At Tuesday’s presser, when I asked Coach Holgorsen about the depth chart, I’ll admit I was hoping he would have some fun with it and he did not disappoint.
I hadn’t even gotten, “So they released the depth chart yesterday,” out of my mouth before he jumped in feigning shock with, “Did they??” and a big grin.
But I did manage to ask if it played into his day-to-day at all. Dana?
“Yeah, I haven’t looked at it.” More laughter.
But he did quickly add, “I kind of know what it is in my head, you know?” Because of course a coach with his attention to detail is well aware of the order in which his charges are going to be sent out for action this Saturday. And when it comes to the depth chart itself, he acknowledges, “That’s important to a lot of people.”
People including me as I tossed in a piece on depth chart yesterday.
And while he also acknowledged that it’s a good starting point, he said he told the offense the previous day that position battles will remain ongoing. And he offered a warning to any who might have been thinking that a depth chart has any kind of permanence:
“Just go out there and play like crap, and you’ll see what it does.”
And he didn’t hesitate to throw in that the slide down the chart could be pretty immediate.
“You know, even if you’re out first, it may happen in the first drive. If I see some garbage out there, I may just say (to someone else), ‘You get in.‘ That’s just kind of how I operate.“
But he also got specific about confirming the position battles which he does consider ongoing.
“We talked about the running back position. The offensive tackle position is still ongoing because we got three of them (Gottula, Babalade, I’m guessing? Pritchard seems pretty solid.), so you’re going to see all three of them.”
He also brought up the tight end which has three-way -OR- designation for the #2 spot. He talked about how the position’s standing has increased greatly, since expressed disappointment in their summer efforts.
“The tight end situation has improved. You guys know how I felt about that first time I talked to y’all. But Carter Nelson and Eric Ingerson have come a long, long ways in the last month and so they’re pushing for playing (time). Not that Luke (Lindenmeyer) and Wood (Bonner) haven’t done a good job; they’ve done a great job. But those those are just things to keep your eye on.”
And he talked about Demitrius Bell’s long climb back to the playing field after he tore his ACL in the 2024 Spring Game. That cost him 2024, then the 2025 season and 2026 spring practice as there were setbacks plus a hamstring injury. He finally made it back this fall, and apparently at 100%, as he has fought back to occupy the co-#2 spot behind Barney.
“D. Bell (Demetrius) hasn’t played in two years. I can’t wait to watch him. You know, he’s got juice now. And Keelan Smith keeps doing a good job as well.”
He also acknowledged Smith who has made strides this fall. Holgorsen had needled him a couple weeks ago telling everyone how he had really stepped up his game after being challenged to do better. He then said maybe he shouldn’t be telling us that should Keelan get a big head and backslide.
And you wonder why I enjoy this coach.
Another depth bit of a depth chart surprise was seeing Quinn Clark at a #2 after Holgorsen and other coaches had talked him up. However, when asked about it Tuesday, he confirmed Clark “would be playing as much as the other three”. (Nyziah Hunter, Jacory Barney Jr and Kwazi Gilmer)
And as Holgorsen concluded, “Those are things that are just going to be ongoing battles that we need to keep our eye on.”
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Other ongoing battles to watch:
QB2 – T.J. Lateef and Daniel Kaelin – many assumed Lateef was a lock here, but listening to the coaches told a different story. Lateef struggled in replacing Dylan Raiola and things did not appear to have improved in limited views of the Spring Game and fall practice. Meanwhile, Kaelin was singled out for his accuracy. Once the Big 10 slate starts, it will be interesting to see who comes in first should Colandrea go down.
RB – Isaiah Mozee, Mekhi Nelson, Jamal Rule – Holgorsen talks about using all three, but we heard this last year and then saw nothing but Emmett. I think all three will get a shot early, but you have to believe the staff would like to someone break out.
LB – Vincent Shavers Jr and Dexter Foster – This may not be as big a battle as a rotation at this position would not be at all unusual. But I still think V9 makes a leap this season.
S – Dwayne McDougle III and Rex Guthrie – The thinking was McDougle would come in and start after Guthrie struggled some last season. However, he was playing through an injury and following a spring surgery is “playing above my expectation for coming back from that injury” per Rob Aurich. This one bears watching.
CB – Victor Evans Jr and Jeremiah Charles (and Danny Odem?) – As does this one. Cover corner is typically not a shared position. And while Aurich didn’t commit to a single starter, he did say when I asked that anyone losing out in that battle would still find playing time as he would be putting his best 11 on the field. He also made the point that the opponent could determine who plays more with the variance in offensive strategy in the Big 10.
