Everything Michigan ST coach J.B. Brown said on Inside Michigan Football pre-Northwestern

On how the bye week went

It was great. I thought we got to work on a lot of fundamentals. Thought we got to be back to the basics of football, working on blocking, tackling, catching, and running.

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On whether he feels a big play in the return game is imminent

Yeah, I think it’s right there. Hopefully in these next three games, our goal is to be the best team in the country in these next three games. That’s what we’re focused on. Focused on the right here and the right now.

On determining which players will be used at punt return

Yeah, I think it’s just who’s most comfortable back there. Number one, the biggest thing for us is ball security. Get it back to our offense. We want to get the ball back to our offense with as best field position as possible. And whoever gives us that best chance, that’s what we’re going to go with.

On how to practice catching punts and not letting it hit the ground first

Yeah, no doubt. Like in practice, we try to test the range every day by hitting bad ball circuits, doing a lot of different things on jugs, trying to start them on one side of the field, trying to move them across the field, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable catching the ball in an uncomfortable position.

On whether playing at Wrigley Field will change the preparation for special teams

Yeah, I think the biggest thing is you try to get them on our grass fields, try to get them in a little bit of a different situation. Like when we practice this week, we’ll take jugs on sideways on the field. So you have that feeling of space every which way. Definitely different sceneries and whatnot. Try to get the ball in the sun, it being a day game. Could be cloudy, could be snowy, could be anything, right? So again, we’ve got to prepare for everything.

On when he gives his players the green light to take the ball out of the endzone on kick return

Yeah, so we have parameters set for every week that we feel match that hang time, match their coverage speed, and match with the depth of our blocks. So definitely, there’s been some times where we brought it out where we probably didn’t want it to be, right? And then there’s been times where we brought it out exactly where we want it to be. The hard thing is you’re going to make young mistakes trying to find where you’re at on the field at times.

On harnessing Andrew Marsh’s talent on special teams but not putting him at risk

No doubt, we want to give him freedom because with the ball in his hands, he is a special player. Obviously, you’ve seen it, like you said, on the offensive side. We’re just trying to bring that out in the return game now.

On developing consistency in the punt game

The biggest thing is just working and understanding his routine, and understanding the first and the last punt of the game have to match what he’s doing in the middle of the game. So getting him off to a hot start, practicing different ways, and doing stuff like that.

On how special Joe Taylor is on special teams

Yeah, he’s extremely special. I mean, he’s like family to me. I’ve been with him since the start of it, since he’s been here, but he’s also been that consistent player that you’ve always wanted. He’s the coach’s dream in that sense, where he knows exactly what to do, what’s happening in front of him. He’s a coach on the field. He’s just an extension of all of us on the field.

On whether he was able to watch the World Series

Yeah, I didn’t get to watch most of it, but I heard it was exciting. The biggest thing, we’re still trying to game plan, get ready. So you try to catch a snippet here and there, but I heard it was really exciting. I heard it was one of the best ones out there.

On points of emphasis with special teams during the bye week

The biggest thing for us was getting back to the fundamentals. So in the return game, we wanna be better with our leverage and in our phase, and that’s against the cover team. Our blockers get into better leverage and better phase as well. Our returners seeing the hole a little bit better, being able to try to create those explosives and change up a couple of different things that we do schematically-wise.

On whether being “in phase” is similar to a defensive back covering a receiver

Exactly, you wanna be even with them or slightly behind them, so when he does break down, you’re able to snap to the side of him, be able to block him.

On how to develop the next Joe Taylor

Yeah, definitely, like Elijah Dotson, Chase Taylor, those guys, they’ve taken the next step. Like, they’ve become core four guys for us. Elijah Dotson has started on every one of them in the last, I think, four or five games, so he’s definitely becoming one of those guys, and then he’s gonna contribute even more and more on defense as his career goes. Cole Sullivan, you saw him as he trended last year. He was a core four guy for us, and now he’s getting a lot of snaps on defense, and that’s kind of the normal trend. Like, you start as a young guy, and then you’re able then to work to be that offensive defense starter.

On some of the traits he looks for during camp to know a player will be an asset on special teams

No doubt, size, speed, and truly, like, ball awareness, being able to understand spatial awareness. Like, can he play in open space? Do they make tackles in the open field? Because so much of our game is not in a box. It’s 53 and 1 3rd and 65-yard long sprint and kickoff, so as long as they play in the open field, that’s what we’re looking for.

On the goal for Dominic Zvada for the rest of the season

Just to be who he is, yeah, be who he is, and be that kicker that we know he is. As long as he goes out there and is confident in himself and puts toe to leather, I think it’ll be a good showing.

On mentally preparing punters and kickers during games

Yes, the biggest thing is they have to have a routine, so whether our offense, once they get the ball, you have to have a set thing that you do. Whether that’s get in the net right now, whether that’s, take a snap from the snapper to get the hold down, or get a catch in, you have to have a routine of what you do, and like you said, the game can change in an instant. You just have to be ready for that moment, so again, when we practice, we try to do some of those things, like, hey, it’s just a surprise field goal right now. It was a turnover, right, we scored on a pick six, go out and execute the field goal.

On whether there will be anything unique with the sight lines for Zvada at Wrigley Field

It’ll be completely different. The biggest thing is we like to take our specialists there the day before so they can get a feel for that, and then they can take photos and be able to say, oh, this is where on this hash I want to look here, on this hash I want to look here, and it’s even different for snappers too, right, with the wind and whatnot. They want to be able to see where that’s coming from.

On whether he’s turned into a junior meteorologist

I try to be, I try to be, I try to be, yeah, no doubt. I mean, we check the weather constantly. Like, anytime it snows out here, we try to get outside to get into the snow just so we’re prepared for that. If it’s raining and there’s no lightning, obviously, we want to get outside, and we want to be able to prepare for that, being on a grass field, on a turf field, and do everything that we can.

On building consistency with Greg Tarr at long snapper

Yeah, I mean, yeah. And hundreds and hundreds of reps. He’s been consistent. I mean, he’s been, now this is going on his second year starting. Obviously, he started the year when Wags tour his ACL, and then now this is his second year starting with a year off in between, which is kind of different, but he’s done a great job. He has. He’s put the ball where we need it to be. He’s given our guys chances to do what they need to do. He’s just got to continue to be that consistent rock for us.

On his message to a young high schooler when it comes to developing long snapping skills

Yeah, the more you can do, the better it is, right, at the end of the day. The more versatile you are as a player, even like guys that we talk about on our team, like Max Bredesen, Deakon Tonielli, all those guys, we encourage them to snap because if they do get a chance to go to the next level, it just adds something else to the resume.

On expectations for his special teams unit against Northwestern

Yeah, we’re going to play with high effort, high energy. The biggest thing that we want to do is try to be the best special teams unit in the next three games, all right, and it starts with this one, and we got to win this one.

On concerns with Northwestern’s special teams unit

I think they play hard. I think their coach, well, I think Creighton does a great job over there. Ramos obviously does a great job as well over there. They have good units that are hard-nosed. They play downhill. We just got to do the same.