Everything Michigan LB coach Brian Jean-Mary said during his fall camp press conference

On what the linebackers being the focus of the defense looks like

The system is still the system that we’ve been running the last four years. It’s the same. It’s just with everybody that we have on this defense, it’s always multiple what they ask them to do. I think it’s just with the linebackers that we have this year, especially with two fourth-year guys that play a lot of football, we’re just going to ask them to do a little bit more, but within the framework of the defense, whether that’s blitzing or different things we’re going to do in coverage. I think because of their knowledge and their experience, we’re just going to ask them to do a little bit more within the framework of the actual defense.

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On how he feels about the depth at linebacker with Jimmy Rolder and Cole Sullivan

Oh, love them. I think they both had excellent camps. I think like we said with the linebacker crew, I’ve been saying it since I got here. We want to have four guys that you’re comfortable starting and you can put in any situation, whether it’s fourth and one to win the game or it’s the first play of the game. You feel like you have four guys that can go out there and execute at a high level.

On Troy Bowles’ progress

He’s been excellent. Obviously, with the time off because of the shoulder injury, he missed spring, so he not only missed the live action, he missed the actual walkthroughs and install and getting the fast reads as far as the way we do things because it’s a lot different than where he just came from. So you can see probably over-processing to start with, but with the last week especially, he’s been really, really good. Makes a really high-level play or two every practice. Now we’ve got to get rid of some of the mistakes that everyone makes, but he’s getting more consistent in learning our system and getting comfortable in it. We expect big things from him this season.

On LBs finding snaps in a crowded room

The snaps are earned. The snaps are earned. What I always say, we want the guys to play every play like it’s their last snap, and if they’re playing that way, we know that they’re going to get fatigued. We hang our hat on playing harder than our opponent and running to the ball and playing with a level of violence and intensity that our opponent’s not going to play with, and if they’re going to do that, we want to keep them fresh. So the next guy’s got to be ready to play at any moment, and Cole is earning the snaps, not just if a guy’s tired or an injury, knock on wood, happens. He’s earning the fact that he’s one of our high-level guys, so we’re going to find a way to get him in the game early.

On playing in the rain during the scrimmage and what has stood out to him when the play goes live

No, we came back in Glick, and it’s not because of the rain. It’s because of the lightning. I’m a Florida guy, so I’ve seen lightning and the damage it can do. I’m glad we went to Glick. I think we talked about it as a staff, and I think it was Rayshaun Benny that said it. He was like whenever we’re on the field, no matter what the 11 guys that are on the field, it’s the same defense, and I think that’s been a challenge for us. I can say when we’re playing well and we’re playing at the level that us as coaches feel like we should be playing at, that’s what’s been the case. It hasn’t been the usual suspects of starters that have been in there, but we’ve had guys that flash from the linebacker room. We mentioned Cole. I think the last scrimmage, Jimmy Rolder might have had the best scrimmage of any linebacker. Jaishawn has been a game wrecker for most of camp. I think he’s taken his game to a higher level, and Earn has been the same. You can see the fourth-year maturity for those guys that have played a lot of snaps, and they’re playing at very, very high levels. If I had to give a shout out to guys on the front level and the back level, I think Trey Pierce is playing at a really, really high level for the front and on the back end. I think the guy that I’ve seen make some plays is Jaden Mangham.

On Jaishawn Barham’s progress within the defense

Just maturing within the defense. It’s like anything else in this world of college football with the portal, and then obviously with freshmen, high-level kids that come in. They have to learn to be us. We’re not going to adjust to them. We’re a high-level program. We have a lot of pride in what we do on defense, and we pride ourselves in the way we play defense, not just what you see on Saturdays. It’s the process of getting there, and that’s different than most people, and he just had to get comfortable with the way we did it, and that’s a maturing process. You came to a team right off a national championship that played high-level defense, and you were thrown in as a starter. Sometimes that’s tough, and he really takes pride in that winged helmet. He wears the colors with pride now. He’s one of us, and I think he felt that, and he’s grown as his time here has gotten better. I think him playing the stacked linebacker, you can see his reads and his keys. That’s why he’s been playing so fast. He’s more comfortable in the system. His eyes are in the right spot, and when he shows up, he’s got bad intentions, which is what we love about him.

On the balance of having an experienced linebacker and the players being college kids

Experience to me, and this is just me, experience means I’ve gone through the bad. I’ve gone through the bad. I know what mistakes I shouldn’t make. It doesn’t mean I know everything and I’m not going to make more mistakes. Football is football. You’re going to get different offenses, different coaches, different things are going to happen. Experience just tells me how to deal with it, but I still have to learn the new ways. How am I going to attack things? Those things are still part of football. There’s a lot of guys on our team that are going to go off and go play in the NFL. There’s going to be nuances there that are going to be different. It’s how you adjust to it. The experience just means you should be able to adjust to it faster. I think that’s what you see with us. Ernest, as I say, he’s a Xerox machine. They don’t even know what that is anymore. Whatever we do on defense, he can draw all 11 guys, know what the offense is. He’s like a computer as in how intelligent he is and there’s still things that he asks questions about that he knows he needs to get better at. I think the best thing that I’ve ever heard is I heard a veteran guy being in the NFL for 10 years and he’d always tell the coach, coach me like I’m a rookie. Don’t assume I know because there’s always something I can pick up, even if I’ve run it 100 times. The 101st time, there’s something new I can pick up.

On the mood inside the building when the NCAA punishment came out

Kids are resilient. They didn’t bat an eyelash. They didn’t flinch. I think, and this is just me personally speaking, once they knew that this year they could go and chase every dream that they had, our guys were good. They were ready to rock and roll and go practice.

On whether he felt there were concerns amongst the players that they wouldn’t be able to play in the CFP this season

No, I didn’t get that. When they knew it was coming, I think they always prepare for the worst, but you couldn’t tell from our players. When we had a chance to tell them exactly what it was, like I said, they didn’t flinch. Once they knew everything that could be on the table for them was still going to be on the table for them this season, they were ready to rock and roll.

On the biggest differences in the offense this year vs. last yeaer

I think offensively, we see guys that flash maybe a little bit more with what Chip is doing. Donaven McCulley has been one of the guys on offense that looks like he’s going to have a really good year for us. I love the running backs. I think they’re super deep there. I think they have four or five guys that could go out and play Big Ten football. I love, obviously, the progression for the offensive line. I think they’ve been good. The thing with Chip, we’re going to throw the ball. We love our quarterbacks. They’ve tested us probably a little bit more vertically in the passing game, which is good for us, but it’s still Michigan. I know there’s a difference, but we’re going to line up and we’re going to have a big offensive line and some tight ends, and we’re still going to play smash mouth, and that’s what we’re still going to hang our hat on.

On the DL depth impacting the linebacker group

Linebacker’s best friend is always going to be the defensive line. Obviously, we had two generational guys last year, so it could be different, but like I said, I told you about Trey Pierce, but we love Damon Payne. He’s come in and added another big body inside. Really like what we’ve seen from him. Trey Williams is another guy. Obviously, the two portal kids, they’ve come in and I’m not going to say they’ve picked up where those guys have left off, but you can feel the difference with the linebackers when those guys are playing at a high level that they’re able to go running and play off of those guys based off of what we’re doing on defense. I think they’ll tell you that to a man. When we watch tape, they’re the first ones to go congratulate and tell those D-linemen they’re doing a good job because obviously they’re keeping blockers off of them or they’re making plays in the backfield.

On what he feels the ceiling of this team can be

When we talk to our guys, and I know that’s a great question, our guys, always the focus is to win the game first. We like to say stats are going to take care of themselves at the end of the year, but if you focus on we want to be the number one defense in the Big 10 or the number one defense in the country and those things, sometimes that can take away from the team aspect. If we have to win a game that’s a shootout, we have to be prepared to do that. It’s always easier to correct mistakes after a victory, so our focus is always going to be win the game. Now obviously if you play high level defense, you give yourself a chance to win the game, a better chance to win the game, but for us always the focus is stopping the offense, obviously doing it at a high level, creating havoc plays, doing everything we can to get the ball back to our offense and at the end win the game. We try not to talk about the stats as where they sit, because if you’re playing really, really high-level defense, at the end of the year, you’re going to look up and you’re going to like where you’re at.

On other playmakers at defensive back that have stood out

Yeah, I think Sug Hill has been playing really, really well. He’s done a really good job playing corner and we’re moving him all over the place. He’s doing a really, really good job. I think Brandyn Hillman has stepped up in the back end, too, and is doing an exceptional job, like we talked about with what Coach Lindsay is doing. We’re getting tested probably a little different than what we have in the past and I think those guys have stepped up and are playing at a really high level.

On Ernest Hausmann and whether he had to explain what a Xerox machine is

No, I mean, I’m old so when I say a copy machine, like I said, that’s not what the young kids…we have one in the building but they don’t ever use it. It’s just old school term like when he sees it, he’s got it memorized and that’s how Ernest is with our defense. Once he sees it, really one time, he can draw it up. He knows everybody’s rule. He knows what everybody’s responsibilities are. It’s a rare skill that’s going to take him obviously very, very far in his career but that’s how he is and like I said, it’s 2025. Most of these kids, they don’t know where Kinko’s is. They don’t know what that is.