What role do walk-ons play in Michigan's football program?
I pose this because I noticed today the Huskers just placed 4 on scholarship today, and 2 are projected starters this year.
Walk-ons have always been big at Nebraska, to an extent I believe is unique in major college football: 442 lettermen, 131 starters, and 7 All-Americans.
Does Michigan get serious about walk-ons? Any starting this year?
August 19th, 2011 at 2:06 PM ^
tackling dummies....or starting CB/DB in the case of Kovacs.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:07 PM ^
Came on as a walk on 2 years ago but has earned a scholarship since
August 19th, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^
Jordan Kovacs, a former walk-on, is slated to start at safety, his third season as a starter.
Doesn't Nebraska carry a ton of walk-ons on their roster, thus making it more likely that some of them will turn out to be impact players?
August 19th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^
to other schools just for a chance to wear Scarlet & Cream.
There's a saying, "Notre Dame only had one Rudy but Nebraska gets a new crop of Rudys every season".
August 19th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^
I chortled at "Scarlet & Cream." Is it really scarlet? Isn't it just red?
August 19th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^
makes me laugh every time
August 19th, 2011 at 2:29 PM ^
Nebraska style
August 19th, 2011 at 2:32 PM ^
block M...........
August 19th, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^
...........wait, just kidding, no mascots at UM, see I pick up on these things hanging around this board.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^
i wouldnt object but one walking around and truly respresenting the university, i'll pass.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^
Haha, me too. Whenever I think about changing it, I stare at it for a minute and I just can't bring myself to do it. If someone wants to make a shirt out of it, that'd be pretty awesome, and I'd probably buy a few.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^
is our official team color's name.A bright red with a tad of orange.
Cream, on the other hand....think they kept the name but always looked like plain old white to me.
Reminds me of some of the discussions I've read on this board about Maize :)
August 19th, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
That's fair. I just looked up some pictures for comparison, and the NU and OSU colors are closer than I thought they were.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:22 PM ^
Indiana's colors are Crimson and Cream. But it just looks red and white to me.
August 19th, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^
August 19th, 2011 at 3:38 PM ^
I chortled at "Scarlet & Cream." Is it really scarlet? Isn't it just red?Why do we call our secondary color "maize" and not just yellow? Lots of schools do this.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:47 PM ^
I thought they were "the big red" not the big scarlet?
August 19th, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^
Our alma mater is "The Yellow and Blue," not "The Maize and Blue." There are lots of logical inconsistences when it comes to sports teams' color names.
August 19th, 2011 at 4:14 PM ^
Or why two terms for the school colors?
August 19th, 2011 at 9:45 PM ^
The Yellow and Blue was written in 1889 and was later adopted in the 1890s as the alma mater. http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/umosu/umsongs.htm
The University adopted "maize and blue" as its official academic colors in 1867 and has been trying to figure out what hues that actually means ever since. http://www.techexchange.com/library/The%20University%20of%20Michigan%20Reveals%20Its%20True%20Colors.pdf
August 19th, 2011 at 6:58 PM ^
Agreed. But, maize used to be darker, less yellowy as I'm sure you know.
August 19th, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^
"Big Red" has a nicer ring to it than "Big Scarlet"
August 19th, 2011 at 2:13 PM ^
Rodriguez made a big effort to expand the walk-on program and Hoke looks to be continuing it (he brought in a number of big linemen this year). It has never really been a tool to find "Main St. players" in the past as far as I know (we've had our share of walk-ons pop up over the years, but never a program like at Nebraska for finding/developing them), but at this point I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two of the young big guys (Nathan Brink is getting loads of practice hype on the d-line, FWIW) contributing as juniors/seniors.
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/mich-m-footbl-mtt.html
Glasgow, Dallas Williams, Yerden, Mateus, Brink, and Gunderson (and probably somebody I missed) are all young guys with legit size who may or may not get a shot to contribute down the road.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:41 PM ^
Chris Eddins is a not too hyped Walk-On that the BTN dudes said had a good practice today.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^
Don't forget Seth Broekhuizen who was teammates with Brink at Holland Christian.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^
Also Will Heininger is a guy who provides good depth at the De position. He was hurt last year, but in the year before he was able to come in to give guys rest.
August 19th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
I also think the preferred positions to pursue walkons for are both lines. Often a category where kids mature late and/or can be taught the position. I will be surprised if none of the offensive linemen you list see the field. It's an interesting group and for the most part they had other opportunities (don't know about what options there were for Yerden, the champion weightlifter, who has not even been playing football for long.)
They're seeing what Brink is doing in camp and that will only motivate them. I think Brink is going to get a shot. When you hear them talking about his solid technique and how he knows how to use his hands, that's unusual talk about a walkon. He maybe could use a few more pounds, but 6-5, 263 is not small. And I like that Mattison is saying he's looking for the best group of 17-18 guys he can rotate out there, scholarship or walkon doesn't matter, and then he'll go from there.
Great way to grow linemen. I like the way this staff thinks about the game and how best to play it, and they are trying to build the team accordingly.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^
August 19th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^
Maybe someone can correct me but isn't Nebraska provide the template for the preferred walk-on technique nationally? I know Michigan has recently put more stock into the preferred walk-ons, but believe Nebraska was one of the first to do it with regularity.
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August 19th, 2011 at 2:19 PM ^
Tony Anderson is also considered a "walk on" at CB (probably in the two-deep), although he is at Michigan on an academic scholarship.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:23 PM ^
He was offered a scholarship, but was able to turn it down because of his academic scholarship. So you can put him in the same boat as Kovaks, as far as walk-ons turned scholarship players.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:34 PM ^
You spellt KOVACS# rong
August 19th, 2011 at 3:11 PM ^
nate Allspach Te walk on...RR let him on
August 19th, 2011 at 2:40 PM ^
Yes, we watched the same video on Wednesday morning. Congrats to both of us.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:16 PM ^
I always thought that if a student athlete was eligible for and was recieving an academic scholarship, that he counts toward the scholarship cap on their team. Otherwise what is stopping schools from just offering a bunch of "Academic Scholarships" to students who just so happen to be very very good at sports? I remember hearing that it was a private scholarship not affiliated with the school, so perhaps that's how he got around this.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:20 PM ^
I think that's right. Since the school isn't giving him any money, they don't have to count him as an athletic scholarship.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:32 PM ^
I would imagine that any private scholarships would require direct approval from the NCAA to make sure that it's legitimate. I'm not implying that Tony Anderson's situation is one of these cases because it sounds like his is a nationally reknowned competetive scholarship, but what's stopping a booster from setting up an "academic scholarship fund?" Sounds like it could get very dicey very quickly if not monitered strictly (like everything else).
August 19th, 2011 at 2:29 PM ^
KOVACS#
August 19th, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^
The only thing standing between our secondary and total DOOM.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:34 PM ^
See Griese, Brian.
August 20th, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^
Eric Mayes.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^
It seems like in our program walk ons are usually depth players. There are notable exceptions (Kovacs) but for the most part our walk ons are giants who may not have been good enough in high school to garner any big offers.
I know this is the case for Gunderson at least, played against him in high school (totally beat him, GO CC!) and he was a MONSTER in terms of size, but he wasn't the greatest. I think our coaching staff is hoping that guys like him and Yerden develop their skills enough to provide depth where needed. You can't make a normal guy into a huge lineman, but you can take a giant of a man and turn him into a decent tackle.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
I am told they do a lot of running which seriously brings into question their NCAA mandated roles as "walk-ons".
August 19th, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^
Don't tell Drew "I am a serious reporter" Sharp.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^
Nate Allspach from Grandville Mi walk on TE
August 19th, 2011 at 3:16 PM ^
I think the walk-ons will provide depth and peace of mind in 2013, when it appears the OL will be alarmingly thin if just looking at the scholarship numbers
| 56 | Joey Burzynski | OL | 284 | RS FR | Carlsbad, Calif. (Carlsbad) | |||
| 61 | Graham Glasgow | OL | 314 | FR | Aurora, Ill. (Marmion Academy) | |||
| 62 | Dallas Williams | OL | 314 | FR | Ann Arbor, Mich. (Huron) | |||
| 69 | Erik Gunderson | OL | 312 | RS SO | Milan, Mich. (Milan) | |||
| 70 | Kristian Mateus | OL | 285 | RS FR | Ada, Mich. (Forest Hills Central) | |||
| 71 | Gary Yerden | OL | 333 | FR | Kalamazoo, Mich. (Parchment) | |||
August 19th, 2011 at 8:33 PM ^
Nate Allspach??? yeah everybody should be included the team the team the team
August 19th, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^
can't believe im the first to point this out... many apologies.
a few years ago a walk-on quarterback by the name of nick sherridan started for the university of michigan wolverines.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:35 PM ^
No he didn't. That season never happened.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:41 PM ^
what season?