to let his parents down and let his mom down, he won’t let a coach down. So I think that’s why he’s wired the way he is.

On Jyaire Hill’s development

I think Sug is a really talented player. I think he’s still growing. He was forced into action last year as a freshman, as a redshirt freshman. And then this year, he has done a lot of good things, playing inside and outside for us at practice. I think he’s a really talented player, but I think he also knows that he can continue to grow and continue to get better. In the secondary, you got to realize when you mess up on one play, the OCs are good. The quarterback coach is good. They’re going to go back to those plays. It’s a copycat league.

You always do it, just like on us on defense. If a team is not picking up a certain blitz, we’re going to run the same blitz and see if they fix their issues. So when you get hit with double moves, you have bad tackling, they’re going to make you tackle.

If you have bad eyes, they’re going to double move you. So those are the things that we work on at practice, getting our eyes in the right spots, finding out on splits, dividers, down and distance, what do these teams like to do, Tendency-wise, and then try to break those tendencies. And we can continue to get better.

He’s not going to be perfect, but I do think his progression and development this year has been in the right direction. He just got to continue to keep pushing himself, which I know he will.

On TJ Metcalf’s addition to the defense

I think he’s a kid that was very eager to come here and prove himself. I don’t think he took anything for granted. One thing that he does that’s pretty cool was when he first got here, he wasn’t starting. So when Coach Wink would call the ones out, he would always go out there to do the breaks. So he said, the reason why he did that, because he knows one day I’m going to be the starter, and I want to get that routine of doing that. So I thought when I saw that, that I guess as Michigan and coaches here, we got something special here, because most kids wouldn’t be thinking that way.

So he wasn’t starting during spring ball. And then he kind of like took that role towards the end of spring ball. And then in fall camp, it was kind of solidify himself as a starter here.

On Zeke Berry fitting into the mix now that he’s healthy

I think Zeke is a highly competitive kid who has a high football IQ and a super high care factor. I think he’s going to watch a ton of tape, and he’s going to give you everything he got on Saturdays. I think the thing that Zeke can do is he continued to get better each game at corner.

It’s not going to be perfect because he only played corner basically for seven games in his career. He’s far safety, running back in high school, and here he played nickel. That’s really what he played.

So there’s going to be some stuff that he’s not perfect at, but I do think he’s continuing to get better. He’s working on his craft at practice. He splits dividers, what this receiver likes to do, what are they going to tag me on? What have I not have done well? What do I need to clean up each week? I think he’s very mindful of that. And I think he has a plan, and we have a plan for him each and every week to continue to improve.

On the adjustments made on defense after Wisconsin’s first drive

I think you got to be careful, and you have to understand what are you trying to take away? And I think you have to stick to your guns at times. I think that team did a great job of playing the game close to the vest.

Like you said, it was five here, five here, five here, five here. And now you’re trying to play umbrella defense, but you also just don’t want them to march down the field. And I think the thing that you saw was some missed tackling in that first drive on everybody on all three levels.

And I think when you start missing tackles, it magnifies the dink and dunks. If we start making some of those tackles, we get off the field, but I think it was 12 or 13 plays straight down the field on the score. I think everybody understood, hey man, we got to pick it up.

And I think in the second half or after that, our guys did a good job of just trying to communicate better. Chest-to-chest tackling, communication, all the motions and shifts, when they get condensed, communicating the tools and different things like that. I think our guys did a better job after that first series, but kind of saw some of the same stuff in the last series of the game, but that series was a little bit different. Now you’re not really playing against them. You’re really playing against the clock.

On what makes the team so effective on defense in the second half

Well, I think it’s the way we practice here. You know, practices are hard here. We try to make it harder than the games. I think also if you play more guys early in the game, at the end of the game, your guys are fresh. So I think that helps out as well. And then I think these guys want to finish the right way.

And I think it really doesn’t matter how you start most plays. It doesn’t really matter, but it’s always about how you finish, right? Quarterback might get his wrong steps. He might make the wrong key, but he throws a dime. It’s a good play. Corner might open up the gate, make it a track meet, runs down the field. The guy gets to the ticks, he knocks the ball down. So I just think our guys and our team is really focused on the way we finish and the way we compete. And I think our guys are trying to play for each other. And I think they don’t want to let each other down, offense, special teams, and defense for sure.

On preparing for USC’s offense

I think their OC is probably one of the best in the country. If not the best, he’s done a great job as a head coach there. He has successful quarterbacks wherever he goes. The quarterback position is going to know all the looks, all the checks, and they’re going to be very prepared. Also at USC, they’re going to have multiple receivers that are really good. I think they do a good job of having guys that are outside that are massive and then have slots that are really tough on slot cover all the time.

And then I think they do a good job of having a tight end that if they can get the wrong matchup, have a backer or a safety that can’t run with them, they can get you on a one-on-one situation. I think the thing that makes them different this year, I do think they have capable running backs. People say they didn’t have a capable running back last year, but the guy got drafted in the fourth or fifth round.

I just think sometimes the games, the flow of the games, sometimes the running back in the running game doesn’t get as magnified, or they don’t show it as much. But I think this year it’s more of a complete team. I think they can hand the ball off, then they can throw it and push it down the field. I also think they can do one-on-one balls on the outside. So I do think we’re going to have our hands full. I do think it’s going to be a great environment.

I think it’s a sold-out game there. We got to take the show on the road, and our guys just got to start fast and finish, and keep the main thing. And just try to play great defense, force field goals if they get in the red zone, and try to take the ball away one or two times, and give it to our offense.