The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam Wednesday, January 15, 2014 - 7A The next Wangler: Jared's path to Michigan By JAKE LOURIM Daily Sports Writer ROYAL OAK, Mich. - Snow falls on the house, the one with two cars in the driveway and another in the street, the one where a former Michigan great stores his memories and his son waits for the chance to make his. There's a great deal of tradi- tion packed into that house, but the first thing you see when you walk up to that snowy home off Woodward Avenue is John Wan- gler. Not John Wangler in the Rose Bowl, not John Wangler to Anthony Carter, not that John Wangler. They're the same per- son, but this John Wangler stands on his sidewalk, shovelingsnow. "Hi, I'm John," he says, as if you don't already know who he is. For this John Wangler, there is life after football, and for his kids, that's all he can ask. Of his five children, daughter Halle plays basketball for Michigan, son Jack is a freshman wide receiver and son Jared is committed to play linebacker there next year. John played for Michigan from 1976-1980, winning four Big Ten championships and leading the team to the 1981 Rose Bowl championship. early, talked ofvisiting elsewhere. Wangler said he loved Penn State when he visited, and his high school coach felt the same way. But something still didn't seem quite right. "Yougounderneaththe Christ- mas tree, and you get a new truck when you're a little kid, and you go, 'Wow, that's really cool,' but all along you wanted that bike, your first bike," said Paul Verska, Jared's coach at Warren (Mich.) De La Salle. "You didn't think you got it, and then the next day you went underneath the Christ- mas tree, and you go, 'Oh my God, Santa brought me that bike."' Wangler committed to the Nittany Lions to .play for former coach Bill O'Brien and former linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden. He said only the Wolverines could have lured him away once he committed. Once the Wolverines started recruiting him, things proceeded quickly, and Jared fell in love with Michigan all over again. He walked through the facilities and saw his dad's name in Rose Bowl team pictures. "When I did, it was too hard to say no," Jared said. He sat down with defensive coordinator Greg Mattison to look at the depth chart. Originally, the Wolverines planned on landing three linebackers - inside line- backer Michael Ferns, inside line- backer Noah Furbush and outside linebacker Chase Winovich. When they decided to recruit four linebackers, they recruited Wangler as another strong-side linebacker to compete with Winovich once redshirt junior starter Jake Ryan graduates. Being from this Michigan house is not about continuine John's legacy, next great Wan blue, or being h 100 years of P have been pla Jack and Jared threw passes told them abou Michigan. But mostly, how to be a M taught them th you are, you sh on snowy Sund, or becoming the end zone. ... Look at the crowd! gler in maize and You cannot believe it! Michigan eard until another throws a 45-yard touchdown Michigan football pass! Johnny Wangler toAnthony yed. John taught Carter will be heard until another d football, and he 100 years of Michigan football is to them, and he played!" t his five years at So goes Bob Ufer's legendary call of Wangler's game-winning he taught them touchdown pass to Anthony Michigan man. He Carter to beat Indiana in 1979. at no matter who Jared doesn't want to overhype ovel the driveway comparisons between him and ay afternoons. his father. Next August, he'll put on a jersey with his father's name *** on it. But then, he'll step into shoes that are his own, not his When Jared suits up for the first game of his career Aug. 30 at Michigan Stadium, he will put on a blue jersey with seven letters on the back, seven letters steeped deep in Michigan lore. These seven letters link the Wolverines' past with their present. Jared wore the same num- ber at De La Salle that his father did at Michigan. He doesn't feel pressure to live up to his father's legacy, but he understands the standard of playing for Michigan. He's grown up in the Wangler house long enough to know. "(Character is) everything to me," John said. "When you have a son or daughter and you send them away as 18-year-olds, you want them to be around a program and a guy who has the right character and morals and integrity.Winningisgoingtotake care of itself. I want all of my kids to be around good people who will teach them those morals." Like many players who emerged from Schembechler's years at Michigan, Johnis famous for a moment, a game call, that will ring throughout Wolverine lore. "Oh my God - Carter's in the father's. When John gets up from the dining room table, he pulls the corner of the tablecloth to smooth it out. Then the room is perfectly neat again, the hallmark of a player who played for 13-time Big Ten champion Schembechler. An hour later, the snow is still coming down, harder than before. It's relentless, inch after inch coating the driveways and stopping the cars in the streets, just like the Wolverines' hard- ships this season. First a near-loss to Akron, then a four-overtime loss to Penn State, then a humili- ating loss at Michigan State. A home loss to Nebraska, the first in Hoke's tenure. A one point loss to Ohio State. The sight of Michigan State and Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship. There are people who don't believe the snow will stop. An hour later, it still hasn't. So John sets out to shovel again. Hours later, the snowstorm ends. It's not clear when Michi- gan's will, but Jared will be out there shovelineanyway. Jared Wangler committed to Michigan after he originally chose Penn State. The Want spent their w Michigan, the powerhouse t helped make. I opce was. John's lega Jared's is duet, Jared could State or LSUc didn't want to,l house are peop program is tur know the snow The only sig that this how house is a b sticker on the D in the street. The bigges years has cloud but the logo is s no Michigan f there Rose B visible inside. Jared and the dining rc wearing a Mic usually does. A John returne where he watci lose badly to K Buffalo Wild " He and Ja Michigan Stad this season, wE sputter to a 7-i still wears his P and his father1 Theytalk ab gler kids have Michigan football team's losses hole lives around this season were by a touchdown longtime football or less. They talk about how hat their father Brady Hoke is still playing with But it's not what it former coach Rich Rodriguez's recruits. They talk about being icy is cemented. patient as Hoke's staff overhauls o start this fall. the program. have gone to Penn Above all, they repeatthe same or Indiana. But he expectations that Hoke does because inside this every year. ile who believe the "There's an expectation at ning around, who Michigan to play for the Big 'will stop. Ten championship every year," John Wangler said. "There's an *** expectation that you beat your rivals more often than they beat n from the outside you. We haven't done that in the se is a Michigan last few years." lock 'M' bumper The Michigan John knows odge Nitro parked is the Michigan Jared knows because these expectations carry t snowstorm in over. Hoke has not won a Big Ten led part of the 'M,' Championship in his three years, till visible. There's but Jared Wangler is confident he lag waving, nor is will, no matter what. owl memorabilia Amid all the disappointment, all the boos and the tickets given John sit down at away and -the cries for coaching oom table, Jared changes, people like the Wanglers chigan shirt as he still relish those fall Saturdays. A few days earlier, On the Tuesday of game weeks d from Arizona, in the fall, Jared's grandparents hed his alma mater begin preparing their tailgate for ansas State in the that Saturday's game. They don't iings Bowl. have many other hobbies, John red were also at said. They live for fall Saturdays ium for two losses in Ann Arbor. atching their team Jared remembers going to 6 finish. But Jared Michigan games every year Michigan shirt. He growing up. He remembers going have faith. on the field at the Big House for out how four of the the anniversary of his father's .famous throw against Indiana. He remembers hearing his dad recount memories of playing at Michigan Stadium and for Schembechler and in the Rose Bowl. Jared Wangler committed to Michigan because he knew it so well, because he grew up with these traditions. He hears his father's name as a Michigan great. He wants the same for his kids. Jared Wangler's commitment to Michigan was not so simple. He didn't receive an offer from Michigan until last summer. He originally committed to Penn State, where he could still get a good education, wear blue every Saturday and play in front of more than 100,000 fans. But his family, memories and childhood were in Ann Arbor. When Hoke came calling, he received an offer he couldn't refuse. Those offers aren't as irrefutable for some recruits now as they have been in the past. Da'Shawn Hand, the No. 1 defensive end in the 2014. class, picked Alabama after experts thought he'd pick Michigan. George Campbell, the No. 2 wide receiver in the 2015 class, decommitted from Michigan in December. Even Jabrill Peppers, the No. 2 defensive back in the 2014 class, who committed so Linebacker Jared Wangler competed in the Under Armour All-American game this month with Herm Edwards coaching. Three questions for Michigan in the bye week By ERIN LENNON Daily Sports Writer The No. 13 Michigan hockey team taught us plenty more than five things in the first half of the season. Among other things, we learned that when one goalie goes down, there is another to do the job just as well, if not better, than the starter. That an 11-freshman class can contribute from the get-go. That sophomore forward Andrew Copp has settled into his role as a top scorer and is a Hobey Baker Award fan-vote finalist. But a long December and two games in Madison against then- No. 13 Wisconsin revealed that there might be more questions than answers. With 16 games remaining before the Big Ten tournament, here are three questions fac- ing the Wolverines as they head toward the thick of their confer- ence slate. 1. Do old habits die hard? It is much, much too early to say this team has derailed from a track bound for success and down the same path it did last year. Or is it? The Wolverines have lost their last four games and haven't won a contest since Dec. 2, nearly six weeks ago. At this point, com- parisons to last season are hard to ignore. In two games against No. 9 Wisconsin, Michigan faced simi- lar offensive misfortunes as it did last season: a lack of presence in front of the net and an inability to bury rare chances to score. The Wolverines were plaguedby simi- lar streakiness up until March of last year. And these struggles are only magnified when we consider the Wolverines have one thing going for them that wasn't last year: goaltending. But in front of an error-prone defense, freshman goalie Zach Nagelvoort cannot be the difference between a win and a loss, especially this weekend. Still, the rhetoric from the Michigan locker room suggests that this series of unfortunate losses won't keep the Wolverines down as it would have in the past. 2. Is time a factor? Michigan competed five times in December, and came out with nothing more than a win over Ohio State, a tie with Ferris State, an exhibition loss and two defeats at the Great Lakes Invitational. It wasn't until two weeks later that the Wolverines were able to play in front of a crowd. And Michigan won't play its next con- test until Jan. 23, when it faces off against Michigan State at Joe Louis Arena. Over that time, Michigan has Saturday, Friday, Sat "When we plays six weeks, as a player sucks." 3. If not Copp, w to be? Despite his absen GLI, Copp has bee the only offensive t ice for Michigan ove weeks. Though hisc date back to the beg season, Copp wasn't producing when the were winning. In fact, when the at its best, Michige comprised junior f Guptill, fresh- man JT Com- pher and senior Derek DeBlois - not Copp. After a 2-2 tie to then-No. 4 Ferris State, the trio led all line combinations w Admittedly a str Guptill's potential t constant threat. ItA cidence that when G three goals and two games, the Wolveri straight games and November with only But much like h junior has failed to1 of late. urday. "He's waiting to score, he's six games in hoping to score, but he's got to r, that kind of work harder to score," said Mich- igan coach Red Berenson. "In the meantime, when you're not scor- ho's it going ing, you've to got work harder without the puck. Our whole ice from the team needs to play harder with- n just about out the puck, including Guptill." hreat on the Compher, who hit his stride r the past six after scoring his first goal against contributions Nebraska-Omaha, rode a six- inning of the game point streak into the GLI the only one but also hasn't had success in the e Wolverines last six weeks. Arguably the fastest skater on offense was the roster, sophomore forward an's top line Boo Nieves has hardly coasted orward Alex into his role as an offensive threat. The cen- ter has tallied only one goal Do old habits this season - one of seven die hard? Michigan goals against Roch- ester Institute PATRICK BARRON/Daily Sophomore forward Andrew Copp has been an offensive spark but needs help. allowed 13 goals and scored just So if the Wolverines first- five. What's worse, an offense period woes mean losses, is the that outscored opponents 17-6 in spread-out schedule to blame for the first period through Novem- the slump? ber has been shut out in the first "It's an excuse I'd like to not frame over its four-game losing use," said senior defenseman Mac streak. Bennett on Tuesday. "But at the It's a bad streak, but one that's same time, I think it'll definitely comprisedseveral isolated events. help once we get back to Friday, ith 34 points. eaky player, to score is a was no coin- 3uptill tallied assists in four nes won five came out of one loss. is team, the bury chances of Technology in early October. The sophomore is without a point since Dec. 2, when he recorded one of his seven assists. A player that, like Guptill and Compher, has the talent to score night in and night out, Nieves will need to harness his speed if Michigan hopes to alleviate any of the pressure put on Copp to score against the Big Ten's finest in Minnesota and Wisconsin. j4