Everything OL coach Grant Newsome said on Inside Michigan Football during the bye week

On having Sherrone Moore back in the building

It’s awesome. Obviously, he’s the leader of our program, and Coach Poggi did a great job of stepping in and kind of keeping the ship steady, but at the same time, he’s the captain of the program, so to have him back at the helm has been awesome so far.

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On what game prep was like without Moore’s presence

Obviously, it was different. Not having his presence in the building or not being able to talk to him, but at the same time, there’s the saying that the sign of a great leader is that should something happen to them or they can’t be there at the operation, the organization still runs as it should, and I think that was the case. You saw all of the players kind of just take on a little bit more, and us as coaches just kind of distribute that load evenly, and it felt like, obviously, we were missing him and wanted to play for him. I know guys wanted to play for him, but I didn’t feel like we really missed a beat.

On the development of the offensive line over the past two weeks

I was obviously proud of those guys, especially those are two weeks where we had two guys making their first starts in Nate Efobi and Jake Guarnera, so proud of how they did and how they fought. Like you said, there’s always stuff to clean up, and that’s frustrating, especially early in games where you feel like, all right, if we just get this one guy blocked or we handle this look a little better, we’ve got a better run, and I’m really proud of the guys because we stuck with it. Coach Lindsey did a great job of just continuing to trust in the guys that, hey, the dam was going to break, and you saw that right before half with the outside zone. We were able to get the twist handled a little better and sit back on it, and the ball springs, and that continued in the second half where I felt like we ran the ball pretty well.

On how he prepares players for their first start in their career

I think one of the great things that I took from Coach Moore that he believes in, we all believe in, is competition brings out the best in everyone. During camp, all of those guards were playing different spots, or if we were going to give Gio a rest during a period, they were on the left side too, so all those guys had reps at both guard spots, which I think helped, but there’s always going to be some of the first game or early on jitters when a guy’s starting for the first time, but I think back to the bowl game with Sprague last year, and middle of first quarter, I just looked at him during a huddle and I said, it’s just football, right? He goes, just football. He actually said it, he’s like, it’s easier in practice. So I think sometimes it takes time for the guys to settle in. Now, we as a whole, we’re a little bit jittery the first series against Nebraska, but I think as you saw as the game went on, those guys started to settle in, and now the thing we need to improve on and I need to do a better job of is get that kind of jitters out so that we don’t have that slower start. We can just kind of start how we finished that game.

On Andrew Sprague’s development

I’m very comfortable with him. I have full confidence with him out there. The thing that we have to remind ourselves some is because of how he carries himself and he’s confident and he’s put good tape out. He still is young and there’s moments that’ll pop up where you have to remind yourself, all right, he hasn’t seen this before. We’ve got to make sure we go through every single look because he doesn’t have the banked reps yet that a guy like an Andrew Steuber or Ryan Hayes or any of those older tackles that we’ve had. He doesn’t have those banked reps yet. That’s the big thing for us as coaches. We just got to do a great job of making sure we give him all those reps so that he can get comfortable. The thing we’ve challenged him is just being consistent, especially staying square in pass protection because he’s got all the tools. He’s athletic. He’s super tall, super long, so just being consistent and then making sure we get him as prepared as we possibly can.

On Evan Link’s growth at left tackle

I think you look back to the bowl game and you can immediately tell, just more comfortable. As you and I know, I think sometimes it’s easy not having played the position to say, well, what’s the difference? You’re just switching your feet. Why is it such a big deal? As you know, some guys are just much more natural, much more comfortable on one side than another. I certainly was. That’s the case with him. I think you see, obviously, it’s not perfect, but he’s gotten better every single week. From where he was a year ago at this time to where he is now is night and day. I’ve got trust in him. I know, as you know, it’s an easy position to get a lot of hate on because everyone looks at the left tackle. It’s easy to nitpick that position. I’ve been happy with how he’s played. I know Coach Moore’s been happy with how he’s played. We’re going to continue to push him and continue to get the best out of him.

On Blake Frazier’s development

He’s done a great job of having to not only be the third tackle and get reps at both left and right in practice, but to push Sprague. We give him full license that, hey, you practice better than these guys consistently. You’re going to be the starting left or right tackle. He does a great job of pushing those guys. Throughout the year, we’ve had probably 10 or so plays in the game plan for him. Nebraska ended up being a little bit smaller of a personnel game, just as it went on. He didn’t play quite as much, but he’s done a great job of balancing both being able to push those guys, having plays that are for him in the game plan, then also being able to handle being that swinging third tackle.

On the guards developing chemistry with Greg Crippen

He did, and I have to give him a shout-out. We sat him down after the season last year and had a very kind of blunt, tough conversation that, hey, we need you for us as a unit, for you individually, for us as a team, and we need you to take that next step as a run blocker, because he’s always been great about making the IDs, good in pass protection, the commander of the unit, but, hey, we need you to take that next step on the second level. Take that next step handling bigger noses. Is it perfect? No, it never is going to be, but he’s embraced that. He challenged himself. He worked his tail off in the offseason to get better at that, and I’m extremely proud of him, and I think you saw that show up directly on Saturday where you have those two long outside zone runs. He’s right at the point of attack, does a great job hitting the hip over of the low technique, and then climbs and gets a piece of the backer, which is really exciting for him, really proud of him. He played his best game on Saturday of his career, and now the challenge for him is that’s the standard, that’s the expectation, and we got to continue to do that.

On the comfort level going into the depth chart

We still have Lawrence Hattar, and he’s been kind of behind the scenes. We’re working through some injuries, been a little banged up, but he’s been fighting his tail off, and this would be great for the bye week to kind of get him back to 100 percent, because throughout camp we thought he was one of those guys that we could feel comfortable with going in and playing, and obviously he’s a guy who’s played 1,600 plus snaps of college football and won a couple national championships. Kayden Strayhorn has come along at a really, really high level. Obviously he traveled the last couple games, and he’s gotten himself to the point where I would trust him to be in there, and it was great for him to get some game action versus Central Michigan, and you kind of, I think, you saw some of the stuff we see in practice, the athleticism, the explosion, the contact balance, all the things that you look for in a young offensive lineman. We got to continue to keep the other two freshmen coming along as well, Avery Gach and Ty Haywood, and they’ve flashed as well, and that’s always the balance is you want them to get the good scout reps during practice, because they need that, Kayden included, but at the same time making sure they’re still engaged and they’re coming along, because all four of those guys, obviously, Babaloa being out, have the talent to be able to play and help us early in their careers.

On the goal for the offensive line during the bye week

Coach Moore hit it with us yesterday. It’s really an opportunity week, and that’s two-fold. Like you said, it’s getting some of those guys like Brady, Gio, and Lawrence back as healthy as we can possibly get them. At the same time, making sure we can get a jump start on not only Wisconsin, but continue to refine some of the mistakes we’ve had in the previous games, because like I said, it’s never perfect, but I firmly believe where we are right now, if we can clean up some of those small details still, there’s even a higher level of football for us as an offense and certainly as an offensive line unit. For the young guys, it’s a great opportunity to go out and get extra practices, and you’ll get to go do some good on good and not have to read a scout card as much, and just go out there and play football. So we’ve got to have a huge week. I think this is as important a week as any other week.

On the talking points he’s brought up with his group to prepare for Bryce Underwood’s rushing ability

I think the biggest thing that comes up is you have to finish blocks, and you can’t get complacent that, oh, I have blocked my guy for four or five seconds. The ball should be out. You’ve got to finish through the echo of the whistle, and then with that, as you know, the tough thing can be, oh, hey, the quarterback’s now leaving. My guy’s going to retrace, and I always say you have to know when the party’s over, especially on the inside. You feel your defender, you feel your D-lineman starting to go towards their defensive side of the field. You’ve got to know when to let go so you don’t get a holding call, because as everyone’s seen, Bryce gets a lane and he decides to tuck it and run. He’s going to go make something happen. Obviously, Coach Lindsey did a great job with a couple of those quarterback draws in the game, and you saw what he’s capable of. The guys, Jake especially on the touchdown, did a great job of handling the twist inside, and I would imagine it becomes a real threat for defenses, because you have to be really cognizant of what you’re calling and making sure you have a quarterback player.

On the communication between the offensive staff

Again, I have to give credit to Coach Lindsey. Obviously, a guy who’s had a ton of success calling offense everywhere he’s been, and to come in and have great ideas and introduce great things. We obviously are running mid-zone at a higher rate, higher level than we ever have since I’ve been here, so to bring stuff like that in, but at the same time have the humbleness still. It’s been very easy to come in and say, hey, we’re doing this exactly how I did at UNC. I just had a 2,000-yard or 1,000-yard back, and this and that. I just had Drake May, but to have the humility and the humbleness to say, hey, I want your guys’ input, and you guys have done things really well here too, but let’s see how we can make this our offense, not just my offense or Coach Moore’s offense. I think it’s been good so far, and we just got to continue to refine it and do our part up front.