The Wolverine

2020 Football Preview

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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QUARTERBACKS THE WOLVERINE 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 57 PLAYER BIOS POSITION COACH Ben McDaniels was named the quarterbacks coach in February 2019, shortly after the college football season ended. He served as an offensive analyst dur- ing the 2018 regular season for Michigan before transitioning to the interim wide receivers coach for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, after Jim McElwain left to become the head coach at Central Michigan. In his first season guiding the signal-callers, starter Shea Patterson became the third Wolverine ever to pass for 3,000 or more yards in a single season (3,061 yards). He also threw for 23 touchdowns on the year. Patterson's five scoring passes in a win over Indiana stands as the most in a non-overtime game at Michi- gan. The Wolverines averaged 35.7 points per game over the last six weeks of the season, aided by the continued development of Patterson. Over the last 17 years, McDaniels has amassed a lengthy coaching history at the prep, college and NFL levels. Before coming to Michigan, he was most recently an offensive assistant for the Chicago Bears, where he worked specifically with the wide receivers and tight ends. He also spent a season with the Tampa Bay Buc- caneers as an offensive assistant (2013), and two seasons with the Denver Broncos as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach (2009-10). During his time with the Bucs and Broncos, both offenses thrived. The Buccaneers set franchise records in sev- eral offensive categories, while the Broncos flourished with an air-raid attack. At the college level, he has previously worked at a pair of Big Ten programs, Minnesota (2004-05) and Rutgers (2014-15), along with a season at Columbia (2012). At Minnesota, McDaniels served as a gradu- ate assistant; at Rutgers he was offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach at vari- ous points during his two seasons; and at Columbia he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. McDaniels was a quarterback himself during his playing days. In his time at Canton McKinley (Ohio) High School, he started under center for three years and won two state championships, before going on to Kent State, where he saw action at quarterback and received a degree in sports management. McDaniels comes from a family lineage of great football minds. His father, Thom, is an Ohio High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame member and was named the 1997 USA Today Coach of the Year. His older brother Josh is currently the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator and also served as head coach of the Denver Broncos. RETURNING PLAYERS DYLAN MCCAFFREY • QB R-Jr. • Castle Rock, Colo. Ht.: 6-5 • Wt.: 220 • Appeared in seven games in 2019, throwing for 116 yards and one touchdown while com- pleting 10 of 20 pass attempts. Also rushed for 67 yards and one touchdown. • Played in six games during the 2018 season, total- ing 126 passing yards, 99 rushing yards and three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). • Suffered a season-ending injury (broken collar- bone) during the final minutes of the 42-7 win over Penn State in 2018. • Received the team's 2017 Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year award. • Ranked as the No. 1 player in Colorado, and the No. 7 pro-style quarterback and No. 131 overall player in the nation by Rivals.com. • Named Colorado's Gatorade Football Player of the Year in 2016. Year GP/GS Com. Att. Yds. TD INT 2019 7/0 10 20 116 1 0 2018 6/0 8 15 126 2 0 Totals 13/0 18 35 242 3 0 JOE MILTON • QB R-So. • Pahokee, Fla. Ht.: 6-5 • Wt.: 245 • Appeared in four games dur- ing the 2019 season, and com- pleted 3 of 7 pass attempts for 59 yards with one touchdown. Also ran five times for 16 yards. • First touchdown pass of his career came against Rutgers on a 23-yard strike to Giles Jackson. • Played in four games for the Wolverines in 2018. • Co-recipient of the team's 2018 Scout Team Of- fensive Player of the Year award. • Rated as the No. 11 dual-threat quarterback and No. 200 overall player nationally by Rivals coming out of high school. Year GP/GS Com. Att. Yds. TD INT 2019 4/0 3 7 59 1 1 2018 4/0 3 4 58 0 1 Totals 8/0 6 11 117 1 2 CADE MCNAMARA • QB R-Fr. • Reno, Nev. Ht.: 6-1 • Wt.: 205 • Did not see game action and redshirted in 2019. • The first player in Nevada his- tory to win the Gatorade Player of the Year award in back-to-back seasons (2017 and 2018). • Finalist for the National Gatorade Player of the Year award as a senior. • Ranked as a four-star prospect, the No. 1 player in Nevada and No. 8 pro-style quarterback in the nation by Rivals. • Finished his prep career atop the Nevada state record book for passing yards (12,084) and touch- downs (146). NEWCOMERS DAN VILLARI • QB Fr. • Massapequa, N.Y. Ht.: 6-4 • Wt.: 215 • As a prep senior, led Plainedge High School to a 12-0 record and a Long Island Class III state cham- pionship, the first in school history. • In addition to passing for 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns in his senior season, he also rushed for 1,522 yards and 22 scores. • Had a 23-1 record as a starter in high school. • Rated as a Rivals three-star prospect and the No. 13 player in the state of New York. QUARTERBACKS Although he did not garner any game expe- rience in 2019, redshirt freshman Cade Mc- Namara racked up a Nevada-record 12,804 passing yards and 146 touchdowns during his career at Damonte Ranch High. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN ROSTER No. Name Ht. Wt. Year Elig. Hometown (High School) 16 Ren Hefley* 6-0 177 So. Fr. Bryant, Ark. (Bryant) 9 Andy Maddox* 6-4 212 So. Fr. Prairie Village, Kan. (Shawnee Mission East) 10 Dylan McCaffrey 6-5 220 Sr. Jr. Castle Rock, Colo. (Valor Christian) 12 Cade McNamara 6-1 205 So. Fr. Reno, Nev. (Damonte Ranch) 5 Joe Milton 6-5 245 Jr. So. Pahokee, Fla. (Olympia) — Dan Villari 6-4 215 Fr. Fr. Massapequa, N.Y. (Plainedge) * Walk-on

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