Everything Michigan football DC Jesse Minter said before Week 4
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football has the best scoring defense in all of college football through Week 3 and the No. 2 total defense — an impressive feat given that the maize and blue haven’t played their starters past the third quarter. Most opposing offenses have had their greatest success against the backup Wolverine defense as the games were nearing an end.
On Wednesday, Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter shared the state of his defense, noting what he’s liked, where he’d like the unit to be, on the upcoming competition, reflecting on his game as head coach, and more.
Here is everything he had to say.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of playing in nonconference?
The benefits are you try to win the games against who’s ever on your schedule, you try to build depth, you try to play a lot of people, you try to get guys experience in games that haven’t played in games before, particularly in an environment like Michigan Stadium. So I think there’s major benefits to it. Anytime you get a chance to play somebody else and see you guys in real action, it’s really what you need to see just to kind of get proof of what you think you might see in practice, and then guys go out and do it in a game.
And so then there’s another level to that now that you’re kind of into conference play. So the guys that have done some decent things, you hope that now it doesn’t, that they carry over and go into conference play. So I think there’s a lot of positives in it.
The interior pass rush
I’ve seen those guys just being really good players, taking advantage of their situations, getting good pressure on the quarterback, even in four man rushes, regular down at distances. Big emphasis for us was just improving the pass rush overall, trying to be more disruptive on normal downs. So we’ve had a decent few of our sacks on first and second down, which is a big improvement from last season.
So just happy with where they’re at. Certainly still steps to build on and steps to take. But pleased with that group in that regard right now.
On the secondary injuries
I think we’re really, really close to having a full tilt back there. So, we’ll leave it at that. It’d be hopefully fun to see those guys back out there.
I really just think all those guys that haven’t played for us before, when you look at Josh Wallace, Keshaun Harris, Jyaire Hill, DJ Waller, Keon Sabb at safety. Quinten Johnson probably even get more run than he’s had in the past. When you think about over the course of the year over, hopefully, 12, 13, 14, 15-game season, you’re going to need depth, things come up. And so it’s been really, just really pleased with how those guys have played, how they’ve learned to prepare, which I think is just as big of a piece is that is they’ve learned our process and game planning our process and studying opponents. And so now they have some more confidence because they’ve played in games. And, I expect all those guys to still have roles for us, even when we get healthy.
Cam Goode's improvement
Yeah, I think Cam is one of our most — I think he, along with Rayshaun Benny, have really, really improved. Rayshaun, I think you started to see it the second half of the season last year, take advantage of some opportunities. Cam — we wanted Cam back, especially when you look at the numbers and the depth and how many D-tackles you need to make it through a season. We really wanted him back. We’re super happy he came back. He’s taken advantage of his reps. I thought this past game was the best game he’s played here. And so, he’s a rhythm player, he needs to get out there and play to have production and to feel comfortable. And we’re really pleased with where he’s at. We look at it like we have that five-man D-tackle rotation. And he’s right there in the mix with all those guys.
How unique is the defense schematically as it pertains to college football?
I really don’t know. I think there’s only so many things you can really do on defense. I think the willingness to mix and match different things and be multiple in the front-end, multiple in coverage. Maybe some people aren’t willing to do whatever with college players, but our guys are really smart. They’ve really bought into it. They’re in the third year now, most of the same terminology. And so it just allows you to try to present different pictures, do different things, but I really can’t speak to other people’s, to be honest with you.
What's made Rutgers' offense successful?
Yeah, their physicality. They play a style of football to try to control the clock, gain yards running the football, pretty safe throws in the passing game. A quarterback that adds an element in the rushing attack as well. They’re built how coach Schiano teaches and just as how I would portray probably a longtime super successful defensive coordinator, how his team would be built is how they play right now. And they play a complementary football similar to us.
I would say where their defense is playing well, their special teams is always really good. And then they play complementary football. So even though maybe they don’t score 50, but they’re controlling the clock, they’re getting touchdowns, they’re getting the lead, they’re keeping the lead, they’re able to play pretty conservative and not put themselves in harm’s way. And that formula over the first three games, they’ve been really successful with.
On the defense getting more turnovers in the early going
Yeah, it’s a continued work in progress. But certainly, I think when guys do things so much in practice, and you drill things, and you try to emphasize things so much, you certainly want to see the results. And so it’s still a process to keep working at it. But great to see, great to see the guys going up and attacking the ball. Great to see us attack the ball and the quarterbacks in his throwing motion. That’s something we felt like we really missed a lot of opportunities last year. So yeah, just continuing to do that. You know, I’d love to see some forced fumbles on the running back, and things like that, things in the open field. Still think there’s some opportunities there. But just the coaching staff overall, in that particular department led by Jay Harbaugh, just the clips that he’s able to show the guys, the techniques that we’ve tried to teach the guys, to see it paying off is certainly what you hope for.
Why has Rutgers been such a challenge for Michigan since 2020?
Yeah, I can only really speak to last year, the only season I was here. I just think that they’re tough physical outfit, they’re very experienced. Now, you look across their roster, they’re starting 11 on both sides, you see 22 starts, 33 career starts, 15 career starts, 14 career starts. So they have a lot of guys that have played ball there that — I know, it’s a developmental program, supplementing it with probably some transfers. But they’re there to that point now where they’ve developed a lot of good players. They play tough and physical, their style lends itself to sometimes keep games close, because of running the ball, playing really good defense, being a really aggressive outfit and productive special teams outfit. So I would just say that style lends itself to playing in some close games.
On the three transfer players on defense thus far
Just three really good players, three guys that have really bought into our way of playing defense. All three of them have made some productive plays. So just three new pieces that add depth, they add leadership. They add competitiveness to their positions. And that’s probably the biggest thing” they just came in as really good players and raise the level of the guys around them. And so they’re all certainly doing well in their power but they’ve also raised the game of people around them, which I think there’s no substitute for just having as much competition as possible. And guys know when they got to go fight for their reps and fight for their spot every single day of practice, it lends itself to really competitive and high-end practices.
On Jaylen Harrell being a tone-setter
Yeah, he really is. He’s to a point in his career now where he’s really confident. He’s really, really detailed. He’s really disciplined in his approach. He attacks every week, every day. We talk a lot of like, hey, what if today was Wednesday of Ohio State week, like, that’s the mentality and he really approaches every day like that’s the most important thing. And when you do that, then you’re able to perform at a really, really consistent level, which I think is what sets him apart.
And then he has like this, just the ability like coach says, it’s like, ‘Who’s the guy that can make the magic happen when you need it?; And when you need a play, when you need a guy to cover the guy on fourth down and bat the ball down, it’s him. When you need a guy to make a play when you need it. He ignited us in the Big Ten championship game last year. So, and then coming out in that second half, it was really not back-to-back plays, but two out of three plays that he rushed the quarterback — even on the screen play.
So really happy with him. And it’s a product of how you work, how you prepare, eventually will translate to the field. And it’s great to see the fruits of his work and labor pay off.
On Kris Jenkins' interception
It goes along with the ball disruption thing, it’s just like screens sometimes are such an opportunity to make a play like that. When you can read the offensive lineman trying to get out and you can follow him. We’ve tried to change some of our rules about who keeps rushing, because we had a screen in the TCU game where kind of it was a well-designed screen, but everybody read screen. And so everybody almost turned and ran, and then the quarterback ended up scrambling. And so we’ve really tried to look at, OK, how do we best defend these plays? We need somebody to still rush the quarterback and make him make a quick decision. So just just learned a lot from things that have happened here. And it’s a well-designed, well, well done by Jaylen and Kris on that particular play.
Do the new clock rules change how defense is played?
Not in particular. I think here, we’ve always tried to play complementary football to our offense. And so one of the things that I’ve tried to emphasize tried to instill in our players — we were like this at Baltimore in particularly like 2019 — but like, we’re going to have some six and seven-minute drives on offense, and maybe even more so with the clock now. And so the No. 1 thing we can do is get that other defense back on the field as fast as possible. So whether that’s getting the ball off of them, or getting a quick three-and-out, I know from a defensive perspective, if if we were just on a long drive, now we’re trying to make some adjustments, and then all of a sudden, you’re right back up — sometimes you don’t get a chance to fix your problems. You’re tired, you want to get those guys right back out there as fast as possible. So I think that’s our way of really trying to play complementary with our offense and the clock rules probably factor into that. But I think our style of play probably factors into that as much as anything.
Is the pass rush designed to leverage the QB to the defensive tackles?
I think particularly the first couple games, we faced quarterbacks that movement and elusiveness was a piece of their game. So you’re certainly trying to not create these big lanes, trying to constrict them while also kind of suffocating them at the same time. So, Coach, Elston does such a good job on some of our pressures, designing, helping design things that that keep the quarterback in the pocket. And then it allows the guys — we’re trying to just create as many one-on-one situations as possible. Very rarely nowadays, in pro football and college football, are you able to design like just an absolute free runner at the quarterback. Balls get out really fast, protection schemes are very advanced. And so a lot of times it’s just putting this wall around them, putting this group of people around them that are pushing the O-linemen back into them, trying to suffocate them. And that’s really our main goal in pass rush.
Jim Harbaugh coming back to the sidelines
Yeah, I think anytime you take your leader, the guy that all these guys signed up to play for there, that one of the best head coaches in the world at any sport, any level, it’s different. You’re asking other people to juggle different jobs. And so, now that he’s back, I think it allows everybody to have a really, really tight focus on their particular responsibility. I think it was a good experience, not something wanted based on the circumstances but appreciated the way coach did it. I think it was good for everybody, gave everybody a different perspective. And just like he kind of said, gained perspective from not being there, I think we all gain perspective for how much we appreciate him, and how he goes about his business being the head coach now, having done that for a little bit.
So I couldn’t be more happy and excited to have him back. I think our team feeds off of his leadership. tI said i before, he just breeds this confidence into our players. And I would expect the guys to be pretty excited to run out the tunnel with him this week.
Does he watch NFL games for ideas?
Yeah, I think all games are just a tool to try to look at. I try to look at some different NFL schemes throughout the year, try to look at some different college teams throughout the year, just on late nights or catch a break in the afternoon. So it’s probably way more than I’ve done anywhere else because of just not having to coach a position, having some more time trying to watch a ton of other teams’ film, and always trying to — just about every ideas taken from somebody.
Favorite defense, defensive coordinator in the NFL?
The Ravens look pretty good.
What he's seen when he's gotten one-on-one pressures
I like to look at just pressures. I feel like our interior guys have just rushed way at a higher level than we have in the past. And then it’s also I think the edge guys are are also doing really well there. So when guys get a one-on-one, it’s OK, one, can I get the sack? That’s goal one. No. 2, maybe I get the quarterback to throw it quicker than he wants to, or to move to where he’s not able to set his feet. And then that’s where the rush and the coverage really work well together.
So that’s kind of what I’ve seen up to this point is even in that first game, where we didn’t have any sacks, the first interception was all (Kenneth Grant) getting great pressure, forcing the guy to throw off his back foot. The route was probably — the quarterback looked at that on tape, was probably open, he would have made a really nice throw. But that’s why you plant, that’s why you do it.
And so those things work well together. Most of our interceptions up to this point, I believe have been some sort of, whether it’s even the one with Quinten Johnson, it was like an up the middle, was only a four-man rush, but it was up the middle forced him to kind of get off his spot, not being able to step into the throw. So all those things I think, go hand in hand. And yeah, there are three games, I mean, certainly pleased with where it’s at, and know that we have a long way to go to be where we really want to be.
Importance of the Michigan punter
It’s enormous. I mean, like, the whole goal in football for our team is No. 1, score points. No. 2, don’t give up field position. So defensively, it’s like the first thing we go out there to do is get the ball back for our offense as fast as quickly as possible. No. 2 is to not yield yards and field position. And so the punter is a huge piece of that.
Like even the first game of the year, I mean, the kid’s first punt backed up on his heels on the backline. And he booms it, out to the 45. That thing, you could have shanked that thing he could have the ball in the 20. So I think he’s done a great job. He’s a huge piece of what we’re doing. The more field that the offense has to go, the better chance we feel like we have getting off the field and I think the analytics and numbers would probably back that up. And so he’s done a great job. We certainly had a great one last year, but for what he’s done so far, I don’t feel like we’re missing a beat in that position.
