Michigan DL coach on EDGE that 'only knows one speed' and riser that's a 'cerebral assassin'
ANN ARBOR – Michigan Wolverines defensive line coach Lou Esposito took his turn at the podium on Wednesday ahead of Saturday night’s season opener vs. Fresno State (7:30 p.m., NBC) after an offseason that saw the team round out its star power and depth in a big way.
It all starts in the trenches for Michigan on defense, led by arguably the best front four in the Big Ten. Senior EDGE Josaiah Stewart appears to be one of the tone-setters there, and Esposito raved about what he brings during his Wednesday media session.
“He only knows one speed or the other. It’s either off or on,” Esposito said. “There’s nothing in the middle, whether we have pads on, whether we’re in helmets, whether it’s a walkthrough, and I appreciate that. He plays with a chip on his shoulder all the time.
“And when I say he plays with a chip, he just plays with fanatical effort. You never say, ‘hey, you gotta give better effort here.’ Whether it’s in the film room, whether it’s dealing with guys, whether it’s in the practice, he is unbelievable.”
Stewart has ramped up his physicality and athleticism this offseason after showing it in bunches last season at Michigan. Esposito sees him as a true Swiss Army knife who can do whatever is asked of him on the field.
“He has a great knack of being physical at the point of attack,” Esposito said. “He can drop into coverage. He has an unbelievable rush. And I mean, everyone remembers the game vs. Alabama last year where he just took the offensive tackle as the tenth overall pick and basically tackled the quarterback with it.”
“He has such an unbelievable knack and combination of explosiveness and power. The things that people don’t see is the mental aspect of him, which has been through the roof. And it’s awesome. It’s rubbing off on some of the young guys, which is really good.”
One of the young guys it has rubbed off on is sophomore Cameron Brandt, who is in line to be in the top-four at the EDGE position. Esposito says the second-year Michigan lineman has stood out due to his intangibles and work ethic.
“He’s like a cerebral assassin,” he said. “There’s a couple of those guys where you talk to him and you’re going to get the same face no matter what. We’ve asked him to play EDGE and we’ve asked him to play inside a little bit. He’s done everything for us. He’s done a great job. He’s very black and white, like whatever you tell him exactly to do, he’s going to do it and he does it at a high level and you’re starting to see it.
“It’s like anything else, right? Every rep you get in practices is working towards a rep in a game, but game reps aren’t the same as practice reps. So he’s just got to get game reps and I think the sky’s the limit for him because he has a combination of size, speed, he’s fluid in his hips and he does a really good job of dissecting what people do.”
Having a number of players ready to go speaks to Michigan’s pedigree of developing high IQ players, says Esposito, and it has made his first year in Ann Arbor a lot easier to transition into.
“I think the biggest thing here, me being a new coach is the football intelligence of our players is through the roof,” he said. “That’s a compliment to coaches, it’s a compliment to Coach Moore and what they’ve done. It’s been awesome for us.”
