The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/111015
football recruiting issue which often meant putting a kid on his back and keeping him there long enough to know who was responsible. Fox became only the fourth freshman in school history to skip the freshman team, playing on both lines for the junior varsity and four games on the varsity defensive line as a freshman. He earned all-conference honors playing primarily defense in his sophomore year and earned firstteam all-state honors as both a junior and a senior lining up primarily on the offensive line. His senior year was one of his school���s best in a decade. He helped lead Ponderosa to an undefeated regular season before the squad lost in the second round of the state playoffs, and he earned a spot on the U.S. Army All-America team. ���I felt I was at my best all year. I dominated everyone I went against,��� Fox said. ���Colorado is underrated for high school football ��� we can play.��� He was intent on showing it in San Antonio during the U.S. Army game, but fate wouldn���t allow it. Fox injured his knee in the second to last game of the season, and he blew it out completely in a 19-14 loss in the second round of the state playoffs a week later. ���I didn���t know how bad it was, so I played the next week on it,��� he recalled. ���I didn���t make it through that game. It got to the point where I said, ���I can���t do this.��� I finally got an MRI, and it turned out I tore both sides of my meniscus and the ACL in my left knee.��� Doctors have been happy with Fox���s progress, Woodruff said, and expect he���ll be fine with rehab. He still made it to the U.S. Army Bowl, albeit as a spectator, where he got to know fellow Michigan commitments Jake Butt and Dymonte Thomas. Never one for the spotlight or recruiting attention, Fox shied away from most interviews and concentrated on being a good teammate and a leader in his senior season. He played to the whistle and with a ���guard mentality,��� his coaches said, more excited about mixing it up with a defensive tackle than handling a speed rusher on the edge. He���d be more than willing to do either at Michigan, he said, adding it���s his goal to be ���the meanest player you���ll ever want to meet.��� His coaches love that about him, but are just as impressed with his fundamentals and technique, his hand placement and his knee bend. All are areas he���ll try to improve before arriving in June, doing his part to ensure he���ll be ready to go at Michigan. That starts with getting back to full health and getting in shape, a task he���s taking very seriously. ���When he���s done rehabbing, he���ll ask the doctors if he can go back in and do some more,��� said Woodruff, a west Michigan native and self-described Michigan fan. ���I hope everything works out and that his knee comes back strong. It���s our goal to be sitting here watching him play on Saturdays in that blue jersey in the near future.��� ��� Chris Balas