[Fuller]

The play of your unit so far this year: thoughts on it?

“I think the second game against Oregon State we played more like we expect to play, which was a lot more effort and a lot more- you know, we’ve always prided ourselves here on running to the football and everybody getting to the football. And that game, I think, the guys did that at a more consistent rate.

“We still have to get better at our technique. They hear that from me every day and they’re gonna hear it until we grade out on technique like we should. We’ve got to improve that.”

Fair to say a light’s gone on for Chris Wormley?

“Chris has made some plays. You know, Chris has done some good things and there’s a lot more good things to be had and he’s got to keep striving to be as good as he can be. He’s a very talented football player. You’ve got great size, great ability to run, he’s strong, and I’m looking for him every game to get better.”

Coach Harbaugh mentioned Ryan Glasgow as a guy who played well. What did he do well last game?

“Ryan just goes out there every day and plays with very, very consistent technique. Great toughness, there were a number of plays in that game where he did what we expect our defensive line to do and that’s relentless effort to the football. Made some key tackles on plays where the guy was running and came from inside out and made some good hits. He’s just every day- one thing about Ryan is every day he has come out and he works hard and tries to improve. Been very pleased with him.”

That first drive against Oregon State: what were you thinking, and then were you automatically thinking we’ve got to make certain adjustments after giving up three big plays?

“Yeah, there wasn’t any panic. You knew it was a breakdown here and there that caused it, and you knew that we were going to make the adjustments we needed to on the sideline. DJ [Durkin] does a great job making sure he knows what’s going on in all parts of it, and he just got everybody together and said, ‘This is what’s happened. This is what we can’t let happen’ and they adjusted it and they did it.

“It’s been very good, the sidelines. After every play we’re all together and DJ will call the group together and explain exactly what and then we break it down at each position, and I think that’s been good for both ball games and can even be better.”

[After THE JUMP: Rotation, ‘handsiness,’ and just where the heck is Lawrence Marshall]

Jim said maybe this week or last week he wants this defense to be more ‘handsy,’ to generate more turnovers. How do you coach that, and are you seeing that more?
"Well, we probably coach turnovers more than any defense I've ever been around and in the camp and throughout practices we've had more turnovers than I can ever remember, and it's just right now we're just not getting them and we've got to do a better job of it. Do a better job of stripping it, do a better job of coming up with the plays, but that is important. That's a very important part of our defense and we’ll continue with that."
And how do you coach it, exactly?
"In practice you try to get every turnover you can. You know, if a guy is running with it, if you don't tackle you can still go for the ball and we've stressed that probably more this year than ever. You know, and I think there’s a lot of praise in the meeting room for a guy in practice. You show that clip and you show how important getting a turnover is and that's been emphasized a great deal."
You have a lot of experienced guys coming back on defense from last year to this year. How much do you think it helped to have you stay on the coaching staff with all the changes that happened?
"Ah, I don't know. I mean, I don't think about that. When a new staff comes in you're not new after about a week anyhow. I mean, I think the communication part of it – I think the expectations. I think me being with these guys, they know what I think they can do and what they have to do and so there's not that where you say, ‘Oh, I didn't know he was that good’ or ‘He has this to work on.’ I think that part of it maybe, but coaching is coaching so it really doesn't matter, you know. Coaches come in and you've got a job to do and you do it."
Matt Godin said the other day that it helps to have you around because you were one of the guys in his house recruiting him and all the guys. Do you think now you've established that continuity that you mentioned?
"I mean, I think in any job – I think in any job when you know who's working for you and who’s playing for you and who's playing with you that's always a positive. But it's still all about coaching, technique, playing hard, and everybody being together doing the same system."
You've talked about wanting to rotate every year we've seen you. Is this year, is it able to happen more just for different personnel reasons or…?
"I think the thing that you're seeing [is] football in itself, everybody is spread now, and one of the things spread offenses try to do is wear the defense down and they go tempo and those kind of things, so the days, I think, are kind of over of playing four guys. And I've always believed that in the last few years. We happen to have more guys that played very young, and now they're a little older and they still have some time left. It's been good to be able to rotate guys to allow them to be able to play as hard as they can for the time that they're in there."
Pass rush's going to become more important with some of the teams coming up on your schedule. Thoughts on how that's developing?
"Pass rush is always important, and the thing you have to remember is sacks aren’t the tell-all. You know, it's pressure, it's getting your hands up and batting balls down, those kind of things, and we're working on it every day and I think you guys understand that it’s important."
Any guys on the edge that are starting to emerge?
"It's the same guys that we've had, and I think they're getting better at it. We'll see each game how much they've emerged."
You had a couple games working with DJ. How has he impressed you as a coordinator?
"Well, he's so passionate. He's very, very intelligent. He's very – the years that he's coached he's been with some great coaches and he understands the game. He loves the players, and his big thing is he wants the players to be as good as they can be and he's done a great job giving them the tools necessary to be as good as they can be. I just think he's doing a great job. He's a tremendous coordinator."
You've been on a lot of different staff a lot of different places. It's only been two weeks, but has this been a unique experience for you given you were here before and now you're here with all these new guys?
"When you coach or you work like you guys too, you come in to work and you're asked to do a job and you try to do a job the best you can. You don't go home and say, ‘Boy, I wonder if this is a good job or not a good job?’ My feeling has always been I love coaching, so when you walk in the room and you've got a room full of kids you just coach them as hard as you can, and when you see them have success that makes you feel good because you know how important it is to them. And we've always had kids around here who've worked extremely hard, ao as a coach you always want to do a great job so they have success.

“I mean, that's what it is at the end of the day is let's get these kids to be as good as they can be, because that's what Michigan stands for and if you don't you haven't achieved, you know, and your goal as a coach is to help these kids achieve."
Obviously Channing Stribling isn't one of your guys now, but you were the defensive coordinator the last couple of years. With Channing, he had that Penn State game: were you afraid after that that could be something that could be a lingering experience?
"No. You can tell right away. I mean, you can look at Jarrod Wilson the same way if you remember the South Carolina last play. I think if a guy is a successful secondary player he's got to have a short memory. I mean, you've got to have a real short memory. And you got to go out there – you're on an island out there every single play that you're in. Different than other positions.

“The whole world sees what you've done, so when that happens you just got to get it out of your head. I think a lot of it is how you handle it, too. If a guy makes a mistake like that or doesn't come up with a play and you just beat him with it to death then yeah, maybe he is going to act that way, But you've got to know that those kind of plays happen. They happen every day and you've just got to bounce back quickly."
You saw that in him though?
"Oh yeah. He's worked hard. You can tell every day when a guy comes to work every day, he comes to practice every day, he's done all the things he's done in the classroom, [that] he's headed in the right direction."
Overall, what do you like most about this defense after two weeks?
"I like the energy, I like the intensity, I mean, I like the guys. When you've been with them for a long time you like them and you want them to have success, and it's been fun. It's fun seeing them develop. It's fun seeing them make the checks.

“We’ve got to get better. You've got to get better every single practice, got to get better every single day, and then we'll see at the end what we are."
MGoQuestion: We haven't seen Lawrence Marshall through two games. Do you think he'll play on Saturday?
"You know, you don't know who will play but he's working hard."