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EspañolKoy Detmer Jr. has quarterbacking in his veins. Not only was he a signal caller for BYU (he was on the Cougars when they visited Ann Arbor in 2015, Jim Harbaugh's first season), but he's the son of NFL QB Koy Detmer and nephew of standout NFL QB Ty Detmer, as well.
Thus, when it was time for him to hang up the cleats, he started putting that knowledge forward by coaching the position.
Now Detmer is overseeing the quarterbacks in Ann Arbor, having followed offensive coordinator Jason Beck first from New Mexico to Utah, and then from Utah to Michigan. Speaking with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast, Detmer delved into his background and his coaching philosophy, what he looks for in the position, and how he tries to mold his players into the best version of who they are -- not just who he wants them to be.
"I'm football through and through," Detmer said. "I've grown up around it my whole entire life with my dad playing, my uncle playing, and then my grandfather being a longtime high school head coach. And being around that game for so long, I'm so passionate about, obviously, the game of football, but developing young men and watching them grow.
"I always believe that these are the most important years of their life, because they're gonna affect the next 30 to 40 years. And so from the quarterback position, they got to be themselves, and I try to put some of my twists and deals and things like that on them. But they got to be who they are. There's a reason why they've been so successful to get to this point, and so I don't want to sit there and try to change who they are. Let's just try to kind of tweak and fix certain things that maybe can help us be better. And so when it comes down to developing the quarterback position, really being who they are, and then kind of my taste and what I've kind of been around."
What does the best version of themselves look like, though? And how do they get there?
For Detmer, it isn't just about leaning harder into your talent. It's quite the opposite, actually. It's more about striving and performing off the field, doing all of the extra little things, building up a mixture of callousness and toughness, in order to be both prepared as well as a leader that others can look up to.
"You got to put in the extra time, you got to put in the extra work, and finding more time than what is asked of you to do extra study and extra film study," Detmer said. "Extra training in the weight room, extra training with your guys on your team that you're gonna play with in the fall I think is huge. Something that I always talk about with our guys is that you got to be the toughest individual on the team, and that doesn't always be mean being some meathead muscle dude. But when those guys look at you and they see you out there on the field, and you're getting hit, and you're popping right back up -- man, that says a lot.
"So being the most, the toughest both physically and mentally is important as a non-negotiable, really, for us in the quarterback room. And then just training your tail off every single day when you walk through those double doors, and you go into that weight room, you're training your tail off and giving everything you got. Not just for yourself, but for every single guy in that room. And so those are some non-negotiable kind of habits that I try to instill in our guys."
While Bryce Underwood will remain the starter, the room has been completely overhauled this offseason, with Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Colin Hurley, and true freshmen Brady Smigiel and Tommy Carr all joining the squad this offseason. We'll get a chance to see them in action on April 18 when Michigan football hosts the annual spring game at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan QB coach Koy Detmer Jr. on developing players