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CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: FLORIDA STATE VS MICHIGAN

December 27, 2016

Tim Drevno

Miami Gardens, Florida

Q. This is Wilton's second season already.
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, he could be outstanding. There's always kinds of things he can improve on. He knows them. We've talked about them. Every day you've got to go out and get better at something, and he's done that. He does a nice job.

Q. How different are you as an offense when he's healthy and throwing the deep ball well?
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, outstanding any time. You can't just be one dimensional. You've got to be able to throw it and run it and take what the defense gives you. Any time Wilton has played at a high level we've been successful, and everyone has to play well to be successful on offense, it can't just be one guy.

Q. Has he looked differently than he did in August?
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, just being named the starter and getting those reps under him and getting confidence and guys believing in him and him believing in guys, and when you start to have success, the winning just breeds that confidence. Really does well for the football team.

Q. How big of a challenge is it going to be -- you're losing three fifth-year seniors.
TIM DREVNO: Yeah.

Q. What kind of challenge is that going to be starting Saturday, I guess, or next month?
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, that started weeks ago, and understanding that three guys are graduating. I mean, every day is a challenge. It's not easy to play in the offensive line. It's a formed habit, and just -- I love the challenge. I love the rebuild, I love to put a new line out there, and I embrace it.

Q. You've worked with a lot of young guys before. Do you tell the young guys now this is a chance --
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, every day is an opportunity to get better, and they understand it. You don't really have to say much to them. They understand that the three guys are graduating, and it's time for them to step up, and next man up.

Q. How do you turn a lineup of three fifth-year seniors --
TIM DREVNO: One is willingness to get better and it's about work, you just outwork people and make football very, very important, that you want to be at the top of your craft and produce at a high level and be a student of the game. Really embrace it, embrace what we're coaching, teaching, and then when you step on the field that you're doing those techniques at a high level, that you can see that you're getting better.

Q. Do you feel like the depth with scholarship bodies is there? Do you feel like that's getting there?
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, you can't get enough big bodies. That's something that you want, big bodies on your football team. Our depth is getting there, absolutely. We've been here two years, and it'll just keep getting better.

Q. Are you going to have to arm wrestle somebody to keep --
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, but whatever is best for the team. He's an offensive lineman now, but Coach Harbaugh makes that final decision. He's the head football coach, but I love him there at the guard. He's a big earth-moving guy.

Q. We see Khalid Hill just kinds of pounds the ball. Is he an underrated athlete?
TIM DREVNO: Khalid Hill has unbelievable initial quickness. You see him take that ball and on those dives, he's just got great initial quickness. Very athletic, very light on his feet. He's got a really natural ability to carry the ball, that first two steps or so quick that I think helps propel him into the end zone.

Q. The guys have been saying that they're treating this very much like it's -- not a job but they try to treat it as professionally as possible. Do you feel like you guys had to earn that trust from them to get the guys to work that hard in a situation like this? How did that come around to getting all those guys getting bought into that mentality?
TIM DREVNO: I think when we first came here day one it was like, we're going to work to get better at our craft, and they just kind of understand what we need to do to be successful, and as we go, they've bought into what we're doing, the success, and they trust us and we trust them, and it's companionship. These young men on this football team, they're great young men who want to work and be better. They're team guys. You don't find guys that are just about me. It's about the team.

Q. (Inaudible.)
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, Kareem is really hitting the hole well. He's using his vision. He's getting north and south. He's making some nice cuts out there. He's really getting a good feel. Exciting to see Kareem do that.

Q. Talk about the way he's finished the season.
TIM DREVNO: I always knew Kareem had it in there. It's just a process. Everybody has different processes when they come to college. It just moves faster. It takes time to settle in, and he's the guy that we think he is. He's going to produce at a high level here at Michigan. Our strength program has done well with him, so it's exciting to see what his future holds.

Q. During the year you guys would line up in wacky formations. How much fun is it with this group?
TIM DREVNO: It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. I think that these guys can obtain a lot of football and process quickly, and I think it's always neat when you do things like that, it keeps people engaged. It doesn't get boring, makes you have an edge, and it's part of the game plan that guys get excited about, you know? It's not just do something different.

Q. What do you think Wilton's ceiling is?
TIM DREVNO: Very high. Very high.

Q. Where is he now?
TIM DREVNO: He's right on task. He's right where he needs to be, and he'll keep getting better, but his ceiling is very high. He's a very talented football player, and what makes Wilton is that there's guys that are very talented out there, but there's guys that maybe lack the attentiveness, the maturity level that you're looking for, and he's got that maturity level that I've seen at the National Football League that guys produce at a high level. They'll have successful, successful careers because they do the right thing off the field and then do the right thing on the field, and they're intelligent.

Q. The fact that Wilton is playing through some stuff, not that you want that, but does that show you something?
TIM DREVNO: Yeah, I think just that he's a competitor. He's a tough guy. It's important for him to produce at a high level in the first team. That's special.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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