The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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michigan football ball. His economy of movement is so much better, and his athleticism speaks for itself. His ability to improvise is hard to coach, but there are certain things we can coach so there's a structure to it. On fifth-year senior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint's recovery: "I asked him, 'Do you think you could have played [in the spring game]?' Not that I wanted him to. We had no intention of ever doing that. And he said, 'Coach, in the last couple weeks, I think I could have gone in there and taken a few.' I said, 'Awesome.' "Maybe he's just being optimistic. But he is just dying to play. I can sense it. He is jumping around. He can't wait to play. He's a baller. And we are going to give him a chance to get back in when he's back in the fold. On the tight ends' involvement this season: "I am a tight end kind of guy. I love tight ends, and I always have. We tell them when we recruit them, 'When this thing is working the way it should, you have died and gone to tight end heaven, because this is a great place to play tight end.' We don't just play with one. We will play with two, and last year a couple times, we played with three. And we're not putting them out there to put them out there. "There are so many things you can do with that position, if you have a good, versatile athlete. It's limitless, and it raises hell with the defense. A guy that can attack the middle of the field quickly in the passing game and be able to block on the line of scrimmage, that is good stuff." ❑ football Notebook New Opponent • Michigan will host Cincinnati at The Big House during the 2017 season (Sept. 9) the athletic department announced. The two schools have never met on the gridiron before. Additionally, U-M will engage in basketball home-and-home series with the Bearcats between the 2016 and 2018 season. The two have met four times on the court before with Michigan 3-1 in those matchups. "Ohio is a state that all our sports programs recruit heavily, and the Cincinnati area has been terrific recruiting territory for Michigan athletics through the years," U-M athletics director David Brandon said. "We are excited to host the Bearcats and their fans at Michigan Stadium and Crisler Center in the coming years and look forward to making a visit to Cincinnati for basketball." Michigan has unveiled its 2014 and 2015 schedules and three of four nonconference opponents in 2016 with Cincinnati becoming the first foe scheduled for 2017. However, these schedules may get blown up with the addition of Rutgers and Maryland to the Big Ten in 2014. The conference is expected to announce new