[Ed-Ace: Please join us in welcoming aboard new press conference correspondent Ethan Sears, whose work you may have seen at the Michigan Daily and UMHoops. Don't worry, Adam isn't going anywhere—you'll be seeing his posts soon, too.]

“How we doing?”

(Everybody, all together) Pretty good.

So, what were sort of the qualities that set Shea (Patterson) apart from the other quarterbacks, that you feel won that job?

“I think Shea has shown in big games, over the course of his short career that he can make plays. And,not that the other quarterbacks can’t make plays, but he offers just an ability to make the on-schedule plays and the off-schedule plays, and we’re excited about having that element in our offense.”

So was experience a big part of that then?

“Absolutely.”

Exactly how close, was it a close competition? And at what point in camp, any point I guess, was it clear that Shea was the guy?

“Yeah, it was an extremely close competition. I think coach (Jim) Harbaugh had talked throughout the offseason about the possibility of making that decision right up to gameday at Notre Dame. Possibly take that long. And the other guys, they showed tremendous growth from spring practice to training camp, and they played well. They did a lotta good things as well, but ultimately, coach decided to go with Shea.”

So would announcing Shea as the starter two weeks before, I guess that kinda gives the idea that you guys have known for a while. So, would it be unfair to assume that it wasn’t a close competition?

“That wasn’t the case at all. I don’t know that we’ve known for a while. Only coach Harbaugh knew when he wanted to announce it and who that guy would be, but we thought we have four candidates that are very qualified to go out and play a high level of football for us.”

Pep, how are Brandon (Peters) and Dylan (McCaffrey) different now than they were maybe in January?

“They’re a year older. You know, they have more experience and more time with the offense and within the system. They have — Brandon in particular — having played in games last year, just has a better understanding of the urgency with which you have to make decisions in real games.”

And how has Brandon handled this whole thing from your — you’re around every day. How has he handled Shea coming in and now he’s not the starter and all that sort of stuff?

“He has been consistent. He’s never stopped preparing. He’s a competitor, so of course he wants to be out there, and if he ever had to get out there, I feel like he would go out and play at a high level.”

Who’s number two on the depth chart right now?

“I don’t know. We don’t have a depth chart.”

Who would go in if Shea got hurt?

“Coach Harbaugh would decide.”

[Hit THE JUMP for more Nico Collins hype plus much more.]

How did Nico Collins, how has he grown as a receiver since last year, and how has he done in fall camp?

“Yeah, he’s made tremendous strides over the course of training camp. Really exciting to see that skill set and that production that he’s had throughout training camp, see that translate to gameday. So he’s a guy that we’re excited to see, and he’ll have a ton of opportunities to make plays, and we’re looking forward to it.”

What does he do as a receiver? What makes him kinda stand apart?

“He’s a big guy that can sink his hips. For a big guy that has a long stride, long gait, he’s a guy that has enough quick twitch to be able to transition from routes, make the transition from deeper routes to shorter routes and run comebacks and digs that we want our receivers to be able to do.”

How long did it take for Shea — for you to realize that maybe Shea could be the guy, be the starter and maybe pick up the offense?

“It didn’t take very long at all, because you saw it on his film prior to his arrival here in Ann Arbor. So it was just a matter of Shea developing some comfort in how we communicate our plays, and getting a feel for the players around him.”

What sort of steps — there’s a lot of talk about Joe Milton’s arm and physical talents. What sort of steps do you want to see him take this fall in practice?

“I think you can’t teach experience. So with every practice, with every meeting, with every day that he’s around our coaches and teammates, he gains a better understanding of what’s required of a starting quarterback in a place like the University of Michigan. So, he needs experience. Just time on task. That’s from top to bottom. Not just on the field, but in understanding how to prepare, to be able to go out and play at a high level and play winning football at the quarterback position for us here at Michigan.”

How do you like his mental makeup? I know couple players have mentioned his work ethic, higher than they expected.

“Oh no, we’re excited about Joe’s potential. Football’s important to him and there’s never been a time where you didn’t feel like he was one of the more committed players in all of college football.”

Offensive players have come in and said the offense has been tweaked. How different will the offense look because of Shea, I would imagine?

“I would say that it’s not just the quarterback. It’s just the overall group of guys that we have. It’s always our goal to go out and feature our playmakers. And we’ll see. We’ll see what that looks like on gameday.”

Pep, on that note, obviously with the news of Tarik being out, he was expected to be a playmaker. You have two tight ends on the Mackey preseason watchlist, Zach (Gentry) and Sean (McKeon) and a slew of receivers. When you kinda just stand back and analyze strengths and who can do what, x, y, z kinda thing, what is your take on that?

“I feel like we have one of the best tight end groups in all of college football. Not just our top two guys. Not Sean McKeon — not just Sean McKeon and Zach Gentry, but Nick Eubanks can be a special player, too. And so I feel like it’s great that we have guys that are versatile, that play without the ball at that position. But we do feel like they can create matchup issues in the passing game as well.”

When you look at the wide receivers, (Donovan Peoples-Jones), Grant (Perry) comes to mind. When you kinda analyze the same thing looking at the wide receivers, what do you see?

“I see a group of guys that can play without the ball, and but they’re also dynamic enough to make a ton of big plays. And I think that combination is really important. We wanna have receivers that we can leave on the field every snap, and not just be situational guys. And DPJ, Grant, the guys that you mentioned, along with Nico and the other guys that we have in that receiver group, they’re prepared to go out and do just that.”

Did you have a wow moment, like, I think Devin (Bush) said Nico can go get the rock. (Ben) Bredeson said he was catching everything. Did you have a wow moment with Nico?

“I’ve had a few. I remember one of the first games that he played in, I think it was Rutgers last season, and of course, he just found a way to go out and make a play and make a catch in a game that was really his first opportunity to play college football. So, we’re excited about Nico and we’re excited about Donovan, we’re excited about Grant, we’re excited about Oliver Martin, we’re excited about all the guys that we have in the receiver group.”

Talk about seeing Shea’s ability on tape. How does that impact your job and what you do and how you help hone that and develop that?

“Oh man, it has an impact on not just my job, but on the entire program. The quarterback position is really the centerpiece for our success. And so, having a playmaker, having a guy that can do what’s prescribed and some, is an important element in a successful offense.”

Is there a key for quarterbacks to take that next step to be the well-rounded player they can be? Or is it case by case?

“No, I think over their childhood, over their quarterback career, in time you develop instincts. Just like all of us, and having certain instincts — competitive instincts, should I say, alright, that under duress, you revert to those instincts. And for the quarterback position, we want guys that can manage bad plays, weather storms, and not compound the issues and problems that arise in games. So, we feel like he has really good competitive instincts, along with the ability to make plays.”

Pep, on Saturday, will you and Jim (McElwain) be calling plays? Will others be involved?

“Coach Harbaugh is — everything goes through coach Harbaugh.”

How are you different as a coach after being around college guys for a year? It’s been one year here, how are you different?

“I think there’s just more for me already, with the guys that we have in our program. It’s not like I hadn’t coached college football before. I actually coached at Stanford and at Howard back in the day, but when I was at Stanford, we played at Notre Dame each year. I know, going into South Bend, first game of the season, on a Saturday night, it’s gonna be a very exciting environment for the young men in our program. And I’m looking forward to helping our guys go out and enjoy a victory.”

Pep, we hear guys — on both sides of the ball — talk about new attitude, new focus, new confidence. That’s with the players, and I think it’s clear. Do you feel that as a coach though, coming in this year?

“That’s always been the case, in every team that I’ve ever been a part of, in the offseason. When everybody’s undefeated and tied for first place, it’s just bubbling, everybody’s bubbling with optimism. I would say that it’s no different for us now. But the reality is that everybody’s gonna find out who we are and what we’re made of on Saturday night.”

But does it feel any different for you?

“No, it always feels the same for me.”