Dennis Norfleet

Sounds like our favorite scatback is headed back to offense.  From a Rivals spring preview article found here ($), I give you the money quote:

"He's supposedly going back to offense," Blackwell [ed: Norfleet's 7-on-7 coach] said. "They will use him in the slot and in the return game, and some as a running back. Coach [Greg] Mattison is saying he can still use him on defense and is making an argument to keep him there, but Dennis' passion is for the offense. That's where he wants to play, and from talking to Dennis it appears that's where he's going to play.

The rest of the article basically describes why Norfleet went to defense in the first place (potential for PT in the bowl game) and that offense is his true passion (duh).  It also highlights his need to beef up his blocking and grasp of the playbook in order to see the field more.

Brian is going to cry tears of joy.

I didn't see any posts about this excellent event.

First, if you haven't heard about these, they are for kids in grades K-8 to interact with U-M athletes.  There are a number of sports represented, with a few events yet to come.  Link is here.

I really didn't know what to expect.  My 2nd grade son and 6th grade daughter attended after getting a heads up from a friend back in November.  The football event was yesterday, Feb. 2nd.

They had 6 stations for the kids to do different drills, 5 minutes at each station.  At each station there were 4-6 football players or student managers running the drills.  Then they got a water break, reset the stations to different activities, and did another rotation.  Finally, they got all the players to sit behind tables with Sharpies and the kids could have one item autographed by each of the players.

Kids got to block, tackle, run, catch, throw, punt, place kick, and more.  It was very well organized.

Not that you would expect anything less from Michigan players, but I was truly impressed with how positive, magnanamous, and patient the players were.  It was obvious that they wanted to be there and they took time to pose for pictures and talk one-on-one with the kids.

Players of note:

• Taylor Lewan was there (in socks the whole time) floating from station to station and talking with anyone who wanted to.  He was looking very trim and said he lost some weight when he had his tonsils out after the bowl game.
• Devin Gardner emceed the event with a microphone at the center of the field.  He hammed it up with other players, "interviewed" the kids about what they were doing, and even lead a chorus of Happy Birthday.
• Jeremy Gallon was all smiles and took time for pictures and conversations with anyone who wanted them.
• Dennis Norfleet was a bundle of energy and motion the *entire* time.  He was constantly recognizing kids for their efforts and just displayed an awesome, over-the-top personality.
• A bunch of offensive linemen were running one drill that called for the kids to jump over a couple of barriers stacked on top of each other; if a kid didn't make the leap, they'd look at each other and say, "LINEMAN!" and high-five the kid.

Here is a link to some pictures.  (I ended up taking over 300, so this is just a small sample!  I didn't want to post pictures where individual kids could be identified, so these are of players or large groups.)

Basketball is upcoming, but already full.  I think men's and women's soccer and swimming are all coming up.  I don't know exactly what those events will be like, but if they are anything like football, I can't recommend them enough.

I don't think there's going to be an OFAAT post for the Outback Bowl, but this obviously needs to be posted somewhere:

One of my offseason projects is putting together an MGoGifs page—eventually there will be a place on the blog where you can look all of these up.

Having read this, I'm even more inclined to cheer for Dennis Norfleet:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121224/SPORTS0201/212240344/Michiga...

@chengelis

Norfleet has moved to corner

Michigan Football ‏@umichfootball

Hoke said Dennis Norfleet has moved to the cornerback position, but he will still return punts and kicks.

I included kickoff returns in the Offense Every Snap video, but I know there are people who don't want to watch the whole thing just to see the returns, hence this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLXaOus2l38