The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 13 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Greg Frey began his second coaching stint with Michigan after coming from Indiana in the offseason. He's handling the Wolverines tackles and tight ends, and knows Michigan's offense will be much different than the one he worked in at Bloomington. One thing hasn't changed, and he knows it. There will still be difficult points in the season, especially a season in the Big Ten. That holds true across the board. That's why he and Michigan offensive co- ordinator/line coach Tim Drevno are trying to build as much depth as possible up front for the Wolverines. Michigan saw Mackey Award-winning tight end Jake Butt get drafted by the Denver Broncos, along with having three offensive linemen — Erik Magnuson, Kyle Kalis and Ben Braden — sign free agent contracts with NFL squads. Michigan is plugging holes and bringing people along, Frey noted, but it has to go well beyond finding five starters, along with a tight end. "Adversity is going to hit," Frey noted. "It's a physical game. Injuries are going to happen. You've got to be ready. You're never going to start with five guys on the offensive line and one tight end and play the whole year. "A thousand snaps in the Big Ten is hard. Your guys have got to be ready, and you've got to have multiple guys ready. What you're try- ing to do in spring ball is lay the foundation, the fundamentals, the toughness, the competi- tiveness. You're seeing how the winter work- outs helped them get quicker, stronger, faster. "Then you re-evaluate at the end of spring, and you start a summer plan. You re-evalu- ate after two-a-days and start a season plan. You're always planning on how you're build- ing that group, the five O-linemen. It's a con- stant, evolving plan." Frey won't concede anything, despite the personnel churn up front. "Any time you're replacing players, you'll get better at some things and worse at other things," he said. "What the spring and summer is about is figuring out what that is. "Where are we going to be better? Maybe we're more athletic. Maybe we're a little less experienced. Maybe we're stronger. Maybe we're quicker, maybe we're not. I don't know. What this is, is figuring out what are our tal- ents, how are our guys? "How are they developing, how are they attacking, and how do we help them do it? That's really what it's about." Frey stressed he's focused on the future, not what any of U-M's linemen have done in the past. "I would say to them, 'Hey, I have a golden rule I try to teach my kids. Treat people the way you want to be treated.' My thing is this, our relationship is our relationship," he said. "It's been different in years past with other players and it will be different in the future with other players. But for us, in the here and now, it's about our relationship and where we're trying to get to. "That's how I encourage them." Frey has repeatedly expressed excitement about being in the "think tank" now featured inside Schembechler Hall. He was blown away by Michigan's trip to Rome and can't wait to keep moving forward in a program under Jim Harbaugh. "We want to be great on the field," he said. "We want to represent Michigan in a certain way. In that way, we want them to have en- ergy, enthusiasm, effort, and we want them to understand that this is their team." The coaches will bring it as well, he as- sured. "You coach the heck out of it," he said. "You just get after it. Every day is a new day, a new opportunity. What do we want the stan- dard to be? "Coach Harbaugh is the head coach. I do it his way. What's great about him, though, is he's open to hear any suggestion. If he likes it, we do it. It's that round table, melting pot of football. You're in a think tank, and it's been awesome." —John Borton Greg Frey spent the last six years coaching the offensive line at Indiana — and held various titles such as assistant head coach (2016), co- offensive coordinator (2014-15) and run game coordinator (2012-13) — but also spent from 2008-10 at Michigan under Rich Rodriguez. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Greg Frey: Toughness Matters In The Big Ten