What Michigan coaches said this week about Minnesota

The Michigan Wolverines take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor and the coaching staff has had a few opportunities this week to speak publicly about the opponent heading to town this week.

Here’s a recap of what U-M head coach Sherrone Moore and a handful of assistants had to say about the Gophers.

Head coach Sherrone Moore (Inside Michigan Football)

Coach Fleck always runs a disciplined, tough physical program. So the running backs really good. They got two of them. They got to transfer Marcus majors and then Darius Taylor, the kid that’s been there. Both of those guys are really good players. The offensive line is big, huge, but they got to transfer quarterback. They’ve always got some receivers somewhere that are going to make some plays, but you know, upfront, I know they really want to run the football and they do a really good job there defensively. They’re going to be a open show quarters team, play some man. They’ve changed up a little bit cause they got a new coordinator, but definitely a team that’s going to play with all out effort and physicality.

Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale

Martindale weighs in on Michigan tape from last year’s win at Minnesota

Oh yeah, you study that. You’re going to see the difference. They have a lot of returners on offense. That’s a really good tape for you to study too. They had some success running the ball against us. Like I said, they run the ball well.

Offensive line coach Grant Newsome

On if Iowa’s blueprint against Minnesota is sustainable for Michigan

“In terms of identity, our identity is winning football games. And I think that we’re all in alignment that we’re going to do whatever it takes to win the football game. Obviously that game, it was, let’s keep the ball on the ground and keep turning away yards. No different than it was in Penn State in 23, even when JJ was back there. So, I don’t think it’s a reflection on we don’t want to pass the football or we can’t pass the football. It’s what that game called for. And at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. That’s what we’re about as an offensive staff, and Coach Campbell leading us is scoring one more point and winning the game. And we have confidence that, when it came down to it in that last drive, no matter what it took, we were going to be able to get the job done.

On Iowa rushing for 276 yards against Minnesota

“They’re a good team. [Defensive coordinator] Corey [Hetherman] does a great job coaching those guys. A lot of pressure, a lot of movement. I mean, they’re going to challenge you, not only just in terms of physicality, but also scheme. Obviously, it’s a good scheme. It’s a scheme that they’re familiar with in that building, even having a new play caller this year. But, obviously, Coach Hetherman’s been in the Big Ten for a little while now and has been a part of good defenses. So, it’s going to be a challenge. And there’s no one in this building who’s taking it lightly or looking at, ah, they gave up this, they gave up that. Like, they’re a good team. And it’s going to be a challenge just like last week was. And I think that that’s something that we’ve challenged the guys. And I think they’ve met that challenge of we’ve got to approach it the same every single week.“

What PJ Fleck said about Michigan

“In terms of their offense, they’re going to run the football. They did that with [former head coach] Jim Harbaugh, they’re doing that with [first-year head man] Sherrone [Moore] and they’re doing it in a lot of unique ways, especially with the quarterback change. They’re big, they’re strong. We’ve got to be able to stop the run, and we know that. Now, they’re going to have things off of that with the play-action pass when you are doing that.”

On the Michigan Stadium atmosphere

“The environment they create, we create a lot of that. You can’t hear in practice anyway. Our guys can’t hear. The Big House is not called ‘The Little House’ — it’s called The Big House for a reason. But we can’t let the circumstance dictate our behavior. You gotta be able to play anywhere in the Big Ten. We’ve been preparing for that all offseason.”