Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh breaks down secondary, leadership
Michigan will need to replace three starters in the secondary, but head coach Jim Harbaugh doesn’t seem too concerned. The Wolverines need leaders to emerge, but some have already begun to surface.
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R.J. Moten has really stepped up in that role, Harbaugh said on the recent In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen, and starting cornerback D.J. Turner is “coming along.” Moten “is a strong leader — he talks, people listen” — and converted receiver Mike Sainristil is a natural.
“Totally,” Harbaugh said. “Put him anywhere, he’s a leader. That’s what we love.
“We’ve got some real strong leaders in the secondary. The guys that aren’t afraid to talk or point something out … ‘you’re doing this wrong, should be this way.’ Whether it’s in the training environment or on the field.”
All of the progress in leadership comes from secondary coach Steve Clinkscale, the Michigan coach added.
“He loves them, and he’s tough on them,” Harbaugh continued. “He’ll be the first to tell you that’s how he coaches. He’s a a very demanding coach in the best sort of way, because he really cares about making guys the very best they can be. All this development we’re seeing in leadership and play effort tis really being driven by Coach Clink.”
And there’s been a lot of it. Veteran corner Gemon Green and D.J. Turner stood out at the corners with Will Johnson missing some time due to a minor lower body injury.
“Gemon had a very good spring. He’s got such high potential,” Harbaugh continued. “I like Gemon Green and D.J. Turner. You saw D.J. start realizing some of that, just learning to have that real locked in drive, all in, all out, all the time to match that real skill they have. There’s tremendous growth there, both Gemon and D.J.”
At safety, Makari Paige and Quinten Johnson have made moves. Moten continues to take better angles in how he tackles and is “improving … playing really well,” Harbaugh said.
“There’s also been a lot of growth in Caden Kolesar, and he continues to be our top special teams guy playing all four,” Harbaugh added. “He’s a relentless, outstanding, smart, fast, athletic guy who could also beat out Makari. It will be the drive out of the two guys that ends up winning that. Little edge to Makari right now.”
And then there’s Rod Moore, who came out of nowhere last year to start the last several games as a Michigan true freshman. He shares all those qualities with Kolesar, Harbaugh praised, and was only 17 when he arrived in Ann Arbor.
He turned 18 in October, and at that point also turned a corner.
“He’s just a guy who outworked everybody, wanted it more,” Harbaugh said. “He took that smallish frame and wasn’t afraid to go from point A to point B and hit somebody. We ended up seeing him as the starter toward the end of the season. Just his ability, grit, drive.
“But he was a player that wasn’t held back a class, didn’t reclassify. Therefore, he wasn’t a 19 year old five star. He was an 18-year-old starting at the university of Michigan in the Big Ten, in the Big Ten Championship game, Ohio State and Georgia. Man.”
When you go from 18 to 19, Harbaugh noted, you get your “man year.” He expects a bigger, stronger Moore this fall after his sophomore had offseason surgery.
“He’ll be right back in the mix,” he said. “And also, [freshman] Zeke Berry was not a midyear freshman, but he’ll be coming in in the fall. He’a a very versatile player who played a bunch of positions in high school at a great program like DeLaSalle (in Concord, Calif.). He’ll be a great factor, as well.”
Giving Michigan several great options in the secondary this fall.
