2021 Football Banquet Award Winners
Following are the 2021 University of Michigan football team award winners:
Bo Schembechler MVP: Aidan Hutchinson
Dr. Arthur D. Robinson Scholarship Award: Andrew Vastardis (graduate), Joshua Luther (undergraduate)
Robert P. Ufer Bequest: Josh Ross, Brad Robbins
Roger Zatkoff Award: Josh Ross
Richard Katcher Award: Mazi Smith
Hugh H. Rader Memorial Award: Andrew Stueber
The above six are original team awards presented by the U-M Club of Greater Detroit
Toughest Player Award: Hassan Haskins
Blue Collar Award: Andrew Vastardis
Rookie of the Year (Offense): Andrel Anthony, Donovan Edwards, J.J. McCarthy
Rookie of the Year (Defense): Junior Colson, Rod Moore
Rookie of the Year (Special Teams): Rod Moore
Offensive Player of the Year: Hassan Haskins
Defensive Player of the Year: Aidan Hutchinson
Special Teams Player of the Year: Caden Kolesar
Offensive Skill Player of the Year: Erick All, Blake Corum, Cornelius Johnson, Mike Sainristil
Defensive Skill Player of the Year: Brad Hawkins, Daxton Hill, Vincent Gray, DJ Turner
Specialist of the Year: Jake Moody
Most Improved Player (Offense): Cade McNamara, Luke Schoonmaker
Most Improved Player (Defense): David Ojabo, DJ Turner
Scout Team Player of the Year (Offense): Davis Warren
Scout Team Player of the Year (Defense): George Rooks
Scout Team Player of the Year (Special Teams): Tyler McLaurin
December 19th, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
That is a special a team right there!
December 19th, 2021 at 5:48 PM ^
ROOKS! Can’t wait to see 2021 DL class after year of marinating.
December 19th, 2021 at 5:52 PM ^
How cool must it be to be one of those recognized scout team players
December 20th, 2021 at 9:33 AM ^
I'm glad they do that. Hopefully one of them gets some meaningful playing time.
December 19th, 2021 at 5:57 PM ^
Link to the mgoblue press release, has a write-up, some stats and also explanation for the eponymous awards
December 20th, 2021 at 9:35 AM ^
In case anyone wants the non-print friendly version:
December 19th, 2021 at 6:00 PM ^
Very curious what the Richard Katcher award is for. Mazi Smith winning it amongst a sea of seniors/grad students stands out. Maybe?
edit: Thank you for the link.
December 19th, 2021 at 6:05 PM ^
Apparently didn't feel like giving it to Aidan on top of everything else.
December 19th, 2021 at 6:58 PM ^
They said Dline, finalists were all interior Dlinemen
December 19th, 2021 at 11:17 PM ^
In this defense Aidan and Ojabo are technically linebackers
December 20th, 2021 at 9:18 AM ^
yeah, and yet Neither of those 2 won the Linebacker award which I thought was a bit odd.
my guess is they wanted to have Josh Ross have a chance at an award, the other 2 were already All American's and all everything.
Some awards are decided on by the coaches and some by the players so I am thinking they took them out of consideration and let others win the awards.
December 19th, 2021 at 6:01 PM ^
Davis Warren Offensive Scout player of the year? Interesting.
December 19th, 2021 at 6:42 PM ^
Not sure it means anything for his future success, but probably rather to the fact that the practice squad QB is likely to be the most beneficial to the team game prep by emulating the opponent offense well. From what I remember, out of the walk-on QB's, he probably was the best out of HS
December 19th, 2021 at 6:58 PM ^
Great to see him having success on the practice field. He beat Leukemia in 2019 and then had his football season canceled because of COVID in 2020.
https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2021/03/michigan-walk-on-qb-commit-already-has-beaten-the-odds.html
December 19th, 2021 at 6:50 PM ^
Awesome stuff!
but I have to ask, why do we continue to put Bo Schembechlers name on things?
December 19th, 2021 at 7:00 PM ^
Because we do, regardless of accusations that waited 15 years after he passed away to come out.
December 19th, 2021 at 7:18 PM ^
That sounds super JoePa cultish of you.
I'm with WCB on this one. Can't point out issues w/ other schools like OSU, PSU and MSU when this shit is swept under the rug in our own backyard.
December 20th, 2021 at 9:38 AM ^
Dr. Anderson was accused of fondling players and doing unneeded rectal exams, Bo was accused of knowing it and allowing it
Sandusky one was convicted of raping underage boys, in the shower of the football building, Joe Pa was accused of knowing it and allowing it
are they the same crime?
You are saying they are the same, they are NOT
at least Joe Pa & Sandusky were alive and got to answer to charges.
Anderson and Bo were not around to defend themselves.
December 20th, 2021 at 10:06 AM ^
I don’t think Bo is blameless but the fact that Anderson was a doctor, whose job was to perform physical examinations, complicates things. Bo probably figured Anderson had a legitimate medical reason for his actions and, not being a doctor himself, thought it wasn’t his place to pass judgment. That’s probably also what happened at MSU and OSU.
Sandusky is another story. He never should have been allowed around kids once the first allegations came out.
December 20th, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
Isn't "fondling players and doing unneeded rectal exams" the same as rape? I think so.
You may try to argue that what happened between us and PSU (or MSU or OSU for that matter) are different. Perhaps in some cases it is, but its really a distinction without a real difference.
We came down hard on PSU, OSU and MSU for what happened at their respective institutions. And we rightly mocked when those fans/institutions waxed poetic or gave excuses. If we want to hold ourselves to a higher standard than these schools (i.e. #MichiganDifference), then we need to AT LEAST proactively do the things we demanded them to do.
December 19th, 2021 at 6:53 PM ^
I would have like to have seen Cade get more recognition than Most Improved Player, which could have equally gone to DJ Turner, All, or Schoonmaker. I know Haskins was worthy, but our offense wouldn’t have blossomed without Cade’s steady play at QB.
December 19th, 2021 at 7:50 PM ^
Just based on eye test, I don't think there's any doubt All has improved the most on offense since last season.
Cade was solid last year, albeit within the confines of a small sample size. All couldn't even catch a cold last year.
December 19th, 2021 at 7:52 PM ^
Congratulations to all!
Go Blue!
December 19th, 2021 at 9:55 PM ^
Cade was under represented it seems.
December 20th, 2021 at 2:02 AM ^
Just saving space for his MVP award in the CFP
December 20th, 2021 at 7:25 AM ^
Bring back the M Champion of the Year award (unsung hero).
December 20th, 2021 at 10:11 AM ^
Love to see my guy Mazi get some recognition! And of course all these young men deserve these honors, some of these had to be tough to choose just one (or 3) with this group of players