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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 4, 2009

Rich Rodriguez

COACH RODRIGUEZ: People, before you ask about commitments, you know, sometimes in decommit, you want them to decommit. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes it works out the best for you. Sometimes it doesn't. You know, I don't think -- we've had it happen to us, and everybody in the country has probably had it happen to them.
But generally, most of the guys that commit to you early, because it is just a verbal commitment, most of them are pretty solid with it. A few of them aren't. Some guys when they commit to you, they just tell you that they're really interested. It doesn't tell you that they're going to sign with them. So you have to continue to recruit them regardless.

Q. Talking about the position that you were going to, you may have a few players you may sign later on. What positions are you looking to add players at?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: We have a few guys that we maybe have identified. I don't know if they're still going to be out there. The key to us or me is not just to sign guys to sign guys. We could sign another three guys and add to the rankings, so to speak, or it puts you up a spot or two.
But the key is getting the right guys, the right fit for the University of Michigan, the right type of quality student-athletes that we want to build our program around.
So we have a few spots particularly in the defensive back end at linebacker and the secondary that we maybe, if we have the right guy. But if we won't, we don't have a big senior class coming up. We can use those scholarships for the future.
We also can use them for some walk-ons that earn it. And, by the way, while I'm thinking about it, I don't know how soon, but in the next several weeks we will announce several quality walk-ons that will be joining our program. And some of these guys are guys that turned down scholarships to come here to the University of Michigan. I thought our staff did a nice job of that. There will be quite a few announcements in that regard probably over the next month and a half.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, we've obviously -- our staff has a lot of experience recruiting in the state of Florida. And I'm going to go through each of the guys really quickly that we signed. But we've recruited down there for years, even back before other places I've coached and our coaches have coached at. So we've got a lot of coaches that have experience down there.
And I think there's a lot of student-athletes everywhere. But the quality of player that the young man in Florida is, I think is well documented. We were able to go down there and get a few guys.
I think also the guys that we have on our team now, some of the young guys on our team now did a great job of selling our program, selling our university, and explained to them that maybe it is a little cold here in the winter, but you'll be okay if you come up here. We were excited, I think, with eight in this class. It may be the most that we've ever gotten here.
It's a primary state for us, and so is -- I want to make it clear -- so is the state of Michigan and some of our surrounding states. You know, we'll go anywhere and everywhere, if it's the right fit for our program.
This year, if you look at the places we went to, I think our staff did a pretty nice job. So with that said, I'll go through and give you an opportunity for questions. It will be very brief, y'all can read, I'm sure, especially if you went to school here. We'll go through the guys. And if you have any questions as I go through them individually, you're welcome to ask.
I'll start with the guys. We had seven of them on the road early in January, which is something new. I've never had more than one or two. I think it's -- obviously for us, the two big bonuses about that, the obvious is they get to go through spring practice. They're getting to go through Coach Barwis' weight program, and by the end of the spring they'll be oriented to the university and our football program.
The other part is I didn't have to worry about them signing. They're already enrolled.
But going through in alphabetical order, there's Will Campbell. I think a lot of people had picked him as a top player in the state. He's a big guy. Can play on either side of the ball. He's going to be playing defensive line for us. He's filling the need for us as an explosive young man. He's a local guy. He's been here several times. He loves football, he's a lot of fun to be around. And it's going to be an important spring for him. He's going to be a guy that gets an opportunity to play right away because of need and his ability.
Will Campbell from down the road at Cass Tech, who was coached by Thomas Wilcher, who does an outstanding job. And we have several guys as you know from his team, either on the team, like Boubacar, or joining with him with Teric Jones and Thomas Gordon.
Vladimir, and Tony Dews was the lead recruiter on that. If you guys want to talk to the staff, they're all here, and you can talk to them further about the guys.
Vladimir Emilien is a safety out of Plantation High School. He tore his knee up, so he's not able to play his senior year. But he's well now. His knee surgery went fine. He's going through the workouts. He's an outstanding student, great young man. He's had a big position need for us at safety. So we're hoping that Vladdie will be able to learn the position and pick things up. I think you're going to enjoy talking to him when you meet him. He's got a big smile and he's a competitive guy.
Calvin Magee was the lead recruiter on Vladdie.
Next guy that wrote early is Tate Forcier, a quarterback from San Diego. Many of you have met his brother, Jason, when he was here a few years ago. In fact, Jason helped us. Though Jason transferred, I met Jason this past spring. He came to my office and we talked for a bit. He said I'm going to do all I can to help you get Tate. And Tate was a very exciting quarterback to watch. If you've not seen his film, he's not the biggest guy. He's got a strong arm, he can run. If you look at his stats, he completed over 77 percent his junior year, 70 percent his senior year. He's very accurate. He can run very well. He makes a lot of plays sometimes when plays aren't even there. We're really excited about him.
Obviously at quarterback we need to create some competition, and with Tate and Denard coming in, competing against Steve and Nick and the rest of the guys, we're going to have quality competition at quarterback.
We're excited about him being here. He's in the weight program now. He's going to have a chance now that the coaches are off the road to learn the system a little bit, and Tate's going to be a very, very competitive guy as well. So we're excited about Tate, and he's enrolled right now.
Again, some people rank -- how they rank dual quarterbacks or dual direct quarterbacks and all that kind of stuff, I don't know if we could have gone out and gotten two better dual-threat quarterbacks than Tate Forcier and Robinson. So we're very excited about those guys coming in and competing with the guys we have.
And Rod Smith was the lead recruiter on Tate.
Another guy that Rod Smith recruited was Brandin Hawthorne from Pahokee in the Muck. You guys have read some stories about the Muck. They've won three straight Class II championships in the state of Florida. He played outside linebacker, which he'll play linebacker for us. You can see his stats. He's very, very productive. He's enrolled here early, he's an explosive player. He can run, loves the game of football as all those guys down in the Muck seem to enjoy. And he's used to having great success.
And obviously having Tav Odoms here last year having success kind of helped pave the way for the other guys. But Brandin's here now, and it works out for him.
The next guy, Mike Jones, the defensive back safety from Orlando. Same high school as Greg Mathews. So Coach Rod Smith recruited him as well. He's enrolled here early. He's a very good athlete. You see 36-inch vertical jump. His dad, Aaron, played in the NFL. And Mike is a very explosive player. Blocked a couple of kicks. He's a bigger guy at safety. He could grow into an outside linebacker at some point. But we have the safety, and Mike will compete and play a couple of positions for us.
The next guy is Anthony LaLota. Coach Frey, Greg Frey, was the lead recruiter on him. He's out of Princeton, New Jersey, played at The Hun School. Very strong academic school. Anthony is a great student, National Honor Society guy. New to the game. Did not play until his junior year. But he's a good athlete. He runs a great 40 time. He's got a 36-inch vertical leap. He was a basketball player until he got into football, and he has a big upside. We're going to play him at defensive end and defensive line. You know, you'll see him running around this spring and be impressed with his athleticism.
He's a good basketball player, good athlete, and outstanding student.
And the last guy that enrolled early was recruited by Coach Smith, another guy from down in Pahokee, Vincent Smith. And Vincent will play running back for us. Probably also learn to play some slot receiver. He had over 2,000 yards rushing as a senior. We thought he was one of the best running backs in the state of Florida. Not the biggest guy, but he's strong and powerful and he runs hard for a little guy. And, again, teammates with Tav Odoms and Brandin Hawthorne.
Okay. Any questions on the guys enrolled? I believe you'll have a chance to meet them today at 5:30. So you can talk to them about their workouts. I'm sure they're getting oriented and adjusted to it. It's a great group of young men. Again, you have to remember, they're still supposed to be in high school, so they're still growing and learning. But it's kind of neat that we get them enrolled and play in spring ball.
The guys that signed today are in alphabetical order: Isaiah Bell from Youngstown, Liberty. Tony Gibson was the lead recruiter on him. Played for Jeff Whittaker, who is a long-time friend of ours from Ohio. He can play safety, outside linebacker. He's 6'2", 205 pounds, and he's a very, very good athlete. Competed in the All-Star Game, and he was one of the better players they had. And Isaiah Bell, very happy to have him.
Our next guy, Jeremy Gallon, recruited by Rod Smith. Again, when I say these guys recruited, really it's a group effort by most of the staff. But the lead recruiters, if it was an offensive guy, it was an offensive coach; defensive guy, it was a defensive guy.
But Jeremy Gallon was one of the most productive players in the state of Florida the last three years. A little smaller guy, he can play quarterback, running back, he return kicks. And we thought watching his film and the people that have covered the sport of football said he was probably one of the most productive guys in the state. And he was in one of those All-Star Games and had a great week at the All-Star Game as well.
So Jeremy Gallon is from Apopka. Coach had an outstanding football team. They went to the State Semifinals in the big class, and Rich Darlington was his coach and did a great job.
All right. The next guy -- well, we need to get a kicker with K.C. Lopata and Jason Gingell both graduating. Obviously the kicker was a needed position. Brendan Gibbons, the lead recruiter was Tony Gibson. Brendan was here in the summer camp we had. We were able to see him live and in person. He's a left-footed guy. Very strong foot. He did a nice job in camp. A great senior year. Another guy that performed well in the All-Star Game and won the Lou Groza award as one of the top high school kickers in the country. So very excited about Brendan. He's got an opportunity to come in and compete as a freshman.
We never guarantee guys will play. Just so anybody asks. But we do tell them if we're recruiting you, we think you have the ability to play and we'll give you that opportunity. And if you're good enough to win with, you play. If not, we've got to help get you there.
But a lot of these young men and women are going to have that opportunity. They all do, but some of them because of graduation, they don't get a lot of reps early, and Brendan is certainly one of them. Another outstanding person and well thought of in his community.
All right. Tony Dews is the lead recruiter on the next guy, Cam Gordon. An in-state guy from up the road in Inkster. He was coached by Greg Carter. They've done an outstanding job. You guys that follow the state know he was in the State Championship game. He played receiver, safety, linebacker. We're going to give him the opportunity to compete as a wide receiver. He's a big, physical guy, 6'2", 210, and an outstanding athlete. We thought he was one of the best players in the state of Michigan. I think Cam's got a great future here.
Our next guy is Thomas Gordon, another guy from Cass Tech down in Detroit. Tony Dews was the lead recruiter there. Again, coached by Coach Wilcher. He played quarterback, had a great career at quarterback there. We had him in camp, so we were able to evaluate him in safety at camp. We think he'll be an outstanding safety. He can tackle, he's a physical guy. We thought he was one of the best players in the state of Michigan, and a very, very good athlete. He can play a multiple number of spots for us on defense.
All right, Teric Jones was the last guy we got from Detroit. Again, Tony Dews, the lead recruiter. Very fast guy. He was one of the fastest guys in the Combine with over 1,000 kids last year down in Texas. And he followed up with an outstanding senior year. We had an opportunity to play him in camp as well. But he is a very, very good athlete. Very fast guy, and works out to have him join his teammates up here.
The next guy on the list from Arizona, Taylor Lewan. Coach Dews was the lead recruiter on him. He's a guy that popped out on the scene late in recruiting circles. He's 6'6", 270. We noticed him a few months ago, and we got involved with him after we watched how physical and aggressive he was. This is his first year playing offensive line.
He transferred to the same school that Craig Roh was at, so I think that helped both of them. But we received Taylor, and this guy is physical, he can run, he's aggressive. He has that type of body that we like to deal with our offensive line with. He's a guy that's 6'6", 270. Probably going to be 295 by the end of the year. He's got great feet. Runs well. We thought he was one of the best tackles we saw on film all year. Very excited about Taylor. Think he'll have an outstanding career here.
His dad, Dave, had a little bit of ties in the Big Ten. His father was an offensive lineman at Minnesota, so knew about Michigan and what the Big Ten's all about.
Next guy, Denard Robinson, a quarterback out of Deerfield Beach. Tony Gibson and Calvin Magee were the lead recruiters on Denard. Very good athlete. Coached by Art Taylor, who I think has done a tremendous job down there in Deerfield Beach. One of the fastest guys we've signed. You can see on stats he led his team to the State Semifinals his junior and senior year. He's a guy like Tate that takes command of every game he plays in. That is the thing that is exciting about Tate and Denard. You watch the films and the games and they took charge and controlled the thing. He threw for 1,800 yards, rushed for almost 500 yards. A very, very explosive athlete.
He's got another guy from his school, Adrian Witty, coming here. Those guys are good friends. But they're both outstanding players in their own right, and great young men, so we're excited about Denard, he'll come in and compete with Tate and Nick and Steve and David and the rest of the guys at quarterback.
All right. Craig Roh, the next guy. Recruited by Tony Dews, was the lead recruiter on Craig. The defensive end, 6'4", 230. He may be bigger than that right now. He's a very fast guy probably for us. We had him raised as one of the top defensive ends on our recruiting board. He's got a great motor. He's actually picked, I believe, in -- by Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Arizona. And I think he's every bit more of that. He's a guy that will grow to 250-something pounds and be a great pass-rusher for us. He's an outstanding student. When you get a chance to meet him, you'll see his intensity and how, you know, conscientious he is.
I think if we called him and said, hey, Craig, we want you to do these ten things today to get ready for Michigan, he would do it ten times over. He's one of those guys. I'm excited about Craig. I think he's got an opportunity, even though he's a young guy, but to make an immediate impact, hopefully. He'll have, I think, a tremendous career.
He had a little bit of ties with Michigan with his dad, played basketball at Grand Valley State. He's got a lot of family on the western part of the state. He's been here a few times on unofficial business. We're happy to have Craig on board with us.
The next guy, Michael Schofield, the big offensive lineman from outside of Chicago there in Illinois. He plays both offensive and defensive tackle. We're looking at him as an offensive tackle. Same thing as Lewan, 6'6", 270. Played multiple sports. Did track as well. Played basketball when he was younger. He's another guy that's going to fill out. An aggressive, physical player, really excited about him.
Him and Taylor will be the kind of guys that you play tackle for and throw in the type of players that you want. And Mike Schofield I think is going to add to our class.
We're fortunate to have all of our offensive linemen back. They're doing a great job in the weight room. And last year's class had six offensive linemen in it. This year's class got three. And so the foundation that we're building up front is going to be the key to our offense. And I know Coach Frey wants to have his guys here. He's got all those guys for several years.
All right. The next guy is Fitzgerald Toussaint. He was recruited by Tony Gibson. A running back. He'll probably play running back, and also return kicks. Eventually he'll learn to play the slot as well. But we thought Fitz was one of the best backs in the state of Ohio his senior year. He was coached by Coach Whittaker, who is a long-time associate of ours, and I think Fitz is going to be a guy that's very exciting. He's not the biggest guy, but very physical. He does all the things we want in a running back. And I think he'll have an opportunity to make an immediate impact.
Next guy, J.T. Turner, defensive back from Massillon, Ohio, Washington High School. Great tradition there. Both Coach Tall and Coach Gibson were lead recruiters on him. He's a guy that played corner and safety, and he'll probably wind up playing both for us. We have a need at both positions, and J.T. can play either one of them. Lot of people had him rated as the top player in the state of Ohio.
So it's pretty neat for us to have what many consider a top player in Ohio, top player in Michigan, and top player in Arizona all in the same class.
J.T., again, another guy that played in the All-Star Game a little bit. Coaches talked about his versatility and the guy that's going to have a chance to make an impact for us in the secondary right away.
The next guy, Quinton Washington. Lead recruiter on Q there was Coach Gibson again. Big offensive lineman, 6'3", 315. We went back to look at our rankings as far as offensive linemen at the guard position. He was one of the top ones we had on the board. We were able to get him. He was selected as Lineman of the Year in the state of South Carolina and the runner-up for football in the whole state. That's rare for offensive linemen to do that.
Great young man, and I think he's going to have a chance. He's got great size, moves his feet. Will probably learn to play both guard positions for us. So Quinton Washington is a nice pick-up for us.
All right. The next guy, Adrian Witty. Coach Gibson was the lead recruiter on Adrian. Same high school, Deerfield Beach. Playing for Art Taylor. Probably overlooked a little bit in my opinion. If you watched him on film, this guy was as productive as any defensive backs you see on film. I'm glad he was overlooked because that gave us the lead-in on him. I think he can play several positions. He can probably play corner, safety. He's very physical, and I'm really excited about him.
I told his coach that I think we've got the most underrated player in the whole part of Florida in Adrian Witty. We're really excited about Wit coming here.
The last guy (indiscernible) because he had something planned, we felt pretty comfortable he was going to come, is Je'Ron Stokes. The lead recruiter on Je'Ron was Tony Dews. He's from Philadelphia, Northeast High School. Another guy we've had our eye on for quite some time. A very productive receiver. We think can he play inside the slot and outside. He's got good size, great ball skills. And has a lot of experience in a similar type of system. And Je'Ron also can return kicks.
So we're really excited about him. It's a position need for us, and we need guys that can play inside and outside receiver positions. And we think he can do that. He's a fast guy. He played in the All-Star Game, and I think he had an outstanding week there. I think he'll have a great impact on our program.
That's the thumbnail sketch. Now, if you want to talk any further about these guys in detail, obviously, you can talk to their coaches, the lead recruiters, or talk to me about them.
The other thing I want to mention with all these guys, and all coaches will tell you that, is all these guys made official visits so we got a chance to make them know us a little bit. We were able to make visits to their homes and their schools. We feel really good about the guys we have, and what type of people we have. I like having them over my house, not because Rita cleans the house up when they come over, but you get to see them in a relaxed atmosphere. And they spend time with our family. Then we see them in their environment, and I really like these guys as people first, athletes next.
I think you'll see the same thing with them. They're young guys, but I think they're the type of people that you want in your program and you can build your program around, both as players and as people.
With that being said, I would be remiss if I didn't thank the lots of people that helped us. It was a tough year. It's always hard to recruit off a tough year than a good year. You can sell opportunity, but it is tough.
But the people, our fans, the people that supported the program, the people in the community that saw the recruits when they came in, that's what makes this place special. Whether it's asking for directions or going to the ballgame, and the students are nice to them, that makes a big impact in recruiting, when they can feel that sense of family that every coach wants to preach at.
The's families did a nice job. Rita did a nice job cleaning the house up and getting ready for them. But every one of these young men was mentioned. All coaches and programs talk about feeling comfortable and feeling that they can feel at home with the coaches and their families. And I think our staff was able to do that, and the people in this community were able to do that naturally.
They're smart enough to figure out when you're putting on a show. We don't put on a show. We just be ourselves and allow these young men -- I think in particular, at least mentioned to me, said, Coach, University of Michigan and the way we felt comfortable around the people, that's what made the difference.
That's important. Also the facilities we've got. The things we're getting built. They can see this progress being made. We had a tough year on the field. But I don't think it's going to last. I think these players saw that. The work that our players are putting in, and the word we got from administration is we'll keep getting better and better.
Our players did a great job. When they came to visit, we purposely had them spend a lot of time with our current players. They spend more time with them than they do with us on a visit. That's by design, because I want them to know what it's like to be a student-athlete here. We don't tell our players what to tell them. We say, hey, if you can sell the program, that will help. But we turn them loose. Our players did a great job helping these guys. Our best recruiters are sometimes our players. They did a nice job getting their teammates to come with them.
All in all, they have a lot of things in outstanding classes. It's exciting. If we do our job on the field and continue to grow, recruiting will hopefully become easier and easier. We had to deal with a lot of negative recruiting when you don't have a good year. That's part of the territory, but as we become more successful and have such a great product to sell, it will get easier and easier.

Q. (Indiscernible) how prevalent was that and (indiscernible) what did you do?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think there's more and more, and the coaches can probably attest to this. There is more and more negative recruiting across the board than there's ever been. I think I've been doing this 26, 27 years, so there's always been some. But to the level which they go to now has probably heightened. And I think it's because of the coaches feeling -- I don't want to say desperation, but coaches feeling they have to do that to get a young man.
I don't think you have to, and I tell our coaches, you talk about the good things we have to offer. You don't need a negative recruit to get a guy. If you have to negative recruit to get him, then we're probably recruiting the wrong guy. But I think most head coaches say that. I don't think too many head coaches say go back to that program, go back to that coach or make things up to try to do that.
But inevitably you sometimes get assistant coaches or young assistant coaches that they kind of mess with you.
I don't want our guys to do that. If you have a tough year like we did on the field, you can expect there will be some of that out there. We've been there, done that. I dealt with the same thing eight years ago. At least we had a track record to go back to to say everything's going to be okay. Plus we have a great university that we can sell.
So we've overcome a lot of that. I don't think the negative recruiting had a fact in that. It probably had a negative effect. It can wind up going against you. If you got a good enough school, good enough program to sell, why would you have to have someone else. If you don't have a good enough program, maybe you'll see something else.
I don't think you have to do that. We certainly don't have to here.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Everybody's registering. But there are still a couple of them that have to have good semesters. But every one of them that was on the list that we signed had a plan. They're taking the right classes. They're doing the right things to prepare for the test and all of that to be eligible. There's just a couple of them. But that's going to be the case every year probably just about every program; you're going to have two or three guys that their senior year they better make sure they do the right things and follow the plan.
But every one of these guys has a plan from their high school guidance counselors and coaches and families to make sure they're set and ready to go.
Our plan is to have them here by summer school so they can get oriented to Ann Arbor and our football program.

Q. Talk about the depth on the on (indiscernible), how do you feel you did on the defensive line in terms of meeting the needs?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: The defensive line we've got obviously Will Campbell who is there now, Craig Roh -- I think those are the two, right? And Anthony's already here, too. So Anthony and Will Campbell will get a great start because they're lined up with spring ball. And Anthony's going to be a guy that plays end and maybe even grows to play inside a little bit. We're going to obviously start him at end.
Will Campbell can play inside position on the D line, and Craig, as I mentioned, knowing Craig the way I know him, he'll do all it takes between now and the first game to get ready. I think Craig Roh's got a chance to compete well.
So those three will come in with a -- which is kind of rare for a freshman to compete. But all three of them will have a chance to compete early in their career.
That's a position need for us. You always think maybe you'd like to have one or two more. But we have a few guys coming back, too, that have kind of been in the shadows, they're going to have a chance to beat for us next fall.

Q. Were any of those guys that you weren't really (indiscernible) but with the coaching staff, you don't look them as a decommitted?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, a decommit, again, it depends on the guy who decommitted. Sometimes, I don't want to be, you know, if all you do is talk about decommitment, you talk about something negative. Let's talk about a positive, not a negative.
Sometimes they decommit and do you a favor. Sometimes you don't want them to. I think it probably balances out. But normally if a guy is committed to you and still visiting other schools, he's not committed, he's just interested. If a guy is committed to you and he's, you know -- yeah. Yeah. That's what's in it.
I think probably if you follow it close enough, when that guy's committed to that school but he's taking all these other trips, he's not real firm. That's why they call it a soft verbal. You know. What, are you kidding me? What is the difference between a soft verbal and a verbal. A verbal is all it is is a verbal. If a guy is verbally committed to you and he doesn't go anywhere else, he doesn't visit or talk about going to other schools, chances are good he'll sign him.
If not, he's committed to you and still visiting, you better recruit him like he ain't committed to you. So most coaches see that.
There are always a few surprises on signing day, but generally there are not too many. I should say one thing I should point out, this is kind of interesting -- I didn't put all of this together, Dave did. If you look on there with big Michael Schofield -- I thought it was pretty interesting -- did not allow a sack as a senior, which is good. But the most amazing stat, Coach Frey, is that the entire offensive line was not flagged for a holding penalty all season. Are there any chances we can get that crew for our games? That's pretty amazing. Yeah. We got the start on that.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Probably. More than anything is what I got on the team. What your needs are. I guess the sense of urgency on certain positions where, obviously a year ago I would have known that by who graduated and who was coming back. But after you go through a spring practice and a fall session with you guys, you know exactly what you have on your team and what exactly your needs are.
I think that's the biggest difference between recruiting now and recruiting -- and now this year coming up you look at the 2010 class, but we're even further to identifying our needs for next year, based on what we have and who are the young guys that we project that will be able to help us and what we need for the future.

Q. Do you think it would be more difficult to recruit coming off a 3-9 season?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Oh, yeah. Are you kidding me? People say -- anybody that says it's harder to get to the top and get to the top ain't never been at the bottom. I've been both places. It's a heck of a lot easier to recruit when you're way up here.
But, again, you have to be persistent. If we had 3-9 at a different school, it would be even more difficult. But because we are at a great place, and because we have some things in place. When their families came, they saw the program, and saw the reasons why we struggled the way we struggled and knew they could be part of helping us fix it.
When people say, well, you know, again, I repeat this before. There were things done Sunday through Friday that didn't show up on Saturday over the past 12 months. Hopefully sooner rather than later, those things will come to fruition. But to say all of our problems are solved by what happened today in the signing class? Football is a little different animal. You don't just get one or two players and automatically you're winning championships. It just takes a little longer than that.
But this is the start. You've got to start with recruiting, and it's got to be the lifeblood of your program. Then the guys that you recruit have to be the type of guys that when you bring them in, they'll do all the things that you ask them to do. They'll compete, and work hard and be the players you need.

Q. Of those you actually signed, how confident are you that you're going to have a really good starting quarterback?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, I know we'll have really good competition. And that's key for us. When we're at where we need to be at, we'll have two to three guys at every position and we think we can win it. Regardless of the system. People say, well, you're recruiting guys for your system. Our quarterbacks didn't play any system last year. Neither did our offensive linemen except for one guy and neither did our receivers. It wasn't like they were used to playing in any system. For us to say, well, your problems are solved because you are recruiting guys to your system, we're recruiting guys that we think can compete and play at the highest level. And our guys on our team now are working to do the same thing.
That's what you've got to have. When you have two, three guys that you feel you can win with, then you've got it going on. We're getting closer to that with the class that we've signed. We think. Get back to me in a couple of years.

Q. With that Class of 2008, you had to prepare for a new team and a system they've never seen. Yet you're still able to put together a class that's been generally ranked Top 10 nationally. So it doesn't look like it will hurt you. But what about in state? Do you feel getting a late jump there in 2009 hurts you?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: No, not really. You start identifying guys in their sophomore year or maybe even sooner. Generally in state can you identify them earlier. But people who say we don't recruit the state of Michigan are completely way off base. I think I've got five coaches in different areas of the state of Michigan and got the whole state covered.
So, again, you've got to find the right fit. The guys that fit the position and the system and all of that.
Obviously, recruiting in this state is always going to be a priority. It's the first place we look at each and every year. The first list of guys from our staff who are the best players in the state of Michigan. And there are some that develop late. Some are in the position we need. But for anybody to say we don't recruit Michigan doesn't understand any idea about how we go about our recruiting. We're going to recruit the state hard.
The guys that we feel we need, and the guys that fit what we want in the state of Michigan, we'll go after them. If they go somewhere else, they go somewhere else. But we feel we've done pretty well filling that need. There are some really good players in the state of Michigan coming up. I'm impressed. We were all -- our whole staff went to a clinic in Battle Creek a couple of weeks ago, and the number of coaches that go there and how sincere they are about coaching football in this state is impressive.
We sent the same message there. You've got the guy that we feel is the type of player that we want in our program, then we're going to recruit him as hard as anybody in the country.
I don't know if I answered your question. But I think now it's easier because we're able to see those kids grow from their freshman and sophomore years all the way through as opposed to coming in here as seniors.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: I sense there is a lot of interest in the quarterback position. You know, both Tate and Denard are the guys that can run and throw. They're not the tallest guys, but they're guys that also, again, can make plays when they're there and sometimes make plays when they're not there.
Again, they've got to learn. I didn't promise Tate he was going to be the starting quarterback, didn't on promise Denard yet. We promised them an opportunity to compete right away.
But the nice thing about it is I think our quarterbacks will help teach each other. Tate's already here, Nick and Steve and those guys will help teach them, and David Cone will help teach those guys the system and help create quality competition.
But they both can grow and run and make plays. And sometimes, as a defensive coach will tell you, when the quarterback makes something happen on his own and when it's not there, it can be the most frustrating thing for a defense. Both of those guys have shown where they can do that.

Q. Talk about players coming from warm-weather states, playing in the cold, is there anything you can do?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: It seemed like every weekend we had here in January, the record coldest January or the biggest snowfall on record. Couple of them I told them can you believe it snowed here in Ann Arbor? It was the first time in five years in January. I don't think they believed me.
But you just have to tell them. It was probably used against us so much that when they come out here and they realize they're not going to have frostbite walking around campus, that they'll be okay, that it turns into a positive for us.
In fact, one of them -- I believe when Denard and Adrian and some of the other guys from Florida were up and we had that big snowstorm and we run out to the stadium to show them the stadium and there was about that much snow on it, we said this is a great opportunity to show the benefits. So we all got on there and made some snow angels on the turf. Got a few snowballs and had a snowball fight. I think some of them even tried to take some snow home with them, but that didn't work out.
We had a recruit in the past that did that, not Denard or Adrian, but he was shocked when it turned to water on the plane. But we turned it into a positive when we had that snowstorm because they had a good time with it. They hadn't seen snow before.
It's not that bad. I tell the guys when we play, the weather is beautiful. If we do what we're supposed to in the month of December, we're somewhere warm in the Bowl games. I don't think it's a big issue.

Q. Talk about November (Indiscernible)?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: It can be a little cold no matter where you're at, most of the schools in the country in the month of November. We had one or two games cold at the end, but I don't think it's that big an issue. The way the Big Ten is, we're finishing our games by the end of the week. What's nice is on the flip side when you're training in the summer when it's 100-something degrees and high humidity and all that down south, here it's pretty comfortable.
Workouts are still hard, but the weather and humidity are pretty comfortable in the summer in the August and September months.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, you're right.
I meant not only from a recruiting standpoint, which I think we addressed that with all the guys here. Every one of these guys, whether they play on the D line or O line or whatever position, they're all young men that we think can run.
But also our current players have to get faster and stronger. I think they're doing that as well. I see their confidence growing. So we've got to continue.
Again, you don't just sign a group of guys and you just don't work guys out for years and say you're automatically faster. You have to develop that each and every year.
So these guys run pretty well. They're going to be fast a year from now, and two years from now even faster then. That's what's most exciting about all of these guys.

Q. Is the current roster of the guys returning still intact? Are there any other things?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Last time we met, yeah. They're all working pretty hard. They're lifting three days a week. They've got skills development three days a week. I was proud of them.
The performance a year ago in Mock Rock was embarrassing from a football standpoint. They could dance, but they had no organizational structure. And last night they had a few people clapping for them. They looked good. Put on a nice performance. It was a great turnout by all the athletic teams.
If you've never been to it, you've got to go to Mock Rock where you watch all the athletes perform for charity. I was proud of the football guys. They went out there and did a dance move. The coaches' wives helped put something together. And Brandon Graham and Kenny Demens did back flips and stuff. It was pretty impressive.
So the guys are working hard. And Coach Barwis comes to see me every day about a guy who broke a personal record in the weight room, doing a power record or walk record, so they're get better.

Q. Is there any difference between getting these guys acclimated to camp as opposed to the people that come in the fall?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, as a point, obviously the guys that are here early in January get a head start on some of their practice, because they get to go to spring practice and do an eight- or nine-week lifting cycle.
But because the guys can roll early in late June, they're going to get eight to nine weeks before we start to practice in August. So their teammates that were not able to come here early will make up that time.
They'll obviously miss those practice times, but it will still be competitive. The guys in the spring, the biggest thing is that they get oriented to not just the football program but to the university as well, to the campus, where the classrooms are at. If they're away from home, they get some of that homesickness out of the way a little bit. So by the time the fall's here, that's over and done with.
So to have seven in here, again, I don't know they've ever had that many here. But we were happy to have it. We maybe could have had one more, but seven was our goal. We got seven in, and they're all working hard.

Q. Talk about the early enrollees at this point. From what you're hearing and what you've seen, anybody jump out and stand out?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: No, I was just talking to Mike. He said they've all got great attitudes, they're all learning. What they're getting thrown into is a little bit different. They're not as accustomed as the upperclassmen. So Mike doesn't have all the same additions. So now being a tough week, they're caught up. He tells me they're right in the middle of the mix and able to do the workout.
For some of these guys, it's the first time they've gone through this extensive of an off-season program. He seems to be excited about the athleticism. And coaches in a few weeks will get to see ourselves.

Q. Who is going to get first rep as the first team quarterback?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: When is that? March 14? I'll tell you on the 14th. To tell you the truth, I don't know. Who takes the first rep?
All the guys on the team, I think we have 99 to 100 guys on the team. All 100 guys if they're healthy will take reps this spring. That's the thing about reps, defensively they've got to learn some new things. From these teams we're looking at defensively, other than that, they're all going to get a lot of reps.
So I want to make it clear, and these recruits understand, there is nothing handed to them. They've got to earn. If they start on Monday, they may not start on Tuesday.
Our goal is to have the type of competition that elevates everybody's play. I expect that at the quarterback position, but I expect that at every position.

Q. (Indiscernible) surgeries or anything?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Let me think. I don't think there is anything pressing right now. There is no surgery scheduled. There's a guy or two that we're looking at, which is kind of rare. Normally you have three or four guys. Right now there is no surgery scheduled. Just about all I've got is going through the workouts. So we'll keep our fingers crossed there.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: We're going to do 1-10-1. That's 12 guys. No. Very similar as far as our multiples run. We'll rush four people, we'll have four men down. We may get in the odd one sometimes. We'll do a few different concepts secondary-wise. But Coach Robinson and the defensive stat just got back and started meeting Monday, because everybody's been on the road. So they have not had a chance to get all the minds together and come up with a definitive package for the spring.
With the experience we have with Coach Robinson and the rest of the coaches on defense, you know, we'll come out pretty good. Only thing I did is give them a little bit of a 20-list item things that I'd like to see defensively in general. They're all things defensive coaches would do anyway. And by the time March 14 is here, we'll have a base defense and few adjustments that our guys can handle.

Q. Are you getting anxious to get into that practice facility?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I get to see it every day because my office looks right into it. It's very exciting. When you look at what we're doing with that, and obviously with the additions we've made in the weight room and getting the new locker room as well, we're blessed. I can't thank the people enough that have supported us.
Still in these tough economic times it's hard. We started these projects a while back, and we're committed to seeing them through. And the people that support our program and our athletic department have been tremendous. It's needed.
One thing that's helped us in recruiting is we've been able to sell that vision. I think it's easy to recruit when it's done, and now we say, look what's happening here. They can look over and see what's happening in the stadium. We're not at the stadium every day, but it's impressive when you see what it's going to look like here in a year and a half. And that's helped.
We've tried to do some other things in recruiting as far as ability for me to get out, and assistant coaches to get out with some air travel. Nowadays there are a lot less flights. For us to recruit in different places like we want to, we have to get there. Recruiting on private travel will be important for us to be able to see the number of kids we want to speak to.
With these tough times, it's more difficult than ever. We'll still press forward with it.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH RODRIGUEZ: Before I went on the road last year -- I can read, I did my research, I asked questions, I knew what the Michigan tradition position was.
Mainly I think the biggest difference again is having gone through the season, I can define what's going on with our team, what's going on with our program, and what our needs were, you know, more than anything else.
I think Michigan's tradition itself is always going to be able to be itself. Like I said, our name helps us get into a few more doors than a lot of other schools. There's no question the Michigan name helps us get in it.
You've still got to recruit them and develop a relationship to sign them. They're not going to sign with you just because of the name. But it certainly helps you get in that door. If you do your job when you get in that door and develop those relationships and sell your program the right way and all of that, then hopefully you can sign them.

End of FastScripts

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