tion story of his own. At Connecticut's
Xavier High School, he beat out his good
friend Luke Schoonmaker for the job. In
the two seasons remaining of his high
school career, Schoonmaker fashioned
himself into an elite tight end and now
plays that position at Michigan.
Much like he did then, Levis found
himself fighting this summer with a
player he considers one of his best
friends. But that hasn't stopped him
from taking on the frame of mind that
coach James Franklin wants from all his
players – regardless of their positions on
the depth chart.
When preseason practice got under
way, Levis was determined to treat
every day as if he were going to be the
starter.
"I think you have to approach every-
thing the same way, whether you know
you're going to be the starter, you're the
locked starter, or if you're going to be the
fourth-string guy going into camp,"
Levis said.
The focus after Stevens announced his
intentions largely centered on Clifford
and what it meant for him, given that
those two were set to compete for the
starting job before Stevens decided to
IN THE
POCKET Levis
and running
back Journey
Brown per-
form a drill in
practice.
Photo by
Steve Manuel
