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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — At Big Ten media days, when Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh sat at his hour-long podium session, he noted the players who had locked up starting roles entering fall camp. Though they would get that opportunity to run with the ones at first, it didn’t mean that they would finish there.
So, while Gemon Green had been the sole corner to have a proverbial ‘starting job’ throughout the offseason, new defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale says hold on just a minute — that still has to be earned.
That’s not to say that Green won’t be the starter or that he hasn’t performed up to expectations. To the contrary, Clinkscale says that those in battle for positions within the secondary must continue to fight for their position on any given day. So, for now, there’s been a rotation, and along with Green, incumbent starter Vincent Gray and upstart third-year CB DJ Turner have separated themselves.
And there’s a chance they could stay locked in a three-way battle, even in the season.
“In life, nothing’s locked up,” Clinkscale said. “I tell the players all the time, if I don’t get my job done, there will be somebody here to replace me. You’ve gotta feel that pressure. So I’m rotating everybody. Get some of the young guys the opportunity to show what they can do. But those three – Gemon, DJ and Vince – have really set a rotation with each other. We’ve got a couple of other guys: George, he’s coming along – a couple other young guys. But there’s nobody, in my opinion, that is solid where they’re gonna be the guy, for sure. I feel like Gemon has done some really good things, I feel like Vincent has, DJ, as well as a couple of other guys. So I think the more we keep that where it’s a challenging situation (and) they’re always competing, I think we can elevate everybody’s game.
“And you need it. I’ve been in a conference where you can’t just play with two guys. You need two, three, four – you need guys to be able to build off it. Some games maybe are good matchups for one, maybe not the other. You continue to build off of that and put those guys in the right position. But I think what they all have done is they’ve shown me that they have the capacity to learn our defense. They have the ability to execute the things I know they can execute and I need them to execute and I’m excited about continuing to challenge them. And they’re accepting that challenge! It’s amazing – the attitudes. They take the coaching, there’s no talkback. Everybody goes down and executes anything I bring up during meetings. They go out and they fix it. I think in that aspect, I think everybody has the opportunity to show what they have.”
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We already have a pretty good idea of what Green and Gray bring to the table, but Turner is a player we’ve seen mostly only on special teams. Of what he’s seen from him specifically, Clinkscale notes: “He’s got great awareness. Physically he’s fine. He’s picking things up for us. He gives us another element, too. He’s very similar to Dax in that aspect in that he’s a guy that can play corner and nickel as well.”
Beyond that, Turner is eminently coachable, quick to learn and correct mistakes, and eager to improve on a daily basis, Clinkscale says.
“I coached a couple players that don’t make the same mistakes and DJ is one of those guys,” Clinkscale said. “He corrects himself and he challenges himself. When we were in a couple of situations, we were doing a two-minute situation, and they went after him a few times in a row, he defended the ball very well and he understood what was about to happen. He understands the situation. We just had a couple speakers in and a lot of people talk about visualizing and the mindset and the understanding and the knowledge of the game. And DJ is one of those young players, he has that as a characteristic. And I think you see it in his play in practice.
“I’m very excited about all of these young men – all the safeties, all the corners – I really am. But they all are really taking ownership and leadership. And, like DJ, they’re trying to continue to not make the same mistakes. That’s been our challenge, that’s been our goal. And he’s definitely a player that hasn’t made the same mistakes over and over.”
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