Wow! He didn’t mince words when it came to the state of the defense before vs. now.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — You get the sense, talking to Michigan junior cornerback Vincent Gray, that there isn’t much love lost when it comes to the defensive scheme switch.
Stuck on an island the past two years — though he says that he played in man coverage his entire career to this point — the changes made to the defense with new coordinator Mike Macdonald are being embraced with open arms. Though familiarity might be comfortable, Gray insists that Macdonald and new cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale are teaching him and his teammates a lot more about being a modern defensive back.
“It’s night and day, for real,” Gray said on Tuesday night after practice. “I feel like this defense allows us to create more plays and create more plays on the ball. And that’s gonna be good for us going forward this year.
He later continued: “I’m very excited to show that I can do more than just stand in front of a guy, press him and run around with a guy. We learned a lot this offseason conceptually and it’s gonna show on Saturdays.”
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What’s more, Gray says his biggest leap this offseason has been learning more about what opposing offenses are doing. Yes, his job as a corner is to line up and run with a wide receiver, but there’s some nuance beyond that, he’s found.
“It’s more than just lining up and studying a guy’s release and just chasing one guy around the field,” Gray said. “I learned a lot about route concepts, offenses schematically, formations, what are they looking for certain down and distances, and certain areas of the field that they’re targeting. Just learning how to play different positions on the field.”
Like Gemon Green said in his fall camp media availability, Gray is excited to not be stuck in man coverage the majority of the time because it will keep opposing offenses guessing. He feels like the unit will benefit significantly from the unpredictability, but he and his group have still spent a lot of extra time tracking deep balls — in case similar methods seen a year ago rear their ugly head.
Liken Gray’s first two years to being held back in school. Once you’re promoted and challenged, that’s when you can excel.
“I played zero coverage my whole life, so coming from high school to college, originally, was the same,” Gray said. “The exact same – I didn’t really learn much new. But over this offseason, being around Coach Macdonald and Coach Clink – and even Coach Mo in the spring – we just learned so much more about what the offenses would bring to us.”
Much has been made about the culture change inside Schembechler Hall, particularly because of the new coaches. Perhaps Jim Harbaugh was onto something by bringing in assistants all 43 years old or younger because Gray says that it helps the players relate that much more to their mentors.
Which, in-kind, helps them understand what’s being asked of them.
“The youth that the coaches bring, they’re close to us in age, it’s different talking to them now,” Gray said. “It’s more of a back-and-forth conversation than just listening.”
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So when Gray heard there were wholesale changes being made to the defense, he was ready. And he knew it was going to be for the better.
“Yes, I did – I did think it was gonna be a really good change,” Gray said. “I was ready for a change schematically. I feel this is gonna prepare us more for the next level. It’s gonna allow us to compete and make plays on the ball which is what I enjoy. So, I’m excited for it.”
We’ll see what degree the defense and the secondary have improved in the new-look scheme on Sept. 4, when Michigan hosts Western Michigan for the season opener.
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