The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 83 BY JOHN BORTON J on Runyan Jr. couldn't believe the difference. Two months after he and his team- mates dropped a 24-17 opener at Notre Dame last year, he was still reliving it. He watched and re-watched, using that game both for motivation and recognition of how far he'd come. He cringed a bit at what his eyes told him. "It kind of made me sick to my stomach looking at myself in that game," he said. Runyan discovered the cure, through the course of the 10 straight wins that followed. It involved experience, leading to confi- dence, burgeoning into swagger through his first year as a full-time starter. Hesitancy and cringeworthy early mis- takes led to an ever-increasing adeptness at consistent protection. By the end, Runyan wound up healthy, not only in his eyes but in those of everyone in the Big Ten and beyond. Conference coaches named him first- team All-Big Ten. So did the Associated Press. The team accorded him the Hugh H. Rader Memorial Award, handed over annually to the top of- fensive lineman on the squad. He clutched that trophy precisely 25 years after his dad — former U-M All- American and NFL All-Pro Jon Runyan — held the same one aloft. That's the first father-son duo to ever pull off such a feat at Michigan. The younger Runyan is headed down a good path, and wants what all the Wolverines want. Take last season, keep the good, fix the rest. In his final campaign at Michigan, Runyan wants it more than most. According to U-M offensive line coach Ed Warinner, he's in a better position than most to do something about those winning desires. In short, he's not the same player who took the field in South Bend, when he gave up his lone sack of the season and a total of five of the 14 total pressures (sacks, hits and hurries) he was charged for the year by Pro Football Focus. "He's different in that he's confident," Warinner said. "He's different in that he's a better communicator, because he's con- fident. People don't communicate when they're not confident. Nobody that doesn't know what they're supposed to say stands up and talks. They don't say anything. "He's confident, he's communicating, he's been able to evaluate himself on tape. We had a couple of things we wanted him to work on. He's at a whole different place than where he was a year ago at this time." Jon Jansen noticed, and he's been there. The former Michigan All-American and two-time captain right tackle went through that break-in period once. He later won a national championship and played more than a decade in the NFL. But he remembers what it was like to get established. Because he does, the Michigan athletics department communications spe- cialist full appreciates Runyan's journey. "Jon Runyan did a tremendous job last year of buying into what Coach Warinner was teaching him, in terms of his technique," Jansen said. "When you understand what you're doing and how your role fits into the success of every play, it allows you to be more aggressive. It allows you to play confidently. I don't think there is anybody that exemplifies that more than Jon Runyan. "The year he had last year, to be All-Big Ten, playing in one of the toughest positions you're ever going to play in football, he did a great job of continuing to improve through- out the year his pass sets, his hand place- ment, his punch, his steps in the run game. "He just did a tremendous job of continu- ing to grow throughout the season." A Long Road To Recognition Michigan fans of any longevity knew the name, as soon as Runyan committed to Ann Arbor out of St. Joseph's Prep in Moore- stown, N.J. They recalled his burly, imposing dad, who roughed up Michigan opponents with regularity in the early 1990s. But Runyan Jr. had to make his own name, and the process wasn't automatic. He red- shirted — like most offensive linemen — his freshman season, Jim Harbaugh's first at Michigan. He got into a game against Illinois the following year, but didn't break through as a starter until the final contest of his third year in a winged helmet. Runyan performed in nine games dur- ing the 2017 season, but in a backup role. His first start occurred at right tackle in the Outback Bowl against South Carolina, a breakthrough that projected into bigger and better achievements in 2018. Even then, there were no guarantees. Mich- igan had just changed offensive line coaches, and Runyan found himself in an all-out fracas to get Warinner's stamp of approval and take over the crucial left tackle spot. "Last year in spring ball, I was caught in the tackle battle, like the right tackle position that is going on right now," he recalled. "That gives you an edge in practice. I had two guys coming at me in the tackle position last year, and it was kind of an every-day motivating factor. It was something I really enjoyed." He enjoyed it even more when he earned the job, and translated it into a year of ex- ponential growth. Now he's one of several established linemen, and finds other ways to push himself. "This year, we have four or five guys re- turning," Runyan pointed out. "We don't have that presence that someone's running behind you, chasing you. It's just me, growing and developing as a player, having to self-motivate myself every day — which I'm able to do." Part of that involves study, and continuing the occasionally painful task of looking back and seeing how far he's come. It also means making an honest assessment — with help — about where he is now and what he needs to take it to the next level. ASSERTIVE ATTACKER Left Tackle Jon Runyan Jr. Leaps Forward Through Confidence Last year, Runyan became just the fifth Wolver- ine offensive lineman to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors in the last 11 seasons and was just the second to do so since 2013. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN