The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OCTOBER 2019 THE WOLVERINE 35 "Having them on the field at the same time, there are some pretty amaz- ing athletes out there, some great qual- ities that you've got a chance to coach and be creative with." For Uche, it's amazing to look around and see the position he's in. He's up to 250 pounds, surrounded by talent, on a team with incredibly high expectations. He's amused by onlookers who fix- ate on the loss of NFL talents such as Rashan Gary, Chase Winovich, Devin Bush Jr. and David Long off last year's roster. No slight to them, but Uche in- sists the cupboard isn't exactly bare. "When I hear that — 'Oh, you guys lost this guy, and that guy's gone' — I just laugh to myself," he said. "No- body sees what we've got going on in our room and in this facility. It just makes me laugh. I can't wait to show everybody what we've got going on. "I think we're a lot faster this year, have a lot more depth. Everybody can run. I'm not saying last year we couldn't run, but there's so much depth. If something happens to one guy, the next guy may be even faster or on a better level." Uche insisted he loves the makeup of the present roster. "We've got a bunch of 'us' guys," he said. "There are no 'me' guys. Every- body has a job they have to do. They focus on their job and help the team win as a whole. There are no 'me' guys, no spotlight guys. "There's just us as a core, and the whole plan is to succeed as a defense and be the best in the nation." The whole plan of his parents in- volved sending a responsible, focused, disciplined young man out into the world. Mission accomplished, in the eyes of Uche's coaches. Uche said that while his dad deliv- ered the iron hand, his mother offered a gentler input. "My mom was always in the picture, a very great support system for me," he said. "She was that kind shoulder I could lean on whenever things were tough. That's my rock, and I love her to death. She's the main reason I'm play- ing football now. She's always been there for me." Not that she completely grasps his sport of choice, and especially the im- portance it carries for many across the nation. "Even at this point, she doesn't even understand the level of seriousness that could potentially happen in the next couple of months," he assured. "She's just going along with it. As long as I'm happy, she's happy." Dad proved less concerned with im- mediate happiness, and more about long-term well-being. "My dad — the relationship we had, if he said something, it went," Uche reiterated. "It was his house, his rules." Things turned out pretty well, the se- nior said. That sort of approach tends to be the way football coaches roll as well. Needless to say, Uche didn't react with shock the first time he drew hard coaching. "It applies so much," he said of the discipline with which he grew up. "Some guys come in, and they don't have that discipline, and they peter out. They don't live up to their po- tential. They're not able to stay on the strict regimen and fight through adver- sity, fight through issues, fight through problems. "So they give up. But that discipline my dad instilled in me, no matter what I went through, I'd get back up and keep trying, regardless, even if things weren't going my way. I'd keep trying, push and find a way." ❏ Coming out of high school in the class of 2016, Uche was ranked by Rivals.com as a three-star prospect, the No. 53 senior in Florida and the No. 22 weakside defensive end in the country. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Michigan's Best From The Sunshine State Florida certainly features no lack of football talent. The 2019 Wolverines offer no fewer than 11 from that state. Here's a look at our top five performers from Florida in a winged helmet over the past 25 years: 1. Steve Hutchinson, Fort Lauderdale — Hutchinson did it all for Michigan, an All-American, four-time All-Big Ten performer who fit in as a redshirt fresh- man guard on a national championship squad in 1997. Hutchinson wound up performing in the NFL for more than a decade, with seven Pro Bowl appearances. He earned his way onto the NFL's All-Decade Team in the 2000s. 2. Denard Robinson, Deerfield Beach — Robinson rewrote the Michigan record books in his four years in a winged helmet. He set an NCAA career record for rushing yards by a quarterback, racking up 4,495 over the course of four sea- sons. He set the NCAA's single-season record in a that category with 1,702 as a sophomore. He ended up piling up 10,745 yards of total offense, becoming one of the most dynamic Wolverines to ever touch a football. 3. Brian Griese, Miami — Griese didn't ring up nearly the gaudy statistical totals of a Robinson. Griese instead did do what no other Michigan quarterback has accomplished over the last seven decades — lead the Wolverines to a na- tional championship. In the fateful 1997 season, Griese threw for 2,293 yards and 17 touchdowns. He tied his season high in the Rose Bowl, unleashing three long TD strikes that lifted Michigan to No. 1. 4. Rod Payne, Miami — Payne became an All-American center for the Wol- verines in the mid-1990s, and found himself at the center of the action in one of Michigan's most-remembered games. He led the blocking charge in 1995, when No. 18 Michigan upset unbeaten and No. 2 Ohio State, 31-23, when Tshimanga Biakabutuka ran wild for 313 yards against OSU. 5. Devin Bush Jr., Pembroke Pines — Bush became a consensus All-American in 2018, before exiting early to the NFL. He earned All-America status in both of his final two years from some outlets. One of the fastest Michigan linebackers ever to put on a uniform, Bush tallied 194 tackles in three seasons, with 10.5 sacks, 20 tackles for loss and 14 passes broken up. — John Borton