Speaker 1: Welcome back to Exits and Bros. Matt Sheppard with you
Speaker 1: and Josh preeb is getting ready for the Texas Longhorns
Speaker 1: rest of the Michigan Wolverines, and he joins us here
Speaker 1: on Exites and Bros. You as a three time academic
Speaker 1: All Big Ten selection, last year third team but a
Speaker 1: guy who started thirty games. You come to Michigan from Northwestern.
Speaker 1: How much quote unquote street cred do you have when
Speaker 1: you come into a new program with already that under
Speaker 1: your belt?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think, like, you know, the biggest thing when
Speaker 2: I first got here, I was just trying to earn
Speaker 2: the respect of all the guys.
Speaker 3: I was fortunate enough.
Speaker 2: To be able to do all spring ball and do
Speaker 2: that and earn the respect of my teammates and coaches.
Speaker 3: I think, Yeah, certainly haven't experience is great.
Speaker 2: And being able to, you know, hopefully be a mentor
Speaker 2: to some of the younger guys who don't have as
Speaker 2: much experience, but certainly always have things that I'm working
Speaker 2: on and trying to get better at.
Speaker 1: How much did it mean for you to come here
Speaker 1: after growing up in Niles and winning the state championship
Speaker 1: at Edwardsburgh.
Speaker 4: Yeah, a lot.
Speaker 2: You know, obviously understood how important uh in the tradition
Speaker 2: and legacy of of this football program, and got recruited
Speaker 2: here out of high school, really liked it, and yeah,
Speaker 2: it was just, you know, kind of a great opportunity
Speaker 2: for me when when that door opened to come over
Speaker 2: the time when I did.
Speaker 3: And I've loved to hear so far.
Speaker 1: Michigan offensive guard Josh Pre've joining us here on exus
Speaker 1: and Bros. Your offensive line coach also played here. How
Speaker 1: important is it that you have a guy like Grant
Speaker 1: Newsom who's been in your shoes to a certain extent
Speaker 1: because he was a Michigan man.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's awesome, and I think, you know, it's just
Speaker 2: great because he understands the the standard that this offensive
Speaker 2: line has to live up to, and he coaches super
Speaker 2: hard and pushes us and uh, I think he you know,
Speaker 2: he himself, you know, he wants to be the best
Speaker 2: off offensive line coach in the country and he's always
Speaker 2: looking for ways to get.
Speaker 3: Better and he's been a great mentor to all of us.
Speaker 1: You talk about the standard. This offensive line won the
Speaker 1: Joe Mora Award two years ago and three years ago.
Speaker 1: Last year as a semi finalist, if you will. How
Speaker 1: important is that for you as a collective group to
Speaker 1: keep that and uphold that standard?
Speaker 4: And obviously you guys set goals. Is that one of
Speaker 4: those goals? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Yeah, I went in Jor Mowar is certainly one
Speaker 2: of our goals. And like you said, like it has
Speaker 2: been the standard here in the past couple of years,
Speaker 2: and I think everyone on our in our offensive line
Speaker 2: room is always striving for perfection, perfection and looking for
Speaker 2: ways to get better and achieve those goals and those standards.
Speaker 1: Even though you've started thirty games more than anybody on
Speaker 1: the offensive line, were there any jitters going into the
Speaker 1: opening weekend against Fresno State for you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of jitters. There's a I mean, I
Speaker 3: haven't started a game or.
Speaker 2: Heck even gone to a practice without, you know, feeling nervous.
Speaker 2: Those are all very normal feelings and really just the
Speaker 2: biggest thing is just trying to embrace that and let
Speaker 2: that be more excitement rather than rather than nerves.
Speaker 1: I think people are fascinated by playbooks. How long would
Speaker 1: it take you to transfer all the knowledge you had
Speaker 1: at Northwestern knowing that playbook for four years and then
Speaker 1: switching over to this playbook.
Speaker 4: How long does it take you? How comfortable are you
Speaker 4: with it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd say it took me about a month it, Yeah,
Speaker 2: because I mean, really like in football, there's there's a
Speaker 2: there's really only so many plays you can run, and
Speaker 2: it's just about learning different terms for plays. If I
Speaker 2: was fortunate enough that, you know, actually the offense we
Speaker 2: ran at Northwestern was really pretty pretty similar in a
Speaker 2: lot of ways to to what we do here scheme
Speaker 2: wise on a lot of the similar plays. So it's
Speaker 2: just kind of changing some terminology around learning that. And yeah,
Speaker 2: I was, like I said, it was fortunate enough to
Speaker 2: feel pretty comfortable even with the playbook going in before
Speaker 2: spring ball there in like February.
Speaker 1: So would you like and what didn't you like about
Speaker 1: your collective performance against Fresno State?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I think I loved how we we finished that game
Speaker 2: and the physicality that we brought in the second half.
Speaker 2: And I think I think the thing that we have
Speaker 2: to improve on is, you know, just starting the game.
Speaker 2: We just have to start faster and we have to
Speaker 2: just kind of bring that same enthusiasm energy right off
Speaker 2: the bat. We can't we can't kind of wait to
Speaker 2: get that going. We have to we have to start faster.
Speaker 1: With all due respect to Fresno State, I've always been
Speaker 1: a big believer big time programs should be playing teams
Speaker 1: that allow you to get your proverbial feet wet right,
Speaker 1: and then you can dive into the meat of your
Speaker 1: schedule if you will. I know the fans would love,
Speaker 1: you know, the USCU, LSU games, but those aren't always
Speaker 1: beneficial unless you obviously win that game. How much does
Speaker 1: it help to have that one game under your belt
Speaker 1: before you get.
Speaker 4: A powerhouse like Texas?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's always good to, you know, get
Speaker 2: a game under the belt, especially with a new new
Speaker 2: group certainly, but you know, friends, now State was they
Speaker 2: were a good team, and I think they're certainly going to.
Speaker 3: Have a successful year.
Speaker 2: And they had a lot of talented players, so I think,
Speaker 2: you know, it's great to play an opponent like that,
Speaker 2: you know who who does put up a good fight
Speaker 2: and who who do have some really talented guys before,
Speaker 2: certainly for a really big game like this.
Speaker 4: Are you a football guy?
Speaker 1: Do you watch other football games or do you have
Speaker 1: enough of it watching film and playing your own game
Speaker 1: to not worry? How Texas did in their first game
Speaker 1: of the season.
Speaker 2: No, I definitely definitely love watching other games and obviously
Speaker 2: watch watch their game against Colorado State and going to
Speaker 2: study a lot of what they do. But yeah, no,
Speaker 2: definitely definitely always interested in what's what's going on in
Speaker 2: the football world.
Speaker 1: So what should take on the Longhorns and the challenge
Speaker 1: that presents.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're super talented, obviously defensively, and they
Speaker 2: play super fast, really physical, and I think it's just
Speaker 2: gonna be a great, great matchup and super excited.
Speaker 4: For Josh pretty joining us here on exes and bros.
Speaker 1: How much does it help you going up against such
Speaker 1: a stout, stout defense as you get ready for not
Speaker 1: just Texas but also the Big Ten season on a
Speaker 1: day to day.
Speaker 3: Basis, Yeah, it's great.
Speaker 2: You're not gonna get much better competition than what you
Speaker 2: get every day of practice against against our defense.
Speaker 3: Our defense is elite for sure.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I mean it's it's always great going against
Speaker 2: those guys up front.
Speaker 3: Gonna make definitely gonna make the games feel easier.
Speaker 1: How many people are coming to the game to support you,
Speaker 1: I mean I would guess, you know, I'm sure they
Speaker 1: were there every single time for Northwestern, but maybe this
Speaker 1: drive maybe a little bit easier for them.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, My my parents always always showed up to always
Speaker 2: come to every single game.
Speaker 3: Brother girlfriend. Uh And it's great.
Speaker 2: Too because I got some family and friends too that
Speaker 2: that live a little bit closer here as well. So yeah,
Speaker 2: definitely great.
Speaker 3: To be back.
Speaker 1: Brother, older, younger older. Okay, so does the younger brother
Speaker 1: rule the rooster? Does the older brother? Even though he
Speaker 1: may be even smaller than U, does he still have
Speaker 1: you know, a little bit of psychological advantage?
Speaker 3: He always like he.
Speaker 2: Likes to think that he he still holds it down.
Speaker 2: But I think once I passed him up in size,
Speaker 2: and like early on in high school there I think
Speaker 2: I like to think, uh, I got a little bit
Speaker 2: of an advantage.
Speaker 3: But he's a he's a very smart guy. Very smart.
Speaker 1: Well, last thing for you, you're into social work, which
Speaker 1: I think is interesting. Where do we go after our
Speaker 1: football career is done? And why the social work path?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I'm not one hundred percent certainly what
Speaker 2: I want to do. I I got a business degree
Speaker 2: from Northwestern, and unfortunately I'm not gonna have time to
Speaker 2: really kind of finish a finish a full degree here.
Speaker 2: Social work is kind of the kind of the best
Speaker 2: option to kind of fulfill those uh those academic needs
Speaker 2: for right now.
Speaker 4: Best of luck to you, Stay healthy man. I appreciate
Speaker 4: your time.
Speaker 3: Appreciate it, you bet.