Michigan safety Vladimir Emilien gives insight into team... (Warning... FREEP article.)

Submitted by Firstbase on
Okay... I know it's a FREEP article, but it was kind of interesting. Sorry about the journalistic faux pas of searching their site. I didn't see this posted previously (after searching), so sorry if this info is a repeat: Michigan safety Vladimir Emilien, who played five games as a freshman last season 2009, apparently took questions from the public in a chat format today. Among the highlights: • Asked whether a lingering injury limited his playing time last season, he wrote: “to be honest i dont know why i wasnt playing... my coach told me he felt i wasnt ready yet.” • Emilien expects center David Molk and tailback Vincent Smith, who suffered ACL tears, to be ready for the season. • He believes QB Denard (Shoelace) Robinson is faster than DB Troy Woolfolk. • He thinks most of U-M players have bought into coach Rich Rodriguez’s vision for the program. • Charles Woodson is his favorite Wolverine, Molk is the strongest player on the team, in his opinion, and the most difficult receivers to cover on the team are Darryl (DC) Stonum, Martavious Odoms, Roy Roundtree, Jeremy Gallon, Junior Hemingway and Cameron Gordon. • Asked about the team exceeding NCAA limits for workout hours, as alleged in a Free Press report citing claims by current and former players: “hell naw we didn’t.” • On the upcoming season: “i feel we are going to go far this year i mean there were a couple of key parts missing last year and we fell that we have filled the void... and as far as i... im going to start and going to be the bestt that i can be.” • A reason to be optimistic about the defense: “we are fast and aggressive this year and now we know the system." • Whom he models his game after: “sean taylor and ed reed.” • The team’s biggest trash talker: QB Tate Forcier. • The new leaders: “troy woolfolk and obi and jonas,” referring to linebackers Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton. • He said his knee is 100% healthy and he benches 360 pounds. • He said he predicts U-M will finish 12-0 because the Rose Bowl is their goal. Notebook: Rivals.com college football expert Tom Dienhart reported on his Twitter account that David Blackwell, the former defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at South Florida, is the “hot name” to fill Michigan’s vacancy as linebackers coach. Former U-M linebackers coach Jay Hopson left Dec. 23 to become Memphis’ defensive coordinator.