“Now everything's just slowed down for me, and it's just me, I can just play ball.” — Jourdan Lewis [Photo: Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]
Michigan's 2014 roster includes six proud graduates of Detroit's Cass Tech High School, including four in the secondary alone and a fifth—Royce Jenkins-Stone, Class of 2012—also on the defensive side of the ball. Remarkably, all six are making a serious push for playing time this fall. At Media Day, I caught up with every former Technician on the team save for Delano Hill, who's recovering from a broken jaw, to discuss their current roles on the team, what it's like to be surrounded by their former high school teammates, and much more.
Highlights:
The defensive backs, to a man, are excited about the new aggressive playing style, as well as the level of competition at corner.
Terry Richardson feels physically prepared to be out there after adding “a quick 12 to 15 pounds” this offseason.
Delonte Hollowell was wearing a small cast on his left hand due to an injury suffered from “practicing hard, you know?” He thinks it's just a sprain.
Royce Jenkins-Stone says Greg Mattison “critiques the little things” more with his new charges at linebacker, and the group is better for it.
David Dawson, man of mystery, does not want you to know what position he's playing.
There's competition everywhere.
Every single one lit up when talking about playing with a big group of other guys from Cass Tech—they clearly share a strong bond with their former and present teammates.
Jourdan Lewis
You made a big move in the spring. Heading into the fall, Coach Hoke talked about how you're one of the top three corners. How do you feel you've progressed since last year and what are your expectations for this season in terms of your performance?
Just be aggressive. Just play good. Just keep playing how I'm doing. Just keep the intensity up though the season, pretty much.
There's been a big emphasis on aggressiveness from the cornerbacks. How do you feel that fits in with your style of play, and what's been the biggest change since last year?
It's definitely a big emphasis on being physical, that's how all of us really like to play. Just doing that, just with how we like to play, it's really suiting us. We're actually better as a whole unit.
Because of how aggressive you guys are playing, has the level of competition been raised between the cornerbacks and the receivers right now?
It's just everybody. All of us just love to compete, and it's not even like—the competition, we don't see it [that way], we just see it as “we're gonna just lock this receiver up every chance we get.”
There's a bunch of Cass Tech guys on the team, and a lot of them are competing for time. What's it like to be surrounded by your high school teammates at Michigan?
It's amazing. It's amazing just knowing that you've got somebody who has your back through anything. It's really amazing. It brings everybody together, even the ones that didn't go to Cass Tech, it actually helps us all be together and help us be tight as a unit.
[Note: This is where I wrapped up my Q&A; I caught the audio of a couple questions for Lewis from The Wolverine's Chris Balas.]
How much more confident are you from year one to year two?
Confident? I was about the same, but being consistent and comfortable is a key, really. Right now that's all I'm really worried about, just being consistent and being comfortable in my technique in everything we do.
How much more comfortable are you knowing what you know now compared to what you knew a year ago?
It was way faster last year. Now everything's just slowed down for me, and it's just me, I can just play ball.
[Hit THE JUMP for interviews with Terry Richardson, DELONTE HOLLOWELL, Royce Jenkins-Stone, and David Dawson.]
Terry Richardson
Richardson (#13) in the Spring Game [Fuller]
You've been on campus for a few years now and it sounds like you're working your way towards being on the field. How do you feel you've progressed over the last few years?
It took a little time. It took a little bit of trying to get used to it. Just, you know, over the years, playing and practicing so much, learning more about the defense, learning more about how receivers run routes and stuff, that helped me out a lot.
I know adding weight has been big for you. How's that been going?
This year, it went well—I'm not going to lie to you, it went well. I put on a quick 12 to 15 pounds and that helped me out a lot. I can tell the difference in my play. I've got more strength, I've got more power, I've got more drive on my breaks—I'm glad that they took time on me to let me get my body ready to go.
There's been a huge emphasis this year on being more aggressive in the secondary. How do you think that's fitting your playing style and what's the biggest difference between last year and this year?
It's working out well. We're trying to have a more in-your-face style of play. We don't want to play too passively. We want to let you know that we come to play every play, every snap. It's a new style of play for us and we're getting used to it. We started out in the spring and it worked out well, now here in camp we need to focus on it just a little more. We all like it so far.
Jourdan was saying there's a lot of competition among you guys at corner. He says it's friendly, but he says it's intense, too. What's it like having to compete so hard against those guys right now, and how do you feel about the strength of the cornerbacks as a group right now?
As you know, it's not easy, but you've got to go out there and put your best foot forward every day, yet still, we are a team, so we want to make sure we all know the right checks, the right calls, the right things that need to be going. But competition is competition. It's football. It ain't golf or nothing like that, this is football. What you can do, the next man can do as well, so I like it because it's a way to always put your best foot forward, you know it brings more of your potential out. That's something we've been focusing on every day.
Is there a sense of urgency with you guys this year? With the way last year went and the emphasis on being aggressive, it sounds like they're really lighting a fire under you guys.
I wouldn't say so much they're lighting fire, they just want more from us, and we're going to give them more. We are going to play hard, and we are going to play for this team and this university. That's one thing that they have told us, so that's one thing that we've been working on throughout camp, and not just us as corners, but as a whole defense, as a whole team. We've got something to prove, and we feel like this is the year for us to do it.
Seem like about half the secondary and a fair amount of other guys came out of Cass Tech. What's it like for you guys to keep playing together at this level, and how does it help you just knowing those guys from high school?
It helps a lot. That chemistry is already there. We already know each other's strengths and each other's problems and stuff when it comes to certain packages and certain coverages, so it allows us to play more like how we used to back in high school. We feel more comfortable and we feel more free with each other out there all being on the same playing field, and that helps out a lot. This is really the first year that all of us are really out here together. In the spring, it started off pretty shaky, but now we've been playing and working all spring all summer, we've been working hard and everything's coming together now.
DELONTE HOLLOWELL
YES, I WAS TEMPTED TO TRANSCRIBE THIS INTERVIEW IN ALL CAPS [Eric Upchurch]
I've gotta ask about the hand [which was in a cast]. What happened?
Practicing hard, you know? You practice hard, things like this happen, but I'll be alright. Probably just a little sprain.
Coach Hoke mentioned you're right in the mix at cornerback right now. How do you think you're progressed from last year and where do you feel you're at right now?
I mean, I'm more mature, and I think my fundamentals have got way better since my freshman year. Every year I've progressed. We're all competing.
How have you enjoyed the increased emphasis on being more aggressive on the line and being more aggressive in general on defense?
That's always been a huge emphasis in my game. I'm a fighter, and I think that being physical is a good part about football, so I'm just taking it on.
The guys are saying there's a lot of competition at corner, and while it's friendly it's also intense. Do you feel that way?
It's a competition at every position. It's a competition every year. I've been here four years, and every year there's been competition, so nothing's changed, just gotta overcome it and the best player will play.
With yourself and it seems about half the secondary coming out of Cass Tech, what's it like to play with a bunch of your high school teammates, especially now that a lot of you guys are working towards spots on the field?
It's a great thing. It's a great thing to play at Michigan with all of these different players from different schools and everything, but being with a couple players from high school that I grew up with, there's nothing like it. It's like having your brother come up with you from little league or whatever.
Terry said that it feels a little bit like high school playing out there. Is there any similarity in the schemes that you were playing in high school compared to what you're playing now, playing more man up, playing press at the line?
There's a lot of similar schemes in every program. We all played man. We all played zone coverages. Nothing's really changed, just different techniques and stuff.
Royce Jenkins-Stone
RJS, focused on the field [Upchurch]
How do you feel fall camp has gone so far? It sounds like you're right in the mix at linebacker.