2B — September 12, 2016
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The perks of being Jim Harbaugh’s quarterback
J

im Harbaugh won his 70th 
game out of 100 as a college 
head football coach on 

Saturday, but he was once 1-3. 
And the loss 
that put him 
at 1-3 came 
on Sept. 25, 
2004, when 
his San Diego 
team lost to 
Princeton, 
24-17.

One of 

the crushing 
blows in that 
game was a 
Todd Mortensen interception 
with 3:45 to play. Mortensen, a 
senior transfer from Brigham 
Young, went to the sideline, 
and Harbaugh’s reaction — like 
everything else about Michigan’s 
second-year head coach — was 
familiar.

“I could tell he was 

disappointed, because he’s 
competitive, and he wants to win 
as much or more than anyone. 
But I didn’t get chewed out in 
the moment,” Mortensen said. 
“… I don’t even remember what 
he said, because his reaction was 
so supportive, it didn’t make a 
lasting impression on me.”

What Mortensen does 

recall is what happened the 
next day in San Diego’s film 
session. Harbaugh showed 
his quarterback the film. He 
taught him how to avoid the 
mistake in the future. And most 
importantly, he stuck with his 
guy during the low point in the 
season.

Mortensen didn’t make any 

glaring mistakes the rest of the 
year, the offense averaged 44 
points in the last eight games and 
the Toreros finished 7-1.

“From that game on, I never 

had a game where I felt like I 
was the reason we didn’t win the 
game,” Mortensen said.

When Mortensen visited Ann 

Arbor last year for the Michigan-

BYU game, he introduced 
himself to then-Michigan 
quarterback Jake Rudock, who 
had a similar renaissance in the 
second half of last year, breaking 
out after a few rough games.

Last weekend, redshirt 

sophomore Wilton Speight 
entered the exclusive fraternity 
of Harbaugh’s starting 
quarterbacks. That club 
comes with a number of perks, 
including the mentorship of a 
coach who once starred at the 
position himself and has strong 
ties to the NFL.

But there’s another advantage 

to being Harbaugh’s quarterback, 
and it may be the most important 
one: complete, undying loyalty.

Of the 128 Football Bowl 

Subdivision teams, 17 played 
multiple quarterbacks in their 
season opener (for reasons other 
than injuries and blowouts). They 
weren’t insignificant names, 
either: Alabama’s Nick Saban, 
Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly and 
Texas’ Charlie Strong all hadn’t 
picked a definitive starter at 
the most important position in 
sports.

Needless to say, Harbaugh 

was not like them. He went with 
Speight after an eight-month 
competition — though he didn’t 
disclose it until kickoff — and 
will now almost certainly stick 
with Speight for the rest of the 
season, barring injury.

In fact, in his years in 

college, Harbaugh has almost 
never allowed a quarterback 
controversy. This is his ninth 
year as a college head coach. 
Only once has he had two 
quarterbacks throw more than 
25 passes each in a season. His 
backups play only due to injuries 
or in garbage time. He picks his 
guy and rolls with him.

And however he feels about 

his team, however his team fares, 
he is completely unwavering 
in his support of the starting 
quarterback.

Start with last season, when 

Harbaugh gave graduate transfer 
Jake Rudock the nod over then-
redshirt sophomore Shane 
Morris. Through three games, 
Michigan was 2-1 and Rudock had 
thrown for fewer than 200 yards 
per game and three touchdowns 
against just five interceptions. 
The following Monday, Harbaugh 
faced a question about where 
Rudock could improve, which he 
took as an insinuation of doubt at 
the position.

“Just, the question, to me 

— just the way you started the 
question off after the game, 
it’s like questions to divide and 
compare,” Harbaugh said. “… I 
sense sometimes the questions to 
compare and be divisive, so I’m 
quick to turn those off.”

Asked a follow-up, Harbaugh 

defended Rudock again: “To 
be clear, Jake Rudock’s the 
best quarterback. Not by a 
small margin. He’s our best 
quarterback. … I feel it’s divisive 
when you just pull out one name 
to just keep hammering; there, 
there, so hope that’s clear. He’s 
our best quarterback.”

As much as Rudock struggled 

in the first third of the season, 
Harbaugh wasn’t having any 
criticism, inquisition or even the 
slightest hint of an ambiguity at 
quarterback.

And his 

faith paid off, 
as Rudock 
polished off 
one of the 
best single 
seasons for a 
quarterback 
in Michigan 
history, 
leading the 
Wolverines to a 10-3 season.

That has been Harbaugh’s 

track record throughout his 
career. In 2004 at San Diego, 
his first head coaching job, 
Harbaugh chose Mortensen, 
who started all season. When 

Mortensen left, his old backup, 
Josh Johnson, took over for 2005 
and 2006.

The 2007 season was the only 

one of Harbaugh’s career with 
even a little ambiguity. That 

was when 
Harbaugh 
inherited a 
struggling 
program at 
Stanford 
and waffled 
between T.C. 
Ostrander 
(who started 
the first four 

games and the last one) and 
Tavita Pritchard (who got the 
nod in between).

In 2008, Harbaugh settled 

on Pritchard, and in 2009, 
he started a young redshirt 
freshman named Andrew Luck. 

Of Harbaugh’s all-time college 
starters, Johnson, Luck and 
Rudock — that’s half of them if 
you’re counting at home — are 
still in the NFL.

Now, Speight is the latest of 

Harbaugh’s pupils with that 
opportunity. In two starts, the 
results have been positive, albeit 
against lesser competition: 
Speight is 35-for-50 for 457 
yards with seven touchdowns 
and an interception.

But even during Speight’s 

costly mistakes — or mistake, 
singular, rather — Harbaugh has 
stood by him all the way, as usual.

The blip happened on the 

first offensive snap of the season 
opener. Speight rolled out to the 
right and tossed the ball into 
the waiting arms of Hawaii’s 
Damien Packer. Then Speight’s 
momentum carried him over to 

the sideline, where Harbaugh 
had an unusual reaction.

“He just grabbed me and 

hugged me and was kind of 
laughing and was like, ‘Don’t 
worry, we’ll get it next drive. 
Don’t sweat about that,’ ” Speight 
recalled.

Laughing? This is a man 

who doesn’t take a play off in 
pickup basketball games. And 
here’s his hand-picked starting 
quarterback giving the ball away 
on the first play of the first game, 
and Harbaugh laughs?

It sounds crazy, but it works. 

Speight will make more mistakes 
the rest of the season, but in 
Harbaugh, he has a quarterback’s 
most loyal ally.

Lourim can be reached 

at jlourim@umich.edu and 

on Twitter @jakelourim.

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

JAKE 
LOURIM

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Wilton Speight (center) can rest assured that Jim Harbaugh (right) will stand by him during tough times.

“From that game 

on, I never ... felt like 
I was the reason we 

didn’t win.”

through the air, the Wolverines’ 
rushing offense left something 
to be desired. Freshman wide 
receiver Eddie McDoom, freshman 
running back Chris Evans and 
senior running back De’Veon 
Smith all had their moments, but by 
and large, UCF seemed to have the 
right game plan against Michigan’s 
run game.

“You’ve gotta understand, in 

this game, you’re gonna always 
have mistakes, no matter what,” 
Hill said. “Our defense made some 
mistakes, but they also corrected 
those mistakes. Our offense made 
mistakes, but we also corrected our 
mistakes. We didn’t just keep doing 
it over and over.”

And with the score as lopsided 

as it was, it’s hard to argue.

Fifth-year senior Kenny Allen 

made three field goals, tying a 
career high, and Michigan altered 
two UCF punts and two kicks, one 
of which was an outright block.

Michigan put in its backup 

quarterback, redshirt junior John 
O’Korn, with 6:07 remaining, and 
it wore down the clock still up by a 
comfortable 37.

The Wolverines did what they 

were expected to. They took care 
of business.

Harbaugh said. “Real football 
player. Doing a great job.”

Expectations have always been 

high for Gary, the top-ranked 
recruit in the nation last year, from 
the February day he committed 
during Michigan’s “Signing of the 
Stars” ceremony to the April night 
he came out to a loud ovation from 
fans at the Spring Game.

Tuesday, after his first day 

of classes, Gary said he tries to 
shy away from that attention 
whenever possible.

“I try to stay low, but yeah, a 

couple people know me and they’ll 
say hi, take pictures,” Gary said. 
“But besides that, you see me with 
a hoodie on.”

Asked if that works, Gary said, 

“Sometimes. But I’m 6-foot-5, so it 
don’t always work.”

At this rate, it’s going to get 

harder every week.

UCF
From Page 1B

GARY
From Page 1B

Chase Winovich finds a home

C

hase Winovich has 
been a member of the 
Michigan football team 

for three 
seasons, 
worn three 
jersey 
numbers 
and worked 
at three 
different 
positions, 
and up 
until last 
Saturday, he 
had almost 
nothing to show for it.

For most of his first two years 

as a Wolverine, the three-star 
recruit from Jefferson Hills, 
Pa., was a player without a role, 
moving from position group 
to position group without his 
coaching staff being able to find 
him a suitable fit.

Winovich entered as a 

linebacker, redshirted his first 
season under then-Michigan 
coach Brady Hoke and moved to 
tight end under new coach Jim 
Harbaugh last year. He spent 

most of his time playing on the 
scout team, seeing game action 
just six times. But at the end 
of last season, with his team 
preparing for the Citrus Bowl 
against Florida, Winovich got in 
on some plays at defensive end 
during a scrimmage — despite 
not even knowing the scheme or 
the defense — and permanently 
changed the path of his career.

For the few plays he was on 

the field, Winovich immediately 
caught the eye of the coaching 
staff — later, he said, he found 
out that the entire defensive 
staff gathered in a post-
scrimmage film session to 
watch one play that he made. 
Right then, it was decided: 
Winovich would be moving to 
defensive end.

“I think they believed in me 

from the beginning,” Winovich 
said, “and I believed in myself.”

* * *

Saturday, Winovich stood in 

the Crisler Center media room, 
surrounded by reporters after 

making the first start of his 
college career.

After a strong spring for 

Winovich and an injury to 
senior defensive end Taco 
Charlton last week, Winovich 
learned earlier this week that 
he had been chosen to take 
Charlton’s place in the lineup 
against Central Florida. He 
was so excited that he could 
barely sleep 
last night, 
and he posted 
the news 
on Twitter, 
vowing to 
“represent the 
best university 
in the world” 
with his first 
start.

And 

impress Winovich did, picking 
up five tackles and his first 
career sack, knocking the ball 
out of UCF quarterback Justin 
Holman’s hands in the process.

After the game, with most of 

his family standing just a few 
feet away in the media room, 

Winovich’s voice nearly cracked 
as he attempted to express the 
emotion he was feeling.

“I’m not gonna lie and say 

that I was perfect out there, 
because nobody was,” he said. 
“But I felt like I left it all out 
there. And this one … this one 
today was for my family. They 
always believe in me. … Just 
to have the opportunity to 

go out there 
— people 
can’t take 
that away 
from me. 
There’s not a 
lot of things 
that really 
tug at my 
heartstrings, 
but that’s one 
of them.”

Winovich isn’t the only player 

who has thrived thanks to 
Harbaugh’s willingness to move 
players around the field. Redshirt 
junior fullback Khalid Hill played 
tight end last year but now has 
three touchdowns in two games. 
Junior center Mason Cole has 
transitioned seamlessly from 
being a starting left tackle.

But Hill and Cole were both 

experienced players who likely 
would have found playing 
time anyway — Winovich’s 
metamorphosis is harder to 
understand.

How exactly did he do it? 

How could a player who had 
little to no success for two years 
suddenly save his career at a 
third position?

If you ask him, he’ll cite 

an unexpected source of 
inspiration.

“(My brother) sent me this 

quote by Bruce Lee,” Winovich 
said. “He talks about water. 
‘Water can flow, water can 
crash. If you put water in a 
bottle, it becomes the bottle. 
If you put water in a cup, it 
becomes the cup.’

“Be shapeless — that was the 

moral of the story. Whatever 
mold they tried to put on me, 
I tried to learn. I’m not gonna 
lie, it’s tough. Sometimes, (if) 
you’ve been playing football 
your whole life, you get set in 
your own ways and how you do 

stuff and how you think stuff 
works, and you go in there and 
you get absolutely torn apart 
by Coach Mattison for doing it 
that way. You reevaluate your 
life and everything you’ve gotta 
do — which needs to happen — 
and you go out there the next 
day and say, ‘Well, I’m gonna 
go out there today and do it 
the right way.’ … I felt like I 
improved my game a lot of ways 
and was shapeless.”

After the immediate emotion 

wore off following the game, 
Winovich transformed into an 
ecstatic ball of energy, quoting 
everyone from UFC fighters 
Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz 
(on his fighting mentality) to 
his father, Peter (comparing 
settling in at his new position 
to his dad coming home from 
work and shouting, “Honey, I’m 
home! Put the steaks on!”)

The last quote may have 

been the most appropriate — 
Winovich sure seems at home 
now. Instead of putting in 
long hours on the scout team 
or trying his best to provide 
depth on offense, he can 
relax and do what he’s most 
comfortable doing.

“It just lets me get out there 

and play,” Winovich said. 
“Sometimes you don’t choose 
your passion — your passion 
chooses you.”

After the “shapeless” 

journeyman was finally done 
answering questions, reporters 
parted and left behind one of 
the only people in the room who 
looked happier than Winovich 
— his father. Without skipping 
a beat, Winovich walked up to 
him and wrapped him in a giant 
bear hug.

The Winovich family left 

the room together and ducked 
through a side door that opened 
up into the bowels of Crisler 
Center, Peter Winovich still 
basking in the culmination of 
his son’s journey.

“I always wanted to see what 

the furnace room looked like,” 
he said.

Gase can be reached at 

jgase@umich.edu and on 

Twitter @JacobGase.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Redshirt sophomore Chase Winovich has settled in at defensive end, his third position in three years at Michigan.

“I think they 
believed in 
me from the 
beginning.”

JACOB
GASE

