On Bryce Underwood
“Quarterbacks that move out of the pocket are a little bit of a concern, but we saw that in week one. We made our adjustments, both schematically and just philosophically. I think we’re going to be a little bit more prepared for that element of the game in terms of how we call the game and how we approach that player. Each player is different. The quarterback for Cinicinnati really had a history of being a runner. When you watch number 19, he is a pro-style, dropback quarterback with enough athleticism to get out of there. But, he wants to be a pro quarterback that’s going to sit in the pocket and throw the football and make reads. Similar players, but different in their own way.”

On Michigan’s wideouts
“They have a nice collection of guys whether it’s number one, number zero, or number four. Their tight ends, number 17, 44, they all present some problems for us on the inside and the outside. We’re stepping into Big Ten play, no disrespect to the previous teams we’ve played. The competition level is going to increase, we understand that. The challenges are going to increase, but our approach isn’t going to change. We feel like we have a strength in the secondary and ultimately at the end of the game on Saturday, our ability to match up with those players is going to have some type of impact on the outcome of the game.” 

On secondary play
“That’s what we had hoped. When I got here last year, I know I was the secondary coach last year but we were different systematically. A lot of how they were coached in the pass was look at the quarterback, have their eyes in the backfield, see a lot. That’s how they approached it. It took some time for me to adjust that. As I took over as coordinator, my background in coaching the secondary is to take a very collective and eye-disciplined approach. When we’re playing man coverage, we’re looking at our man. When we’re playing match coverage, we’re looking at our match. We’re not looking at the quarterback. In order to defend the pass, you have to defend the receivers. The quarterback comes second. I think that those guys have embraced that. They’ve had more time on task, that just comes with time, and being around me. Coach Addison (Williams) is doing a good job of coaching the way I want it coached. Obviously the players have continued to improve. I think we have three really good corners that can match up and have shown they can match up. We have safeties that can cover. We have linebackers that can cover too. I don’t think that can be discounted. The teams have tried to leak running backs out, tight ends out. Whether it’s Javin Wright, Vincent Shavers Jr., or whoever it’s been. Our matchups have not only been at corner, we’ve been doing a pretty good job of matching up with whoever they’ve been sending out there. That’s the key. It really comes down to eye discipline and execution within the systems, and then having enough variety in your coverage systems to confuse the quarterback.”