Mazi Smith discusses his leadership role on defense

Michigan’s defense is replacing a lot of production from 2021 that was lost to the NFL draft, with star edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, plus safety Dax Hill, all getting drafted in the first two rounds. But in senior defensive tackle Mazi Smith, the Wolverines bring back a proven player who will now be tasked with leading from the interior of the defensive line.

Smith, who recently topped Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks list, doesn’t feel a need to be rah-rah with his brand of leadership. In a recent interview with Joshua Perry of the Big Ten Network, Smith said he wants to set an example with how he works in practice.

“I’m a big advocate, the plays you make will speak louder than the words you say,” Smith said. “So the reps you run, the extra reps you take, that attention to detail, it all sets an example and sets a precedent for how things are supposed to be done. You don’t gotta say much, you just gotta do it.”

The Wolverine defense is trying to replace the 25 combined sacks provided by the Hutchinson-Ojabo tandem a year ago. Smith, who has no sacks in his career, and the rest of Michigan’s defensive front will have ample opportunity to show new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and the coaching staff that they, too, can come to dominate a game like Hutchinson and Ojabo did a year ago.

“Just laser focus. Understanding that the sky is the limit,” Smith said. “And those guys didn’t put a limit on themselves. Those guys decided to take what they had and run with it. Just try to be the best you. Don’t try to be like anybody else.”

And as Michigan sorts through front seven players like Mike Morris, Braiden McGregor, Kris Jenkins, Taylor Upshaw, Derrick Moore and now Eyabi Anoma in fall camp, Perry noted the Wolverines looked clean and crisp in practice.

“I mean my freshman year when I came in, it was just like that,” Smith said. “Coach Harbaugh has a really good system. He really knows what it looks like, he knows what he’s doing. And whenever we’re doing it wrong, he addresses it to get it cleaned up.”