Nick Sheridan. Michigan Man.

Nick Sheridan is a kid from Saline who came to Michigan as a walk on quarterback for the very likely reason that he wants to be a football coach in the future (as many of you likely know, Nick Sheridan's dad Bill was on Coach Carr's staff from 2002-2004 at which time he left for the New York Giants and currently serves as the team's defensive coordinator.) As a walk-on quarterback, he probably did not expect to see much playing time, especially since Chad Henne was here and Ryan Mallett was on the way. But there he was last year, Plan B and when he became Plan A, he got in to way more games than he ever probably expected to see in his whole career. Certainly more snaps. So what do you do if you're Sheridan. You take what you have and work as hard as you can to get better, especially because it's believed by some that it's a lot easier to be a coach when you have limited athletic gifts because you have to be smart to account for your deficits in talent and in the end, that's what the plan was, to learn how to become a coach. So he works hard to improve, doesn't complain, says the right stuff, and does what he can. He stays in the running for the starting job despite two very talented freshmen at the position and a lot of very skeptical fans and observers. I realize that Sheridan's performance on the field makes many of us as fans concerned, because we're concerned with wins and losses. But I can also see where Coach Rodriguez would like Sheridan as a player. Smart, hard-working, committed to the team and what is best for the team, and likely not delusional about his ceiling. If Coach Rodriguez is giving Sheridan the benefit of the doubt, so be it, but in the end, it's about results and Coach Rodriguez is not going to play Sheridan to be nice to him. A credit to Nick for being the kind of player we want as a Michigan man. I wish him the best, partly for selfish reasons, for if he does well, Michigan will benefit.