Threet and Sheridan set to receive most of the repetitions, and Feagin, a freshman, is in mix, too.
Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, preparing for his first season, addressed wide-ranging topics during his first Big Ten kickoff last week in Chicago. Here are some questions with him:
Q . How will you structure the quarterbacks competition in preseason camp? How will incoming freshman Justin Feagin work in there?
A . Steve (Threet) and Nick (Sheridan) will get the majority of the reps, but Justin, as much as he can handle mentally, we'll throw him in there. In the beginning of camp we rep three groups -- first group, second group and a third group.
As the camp progresses, into the second week, you're just doing a first and second group, so really they've got to make their mark, so to speak, in the first two weeks. As coaches, we have it actually almost all scripted out already, reps-wise.
Q . How much of a wild card is tailback Carlos Brown?
A . He missed so much of spring when he sliced his finger, so there's so many unknowns with us. Somebody asked me the question, 'How many guys will actually touch the ball as a quarterback?' Good question.
We'll have to figure that out in August. It could be pretty interesting, this year anyway. (A ballpark guess?) Over and under, 20. It's going to be fun. Again, we've got to be creative, more so now than maybe in the future.
Q . You've got a group that you call "Apostles" voted by the players. How long have you done that, and what are their roles?
A . Since I was at West Virginia, and I had a version of it, too, when I was at Glenville State. I've always had a group of leaders that I've let the players pick, and we have a lot of fun with it. Sometimes it's as simple as picking pregame music, that kind of thing. It's not like we're making major decisions. They're not saying, 'All right coach, we're going to run the wishbone this week.' They're making suggestions, not decisions. It's not in Biblical nature. The definition of apostle is one who leads a new way. I'm not looking for them to change the world. That's a description of it, and I thought it fit what they do. I don't want anybody to take it the wrong way.
Q . Freshman receiver Darryl Stonum enrolled early. How will that help him?
A . I think he's five months ahead of (the freshmen), because he got here five months ahead of them. A lot of guys are doing that, getting enrolled early because of that reason. Darryl Stonum's chances of playing are better now because he enrolled early, but we never force a guy or tell a guy to do that. If they choose to come out early, and we want them there, that would be a great thing.
Q . What's one question you would like answered during camp?
A . More than anything for them, from what I've seen and from what I've heard they've done this summer is to maintain that hungry attitude to prove themselves. It's a little easier for us because a lot of guys haven't played, and they have a chance and people are writing them off. That's what I'm anxious to see.
Q . Are you using an us-against-them approach?
A . We've got talented players. We've just got a lot of guys who haven't played. We lost a lot of veterans, a lot of experience. Lloyd (Carr) and his staff did a great job in recruiting. It's not like they haven't been coached or trained. This year is the most difficult year, because they're learning different terminology. There's a huge learning curve this year that won't be there in the future. As far as conceding anything, we're not going to. We like winning too much to try not to win them all right now.
Q . Will the rules change involving the 40-second clock affect your offense?
A . I think it will have a little bit of an effect. The pace of the game will move a little quicker, and that was the intent. I do think it will quicken the pace a little bit. I don't know (if it will be an advantage for Michigan). We try to be quicker paced anyway. I don't think it will affect us much differently.
Q . You have six tight ends on this roster, but you never threw to the tight end (at West Virginia).
A . Ah, not true. We threw to Owen Schmitt last year. He's listed as a fullback, but he played tight end. This is the most talented group of tight ends I've ever had as a collection in maybe my whole career. Those guys have the ability we can do some different things with them.
Q . What will you use for practice fields in light of the Michigan Stadium construction?
A . We've got a new outdoor turf field just built this summer, and then we'll have a 70-yard grass field. So we'll have a field and a half. We're going to be limited on where we can go in the stadium. I'd like to go in there maybe once a week, later in the week, but I'm not sure we can do that because of all the construction.
Q . How will you structure the quarterbacks competition in preseason camp? How will incoming freshman Justin Feagin work in there?
A . Steve (Threet) and Nick (Sheridan) will get the majority of the reps, but Justin, as much as he can handle mentally, we'll throw him in there. In the beginning of camp we rep three groups -- first group, second group and a third group.
As the camp progresses, into the second week, you're just doing a first and second group, so really they've got to make their mark, so to speak, in the first two weeks. As coaches, we have it actually almost all scripted out already, reps-wise.
Q . How much of a wild card is tailback Carlos Brown?
A . He missed so much of spring when he sliced his finger, so there's so many unknowns with us. Somebody asked me the question, 'How many guys will actually touch the ball as a quarterback?' Good question.
We'll have to figure that out in August. It could be pretty interesting, this year anyway. (A ballpark guess?) Over and under, 20. It's going to be fun. Again, we've got to be creative, more so now than maybe in the future.
Q . You've got a group that you call "Apostles" voted by the players. How long have you done that, and what are their roles?
A . Since I was at West Virginia, and I had a version of it, too, when I was at Glenville State. I've always had a group of leaders that I've let the players pick, and we have a lot of fun with it. Sometimes it's as simple as picking pregame music, that kind of thing. It's not like we're making major decisions. They're not saying, 'All right coach, we're going to run the wishbone this week.' They're making suggestions, not decisions. It's not in Biblical nature. The definition of apostle is one who leads a new way. I'm not looking for them to change the world. That's a description of it, and I thought it fit what they do. I don't want anybody to take it the wrong way.
Q . Freshman receiver Darryl Stonum enrolled early. How will that help him?
A . I think he's five months ahead of (the freshmen), because he got here five months ahead of them. A lot of guys are doing that, getting enrolled early because of that reason. Darryl Stonum's chances of playing are better now because he enrolled early, but we never force a guy or tell a guy to do that. If they choose to come out early, and we want them there, that would be a great thing.
Q . What's one question you would like answered during camp?
A . More than anything for them, from what I've seen and from what I've heard they've done this summer is to maintain that hungry attitude to prove themselves. It's a little easier for us because a lot of guys haven't played, and they have a chance and people are writing them off. That's what I'm anxious to see.
Q . Are you using an us-against-them approach?
A . We've got talented players. We've just got a lot of guys who haven't played. We lost a lot of veterans, a lot of experience. Lloyd (Carr) and his staff did a great job in recruiting. It's not like they haven't been coached or trained. This year is the most difficult year, because they're learning different terminology. There's a huge learning curve this year that won't be there in the future. As far as conceding anything, we're not going to. We like winning too much to try not to win them all right now.
Q . Will the rules change involving the 40-second clock affect your offense?
A . I think it will have a little bit of an effect. The pace of the game will move a little quicker, and that was the intent. I do think it will quicken the pace a little bit. I don't know (if it will be an advantage for Michigan). We try to be quicker paced anyway. I don't think it will affect us much differently.
Q . You have six tight ends on this roster, but you never threw to the tight end (at West Virginia).
A . Ah, not true. We threw to Owen Schmitt last year. He's listed as a fullback, but he played tight end. This is the most talented group of tight ends I've ever had as a collection in maybe my whole career. Those guys have the ability we can do some different things with them.
Q . What will you use for practice fields in light of the Michigan Stadium construction?
A . We've got a new outdoor turf field just built this summer, and then we'll have a 70-yard grass field. So we'll have a field and a half. We're going to be limited on where we can go in the stadium. I'd like to go in there maybe once a week, later in the week, but I'm not sure we can do that because of all the construction.
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