On3 Roundtable: How Michigan built a secondary that has the attention of the NFL

Michigan‘s return to the top of the Big Ten the past two seasons can be attributed to many things. But one thing the Wolverines have done to reach this elite level has been to build a secondary full of NFL talent.

Over the past two seasons, Daxton Hill and DJ Turner have both been selected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft. Players like Rod Moore, Makari Paige and Will Johnson appear to be on track to follow in those footsteps as well.

The Wolverine’s Chris Balas hopped on with On3’s Andy Staples to discuss how Michigan has done such a good job identifying and developing talent in the secondary.

“We talk about identifying talent and development and there’s no question about it,” Balas said. “You and I were talking earlier about how The Athletic went back and reranked the 2018 class, which wasn’t that highly ranked. They put him third and a lot of those guys are in the NFL or going to the NFL. A guy like Mason Graham, for example, started off as a three-star guy who was gonna go to Boise State. They saw film, decided they had to have him. He was the best defensive tackle as a freshman that I’ve ever seen at Michigan last year. That’s really a feather in their cap. You look at a guy like Rod Moore at safety. Ohio State kind of looked at him and passed on him. Two years in a row, he’s played a huge part in beating them. Nobody has ever studied film better than him.”

Steve Clinkscale was hired as the Wolverines defensive backs coach ahead of the 2021 season and was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2022.

His defense held opponents to only 55% passing and 194.2 yards in the air last season. They were fourth in the country in passing touchdowns allowed per game.

The Michigan secondary deserves their fair share of credit for that. Moore had 71 tackles and a team-high four interceptions on the year. Johnson had three picks as a freshman. Turner had 10 pass breakups.

“You were talking about RJ Moten too,” Balas said. “He couldn’t see the field last year and is expected to start at Florida. They got guys like Zeke Berry in the secondary now who are tearing it up, had a big spring game. Rod Moore. Makari Paige is a guy who was a fringe four-star guy who’s gonna be playing in the NFL. They love him back there. You still need some of those elite guys too like the Will Johnson. Will Johnson’s a five-star kid, a legacy at Michigan, at corner. They think he’s gonna be the next elite Michigan corner as a sophomore. We saw him come on last year. But still looking for one more corner to emerge. That’s really been kind of the weakness there. But they’re very confident with Steve Clinkscale back there coaching them that they’re gonna get it done.”