On the transition back to offensive line coach

Sure, I mean, it's getting back to my roots. Obviously, position I played and position I have a deep love for. But it's, I think less about the transition of positions, more about, you know, it's a newer group. And, you know, obviously responsible for more guys. We're five, essentially first time starters here. You have some guys like Josh, like Myles, who've started games and even Gio started a couple games throughout his career here. But, you know, first time all five have really worked together and played together. So that's been the biggest adjustment is just getting those guys comfortable. Obviously the hay's not in the barn yet, but hopefully week after week after week you're seeing it. I'm feeling like they're getting more and more comfortable. And obviously we still have work to do.

On the process of trying to figure out the best five offensive linemen during training camp

Sure, and that's, you know, it was a different, the process was an everyday process is what I'm trying to say. That's the unique thing about the offensive line is that it's not just, you know, hey, this is our best quarterback or this is our best running back. That's pretty straightforward. You're looking for five guys and there might be 10 different combinations that could get you to your best five. So we had a pretty good idea that it was, you know, Myles was going to play left and Josh was going to play left guard, but then it was going to center on over. It was what's our best combination. Is it Dom at center? Is it Crippen at center? Is it Raheem at center? Is it Dom at right guard? Is it Gio at right guard? You know, obviously the three guys were competing at right tackle. So there was, you know, it was, it was every day that we were kind of mixing it up and trying to get those guys equal opportunity and equal reps to prove who deserved to start.

On guys who can be the versatile players on the offensive line

We really feel like Dom can play any of the three interior positions. I feel like Gentry can play both guard and tackle for us. Obviously, Persi has played in games here at guard for us as well. I thought he did a pretty good job of stepping in at left tackle last week and graded out pretty well. So there's a couple of guys we feel like we can, we can move around and that kind of goes back into the, you know, what's the best five? Well then, shoot now, what's the best five of, if Myles is down, what's the best five if Dom is down or if Gio is down. And that's something that we evaluate and we talk about week to week. And that's the part that sometimes fans don't always see is that it's every week, you gotta win your job. That's something we evaluate, you know, as a collective. Myself, coach Campbell, obviously Coach Moore having a deep impact as well. Who do we think the best five to go out and allow us to win games?

On how much he's been able to lean on Sherrone Moore

He's a great resource. One of the best offensive line coaches in the game of football, in my opinion, and to be able to say, hey, how do you think we want to handle this this week? Or if nothing else, just for the personnel decisions too, to be able to, you know, be able to have a head coach who you can have honest discussions with and bounce back and forth of, hey, you know, I thought this guy had a really good Tuesday, but this guy probably practiced a little better Wednesday. What do we think here? As opposed to a head coach who isn't as familiar and may have an opinion, but, I mean, that'd be his background. Whereas, what he says obviously is truth because he's coached the position, he's coached these guys, even the guys when they weren't starters.

On Dom Giudice and what they've seen from him

He joked about it in a media session, I think he did the other day. He was a good communicator, which that position is critical. He picked up the offense very quickly. And as you know, Jon, but maybe the audience doesn't, like the center is the quarterback of the offensive line. Like you can't function without the center because he's going to make all the points, he's going to make the IDs. You know, everyone else's job is determined off of him every single play. And then obviously he touches the football every single play. So in terms of critical positions in the offense line, that's right up there. So he made that adjustment very quickly. Physically, he's a strong guy, plays a pretty good balance. And we felt coming out of camp that he had a really, really strong camp and deserved the opportunity to run with the ones. And obviously we felt the same about Crippen too. It was one of those where we truthfully felt like both were playing at a level that you couldn't not play on both. And that's why you've seen both continue to play in games and they're both available.

On players being banged up and still being productive

I mean, I think everyone saw Crippen wasn't able to go this past week and for him to kind of know that, hey, I got to try to fight through this. And it's something we always talk about, that, whatever you can, you got to try to push through. Obviously there becomes the point where you physically can't and then it's that balance because you don't want to leave yourself in there to the point where you're going to be a detriment to the team or detriment to your own health. But at the same time, you know, I'm proud of him for fighting through and he wasn't perfect in the game, but I'm proud of him that he fought. There's a lot of guys who would have tried to, who would have pulled themselves out.

On developing the communication on the offensive line preparing to go on the road

Sure, so obviously you have to work the silent count. You know, it's something that we work in. Thankfully we work in training camp as well. And you kind of use throughout your spring and your training camp, certain periods, just so it's not the first time that the guys are experiencing it this week. So that's always a challenge. And I've never played at Husky Stadium, but credit to them. I've heard it's a great atmosphere and a great place to play. We're going to embrace the challenge and kind of what comes with that, with, you know, very silent counts and embracing the noise.

On what Josh Priebe has brought to the line

He's got a veteran presence. He's a guy who started 30-something games in this conference. So he's very comfortable and he's done it before. Now, obviously the adjustment was doing it in our offense and doing it playing next to Myles and then either Greg or Dom, who he'd never played next to before. He's still got stuff that he needs to continue to work on as he knows. But having a veteran presence in there who we feel like physically and mentally can handle games week to week has been a huge help for us.

On Myles Hinton handling the left tackle role

I think he's handled it well. Obviously he got a taste of it last year and then got kind of banged up. And then, Karsen and Trente kind of stepped into that role while he was hurt. And I think he's embraced what comes with not just being a starting college tackle as we all hope and we think is going to be the future for him of potentially a starting NFL tackle and the responsibility that comes with that. The added level of preparation and detail and consistency that's required to be the face of the franchise or protect the face of the franchise in college and the NFL.

On what separated Evan Link in training camp to get the starting job

It was consistency and physicality were the kind of the two things that stood out for him in camp. And again, I want to make clear, it wasn't that Gentry or Persi, those guys had bad camps by any means. It was just, it was a matter of, you know, it was very, very close. And we as a staff felt like he gave us the best opportunity to go out there and do what we needed to do at the right tackle position. Every week I feel like he's gotten better and better and something that I'm sure you can appreciate. You're a young tackle, it's tough, especially that second game, you kind of get baptized, you know, baptism by fire, you're thrown into Texas in a game that quickly became a passing game and versus talented edge rushers. And that's a tough spot for a tackle to live. And I think Coach Moore and Coach Campbell and myself have tried to do a good job of allowing him to keep his confidence and keep playing and keep kind of working through those things. And it's not without the kind of the growing pains that can happen there. Every week if he continues to get better and better and practice the best, then he's gonna be the starter. And if there's a week where he doesn't, then someone else will be the starter, no different than any other position.

On how he builds confidence in players who know they're going to make mistakes

You hit the nail on the head. That's, you know, that's what I'm tasked with doing. And obviously, having Coach Moore's got a great feel for that as well. But it's that balance because, you obviously, you're gonna hold everyone to the standard and the standard here has been very, very high. But at the same time, it's not, you can't pile on a kid. And the reality is, and sometimes it's hard for, I'm sure, fans and even for us as coaches to remember, these guys are very hard on themselves, especially when you're at that position and he's a very kind of self-aware, young man, like he knows when he doesn't do good enough. And it's a balance because we gotta still coach him hard. We gotta keep him and hold him to the standard that's been set in that room. But at the same time, like you said, it's, you know, it's a fine line. Cause if you yank a guy after one bad play, a couple of bad snaps, and then all of a sudden now his confidence is gone and then we'll shoot now that you need him later in the season or the guy you replace him with, maybe he struggles. And it's a very fine line and one that I try to navigate every single week and I'm sure I haven't been perfect at it, but I'm just trying the best we can to marriage, to create a marriage of those two things.

On Gio El-Hadi

I think Gio has done a great job of embracing the leadership role that was, I don't want to say thrust upon him, but cause he's taken it. And he's understood that even though he hasn't been a full-time starter for a season, he's one of the elder statesmen in that room, if nothing else, just because of time here at Michigan, you know, cause the guys like Myles and Josh, Miyles has been here for two years now at this point, Josh, eight months, whatever it's been. So I think Gio has embraced that and understood that he's a guy who's, he was not a full-time starter. He's really well-respected, not just amongst the offensive line, but the team. And he's done a great job too of, you know, helping Evan keep that confidence. And obviously he's still got work to do. Hay's not in the barn and he's got things that we continuously stress for him to work on, but I've been proud of how he's embraced that role.

On the depth on the offensive line

Sure, and I think that's, you know, some people, I'm sure people were kind of questioning, hey, why do you play two centers? It does not take away from one. Well, the answer is, and Coach Moore addressed this previously. If you feel like you have multiple guys who can play at that level, one, you want to give them both the opportunity to go win the job outright, but two, it also, it's helpful because now we feel like, hey, you know, if Crippen was banged up last week, all right, Dom had to be getting one reps. You know, if Dom's ever down at a point in the game and Crippen has to go in, okay, well, they both have worked with the ones, not only in practice, but in games. It's not the first time they're doing it. In terms of other guys, I mean, Andrew Gentry, you've seen him quite a bit on kind of that extra offense alignment personnel. We feel comfortable with him going in a game at multiple spots. Andrew Sprague, who's another young freshman who we have not been able to get into games as much, but we feel confident that at some point he's going to be able to play sooner rather than later, whether that's this season, whether that's next season, that's to be determined. And obviously Raheem Anderson's a guy who, again, we feel like can play multiple spots kind of on the inside behind Crippen and Dom. So we have some depth there and we already talked about Jeff Persi. So we feel like we have, you know, eight, nine guys who can play, and every week it's finding the best five.

On the development of the younger offensive linemen

Sure, I've been very impressed with both tackles. Blake Frazier came in and for a guy who was 255 pounds when he got here, you know, he's up 285, 290 now, still looks lean, still moving incredibly well. He's had a really good spring and he's had a really good fall. I think he's a guy who's got an incredibly bright future and it's a credit to Coach Tress and to Abigail and the work they've done, you know, helping him transform his body as well as Blake himself and the work he's put in in the weight room. We talked about Andrew Sprague, a guy who was coming off kind of an injury in high school and did not get spring football. So just in the matter of the fall camp through the season, he's progressed really, really quickly and really well. And then inside you've got Ben Roebuck, who's, again, starting to take some strides, especially because he was not here in the spring. Jake Guarnera at center was here in the spring and we think he's a guy who's gonna be able to contribute and Luke Hamilton's getting better every day.

On Marlin Klein's growth

I've been very proud of him. I mean, and this has been the kind of the challenge to Marlin that I had for, you know, last year. So I think it's something I talked about on your show, he has all the physical tools and now it's just go out there and do it and embrace the fact that, especially with Colston, you know, being down for those couple of games, you're the guy. I mean, go out and play to your ability and play at that and play with that confidence. And in some ways it's, I don't want to say it's similar to Evan, but it's the, hey, there can be the kind of growing pains. The guy starting for the first time, he's still a pretty young guy in terms of college football experience, but potential he's got it. And I think people see the physical traits and his good is really, really good. And now it's just getting the consistency up that, the stuff that's not as good is still at a high level, but I've been proud of him and he's embraced that challenge. You know, he wants it. He's in there all the time. He's in there right now with Coach Casula, watching some tape.

---

Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards

Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer

Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @Jerry_Diorio

Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify

Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube

Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram