During an approximate eight-minute media session on Tuesday, following Minnesota's latest spring practice, Gophers' first-year defensive coordinator Danny Collins discussed a variety of subjects, including the development of the Gophers' secondary.

Below, you can find everything that Collins discussed during his media session.

"We have a tough, tough defense. You know, it goes back to the havoc. You know, the how, the way we attack, the way we're violent, playing together as one, and then competing. You know, that's our identity, and that's what we'll show every day. I mean, we will be judged by that. You know, the havoc that we bring every single play, and we show that, and I'm proud of the guys to keep bringing that every single day."

"Yeah, there's a collection of guys right now. I mean, we're doing everything we can to keep the reps equal. You know, you got guys like Za'Quan Bryan, who's played a lot. Guys like, you know, JB, who just got here. That's, you know, it's always hard in terms of a transition, right? But now he's, you know, getting to learn how we do things here, right? And being more comfortable with the scheme, how we do it as a program. So that's been positive.

You know, you got guys like Sam Madu. You got guys like Evan Redding, Mike Gerald that have been here, right? Rylan Kelly, I think, has taken some huge strides, you know, this spring that, you know, he's looked better than he's ever had there. So I'm really excited. Then you got a guy like, a young guy like Naiim Parish, who is always around the football, and I'm really excited to see his development."

"Yeah, you know, there's certain guys that have a knack to get to the football, and you see those guys like Antoine Winfield Jr. had that, Tyler Nubin had that, Koi Perich had that, Kerry Brown has that, Naiim Parrish has that. And as much as we can continue to find those types of guys, those are the guys that fit in this defense. And it's almost not something you coach to an extent. Yeah, there's an instinct level there, right, as a football player, right? And then there's a technique, a coaching in terms of, you know, anticipation. We always say anticipate, don't assume, right? If I'm able to take the first step in the right direction before everybody else, the angles change. And when that happens, advantage defense."

"Yeah, same thing, it goes back to the versatility deal, right? So being able to kind of put him around, you know, play him at free, play him at nickel, you know, do whatever we need to do with him because he's a special talent. You know, we have a lot of talented guys in that safety room. As much as we can continue to put all those guys in the field at the same time, once again, we're going to be pretty dangerous there."

"Yeah, you know, you got guys that have played a lot of football for us, like Jaylen Logan-Redding, Devin Eastern, you know, Anthony Smith, who I think is going to be the best, you know, one of the best defensive linemen in the Big Ten, right? And then behind that, you got to create that depth. I think it's very similar to kind of where we were at at safety this year and last year in terms of we had to create that floor, right, and lift that floor up, and I think those guys are doing an awesome job leading.

We've brought in some guys in, some transfers in that have played a lot of football now for us, you know, seven, eight practices through here, right, to continue to create that depth, create that competition, but I'm really excited for that room. That room is tighter than it's ever been, and it's fun to see those guys go to work every single day."

On the continued development of the defensive line

"There's required time, and then there's unrequired time, right, and the required time, that gets the job done, right? The unrequired time, that's your homework, right? That's what makes you a really elite player, and I think the standard that we've had here, you know, with guys that have started that, that left here, and then that passed that down to guys that are now older, like Jay Logan Redding and Anthony Smith, and now they're guiding those guys of how to watch film, how to get on the whiteboard, how to, you know, continue to keep taking that next right step, because it's never enough, right? Like, you're never going to get to that level. It's always going to keep, you know, rising and rising and rising to get to where you want to go, if you want to be great."

"Yeah, you know, it goes back to, like, the role is different, but it goes back to, I've been preparing for this, you know, for my whole life, so it's not so much of, like, drinking from a fire hose. Like, I'm going to be honest, like, when I became the safeties coach, that was a little different, because there was recruiting involved and being on the road and things like that that I hadn't done before. This is kind of like, you know, I've been training for this my whole life. I've had awesome guys before me, you know, to come before me and show me the way. So, you know, and I'm surrounded by an elite staff, you know, so without that, like, it's not about me, right? It's about everybody, and we have an elite D staff, and they make my job a lot easier, as well."

On Kerry Brown and Aidan Gousby having strong seasons last year

"Yeah, you know, same thing. It's taking the next right step. You know, I think last year, like, no one kind of, you know, knew that those guys were going to emerge like they did, right? And we did. We saw it, right? We saw what they were able to do in the spring training camp, and then you get into the season. Now it's time to take that extra step. Now it's time for the leadership, right? Now it's time to take the whole defense over, not just the safety room, not just the DBs. Let's really take control in terms of the leadership, you know, at that position."

"Yeah, I'm excited about Garrison Monroe. You know, he has had a terrific spring in terms of every single day that guy is getting better. You know, I show unit clips in the defensive room every single day from the practice before of Havoc, the how we attack, Violence 1 and Compete. That guy's on one of those clips every single time. He's a guy that just continues to do the right thing over and over and over again. He's getting better. He's covering better. He's being physical. He's confident now. He looks great. His body's great. He's in for an exciting season.

As for Jaxon Howard, same type of thing. I've been very pleased with him. The Howe is off the charts with that guy. You know, I showed a clip the other day of him getting out of the stacks and going to punch a ball out, and then in the scrimmage does the same thing, actually gets the ball out, right? So it's doing those things over and over and over again, right, creating those boring habits to create an instinct, right, elite instinct, right? And he's been doing a great job of that. I'm really excited for him to take the next step."

"Yeah, you know, a guy like Kingsbury has flashed a lot, especially, you know, I'm talking about how, you know, versatile we can be. You know, a guy like that, that you can put him in different packages. You can put him off the edge. You can put him at Sam. You can put him at Will. You can put him at Mike. He's a guy that can do everything, plays violent, you know, attacks every single play. So I'm really excited about him. He had a great last couple practices. A guy like Joey Gerlach had a great day today, right? So another guy that's continuing to take the next step. Those are the guys who, again, they watch Maverick come in as a young player, take his lumps, play, and now play at a high level. They were watching that, feeding off him, and now they’re able to do the same thing, so I’m excited about those young guys."

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