Michigan Wolverines

Michigan begins spring practice on Saturday with both some question marks and some major returning talent. Brady Hoke says of his team: "We're very young. But these guys have a lot of fight to them." There will also be a lot of fighting for starting jobs, beginning in a few days. I recently caught up with the third-year Wolverines coach for his thoughts on the approach of spring ball:

What are the main things you're looking for this spring?

Brady Hoke: Well, you know, we've got a lot of open spaces. Some guys graduated, some guys aren't with the program anymore and we've got a lot of young guys. I think we only have 11 starters back on both sides of the ball, so there's going to be a lot of great competition, which is exciting. I think the leadership of our seniors, they've done a nice job of holding everybody accountable. But when you get out there with the pads on, it's a little different than just running around in shorts.

Some of that competition will be on the offensive line, where you've got three open jobs on the interior. How do you see those battles right now?


BH: Well, I think the interior of both lines, there's going to be a lot of competition. We've got to find a center, and that's between [Jack] Miller and [Graham] Glasgow, and Joey Burzynski will try to figure that out a little bit, too. At the guard positions, Ben Braden is going to move down inside and start out at the left guard, but he'll have a lot of competition because Burzynski is back and so is Blake Bars. Kyle Kalis will move into the right side, and it will be interesting again with [Kyle] Bosch and some of the guys who have been here a little bit. I think it will be a really good competition at all three of those inside positions.

Having Taylor [Lewan] back is huge. I think it's great for him and great for Michigan. Mike Schofield has had a really good winter. He had some real bright spots during the course of last season, and I think his development is going to be something special.

You mentioned the defensive line, where you also lost a couple of veterans. How does that shape up?

BH: I think inside, we get Jibreel Black for another year and Quinton Washington. But once you get through that, there are a lot of young guys ... Willie Henry, Ondre Pipkins, Ryan Glasgow, Richard Ash and Chris Wormley are all guys who can either play the inside tackle or the strongside end. We'll find out the guys who are competitive. Tommy Strobel is another guy we think had a real good winter, and Keith Heitzman. So it's going to be fun to see them compete.

Does having so many young guys in key spots on the line make you nervous? Or do you have a lot of confidence in them because you recruited most of them?

BH: I think it makes you nervous if you think you may have recruited the wrong guys. But we like the work ethic. We like how they've come in to learn and with a lot of enthusiasm. I think there's some competitiveness that we need to keep pushing as a program. You know, we lost five games on the road. We've played pretty well at home but we've got to do better on the road and that's a mindset, a mentality that you have to compete through everything, on every down.

Devin Gardner goes into spring practice as your starting quarterback. How has he developed as a leader?

BH: I have been really excited about the progress he's made. I'm seeing that maturity that it takes and the leadership it takes and the competitiveness it takes to be the quarterback at Michigan. I think that's a real big part of how he's grown, and I think he's done a nice job with it. I'm liking the direction he's going, and hopefully he can just keep going and keep growing.

What about your running back position this spring, with Fitz Toussaint hurt and Derrick Green not there yet?

BH: You know, Fitz has come along pretty well. I don't think he'll do a lot of contact or anything like that, but I think he'll be cleared for a lot more drill work. That's gone real well. We've moved [Dennis] Norfleet back to running back and we're going to give him an opportunity. Dennis, he's a smaller guy, but he's a very competitive, very tough young man. Drake Johnson is a guy we redshirted a year ago, and we really liked the way he competed in scout situations. In the bowl practices, we did some scrimmages and gave him a lot of carries, and we're very excited about what he has to offer.

Thomas Rawls is coming back, and I think he learned a lot last year about the vision he needs to play with, and I like how he's competed through the [winter]. And Justice Hayes is a guy who gives you a little bit different look because of how he can get on the perimeter. He did some things in a couple of games last year, but now I think he'll have a big stage to prove himself more this spring. And he's a bigger guy now, he's 190-something pounds, so he's a little bigger.

You have Jeremy Gallon back at receiver, but you lost Roy Roundtree. You sounded excited about some of the younger guys there during bowl prep. Is spring their time to step up now?

BH: Yeah, I think so. First of all, I think the leadership with Gallon and Drew Dileo, they've done a really nice job being leaders at that position. They're not big guys, but they have a real spirit for the game and really do a nice job of working and leading. We have Amara Darboh, who played a little last year, and Jehu Chesson, who we redshirted a year ago. And I think Jeremy Jackson has had a very good winter; we're very excited about some of the progress he's made. Joe Reynolds is a guy who walked on here, and he's done a very nice job. And Bo Dever, his dad played here and he walked on. I think that during the course of the spring, we'll be in pretty good shape there. I think as we keep going, we'll keep improving at that position.

Linebacker was a strength for you last year and looks to be so again. Do you see some good competition there this spring, particularly at the weakside spot?

BH: Yeah, I think with Desmond Morgan and James Ross, there's going to be great competition. Joe Bolden and Royce Jenkins-Stone and Mike Jones are all guys who are very competitive, and I think the three young guys coming in are going to be guys who will give us a lot of good competition and a lot of good depth. Kaleb Ringer is coming back from injury, so we'll see what he can give us. At the sam linebacker, Jake [Ryan] is coming back, and we really like what Cam Gordon has done during the winter. So I think we feel a little stronger at that position.

How do you replace what Jordan Kovacs gave you in the secondary?

BH: I don't know if you ever replace that kind of leadership, but I really think Thomas Gordon, he's played a lot of football here, and it's time for him to demonstrate the leadership. And he's doing that. Because of the number of snaps and everything he's done, he's really fallen into his own a little bit. Courtney Avery has played a lot of football, and whether he's a corner a nickel or wherever, he's got to give us great leadership and great reps. Blake Countess is getting healthier; he'll do some things during the spring. Josh Furman, I think, has come on.

We've got to see where Terry Richardson is and where Marvin Robinson is. Both those guys have played a number of snaps. We've got Raymon Taylor back, who I think started every game for us last year, we're excited about his development. Dymonte Thomas is a guy who's going to compete, and he'll pressure some guys. Jarrod Wilson is another guy who played some last year for us. Ross Douglas is here early. Jeremy Clark is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound safety we redshirted a year ago, and it's going to be a big spring for him to make some moves.

So I think we may have more personnel back there. And even more in the fall when Channing Stribling gets in, and Reon Dawson gets in and Jourdan Lewis. I think it's going to add something to our secondary.

Finally, what has your message been to the team this offseason after last year's 8-5 season?

BH: Well, our message has been, we haven't met the expectations at Michigan. That's something that as a football community… that we really feel that we have to do a much better job in all areas, from the coaching aspect of it, from learning and playing with the competitiveness we want to have, from every player at every position playing with the intensity we want to play with. It's about having a mindset and a mentality of how we want to play the game. We make no excuses, but at the same time, we know we have a lot we can do to play better football.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan’s defensive line took another hit Monday as the school announced redshirt junior defensive tackle Nathan Brink will be out indefinitely after suffering an undisclosed injury last week.

Brink played in all four games, making two tackles, including 1.5 for loss.

He is the latest Michigan defensive linemen to have an injury this season. Sophomore end Brennen Beyer is expected back Saturday after missing the past two games with a knee injury. Tackle Richard Ash is also expected back this week after having an undisclosed injury that forced him to miss two games earlier this season.

Freshman defensive lineman Chris Wormley is out for the season with a torn ACL.

In Brink’s place, Michigan could turn to Ash and freshman Ondre Pipkins to provide support. Pipkins has played in four games, making four tackles.

Brink was not mentioned earlier Monday when Hoke went through his injured players, although he did say in mentioning his other injured players "the guys who aren't out for the year, the rest of them, they are OK."

It is unclear whether that statement included Brink.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan now has an idea of who it will play and who it will redshirt this season.

Michigan coach Brady Hoke said Wednesday that he feels comfortable with where his team stands now with its freshman class after 12 of them have played in the first two games of the season.

And if they haven’t played yet -- it is likely they won’t until 2013.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan’s somewhat revolving door on the defensive line looks like it will continue for at least another week.

Sophomore defensive end Brennen Beyer, who injured his knee during Michigan’s 31-25 win over Air Force, will likely miss the Wolverines’ game against Massachusetts on Saturday.

“I don’t think he’ll be available this week,” Michigan coach Brady Hoke said. “He tweaked the knee a little bit. Hopefully in two weeks.”

Beyer started the first two games of the season at rush end for Michigan and has made two tackles this season. He missed a good portion of the Wolverines’ game Saturday after being injured.

He was replaced in the lineup Saturday by Frank Clark, who had four tackles, two tackles for loss and a pass breakup. Freshman Mario Ojemudia has had four tackles and a half-tackle for loss in two games.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan's injury issues grew Saturday as the Wolverines took more hits on defense.

The Wolverines have already lost defensive lineman Chris Wormley and cornerback Blake Countess for the season to torn ACLs and linebacker Kaleb Ringer to a knee injury.

On Saturday, depth took a bigger hit -- temporarily -- with injuries to defensive linemen Brennen Beyer and Richard Ash.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- He pulled the seven of them in front of the rest of their teammates in the Michigan team room Tuesday afternoon and for a second, cornerback J.T. Floyd wondered what was going on.

The seven guys up there, though, were about to get a nice gift for their parents. Free education for at least a semester if not the full year. While it likely wasn’t the excitement of Oprah Winfrey giving away cars to everyone in her audience of her television show, there was enough excitement there to produce cheers, yells and high-fives all around.

Defensive lineman Nathan Brink, offensive lineman Joey Burzynski, long snapper Jareth Glanda, fullback Paul Gyarmati, tight end Mike Kwiatkowski, wide receiver Joe Reynolds and quarterback Steve Wilson all found out they were no longer just walk-ons for Michigan’s football team.

“That was fun. I announced it front of the rest of the team and there were hugs and kisses,” Hoke said. “Not kisses. Excitement and all that kind of stuff.”

The walk-ons were unaware of what was going on at first, at least according to Floyd, who asked one of them after it happened.

Some of them, though, might end up playing large roles with Michigan this season. Burzynski lost a competition with fifth-year senior Elliott Mealer at left guard. Kwiatkowski pushed starting tight end Brandon Moore. Both Brink and Glanda are highly likely to see time this season.

So they all have roles to fill.

“The meeting room went absolutely crazy,” Floyd said. “Guys were jumping up and down. Those guys are an instrumental part of our team and they help us out in every facet of the game, with special teams, offense, defense, scout team.

“Those guys are great guys and guys we love to compete with.”

No longer suspended, status still unknown
Hoke said the status of running back Fitzgerald Toussaint and defensive end Frank Clark is still not announced, but he anticipates a decision before Saturday’s kickoff.

He did offer some clarity, though, to how the two are currently being viewed. He initially suspended them after their legal issues, but now it is more of a wait-and-see type of thing since Toussaint and Clark have been practicing.

“They would be practicing, maybe not playing,” Hoke said. “They’ve been practicing. Usually if you’ve been suspended, I don’t let you practice.”

Hoke wouldn’t commit to whether Clark or Toussaint will travel to Texas this weekend.

This and that
If Toussaint does not play, Michigan could look at a running back by committee with sophomore Thomas Rawls, senior Vincent Smith and redshirt freshman Justice Hayes. ... Freshman defensive lineman Chris Wormley had successful ACL surgery Monday, according to Hoke.

Michigan football coach Brady Hoke has not yet decided when junior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, who was suspended from the team for a DUI, will be able to play in a game this season.

Toussaint, however, rejoined practices on Monday, which did bring up the intensity of the running backs' practice, according to senior running back Vincent Smith.

"It was good to see him back in action, getting into the mix of things and keeping everybody on their toes," Smith said. "All the guys are just coming in to compete and just practice has a lifted spirit amongst us all."

Smith said Toussaint came back in to practice this week as if he "never lost a beat," despite missing the first two weeks of fall camp.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan freshman defensive lineman Chris Wormley tore his ACL today, a spokesman for the school confirmed Tuesday evening.

The 6-foot-4, 279-pound Wormley, from Toledo, Ohio, was expected to compete for playing time this fall as a backup defensive lineman behind strongside defensive end Craig Roh and defensive tackles Jibreel Black and Will Campbell, although he was not a sure thing to play this season even if he were healthy.

Rated the No. 6 player in Ohio last season by ESPN.com, Wormley had 66 tackles and 11 sacks his senior season at Whitmer High School and was named Ohio’s co-defensive player of the year by the Associated Press.

Our "Inside the Game" positional previews with WolverineNation's Michael Rothstein and BuckeyeNation's Austin Ward continue in the trenches.

Ward and Rothstein discuss the contrast in the defensive lines. The Buckeyes could go as far as nine deep and believe they are among the nation's best units, while the Wolverines lost three-fourths of their top-notch line from a year ago, have another player on indefinite suspension and are unsettled at best.


Ohio State
Ward: The expectation up front for Ohio State is not just to be better than its rivals.

It’s not even to be the best in the conference.

The Buckeyes are going into this season with the goal of establishing themselves as the deepest and most talented group in the nation, and they certainly have a shot at building their case.

It helps to start at the top with the return of tireless, tenacious end John Simon and the emergence of Johnathan Hankins next to him as a force at defensive tackle, but there’s plenty more ammunition than that.

Garrett Goebel and Adam Bellamy round out the projected first unit, and even though he’s listed behind Hankins, Michael Bennett could be too disruptive in the middle to keep on the sideline. When Nathan Williams receives full clearance from his knee surgery, he could provide another scary weapon on the edge for a team that could conceivably roll through nine guys without a substantial drop-off.

On top of that, there’s a talented trio of newcomers who will fight to either be included or expand that rotation. Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington and Se’Von Pittman gave Ohio State a recruiting haul in February that would make any program envious. And it figures to set up the Buckeyes not just for a good run in the trenches this fall, but also into the next few seasons.

Michigan
Rothstein: On a team filled with current or former defensive line coaches -- besides Jerry Montgomery both head coach Brady Hoke and defensive coordinator Greg Mattison came up as defensive line coaches before assuming loftier titles -- there is a lack of a lot of things with their former pet position.

Experience, for one, is lacking as the line will boast three new starters and the one returning starter, senior Craig Roh, is adjusting to added weight and a new position as a strongside defensive end.

Depth is another issue, as the Wolverines could see multiple freshmen push for time on the line behind some of the inexperienced starters.

Will Campbell and Jibreel Black are the likely starters on the interior of the line, with Campbell being three years of promise without production and Black adding weight and learning to play inside after being converted from defensive end. At rush end, sophomore Brennen Beyer slides in as the likely starter after Frank Clark’s indefinite suspension due to legal issues.

Behind them are talented freshmen in Ondre Pipkins, Tom Strobel, Chris Wormley and Matt Godin -- all of whom could push for time. Nathan Brink provides some veteran stability at end and tackle, but the walk-on doesn’t have a ton of experience.

It’s a position full of questions at a spot where the Wolverines can’t really have them, as much of what Mattison likes to do on defense comes from the expectation of a defensive line getting pressure on a quarterback.