Brady Hoke

Opening remarks:

“I think the body of work throughout the spring is what we always want to make sure -- it’s always difficult when you just get done either a practice or even a scrimmage situation that we had to say who was good, who was bad, who did right, who did wrong, all those things, until you really look at the film. I mean, we can all perceive what we want, but you have to look at the tape. I thought the frustrating thing was we put three snaps on the ground. I don’t care who it is at quarterback nor do I care who it is at center. It’s fundamental football. Had some, on second and long, we jumped offsides defensively, which, second and long is a down and distance that we should be aware enough that’s where teams are going to try to get to that second and five where it’s a little easier for them offensively. I don’t feel like we tackled like we needed to. That’s concerning, but in the body of work there were some awfully good things during the course of the spring.”

What were some of the encouraging things?

“I think we’re tougher as a team than a year ago at this time, the way they come out and play with no pads on, pads on or whatever. That’s an improvement. I think, and I said this to a couple people last night -- the one thing I think we would feel though, point of attack defensively especially up the middle is not near where it has to be before we get to September 1^st. That’s bothersome.”

Was the plan to not have Denard really break a sweat today?

“He sweated. We warmed up for a long time. You weren’t here. Yeah it was. We wanted to get, number one, Russell Bellomy as many snaps as we could. Get him with the second group there. And give Devin a chance to run quite a bit with the first group. That’s all part of it, yeah.”

Does the format of the spring game format set the defense up to have a better day than the offense?

“I didn’t see the defense have a better day.”

It looked like Brandin Hawthorne was playing middle linebacker. What have you seen from him this spring?

“He’s been beat up a little bit. He’s got an elbow right now. He’s coming off of surgery. He didn’t have much contact the first week. I think he made some of those wild plays today.”

Thomas Rawls had two touchdowns. How would you evaluate him this spring?

“Oh I don’t know. I think Thomas has had a good spring. He’s one of those guys who hen you look at the body of work, his physicalness -- he’s hard to tackle. You have to give him credit for that. He’s a good football player.”

Jack Miller played a lot today. How has he progressed?

“You know, I think every day he’s learning how to play center at the division I level. I think there’s been improvement and some footwork and the things that you look at from a technical side of it. I think that, and I think he’s got to continue -- strength gains are going to be huge for him this offseason, this summer, in the weight room. But I think Jack’s made progress. I’d like to find out, I think two of the three snaps were him and the quarterback, and it’s usually a matter of both their faults, but we can’t have that.”

What happened with Desmond Morgan’s knee?

“He got, uh, I don’t know. He got hit.”

Desmond Howard, ESPN analyst.

“Sure.”

1991 Heisman Trophy winner at Michigan.

“Yeah.”

What did you think about the receivers this spring? Progress of the young guys?

“I think, Des -- I really like Roy Roundtree. He’s catching the ball away from his body better. I think just throughout the spring. I think Gallon has done a nice job for us. Jerald Robinson, he tweaked his ankle late today, but I think he’s made some growth. I think Jeremy Jackson has showed some great flashes. Drew Dileo is a guy you can count on all the time for being in the right spots. I think we’ve had some growth there. I really think Roy, and this is my opinion, really has improved a lot.”

Today aside, the top three guys at quarterback -- what stands out about their springs overall?

“I guess the first thing I’d say, is there’s a maturation they’ve had as a quarterback a little more. When you’re a Michigan quarterback, it’s pretty significant. I think you’ve seen some of that when you look at leadership, when you look at the fundamentals. I think we’re still not where we need to be or where I would like us to be with tempo, huddle, all those things. I think we need to be a little better there.”

How important will Jordan Kovacs be to the defense this fall?

“Well, you know, I think all 11 guys are improtant, but Jordan’s got a lot of snaps, a lot of experience. Very instinctive, does a great job with our back end, getting them lined up and his communication -- football intelligence, is a higher level. You have to have a guy like that back there. He’s not scared. I mean, he’ll put his face on you and that’s what you want when you talk about safeties.”

What did you mean when you said the defense didn’t have a better day overall?

“Well we’re too soft in the middle. Way too soft in the middle of the defense. Some of the read plays, they were too lateral defensively in my opinion instead of what we like to call knock-em back football. We didn’t do that.”

We didn’t really see much of a deep threat today. Who is the receiver who will be that guy?

“I think Roy has the ability to get some separation. Jerald Robinson would be the other guy.”

What were you hoping to see out of Bellomy today?

“Oh, you know, number one, it’s really his first kind of real snaps in Michigan Stadium. I don’t know how many people were here, but TV, all that kind of stuff -- just see how he handled himself, how he handled the huddle. I ind of ripped him one time because I didn’t think he commanded the respect he needs to command in the huddle. And he’s a young kid. He’s smart, knows the offense, and there was one throw that got away from him. That was a mechanics situation, but again, until you really look at it and analyze it and all those things, he handled himself okay.”

Are you going to consider handing out the No. 1 jersey this year?

“Yeah, we’ll consider it.”

Is Denard a possibility for it?

“We have a 115 guys on the team. They’re all possibilities.”

What did Burzynski do to put himself with the ones?

“[He] plays very consistent, plays with good leverage and good technique.”

Did he do something to beat out Mealer?

“No. You use the word ‘beat out’. Elliott didn’t start last year. There’s competition every day. They’ll compete all through summer.”

If you were to name a No. 2 quarterback today, who would it be?

“Well, it’s Devin.”

You talked about Roy’s improvement. What specifically has he improved?

“I think he’s catching the ball with his hands more, not catching it into his body. And his route running has continued to improve.”

Is that something that comes with maturity?

“Yeah. I think it does. But also because he’s played in this offense for exactly 14 months now.”

Now that you have a couple months off, how key is it for the leaders to continue leading the team?

“It is critical that they’re accountable in every action from the social issues to the academic issues and the competition issues that you need to have as a football team.”

With Fitzgerald Toussaint and your other running backs, do you feel like your running game is in pretty good shape?

“Between him and Fitz and Thomas -- everybody forgets about Joey Kerridge has had a tremendous spring. Paul Gyarmati is a fullback. Hopkins, I am so excited about Stephen’s growth as a fullback. He can be a big back in the I situation down at the goal line. He’s really come on. I think, you know, we’re as comfortable as you can be at this point with our personnel there. And I like them. I like them all. Vince Smith is probably pound for pound the toughest guy on this football team. You like to see that.”