UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 29, 2005

Lloyd Carr

COACH CARR: Hello, everybody. Great to be here. We have finished our training camp, game week, and we're excited about pursuing the goals that our team has set for themselves. We will open against a Joe Novak coached team. I know Joe Novak as well as most people. I coached with him two years at the University of Illinois. I don't think anybody in this country's done a better job coaching than Joe has. He's done a great job at Northern Illinois. When you look at what they've accomplished, particularly in the last few years, it's really special when you consider where that program was when he started. He's got a football team that plays to his personality. He's an old-school guy that cares greatly about his players. I think he represents the coaching profession, the very highest ideals. They want to control the football on offense. When you look at 238 yards a game a year ago, that's impressive. I think in Harris and Wolfe, they've got the best tandem that I've seen. So we're going to have our work cut out for us in terms of stopping the run. They're two different very types of backs. I expect they'll probably use them both in the game a significant amount of time. But they're a team that plays very hard, very aggressive. So they're an opener that is going to be challenging for us. Any questions?

COACH CARR: Well, I think obviously losing Jake Long was a great disappointment for our football team, certainly for Jake personally. He's worked hard. He's an extremely talented guy. He brings a great intensity to our team. You know, that's not something that you want to see happen. Particularly, it was a very freak injury. It was not in a scrimmage situation. Actually, his part in the play was over and somebody rolled up on his ankle. We just have to hope for the best for Jake. It does create a situation that happens in football. That's the type of game it is. What we've always been able to do, the thing that we've -- the way we've tried to approach it is you can't worry about those things; they're going to happen. You expect that we'll be able to go forward.

COACH CARR: Well, I think we've got to move some people around. Because of that injury, we're still going to look at the situation this week and see how we go.

COACH CARR: Well, I think that's what brings you back to this game. There's nothing like starting a new season and trying to put a new puzzle together. The excitement that you have as a coach is mirrored by the same excitement of young players getting their first opportunity. Your older guys are coming back with great confidence because they've been there before. They understand what's in front of them. You know, there's always new leadership. Certainly I think we chose two great captains. Yeah, I don't think -- I think when the excitement isn't there, you're in the wrong game.

COACH CARR: Leon Hall is back, Brandent Englemon I had mentioned earlier had an outstanding spring or fall. Ryan Mundy has missed some practice. He returned today. He will return today. Got some work in there late in the week last week. And, of course, Grant Mason is a guy with a lot of experience. We're fine there. We have some young guys, Charles Stewart, Darnell Hood, those guys have improved significantly. Brandon Harrison, a freshman, has had a very good fall. So we do have some youth there. You know, that's part of the deal.

COACH CARR: Well, I think we have to see how Ryan practices. But I would assume, based on the trainer's report, that he will play. And Jake, we'll just have to take it -- you know, I think it's going to be a while. But I do think there's an excellent chance that he will return. When that will be, you'll be the first to know.

COACH CARR: Well, he is healthy. Van Alstyne brings a toughness, a competitiveness. He's a guy that maybe not in terms of being the type of size you want, but he more than makes up for it in terms of the heart that he plays with. He's an outstanding technician. He brings an effort and an intensity and a toughness that I think adds to any defense.

COACH CARR: Well, what excites me is, you know, I'm in this for a lot of different reasons. But I think the thing, from a football standpoint, that excites me the most, is those 11 or 12 opportunities you get every Saturday in the fall to compete, to put a team out there and see how they respond to the pressure and all the conditions. The great thing about this game is you never know every Saturday what the weather's going to bring, you don't know exactly how the other team's going to play. So the fun of it is trying to develop those types of game plans and strategies that gives yourself the best chance to win. The thing that is most exciting is the competitiveness and to watch young people who aspire to be something special and achieve special goals, how they go after them, how they handle all the things that come their way.

COACH CARR: Well, I think -- I don't know if it's important. I think obviously if your non-conference schedule is set up so that you get some things that you're going to get later on in the season, yeah, I think that is important.

COACH CARR: Well, we'll have to see. We'll see how they practice this week. Antonio has missed some practice. I think Mario is ahead from the standpoint that he has not missed any practices. But I think as the season goes along, if they continue to learn and continue to practice hard and do the things that they need to do on every particular play that they appear in, then I think the role will be dependent upon how those things develop. Every time you get a chance to play in the game, you get a chance to impress your coach or you don't. The goal is to get better every time you have an opportunity to play. And I think they certainly have the physical ability. We have to see how they handle game conditions. That's really the test.

COACH CARR: Well, I think you're always competing here. Things can change in a hurry. I think practice is important. And we have to see exactly what goes on in practice this week. We've got two big days, particularly tomorrow and Wednesday. So, you know, those depth charts, Jim, he takes care of those.

COACH CARR: Well, I think, you know, anybody that's been around, we talk about the schedule starting with the first day of our winter conditioning. We know what's out there. I think we've got bright guys here. I don't think you catch a Michigan team looking ahead. I think that's part of the culture here. We try to take them one game at a time because the truth is there's a lot of lessons out there. If you don't take them one at a time, if you don't get ready to compete, you only get 11 or 12 a year, so there's no place to look ahead. Certainly what Northern Illinois has done with some of those wins is I think attributable to the job that I spoke about Joe Novak and what he's done and his staff has done.

COACH CARR: I think you'd have to ask Joe that.

COACH CARR: I'll talk to him Saturday for a couple minutes. You know, I think obviously what I see is a team that plays extremely hard. They're going to compete. They're going to be an attacking defensive football team. Offensively I really like the way they play. I think those backs are special, I really do.

COACH CARR: I don't know about that. I coached in the MAC. My first coaching college experience was many years ago. I think even then it was a much smaller league. I think what has happened is that they've expanded. But they've made great -- you know, from a financial standpoint, I think they've really committed themselves to facilities and to coaching salaries and upgrading their programs. But I think the Mid-America Conference was always a breeding ground for outstanding coaches. If you look back through history, there's always been a lot of upsets or so-called upsets against so-called better opponents. I don't think they've changed. I think certainly today they get much more publicity because of the technology available out there.

COACH CARR: Well, yeah. I think that's been a major factor.

COACH CARR: McClintock has been around for a long time. He has a lot of experience. David Harris has had a lot of experience from the standpoint that he's been in this program and he's played extremely well. He's been hurt with some injuries. I think Prescott Burgess, there's no question in my mind that he's going to be an outstanding linebacker. He's 240 plus pounds. He can run. He's tough. I think he's had an absolutely great fall. I think he's going to be one of those guys that, as he gets into it, will develop into an outstanding linebacker.

COACH CARR: Well, we're competing at fullback. Brian Thompson has had an excellent fall. He's come back from a tough injury. He's fought through the discomfort that initially you're going to go through when you come back from that type of an injury. Will Paul has really progressed. I think he's going to play an increasingly important role as we go. I think Obi Oluigbo does a lot of good things in there. I really like our fullback position. I think those guys have competed. I think the competition's made all of them better.

COACH CARR: Zoltan has competed well. I think Ross Ryan has had to this point an outstanding fall. Of course, Mark Spencer. They've all competed well. I think we'll watch them in practice and see where we go.

COACH CARR: I think Will Johnson has competed extremely well. I think the competition at that nose guard position was very intense. Will had some -- he missed a few practices in there and fell behind a little bit. But Will is a powerful, strong, tough guy. He's the kind of guy -- he's a lot like Van Alstyne from the standpoint that he's a very, very intense competitor. He does the things that you want him to do. He's very coachable. He's had a very, very good fall.

COACH CARR: Well, I think it's going to be Mark Bihl or Adam Kraus, one of those two. Have we decided? Yes, one of those two (laughter).

COACH CARR: I think with the injury situation, and Rueben has played guard, he's played tackle. With the fact that Bihl and Kraus both played very well, if we had some type of an injury, Rueben certainly could go back to center. But morning anything, it's necessitated I think by our depth there.

COACH CARR: Well, we knew going into the spring, of course, that he would miss. But he played very well last fall. It was obvious that, you know, he'd gotten bigger. I think in the summer he's increased his strength, as has Mark Bihl. I think this has really been a very good competition. I think it's a very, very close call. But I have confidence in both of them.

COACH CARR: I think all of our thoughts and prayers are with all of those people down there. It can't be anything but tragic. Adam's family evacuated I think the day before yesterday. Went up to Jackson, Mississippi. LaTerryal's family I think is far enough away that they didn't have to leave. Yeah, that's a horrible thing.

COACH CARR: Well, I think you want him back there every opportunity you can and yet Adrian Arrington I think I mentioned last week has had a great fall. I think Arrington has the ability to be an outstanding kick returner. What you hope to do is be able to get a young guy some opportunities back there because it prepares him if he needs to become the starter and the guy that carries the load. But I like both of them. I think obviously Breaston is a dangerous guy. He's proven that.

COACH CARR: Pierre has had a very good fall. I think he's playing like he did a couple of years ago. I think he's been healthy all fall, which has always been a problem. And I think he is -- he's been around. From an experience standpoint, he gives us some flexibility. As if we had a problem with the Sam linebacker, I think he's very capable of helping us there. And Shawn Crable is working. We'll just have to see. When he gets an opportunity in there, I'm hoping he will perform like I think he can.

COACH CARR: Well, I think he's had an outstanding fall. He's throwing the football I think better than he did -- better than he has since he's been here. And, of course, he's a great competitor. We just have to see how we go here. But I think any time you get an opportunity to play Matt, I think it's something I'm going to look for. Certainly I hope that it will happen.

COACH CARR: Well, I think he's much more comfortable. I think playing in the secondary, and for that matter particularly in the line backing core, because of the unbelievable number of formations, there's a tremendous stress on a guy mentally to just get lined up. There's so many shifts and so many motions. All of those impact the checking, the coverage from one coverage to another. That means different assignments for all of those people. It's a very, very complex issue. I think that's one of the reasons you see so many big plays, because the defenses are presented the problems of not only being more spread out today. There's a much greater demand on getting lined up than there was 20 years ago. 20 years ago when you lined up to play in this conference, almost every conference team had two backs in the backfield, a tight end and two wide receivers. A lot of times you had two tight ends and one wide receiver. Nobody flanked the back out. It was pretty simple. Well, it isn't that way any more, so that's why when you see young secondary backs play, you're going to expect some mistakes because it's very complicated.

COACH CARR: Well, he's smart and he's a good hitter, he's a good tackler. He's a guy that takes great pride in the way he plays. And he is a guy that's capable of making all the checks. So I think Brandent Englemon has a chance to be a very fine football player here.

COACH CARR: Well, Steno is Steno. The thing about Stenavich and I think Matt Lentz falls into that category, they're two guys that are extremely consistent. They both take great pride in the way they play the game. I think they're both very, very smart players. They're both very competitive. You know, they're the kind of guys that it's easy to take for granted because they're always consistent and you can always depend on them to compete, play hard.

COACH CARR: Well, I like -- we've got five guys that are listed, don't we? I like 'em all. I like 'em all. I think Jerome Jackson has had an excellent fall. Alijah Bradley is a change-of-pace kind of guy that can do some things. Of course, Max Martin is a different type of back than either Kevin or Michael. I really like where we are at tailback. I think all of those guys have a role on this team.

COACH CARR: Uh-huh. It's a long season. An old coach told me one time, "You never, never have enough backs." Now, I would hope five's enough. We'll see.

COACH CARR: Well, that's unusual. That's why when you look at the kind of season Mike Hart had, particularly in view of the fact he just walked in here and had not been a part of our strength and conditioning program, except for a few weeks in the summertime, what he was able to do I think is remarkable.

COACH CARR: Well, Logan, of course, we tried to recruit his brother John, who went to the University of Kentucky. Great family. Brandon chose to come to Michigan. He's a guy that can really run. He's got wonderful athletic ability. I think at some point here he could factor in. It depends again on how quickly and how he -- how well he continues to learn and improve as we go. But I think there's a good chance that he'll play and certainly he could factor in I think extremely well on our special teams.

COACH CARR: Well, I think one of the things, it will be interesting to see, you know, what the temperature is down there on Saturday. It's a 3:30 game. Sometimes you play those 3:30 games, it cools down a little bit as you get later on in the afternoon. But I think any time you go into a game this early, the heat and the weather can factor into the way you rotate players at any position.

COACH CARR: Well, I think both. I think, you know, he's a very bright guy. He will hit you and he can run. So I think probably more than anything that move was made when Ryan had some problems early. So we did it with the idea in mind that we would be able to help ourselves depth-wise if Ryan couldn't come back.

COACH CARR: What, that Braylon isn't here (laughter)?

COACH CARR: Well, I think the very basic premise of our offense is get the ball to guys who can do something with it. Get the ball, spread it around. Depending on how the defense plays, I think the defense dictates to a great extent who's going to get the football. They put eight guys up there. Nine guys will run. Somebody out side's going to get the football or you're going to throw it. If there's seven guys in there, you're going to run it. I think from a number's standpoint, it may work out to be more balanced. But I think the main thing is the win.

COACH CARR: Well, I think -- he's not in the same world that he was a year ago. I mean, just getting the signals. We had some issues in early games particularly where we didn't get into the right play, we didn't get into the right formation, we didn't get into the right check all because of his youth. That's not going to be a problem right now. I mean, we're not going to have to worry about just getting up to the line of scrimmage and getting the ball snapped before the 25-second clock expires. I mean, this is a complicated game from that standpoint at that position, at least on our offense. I can assure you, and I would say the same thing, I have said the same thing about Mike Hart, I would say that about Chad Henne, they're both much more confident, much more comfortable. By the same token, there's more pressure because everybody expects more. But both of them have had a great attitude, a great approach, and I think they'll equip themselves very well.

COACH CARR: Well, you should know I don't talk about the past. I mean, you know, I think obviously any time -- an old coach once said, "For every freshman you play, you lose a game." Of course, he said that before the limitation on scholarships went in. But any time a young player plays, there's going to be mistakes. I mean, you have to accept that. Now, what you try to do is put him in positions where you control certain things the way you call defenses or the way you call plays. It is a challenge. You know, hopefully we're the kind of -- we have the kind of team where we accept whoever is out there as a guy that's going to be doing his best. Our expectations are based on where he is at this particular time, not on his high school reputation that he's an All-American, he's an All-World athlete. That's for other people to think about. And that's where the pressure comes on because sometimes the expectations are far too high, particularly when players are young. Yeah, it's a challenge. Of course, that's a challenge for our coaches as well.

COACH CARR: Well, most of the time when I see them, their shoulder pads are on or they're dressed. I'll have to check and see if there's any chips on those shoulders. You know, I think obviously when you have had -- when you're part of a unit that has had as much criticism as the defense has had, I think it's a motivating factor. But what I look at is the way they've worked, the way they've trained and the way they've practiced. I think we're much stronger up front than we were a year ago, and I think that was one of the problems, one of the big problems. We're stronger, we're bigger, we have better depth. So I think that is going to make a difference. Now, we have to see. It all comes back to how we perform on any given Saturday.

COACH CARR: I think any time a guy's coming off an injury, you wonder. Those injuries, you know, it sounds simple. You get surgery, you rehab, you come back and play. But it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes there's complications. Sometimes a guy, you know, if he's had injuries before, you know, it's frustrating. Maybe his determination is not the same. But Leo has paid the price. I mean, if you look back at his career, he had surgery before he ever took the field here because of a high school injury. Then a year ago he gets a chance after four years to get in the starting lineup. Shortly thereafter, he gets another major injury. Then he had some complications this spring. I know one thing: he wants to play. It's important to him. You know, I hope he can have a year where he's healthy.

COACH CARR: Well, it can mean anything from -- it's been a long time since I got my medical degree, so I'm a little rusty. All I can tell you is what I've already told you. It's going to be a significant amount of time. I'm not going to get into any time frame because really it will depend on what the doctor or the doctors see when they get in there, what they have to do, then how well he responds to his rehab.

COACH CARR: Well, I've already said, I don't -- I can't tell you. I think he'll be back. But I can't -- I'm not going to go any further. I mean...

COACH CARR: He's going to look. You know, you can't always tell in the pictures. Have to see. Great to be with you.