B1G Media Days: Player Roundtable Comment Count

Tim

Hoke notes coming on Monday. Apologies for minimal editing, but I'm eager to leave the living hell that is McCormick Place.

Denard Robinson

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Why does Denard smile playing football? "It's a game, and I enjoy playing it. Obviously I'm still playing, so I'm still smiling."

Even though there was a switch in offensive scheme, Denard said his first thought was to do whatever it takes to play. Denard doesn't worry about outside perception that he can't throw. He and his teammates know what he can do, and he'll show it on the field. The timing with receivers is looking good. "We've got some deep routes in there, and we have some routes where they can make a choice and get open. It's a good deal."

The biggest thing Denard has been working on this offseason is his footwork. "Keep my feet underneath me so I can make throws anywhere I want to throw it." Stepping up in the pocket is another adjustment he's making. Getting timing down with receivers is another area for improvement.

The team has been working hard all summer. They're getting bigger, faster, and stronger. "The seniors and I, we organized the workouts and 7-on-7s. That was a big thing for this year." Everybody was ready to participate in the offseason workout.

Denard never got to a point where he was leaning toward leaving Michigan. It was tough when Rich was fired, "That's the guy that recruited me, but at the same time, I was with my teammates and my family." David Molk and Ryan Van Bergen gave him the best advice, along with Mike Barwis. They told him that there's no better school or family than the University of Michigan. After he got fired, Coach Rodriguez told Denard to completely buy in to Hoke's system, and he would continue succeeding. It meant a lot to Denard that he told him to continue buying in. Coach Smith (now at Indiana) also told him to buy in 100%. "I bought into Coach Rod's offense, and I'm buying into this offense."

Brady Hoke's first message to the team was to hold each other accountable. "We're Michigan, and we're supposed to compete for the Big Ten every year." "What we've been doing lately is holding each other accountable." If guys aren't doing what it takes to win a Big Ten Championship, their teammates are on them.

The national attention is different after coming from a small town. "It's alright, it's good. I don't do crazy stuff anyhow" so it's not harmful. He likes being recognized around campus, too. It's easy to ignore media hype. "I don't too much care for the hype."

Asked about the Ohio State/Michigan State clocks: "We do have a countdown for the Western Michigan game, so that's the main thing right now. That's the main thing. That's a big game, we have to prove ourselves." Denard grew up watching the Florida/Florida State rivalry, but the Michigan/"Ohio" game is a much bigger rivalry. "It's the border. We fight for Michigan, and they fight for Ohio."

Denard was nicked up a lot last year, but "playing football, you're gonna have nicks and bruises, so you've gotta play through that."

"It's still going to be exciting, we've still got the guys we had last year." There are explosive receivers, and some good running backs. "I know all of them are gonna be ready to play."

Denard isn't usually a vocal leader, but when he has to speak up, he will.

There was no issue getting guys to come to workouts this year. There was pretty much 100% attendance at voluntary workouts, which was not the case last year.

"You get a feel for when you want to run and when you shouldn't run. If you see an open receiver, don't miss him. You want to get him the ball."

Despite last year's individual success, Denard always maintains drive to improve. "How I look at it is always work like I'm second string or third string." He plays and works out with a hunger to improve.

Denard isn't much of a celebrator, so he's not worried about the effects of the new taunting rules that can take scores of the table.

Denard has gained 5-10 pounds since last season.

"I did a lot last year. It's going to be hard to say I can do any more than I did last year, but I think I can do a little more, I can outdo what I did last year."

Low expectations? "They say the 1997 team was one of the teams that was underrated."

Whenever Darryl Stonum earns his way back on the team, he'll be welcomed. "I want him to be back on the team, but it's up to Coach Hoke."

The offensive line has gotten a lot bigger, but they're still mobile.

Kevin Koger

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Denard's improvement: His arm has always been good, he can throw touch passes and the long ball. His arm strength isn't a question: he mangled one of Kevin's fingers with a pass in practice. It's still bent (pictured at right).

"I honestly feel like we don't have a #1 [receiver]." There are a number of guys that can step up and be the top target on a given day. Still sounds like a blessing and a curse to me.

"Dileo, he's deceptively quick." He did well on returns last year, and is now improving his route running and hands.

Jerald Robinson has good hands and body control.

The freshmen don't work out in the same groups as the returning players, and they can't participate in 7-on-7s due to their schedule. They've come out to play catch with some of the guys, though.

Chris Barnett is an established pass-catching threat, and Kevin's advice is to work on blocking. "It's a long season; if you don't play in the first game, you might play the fifth, sixth, seventh game."

In 7-on-7s, Koger is usually covered by Carvin Johnson or Brandon Herron.

Marvin Robinson is a big hitter. It doesn't take him a long run-up to build power.

Troy's return has brought some enthusiasm to the defense because he's a funny guy, and a fun guy to be around. JT Floyd is back as well. "Troy, he's a veteran, he knows where to be at, when to be there, he knows how to disguise coverages well, he drives on the ball really well.

Carvin Johnson is not the fastest, biggest, or strongest guy. "But he has a knack for making plays, he's always around the ball." Kevin has trust in the safeties to make plays.

There's a lot of competition among the linebackers, and there are spots up for grabs. Whoever plays the best in camp will earn starting positions.

Brandon Herron is a fast guy, and Koger has to beat him with technique, and Demens is a strong guy who you have to beat with separation, because if he gets his hands on you, you're done.

"Look at Wisconsin last year, look how many points they put up during the season. They ran a pro-style offense. They ran tight ends a lot of the time. It's proven that a pro-style offense can put up a lot of points."

The offense wants to control the tempo of the game this year. The defense is ready to get back onto the field whenever they need to, but the offense can control the ball.

Outside of Denard, Roy Roundtree and Junior Hemingway are some of the big play guys. Kevin jokes he'll be happy to catch any passes at all this year because there are so many good options for the offense.

Coach Hecklinski has done a good job with the receivers, making sure they do what they have to do.

A lot of the running backs haven't gotten much game experience, so it's exciting to see who will emerge.

Mike Martin

There's been a lot of improvement since last year's defense. The seniors especially are working to leave the school the way they want to be remembered. "We've all been through it together. We know what needs to be done. We don't want to have any problems. We don't want to have it be like last year."

"At the end of the day, we don't want to say that Michigan beat Michigan." What happened in the past is gone, and they're excited about what's going to happen in the future.

Martin likes what he saw in the film from spring practice. Everyone looks excited to play defense, and get out on the football field. "There's a lot of worry; guys were doing a lot of thinking on the field." Now, guys are able to not think and simply execute their assignments.

On Greg Mattison: "The guy eats and breathes excellence." He's a great teacher of the game. Hoke and Mattison have credibility, and have proven that they know what they're talking about.

There's a big emphasis on being tough and hardnosed on defense. Hoke gets in the D-Line's faces specifically, because they're where the defense starts. Everything "starts and ends in the trenches." Previous Championship defenses at Michigan were defined by words like "toughness," etc.

Martin, Van Bergen, and a couple of young guys will get a lot of small-group attention from Coach Hoke in practice. Technique and fundamentals are stressed every day. Hoke, Mattison, and Montgomery are all on the same page and teaching the same things. Hand placement, footwork (down to the inches), hip movement, etc., need to be second-nature to the D-linemen, because they can't be overthinking on the field. The coaches are detail-oriented. They also are learning to adjust to the offensive formation without having to think about it.

"I've never seen more clocks in a building. I always know how many days there are until whatever game it is." It's a constant reminder of what is coming ahead. "We know what we have to do come September 3rd."

It's fun to watch film with Coach Mattison because there's active involvement by people, instead of a lecture-type format. They're always learning, and picking Mattison's brain. "Watching film and seeing me drop back, it just looks funny."

The four-man front makes it easier on the point of attack for the defensive line, because somebody is going to have a one-on-one matchup, and there are fewer double teams.

"His attitude and his mindset has totally gotten better." He was in a bit of a comfort zone before, where he wasn't constantly being pushed to improve, because he was a backup. Now he's being counted on, and has answered the call. He's a key component of the defense, as the 3-tech is a key part of Mattison's defensive scheme. "He answered the call and step up to the play. Q's been doing a great job behind him."

The team likes watching Ravens film, because it's a good comparison to what scheme they're going to be running. Otherwise, Mattison doesn't talk about his NFL success (HALOL Charlie Weis). Watching the guys who are the best at their positions helps the players realize what little things they need to do to improve. "I think all the guys are always picking stuff and trying to make their game better."

The defensive line is doing a good job at the point of attack, but their main room for improvement is making the second move and getting off a block to make plays in the backfield.

There's more accountability among players in the weight room this offseason. The new strength staff also puts an emphasis on getting bigger and reps to failure.

Comments

Mr Mackey

July 29th, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^

I'm assuming Martin is talking about BWC when he says, "His attitude and his mindset has totally gotten better"?

And the quote on Mattison breathing excellence reminded me of Ricky Bobby's, "I wake up in the morning and I piss excellence"

Three great players to represent UM today, and they should all be very exciting to watch next year.

El Jeffe

July 29th, 2011 at 2:02 PM ^

No no, I'm quite sure you're mistaken. He did not get it, was not a Michigan Man, did not pay atttention to detail, and did not get after it. Also, he did not care about recruiting Michigan or size or Michigan size and he did not understand that toughness and downhill running win football games and he did not care about defense, special teams, or traditions like the #1 jersey scholarship that extended all the way back to the mid-two-thousand-aughts.

bronxblue

July 30th, 2011 at 12:29 AM ^

Ah yes, because if he had beaten MSU or OSU at least once and handed out a #1 to Roundtree, he totally would have "gotten it" at UM.  The reason RR is gone is because he didn't win enough, not because he didn't commit to UM enough.  Let's see how everyone feels if Hoke struggles this year.

Go Blue or Die

July 29th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^

Great article Tim, I have been following the blog for about two years now, but finally decided to join up. I really hope to see Al use the tight ends more, Kevin is an unbelievable talent that should almost nearly impossible to cover seeing as the trend of college corners are now smaller then 5'11.

Has anyone heard how ricardo miller is doing from the switch from Wide out to Tight end, i know he was a herald wide out recruit.

Also, is anyone else curious about our running back situation? Whats the deal with Fitz and is it possible Rawls could be our feature back.

maizedandconfused

July 29th, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^

We havent even started fall practice yet.

From the spring game, it looks like Ricardo hasgained about 15 lbs and is being used as a motion H-back reminiscent of last years TEs.

And the main issue is when running a cover 2 4-3 man defense against a 1 tight 2 wide set is that your TE is usually squared up against a LB... who is almost always 6'2 and HUGE.

Running backs? What running backs. We dont have any.. /s but serioulsy, Id be shocked if Hopkins Shaw or Smith isnt the starter come Sept 3.

Don

July 29th, 2011 at 3:20 PM ^

I don't understand it. I thought RR wasn't a real Michigan Man.

His coaching background and the time Hoke personally spends with the defensive line in practice makes me especially curious why the staff has allegedly decided to take only one interior D lineman in the 2012 class. Out of all the positions on the defense, it's the DL that I would think they would stock up on.

G Money

July 30th, 2011 at 1:49 AM ^

It would be nice to see direct quotes about Rich's support rather than the site saying "100% support". Really?

I think he worked hard at UM, but he was just bad. I don't think he was bad. He was bad. 6-18 in the big ten is about as bad as it gets. NW wouldn't like that record. But he tried. He tried his best. I don't think Rich tanked it while he was here.

FrankMurphy

July 29th, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^

"It's a game, and I enjoy playing it. Obviously I'm still playing, so I'm still smiling."

This might quite possibly be the greatest quote in the history of humanity.

Lordfoul

July 29th, 2011 at 5:39 PM ^

Denard Robinson is going to be a beast this year.  A jovial, smiling, gracious beast that will live for all eternity in the hearts and minds of Michigan fans and foes alike.  You just can't keep a positive attitude like his down, change in scheme be damned.

 

MGoShoe

July 30th, 2011 at 8:56 AM ^

...Angelique's article about the player roundtable:

At Hoke's first meeting with the team after taking the job, Robinson also spoke to his teammates. And it wasn't the lighthearted, always-smiling quarterback they had always known.

"He said, 'Don't worry about me, I'm not going anywhere,'" Martin said of Robinson's speech. "I've never really seen him get so ticked off. (He was) like, 'I can't believe any of you guys would think I would leave. You guys are my brothers, you're my teammates. I'm not leaving you guys, don't worry about that.' Something was bothering him. When he said it to us, you could tell he was insulted we would think he would go anywhere.

"I never thought that. I had faith he wasn't going anywhere."

Pull that Rope

July 30th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^

When denard first arrived on campus we were similar sizes (6' 180 lbs) now he is definitely a lot bigger. I would say 6' 1"  and closer to 200 than 190. Best of all he looks thicker, aka more padding. Also just love how down to earth he is when you introduce yourself to him.