UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 7, 2005

Lloyd Carr

COACH CARR: All right. Let's go.

COACH CARR: I think it's all of those.

COACH CARR: Really, we will have to wait to see how practice goes.

COACH CARR: Well, like who are you talking about?

COACH CARR: I expect all of our safeties to be ready. So the other guys we will just have to wait to see if they practice.

COACH CARR: Well, hopefully, we did some things to improve ourselves in the passing game. I think we have been inconsistent there and for a variety of reasons. We're just not where we need to be, and so we worked hard on establishing better spacing and understanding where everybody has got to be, trying to improve getting out of our cuts at the right time so that the timing of our passing game is improved because I think that has a lot to do with our -- in the Northwestern game, we were was not executing very well on third down. Of course, we're working to eliminate big plays. If we ever do that, I think we will have a good defense.

COACH CARR: Well, I think defensively, they are really -- it's a scrappy outfit. They're tough, they hustle. But I think offensively, they have really done a good job from the standpoint of doing the things that -- they have taken some young players -- and I mean, for example, the Iowa game, when you look at that score, and then you look at the number of plays, they ran 101 plays against Iowa. They have been outstanding in time of possession. They have been outstanding on third down which is really our big concern with the Indiana team, getting them off the field. To do that, we have to do a good job on third down defensively. And I think they have -- more than anybody else in the Big 10, they have tried to convert on fourth down, so they're the kind of team that wants to keep the ball and protect their defense. But think Terry Hoeppner has done an outstanding job.

COACH CARR: Well, I think Jerry Denardo is an outstanding coach and I think he developed a toughness there, that I think Terry has inherited a group of kids that know how to compete and know how to fight and yet he has changed a lot of things offensively, and they have won some games and they have been in -- there isn't -- hasn't been many times in there where they didn't have a chance to win.

COACH CARR: Well, he is -- first of all, physically he is a great talent from the standpoint of his size, 6'7". The fact that he plays basketball I think is an indicator of the kind of athlete he is. And when you look at 15 yards a catch, that's excellent, because I think he probably goes into most games as a marked man. I think he has had a great year.

COACH CARR: I have not had that discussion with him, but I don't -- based on what I see, for him to have come back and played this year and use a year of eligibility, he would have had to show me a lot more as far as his physical preparedness.

COACH CARR: Do I like the bye week? Well, I like it at the point we were in in the season. I think it would have been very difficult for us to field a healthy team, anywhere close to a healthy team. I think, as we go forward here in the Big 10, without a bye week, I think it's going to be an incredible strain on the players. I think it's really something that the Conference has to look at. As much as I would hate to see the season extend past Thanksgiving, unless they're going to let us start early, because I think for the welfare of the players, somewhere in there, in the course of the season, you need to have a week off. I think that's only fair to the players.

COACH CARR: Well, you know, we have always in this conference had the philosophy that we would not play after Thanksgiving unless it's a trip to Hawaii or one of those situations. But I think the landscape of college football is changing dramatically. I looked at, for example, our last two appearances in the Rose Bowl. We finished the season before Thanksgiving, and the teams that we played in that game both times played after Thanksgiving, so I think there is, you know, an issue there from a competitive standpoint in terms of, you know, being out of schedule, out of the game for a great length of time. But I think we have always had the right approach in this conference because I think it's only fair, after the length of that season, that our players have always been able for the most part to spend Thanksgiving with their families, but I think that's going to be with the 12th game something that will change, and I think, you know, it's one of those things that once you go down that road you are going to have to deal with a lot of things that aren't in the best interest of the players.

COACH CARR: Well, I don't know that the Conference has -- the Conference would have to -- if you started earlier, which would be my preference, the NCAA would have to change the rules for starting dates, and that's something we have been trying to get, a standardized starting date, because of teams having an advantage of playing the game before somebody else did in the opener. So it's a complicated issue. I don't know exactly how it's going to come out, but I think there is a lot of issues to be looked at.

COACH CARR: Well, I think, you know, it goes back to the kind of people you have. I think they know how to fight. They're competitive people. And I think, you know, you have to learn from the mistakes you make. I think the wonderful thing about this season is that we have had, more than any season I can remember, an opportunity for guys to -- who were in so-called back-up roles who had an opportunities to come in and play and they have played at an extremely high level. I mean we have talked about those people throughout the season. Mark Bihl was one in the last game who went in against Northwestern and did a great job. So we have had a number of guys do that, defensively and offensively. So I think that's the rewarding thing, and I think it's a credit to our players to our coaches that we were able to stay focused and find a way to win some very tough ball games.

COACH CARR: Well, he is an incredible competitor. He brings -- when you watch Jeremy play at that position, he is not the biggest guy, but he has great instincts and he has great toughness and desire. When you watch him play, he plays with a love of the game, a passion, and because of that, he is able not only to play at a very high level, he is also I think -- it's that attitude that has enabled him to fight back after injury after injury after injury.

COACH CARR: Well, I learned a long time ago with Ian Gold and Dehanna Jones, we were at a point there where our prototype linebacker was coming out of high school, we were looking for a guy 235, 240 pounds. And when Ian got here I think he was 205 pounds. We moved him at the end of his freshman year. Dehanna Jones was I don't think anything over 205 pounds when he was a high school senior. And those were two of the finest linebackers we have had at Michigan. And I think, you know, that it's still a game of instinct and toughness and quickness. I think, any time you put a player in any position in a mold that he can't do this or he can't do that because of physical measurements, I think that's where you can make a mistake.

COACH CARR: Graham, he's got great instincts, he gets off blocks extremely well, and he does a great job of diagnosing plays. He has an instinct ability to know where the ball is going and he is -- you know, he is a good tackler and he is tough and he is competitive and he's gotten better and better as the season has gone on and he's gained experience.

COACH CARR: Well, I think, you know, it's like Indiana has a lot to play for, just as most teams in the Big 10 do at this stage, and I think that speaks to, you know, the competitiveness of the conference. A lot of great football. And you know, you are always playing in arenas where, you know, you are going to have to deal with crowd noise and all those issues. And it's amazing that the number of games that are going down to the last minute or two, and so the margin of error is very small because -- and I think that's really one of the great things that our conference did in terms of moving the replay because when you look at -- I think 42 percent of the plays in the Big Ten Conference that have been reviewed have been overturned. In other words, we're getting a lot of plays right that weren't necessarily called correctly, and it's a very difficult game to officiate, and I think instant replay, for some of the problems that we do have with it, I think it has been an overwhelming success.

COACH CARR: Well, I don't look at anything in terms of MVP. I think it's a team game and I think what we're -- what we're trying to do as we -- and I would have hoped we would have been there before now. We're not where we need to be, where we want to be offensively, and I think part of that has been due to the fact that we have had a lot of different guys play and we have also played very good competition, all those are issues. But in terms of MVP, I think that's something the players decide at the end of the season. I think it's a great honor, but I think, you know, the truth is you better have 11 guys playing together if you are going to be successful.

COACH CARR: Well, I think the challenge for any team is to keep an eye on what is directly in front of them, and there is a lot of lessons out there that -- and you pay a heavy price when you aren't paying attention to what's in front of you. So hopefully they're smart enough to understand that.

COACH CARR: So I am sure nobody in here today asked them about other things than Indiana; am I correct? Well, you were here, weren't you?

COACH CARR: Well, you know, he played in the defensive line the first two years that he was here, and so I knew from watching him on a daily basis that he was tough and he hung in there when he was a young player. He was not big enough, not strong enough, but he was -- he got bigger and bigger. And I knew from high school that he was a good receiver, good athlete. He played tight end, he played fullback. And we talked at one time during the recruiting process of playing him at fullback. But I was confident because I knew that he was tough, and that position requires toughness. I think it was a matter of him learning the offense. It's a very difficult position because you are blocking very good athletes. You are blocking, in a lot of cases, the inside linebacker who is a very physical guy who is hard to block, that's why he is playing in that position. He is blocking the same linebacker at the end of the line of scrimmage that's trying to rip across your face and force the ball outside, and then on the sweeps you are blocking the strong safety. So he was athletic enough that we felt he could do all those things and he's done all of them well.

COACH CARR: Well, every week on Sundays we talk about the reality of where we are, where the race is. I mean we're not acting like there is nothing else going on out there, but I think, when we talk about where we are, and the things out there that we need to be aware of, there is also an understanding that in this conference the deal here is to try to get better every week and you can't get better this week if you are thinking about next week. So if you want to achieve some things that are under your control, then you need to get better every week, and to get better every week, you have got to get better on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday in terms of the way you practice and the way you prepare. So as a team, it comes down to the preparation that you put into it.

COACH CARR: Well, I can't -- you know, the one thing I do not know, and that's how it's all going to turn out, but I do think we have had a lot of games that have been highly contested. And in those types of games and in overtime situations, you have an opportunity as a team to learn some things, to gain some confidence, and so I think, from that standpoint, the answer is yes.

COACH CARR: Well, the reality is we have got Indiana this week and it's a conference game and there is a lot of things that -- a lot of football still to be played. There is a lot of things that can happen. And the reality of it is that the only thing that we have control over is how we play this week. So you know, there is a lot of possibilities, but the deal is I think to take control of the things you have control over. The old cliche, but it's true.

COACH CARR: Well, I think it always begins with, you know -- you know, as a coach, there is opportunities to learn every week. And you know, the difficult thing is, during the season, you are so busy from the standpoint that, you know, 12 hours after a game is over, you've started on the next one. But you have an opportunity after a season to much more objectively study the problems, to discuss the lessons, to study the game itself wherever it's being played. So I think that's where I will begin and, you know, I think certainly there is a motivation from the standpoint of our players to improve and have the kind of defense that we want to have here. So I think that's where it all starts.

COACH CARR: Well, I think we're still leaving too many yards out there, you know, so there is a lot of things that go into playing like we're capable of playing. I think we're doing some very good things, but, you know, we still -- we still are missing some cuts, and, you know, that's something we're working on daily.

COACH CARR: Well, I don't like to project on that. I think you go into a football game and you give the guy the ball that gives you the best chance to win and you see what happens in a game and how it's going. And you know, I think the deal is to make sure everybody is prepared as well as they can be and be ready. And of course, Jerome Jackson has done a great job of that.

COACH CARR: Well, I think, yeah, he's -- he played a little bit against Northwestern. I would say he is almost 100 percent, yeah. Thank you. Good to be with you.