Mike DeBord, Mike Hart, and Nick Sheridan Transcript
10/9/2017 8:17:00 PM | Football
Three Michigan guys on this staff, is it at all odd that you are going to be playing Michigan this weekend?
DEBORD: "To be real honest with you, we haven't really talked about it as a group. You know, when you get into the season and you get into game preparation, we have a routine that we are just following and all the coaches have individually been watching game film. Then this afternoon we will come together and formulate ideas and stuff. But really, we obviously have talked a lot about their defense and things like that. But we just don't have the time to sit around and talk about old times and everything like that. That's just not part of it. When Nick and Mike came here, I obviously told them why I wanted them here and it went back to those Michigan days. But to answer your question, we haven't really talked about that since then really."
HART: "It's definitely business. Obviously, it's not my first time playing against them as a coach. I know my first coaching job at Eastern Michigan we played against them. But its business. You know, I think it affects everyone else more on the outside than it actually affects us. We know we have a job to do and that's what we're here for."
SHERIDAN: "I echo what those guys said. We care about our players here and we're focused on trying to give them the best opportunity to be successful on Saturday. All of our efforts and attention are on those guys that are going to be on the field and competing. So we are doing our part to give them the best chance to be successful."
What is this Michigan defense doing well that is giving offenses trouble?
DEBORD: "I think first of all, its got 11 great players on it. I think that's where it starts. They are not that complex in the secondary part. They run a lot of man free coverage or man coverage. I think they are very well coached when you watch their techniques and things. I think the complex part of it is up front. They've been in some four down stuff, but as of late they are more three down and then they do a lot of things with those three linebackers and blitzing them and things like that. They just give you a lot of different looks and a lot of different pressures that way. So I think it's a combination of great players there on defense and they also have a great scheme and I think Don Brown is a great football coach and he has a great staff there. I know they Greg Mattison and some of the other guys. They've put together a great system."
How do you counter Devin Bush and that defense?
HART: "Well obviously they are a great defense. We've played Ohio State and Penn State this year, and these guys are going to be the best we've played to date in my opinion. Devin Bush is special. He's physical, he can run, he strikes you at the point of contact and he's a guy we obviously have to be prepared for. But just as an overall defense, that front seven is really, really special. I'm just talking from the run game point of view. Nick can give you more from the pass game, but obviously Rashan Gary on the defensive line and Maurice Hurst in the middle, they are just tough. They play great, they are coached well, they play hard, they run after the ball, and we definitely have a tough challenge ahead of us."
Nick, Coach Harbaugh was saying the other day that the secondary has quietly been doing a good job. Like Mike Hart said, the front seven had been getting a lot of the publicity.
SHERIDAN: "Yes, like Coach DeBord said earlier, they play together as a unit. I think the secondary and the front complement one another. They certainly play tight coverage, they don't give you many easy throws at all. That forces you to have to hang on to the ball for a little bit to get some routes to develop and let some guys create some separation. In the meantime, you have a front that gives anyone in the country rushing the passer, making it difficult up front. I just think collectively in the front end and back end of the defense, they just do a great job playing together. I think the numbers would echo that and obviously they are very well coached and the scheme that they run creates challenges. When you have players to the caliber they have that are executing the schemes and the system, it definitely presents a challenge in what we are preparing for.
What have you guys seen out of Peyton Ramsey this year in terms of mobility? When looking back at tape, Michigan State had a lot of success with Brian Lewerke running the ball. Do you guys think that Ramsey might be able to duplicate some of that in this game?
DEBORD: "Well, I guess our tape shows that he has some things that he does that we do in our scheme and he has also done some things when maybe something wasn't there in the throw game. The tape kind of shows that, but I'm not really going to get into game plan things about this week."
SHERIDAN: "I know what plays you're referencing with Lewerke from Saturday, but they scored 14 points and had five turnovers on the other side of the ball. I'm not sure that when you watch the tape, if you feel like any offense this year has had a ton of consistent success against this defense. We are going to have our challenges and we're going to try to put the best plan together with the skills and talent our players have to try to give them the best chance to be successful."
Is there anything that you tell a young QB like him that is different when you are preparing for a team with a defense like Michigan?
DEBORD: "I don't think so. Peyton is a competitor. I think he has grown up around the sport. Obviously as you grow and get older, the level of competition increases. I think his whole life he has played a high level of competition, going back to high school and the competition that he played in that conference in that part of the country.
"This is the Big Ten Conference, and in particular our division. Every week is a challenge. Every team has quality players and quality coaches. If you are afraid of that or intimidated by that, it's probably not the best place to play college football and play quarterback. I don't anticipate that being an issue, mentality-wise, with him. I'm sure he is looking forward to the competition."
Coach DeBord, you mentioned that you don't go back and reminisce about your Michigan days. What was your relationship like with Mike and Nick and why you did reach out to them?
DEBORD: "I was there when Mike was a freshman and sophomore and I was in charge of special teams at that time and recruiting coordinator – I had just come back from Central Michigan. So his last two years I was the coordinator. And Nick was a freshman or sophomore.
"Speaking about Mike, I loved how he was a team player first of all. I loved how he was as a person and a competitor and tough. In fact, when Coach Allen came to me and said 'Who do you have?' and I said Mike Hart and I told him why. I told him Mike Hart has always been loyal to me. And when you are in this business, you have to have loyal people around you when you are coaching, especially as a coordinator. So that's where that relationship was. We have always stayed in contact via text or an occasional call. He was always there for me if I needed him and vice versa.
"Then with Nick, he was a young player when I was there and then I coached with his dad when I was at Michigan. I know his family very well. His mom and my wife are very close. When I went to Tennessee, he was already there as a graduate assistant. I had the role of coordinator/quarterbacks coach. The quarterbacks coach lasted one day in the spring and then after that I was with the offensive line and Nick took the quarterbacks meetings and preparation as a grad assistant. And what I saw him do in two years with Josh Dobbs was remarkable. Nick is a great person and is very loyal to me. Those are the kinds of guys you want around you."
When you look at Michigan's defense, is there anyone from your time at Michigan that they remind you of?
HART: "They are all good. It is hard to compare people back and forth. I played with some great guys when I was there. We had the Woodley's, the Burgess and Alan Branch's of the world. And when you turn the film on of these guys this year, they have a lot of NFL potential back there. And they are just special. You can compare them with a lot of guys, but I think overall they are just a great defense."
When you had Mike and Nick as players, did you sense that they would one day end up in the coaching business?
DEBORD: "Nick grew up in the coaching world. You never know when they are in college what they are going to pursue. It is just through my experience that I had with them – Mike went on to play in the NFL for a while and I assumed he would go into coaching, but didn't know it at the time. It is no surprise that they are both great coaches. It goes back to what I said about them when they were players – they were smart, they prepared, they were great people, they were team guys. All of the things you look for in a coach. So it did not surprise me at all."
DEBORD: "To be real honest with you, we haven't really talked about it as a group. You know, when you get into the season and you get into game preparation, we have a routine that we are just following and all the coaches have individually been watching game film. Then this afternoon we will come together and formulate ideas and stuff. But really, we obviously have talked a lot about their defense and things like that. But we just don't have the time to sit around and talk about old times and everything like that. That's just not part of it. When Nick and Mike came here, I obviously told them why I wanted them here and it went back to those Michigan days. But to answer your question, we haven't really talked about that since then really."
HART: "It's definitely business. Obviously, it's not my first time playing against them as a coach. I know my first coaching job at Eastern Michigan we played against them. But its business. You know, I think it affects everyone else more on the outside than it actually affects us. We know we have a job to do and that's what we're here for."
SHERIDAN: "I echo what those guys said. We care about our players here and we're focused on trying to give them the best opportunity to be successful on Saturday. All of our efforts and attention are on those guys that are going to be on the field and competing. So we are doing our part to give them the best chance to be successful."
What is this Michigan defense doing well that is giving offenses trouble?
DEBORD: "I think first of all, its got 11 great players on it. I think that's where it starts. They are not that complex in the secondary part. They run a lot of man free coverage or man coverage. I think they are very well coached when you watch their techniques and things. I think the complex part of it is up front. They've been in some four down stuff, but as of late they are more three down and then they do a lot of things with those three linebackers and blitzing them and things like that. They just give you a lot of different looks and a lot of different pressures that way. So I think it's a combination of great players there on defense and they also have a great scheme and I think Don Brown is a great football coach and he has a great staff there. I know they Greg Mattison and some of the other guys. They've put together a great system."
How do you counter Devin Bush and that defense?
HART: "Well obviously they are a great defense. We've played Ohio State and Penn State this year, and these guys are going to be the best we've played to date in my opinion. Devin Bush is special. He's physical, he can run, he strikes you at the point of contact and he's a guy we obviously have to be prepared for. But just as an overall defense, that front seven is really, really special. I'm just talking from the run game point of view. Nick can give you more from the pass game, but obviously Rashan Gary on the defensive line and Maurice Hurst in the middle, they are just tough. They play great, they are coached well, they play hard, they run after the ball, and we definitely have a tough challenge ahead of us."
Nick, Coach Harbaugh was saying the other day that the secondary has quietly been doing a good job. Like Mike Hart said, the front seven had been getting a lot of the publicity.
SHERIDAN: "Yes, like Coach DeBord said earlier, they play together as a unit. I think the secondary and the front complement one another. They certainly play tight coverage, they don't give you many easy throws at all. That forces you to have to hang on to the ball for a little bit to get some routes to develop and let some guys create some separation. In the meantime, you have a front that gives anyone in the country rushing the passer, making it difficult up front. I just think collectively in the front end and back end of the defense, they just do a great job playing together. I think the numbers would echo that and obviously they are very well coached and the scheme that they run creates challenges. When you have players to the caliber they have that are executing the schemes and the system, it definitely presents a challenge in what we are preparing for.
What have you guys seen out of Peyton Ramsey this year in terms of mobility? When looking back at tape, Michigan State had a lot of success with Brian Lewerke running the ball. Do you guys think that Ramsey might be able to duplicate some of that in this game?
DEBORD: "Well, I guess our tape shows that he has some things that he does that we do in our scheme and he has also done some things when maybe something wasn't there in the throw game. The tape kind of shows that, but I'm not really going to get into game plan things about this week."
SHERIDAN: "I know what plays you're referencing with Lewerke from Saturday, but they scored 14 points and had five turnovers on the other side of the ball. I'm not sure that when you watch the tape, if you feel like any offense this year has had a ton of consistent success against this defense. We are going to have our challenges and we're going to try to put the best plan together with the skills and talent our players have to try to give them the best chance to be successful."
Is there anything that you tell a young QB like him that is different when you are preparing for a team with a defense like Michigan?
DEBORD: "I don't think so. Peyton is a competitor. I think he has grown up around the sport. Obviously as you grow and get older, the level of competition increases. I think his whole life he has played a high level of competition, going back to high school and the competition that he played in that conference in that part of the country.
"This is the Big Ten Conference, and in particular our division. Every week is a challenge. Every team has quality players and quality coaches. If you are afraid of that or intimidated by that, it's probably not the best place to play college football and play quarterback. I don't anticipate that being an issue, mentality-wise, with him. I'm sure he is looking forward to the competition."
Coach DeBord, you mentioned that you don't go back and reminisce about your Michigan days. What was your relationship like with Mike and Nick and why you did reach out to them?
DEBORD: "I was there when Mike was a freshman and sophomore and I was in charge of special teams at that time and recruiting coordinator – I had just come back from Central Michigan. So his last two years I was the coordinator. And Nick was a freshman or sophomore.
"Speaking about Mike, I loved how he was a team player first of all. I loved how he was as a person and a competitor and tough. In fact, when Coach Allen came to me and said 'Who do you have?' and I said Mike Hart and I told him why. I told him Mike Hart has always been loyal to me. And when you are in this business, you have to have loyal people around you when you are coaching, especially as a coordinator. So that's where that relationship was. We have always stayed in contact via text or an occasional call. He was always there for me if I needed him and vice versa.
"Then with Nick, he was a young player when I was there and then I coached with his dad when I was at Michigan. I know his family very well. His mom and my wife are very close. When I went to Tennessee, he was already there as a graduate assistant. I had the role of coordinator/quarterbacks coach. The quarterbacks coach lasted one day in the spring and then after that I was with the offensive line and Nick took the quarterbacks meetings and preparation as a grad assistant. And what I saw him do in two years with Josh Dobbs was remarkable. Nick is a great person and is very loyal to me. Those are the kinds of guys you want around you."
When you look at Michigan's defense, is there anyone from your time at Michigan that they remind you of?
HART: "They are all good. It is hard to compare people back and forth. I played with some great guys when I was there. We had the Woodley's, the Burgess and Alan Branch's of the world. And when you turn the film on of these guys this year, they have a lot of NFL potential back there. And they are just special. You can compare them with a lot of guys, but I think overall they are just a great defense."
When you had Mike and Nick as players, did you sense that they would one day end up in the coaching business?
DEBORD: "Nick grew up in the coaching world. You never know when they are in college what they are going to pursue. It is just through my experience that I had with them – Mike went on to play in the NFL for a while and I assumed he would go into coaching, but didn't know it at the time. It is no surprise that they are both great coaches. It goes back to what I said about them when they were players – they were smart, they prepared, they were great people, they were team guys. All of the things you look for in a coach. So it did not surprise me at all."
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