Any assistant coach on the Michigan football staff will tell you there’s no experience quite like working for Jim Harbaugh.
Plenty of oddities separate Harbaugh from the rest — his expressions, his tough attitude, his competitive antics — but a notable one is that he holds a draft to select teams for the Spring Game.
Michigan’s draft, held Saturday, helped solidify some of the strengths and weaknesses of the team. While offensive coordinator Tim Drevno and defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin were hesitant to elaborate ahead of this Saturday’s Spring Game, they did talk about drafting a team for the first time since they last worked on Harbaugh’s staff at Stanford in 2010 and 2009, respectively.
“It’s great experience,” Drevno said. “It’s something that we’ve done in the past with Coach Harbaugh. You go through the roster, and you pick out your strengths and weaknesses, and you pick out your positions. You’re strategizing as the draft goes on because you have to fill those positions to make sure you don’t lose out on somebody. … It really makes you a better coach because you have to fill a team and build your strengths.”
The two wouldn’t give specifics on the players they picked, but Durkin said he had an idea of some of the top players on his defense are as he closes spring camp.
“We’ve got a much better sense now than a month or two ago,” Durkin said. “It’ll give us a good starting ground for (fall) camp. We’ll (go back) through it in camp. One of the best things in practice is to keep it competitive.”
Neither coordinator has been shy in his career about shaking things up and starting new, younger players.
Drevno hasn’t been an offensive coordinator since 2006 at San Diego, but as the offensive line coach at Southern California last season, he started two true freshmen all year and a third late in the season because of an injury. This year, he has a stable of linemen to rotate during spring.
Durkin had a solid, experienced defense at Florida last season, but he started two freshmen and two sophomores toward the end of the 2013 season, his first year as defensive coordinator for the Gators.
Durkin has most of his defense returning this year, but he gave some early names to look for at defensive end, where Michigan lost both 2014 starters, Frank Clark and Brennen Beyer. Durkin mentioned senior Chris Wormley, senior Royce Jenkins-Stone, junior Maurice Hurst Jr. and sophomore Lawrence Marshall, the latter of whom has made tremendous strides this spring.
“He’s a young guy, he’s a freshman — first two practices, it looked like he could barely line up,” Durkin said. “Now he’s out there and he’s playing really well for us. We expect him to help us.”
Durkin specializes in coaching linebackers, who are his most experienced group of players.
“Joe Bolden, who’s played a lot of football here, he’s had a really good spring,” Durkin said. “I like his toughness. I like his leadership. (Desmond) Morgan is the same way. Those two are pretty much the same type of guy there for us.”
And then there’s the secondary, which holds the one true wild card: top 2014 recruit Jabrill Peppers, now a redshirt freshman.
“The guy loves football,” Durkin said. “He’s intelligent off the field. He’s very intelligent on the field as well. I’m not surprised at all. He works really hard at it. He’s got a great attitude every day.”
Durkin added that he’d feel comfortable throwing Peppers anywhere in the starting secondary, just as he has with young players in the past.
“Freshman, true freshman, that doesn’t matter to me,” Durkin said. “A guy’s either ready or he’s not. That’s been my experience and my track record. We’ve played a lot of young guys.”