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WATCH: Michigan assistants Grant Newsome, LaMar Morgan discuss position groups pre-Nebraska

clayton-sayfieby: Clayton Sayfie09/17/25CSayf23
Grant Newsome
Michigan Wolverines football offensive line coach Grant Newsome at his pre-Nebraska press conference. (Photo by Clayton Sayfie / TheWolverine.com)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football offensive line coach Grant Newsome and defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan met with the media Wednesday afternoon ahead of their team’s game against Nebraska. Watch video from their press conferences below.

Offensive line coach Grant Newsome

Defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan

Newsome discussed the way sophomore Jake Guarnera played in his first-ever start at right guard against Central Michigan, and if he could continue being the main man there even when junior Brady Norton returns from injury.

“Jake played really well,” Newsome said. “He graded out really well. I felt that live in game that he was playing well, and then the film confirmed it. It’s a credit to him.

“I get it, it was Central Michigan, it wasn’t the national championship — but still, to be able to have that maturity and handle that real, live offensive game action, I was really happy with him and really impressed.

“That’s the great thing about having depth is when those guys are back, it’s a competition. It’s, how does Jake play in games? How does practice look? Coach Moore always says it, that you’re going to need eight, nine, 10 guys, and we’ve unfortunately already proven that some this year.

“It’s very much, you’ve got to earn your spot back. It’s not just a guarantee that if you were a starter to start the season that you get your spot back.”

Both Norton and graduate Giovanni El-Hadi, the starter at left guard, missed last week’s game. El-Hadi left the previous week’s tilt at Oklahoma with an ankle injury.

“Both Gio and Brady are working through lower-body injuries. Brady is a little further ahead than Gio is,” Newsome revealed. “We’re hopeful that we’ll have them both back for this weekend, but I’ll know more as the week progresses and that injury report comes out.”

Morgan, meanwhile, discussed what Michigan graduate safety Rod Moore will bring when he returns from injury.

“A young man like him, I just think it’s a calming factor,” Morgan said. “When you play safety, just like MIKE linebacker, guys like to be on the field with you, because they know you know what’s going on with the communication. He’s like a coach on the field, so you just get an extra guy without being an extra green dot on the field that’s really a leader, great communicator, tough kid.

“I just think you get a leader and a role model, and a lot of our guys have seen how he has battled back from the injuries, did everything he did right to try to get back, but I just think he has a lot of respect. I think he can push guys. Sometimes, coaches do it all the time

“I think now you just gain an extra guy on the field that can push his teammates by the way he acts and the way he responds to adversity or good or bad plays. I just think he’s kind of what you think about as a Michigan Wolverine defensive back here.”