PASADENA, Calif. — Every year since Mo Hurst departed following the 2017 season, Michigan football coaches have discussed how they were going to improve the interior pass rush. And until this year, it was just a dream and not reality. But in Mike Elston’s second year, he pulled it off, and the interior defensive line has been dominant when it’s come to creating pressure.
So what’s changed? Why has Elston been able to get the job done where others haven’t? He shared more with WolverinesWire at Rose Bowl media day.
“Yeah, I think No. 1, Coach Minter sitting next to me here. Scheme allows for guys to let their talent show that’s No. 1, and we’re very talented inside this year,” Elston said. “We really have five guys that we lean on with Mason, Kris, Grant, Rayshaun Benny and Cam Goode. And they’re all very talented players, always a different unique skill set. And they work so well together. And so the ability to feed off each other and do certain movements that, OK, I’m gonna make you go right if you get over committed one way, which allows us to be more aggressive in a first and second down pass rush situation.
“Also, I think that the way that we study film and tendencies that we get for being able to steal some pass rushes on what most people would see as a running situation. And our guys were able to see something unique about an offensive lineman, the way the ball was being held in alignment by somebody tied into running back, to be able to pin the rear back a little bit more and create pressure.
So I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. But No. 1, the credit goes to the players who are very talented. And the edge guys, right, so the edge guys with their ability to create pressure, the guards have to spend more attention on them. And so you get more one-on-ones with a guy like Kris or Mason or Kenneth and that makes a big difference.”
There’s been a lot of talk, sometimes directly from Alabama players, about how the SEC is just a far superior conference than all the rest. The size and speed difference was evident in 2021 when the Wolverines played Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
Elston’s had experience against the SEC during his time at Notre Dame and carrying that over to Ann Arbor, he feels like the Wolverines won’t be a second-rate matchup for the Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl.
“I love the matchup, I think that I think we match up really well with the defensive line and their offensive line,” Elston said. “They’re very talented, and they’re very big, very well-coached. It’s gonna be a great challenge. But with that said, I would take our guys — I believe in our guys. We’ve matched the intensity of the the offenses that we’ve played, really the last two years. We haven’t always played the best performance, but we don’t get out-physicalled. We won’t get out-physicalled. guys take a lot of pride in that. Coach Herbert, our strength coach, we’re all involved in this and we’re very prideful of that.
“So I love the matchup. I think it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be awesome. The guys were excited about it. I don’t see us getting pushed around. There are double teams that happen. I mean, you saw it with the Georgia game. 700 pounds goes down on 320 pounds — it’s not always going to be pretty. But someone else has to step up. When there’s a double team, someone else has to step up, and pull that double team off.
“So we’ll have we’ll get moved at times on double teams, and there’ll be some displacement, but we’ve got to work our techniques. But that’s where I’m most excited to see how far we’ve come from game one to this game right here.”
Elston also told WolverinesWire more about why Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant have been such a lethal duo up front. You can watch the entire exchange below.