DETROIT — Before Saturday’s practice, Central Michigan coach John Bonamego chatted with the Pioneer Press about the Gophers.
His Chippewas (7-5) will play Minnesota (5-7) in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday at Ford Field.
What’s your impression of Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys?
“I’m excited for him and the opportunity for him to lead the program. Classy guy. You can tell he’s very intelligent. I really only got to meet him that day at the press conference (on Dec. 9 in Michigan). We have some mutual friends or professional people in our backgrounds.
Anyone that has been with Coach Kill that long, I think that’s the thing that impressed me the most about Coach Kill is the continuity that he’s had with his staff. The number of guys that have been with him every step of the way. That speaks a lot. He’s obviously did a lot of things the right way, and I’m sure Tracy will use that as a blueprint as he moves on in his career.
Who are the common connections?
“The biggest one was a player that both of us had an opportunity to coach. Paul Spicer who I had the chance to coach in Jacksonville. Paul is down in Tampa right now. Spice is one of those guys that came out of Saginaw Valley when coach Kill was there. That was the first and foremost then.”
(Former Jaguars special teams coach Bonamego coached Spicer from 2000-02.
Spicer played for Kill and Claeys at Division II Saginaw Valley State in Michigan. Spicer was in undrafted free agent who played 11 season in the NFL and had 28.5 sacks and now coaches the Buccaneers D-line.)
How has Claeys’ intelligence manifested itself?
“Watching his defense, just watching how they play.”
What do they do so well?
“They run to the ball. They give you a lot of different things in the back coverage-wise that you have to contend with. I think they have made excellent use of the personnel that they have and I think that is the mark of a good coach at any level.
When scouting the Gophers, who are their top players?
“The corners (Briean Boddy-Calhoun and Eric Murray) on defense are excellent. I’ve been impressed with 12, the linebacker (Cody Poock). 96 on the D-line (Steve Richardson). Couple receivers, number 1. … KJ is an excellent player. Their punter (Peter Mortell) is impressive to me.”
As former NFL special teams coordinator (for the Jaguars, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers) …
“(Mortell) might be the best one we’ve played this year. Him and the kid from Syracuse are both really, really good, so that will be a factor in the game — field position.”
What makes Poock so good?
“His ability to key and diagnose quickly. He’s a physical downhill player. I always tell our guys is that you show every day how much you care about playing and your love for the game. It’s not something that you can manufacture. You can’t fake it; it’s either real or its not. You can just tell by watching him play that that kid really loves to play the game. That is probably the greatest compliment I could give a player.”
Chippewas quarterback Cooper Rush also stopped by for a quick chat before his practice. Rush is No. 12 in FBS with 3,703 passing yards this season.
What impresses you about the Gophers secondary?
“They work good as a group and they communicate well. They have some good athletes back there. They are sound, so we will have to execute.
What about Boddy-Calhoun and Murray makes they so good?
“You can tell they’ve played a lot and have been around. They are smart players and good athletes and that’s what makes a good corner.
(Claeys has been most impressed with how Rush distributes to so many wideouts. Five Chippewas have in excess of 500 receiving yards.)
How often are you checking down to Nos. 2, 3 and 4?
When you get back there, you have to process that stuff quickly and playing and starting for a few years has helped me do that. If you don’t like something, get to your checkdowns.
… I get to three a pretty good amount. It’s hard to get to four. By three, hopefully, someone is open.
Do you have a favorite receiver?
“Situationally, they all do some different things. (Jesse Kroll with a team-highs 59 receptions and 856 yards with four scores) is a bigger guy, so in the red zone, he’s nice. (Anthony) Rice is inside. Corey (Willis) and Mark (Chapman) are speedsters outside, so they all have their strengths. And we’ve been able to use them pretty well.”
Rush threw a NCAA record-tying seven touchdowns in the 49-48 loss to Western Kentucky in last year's Bahamas Bowl. What did that do for your credibility?
“It was good for the program. We heard a lot of things. It was good for the program to see a game like that and get our name out there a little bit.”
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