Scottsdale, Ariz. — Fiesta Bowl media day was a throwback to the old days of covering Michigan football, when the media had an hour before the start of each season to talk to any player or coach they wanted. Those opportunities always lead to a smorgasbord of news and references. The session in Scottsdale did exactly that.
Michigan’s second-half defensive dominance has been one of the more interesting storylines this season. The Wolverines are the nation’s no. Thanks to its ability to knock on the door after 3 unit breaks. Starting with a second-half shutout eight games ago at Indiana, Michigan surrendered just 29 points, two touchdowns, and four shutouts after halftime. First-year defensive coordinator Jesse Minter crushes his teammates with halftime adjustments, so I asked him to spell out how he does it.
“I think it starts with you going into the game with a game plan to really try to stop what you saw on tape, (meaning) what the trends are,” Minter told The Michigan Insider. “Just as you try to break the trend, it’s pretty much a given that they’re going to break the trend. So you have to adjust and you have to adapt.
“For the first six minutes, roughly, we’re together. I’m just like, ‘OK bang, bang, bang… these are all problems, this is what I’m thinking. Anyone else got any ideas or suggestions?’ We’ll talk shortly after that. Then, take your position in the next five minutes and make sure they understand, ‘Hey, we’re going to change this coverage, how we play this way, or we’re going to change this front mechanic.’ Then in the last three minutes I pull them all up and repeat to make sure nothing is lost in translation.
“We have incredible assistant coaches who are able to interact with our guys, keep them calm and keep them in the moment. The most important part in my mind is really the mentality of our guys. The strength and conditioning factor with Ben Herbert is (huge). Mentally I feel better as the game goes on, but Most importantly, physically. We have our conditioning level and our mental level. I think a big factor is that we play with a lot of guys. So, because we play with a lot of guys, some of our guys are getting their 30th snap in crunch time instead of their 60th snap. We’re fresh. We are there and ready to run in the second half.
