Unfortunately this part didn't quite make it into the Erik Magnuson article I wrote earlier. I got a hold of his offensive line coach a little late, so it didn't get in there. I at least wanted to share with you what he had to say about Magnuson. Since he works closely with him on a day to day basis I thought it was important.
All the guys I've had a chance to coach, Erik is by far the best overall lineman. Size wise, physicality, athleticism, and grit is a big part of it. I've coached little guys, big guys, and everyone has their own thing. By far he's the best I've coached. I was very fortunate to coach John and Dan Saleaumua, Danny played for the Chiefs in the NFL. Those guys were probably the closest to Erik. The Saleaumua brothers were brute force guys. Erik is a guy that can go in and compete, and once he gets out on the edge he's so athletic it allows us to do most things others can't.
On what Erik's strengths are and what he's working to improve:
Right now I think he is without a doubt the best pass blocking lineman. The guy can pass block anybody. Everyone always challenges him at the camps. The other day he came back and was scratched all over. His chest, his arms, everything except for his face because he knows how to keep his head back. He has great form and technique. He's going to get way better once he gets stronger. He trains like no one else. He could survive at Michigan right away. The one thing we work on here is just to get his frame extended a little more, getting his chest up a little more. His strength is pass block, he needs to work on his run block which will come with strength and learning [Darrell] Funk's system.
On the new Michigan coaches:
My wife surprised me for my 50th birthday and took me out to the Michigan Ohio State game in Ann Arbor. It was great, I know Erik is going to fall in love with that place. You guys are the luckiest team in the nation because of Coach Hoke. We knew him before he was at San Diego State. He was an assistant at Michigan. All our coaches loved the guy before he was at SDSU. When he went [to SDSU] whatever we could do for him we would do it, because he's that type of guy. Coach Funk, I was really fortunate to play for some great coaches. When I was in high school we had a guy named Dave Lay. Coach Funk played for Dave Lay, so we had something in common. The first time we met we imitated the way coach Lay spoke and were goofing around, so that was great. He's been coached by Coach Lay and I know how he coaches, so I know Erik is in good hands with Funk.
....in good hands with Funk.
No radio. Nothing of value.