Michigan's Stevie Brown gets up off the turf after picking off a pass from Michigan State University quarterback Kirk Cousins on the opening drive of Saturday afternoon.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Safety has been Michigan’s biggest problem on defense this year. Stevie Brown moved from safety to linebacker last offseason, and Troy Woolfolk from safety to cornerback this fall.
Any regrets about the position changes?
"No," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. “We talked about Woolfolk quite a bit. We had some, I don’t want to say issues, but we had some concerns at corner and so it was kind of like, ‘OK, which way do we go and where are getting attacked at?’ So I think that move has been pretty good.
“And even with Stevie’s move, now with the type of offenses we play all the time in a sense he’s playing kind of a nickel safety position anyway.”
Brown plays strong-side linebacker and is often responsible for covering a receiver or tight end in obvious passing downs.
Woolfolk started the first five games at strong safety before moving to right cornerback to replace Boubacar Cissoko, who was dismissed from the team. Walk-on Jordan Kovacs and redshirt sophomore Mike Williams have started the second half of the season at safety, though Williams was benched last week as Michigan unveiled a 4-4 defense with Brandon Smith as the extra linebacker.
Brown, one of two senior starters on defense, said he hasn’t considered the what-ifs of his position change.
“I feel like the role that I’ve taken on at this new position switch has been good for this defense, has been good for the team,” he said. “I’m not going to question if I should be back at safety because there’s been a lot of plays that I made from this position.”
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
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