The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1340560
2021 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE "He's the most naturally gifted athlete I've ever coached, without a doubt," Fowler said. "I don't even know that it's close, and I've coached some really good players. I've just never seen anybody at his age able to move as fast, in all of the most compromised positions. "You could put him anywhere. He could cover a receiver in space. He could lock down the team's No. 1 re- ceiver in man-to-man. You could play a cover zero with him, and then you could blitz him inside of a guard and expect him to bull rush the guard. He could just do it all." By that point, Fowler referred to Colson as a "finished product, physi- cally." It came down to technique refinement, and teaching him higher- level coverage and anticipation skills often not even conveyed at the high school level. Colson also out-worked everyone, Fowler noted, making the added in- put take quickly. "He bordered on precognition," Fowler said. "It was like he knew what was going to happen before it happened. You add his speed into that and it was just unreal." In part to assuage concerns about him not getting the football for re- cruiting purposes, Ravenwood put him in a kick-return situation. "He catches it, breaks five or six tackles, and then outruns everybody to score," Fowler said. "I'm not even sure he got any blocking. He's the running back that never goes down. You think you tackled him, but he just keeps his feet moving all the time. He plays the game that way from everywhere." Ravenwood faced Independence in the last regular-season game of Col- son's sophomore season. They en- countered a quarterback who could deliver the ball anywhere and a top- level receiving crew. Colson played stand-up nose guard, simply to rattle the normally high-flying opposition. "He would just line up over the center and stand," Fowler said. "He'd jump up and down, run side to side, pretend like he was blitzing — anything that was distracting. "That team was the most prolific offense in the state, by far. They av- eraged like 600 yards per game, 500 yards passing the in previous three games. Going into the fourth quarter, they had no points, 75 total yards and 10 fumbled snaps. "We pass rushed one or two guys per play and had like 11 sacks. It was because all the attention was being paid to Junior." DREAMS OF THE BIG HOUSE The University of Kentucky offered first, prior to that fateful junior sea- son. Mrs. Colson drove Junior and a teammate up there for a camp, but the Michigan native didn't stop there. "I said, 'Junior, we're halfway to the University of Michigan,'" she recalled, with a laugh. "Not quite, but he didn't know that. He didn't operate a GPS yet. I said, 'Why don't we just go to the University of Michi- gan? It will be a great experience.'" So she signed him up for Michi- gan's camp, roughly two weeks be- fore it happened. "Junior went in there, knowing no one," she said. "He didn't have a col- lege recruiter calling ahead, saying 'Hey, my recruit's coming. Talk to him, show him around. You'll love him. Here's his film.' "None of that. We literally went there, signed up two weeks in ad- vance. He played hard, grinded, and [Michigan's director of recruit- ing] Matt Dudek came up and said, 'Coach Harbaugh would like to see you in his office afterwards, if you all have a minute to stay around.'" Harbaugh offered a full scholar- ship on the spot, and Colson soon became Michigan bound. "I don't know if there's a better story than that," Mrs. Colson mused. "Other schools where he got offers, he had a recruiter helping. … He re- ceived the University of Michigan scholarship 100 percent on his own accord, outside of my time and gas driving him up there." Michigan will be glad she did, Fowler assured. "As soon as he gets the opportu- nity, there won't be much of a ques- tion as to who is going to be there for the rest of his tenure," Fowler stressed. "It will be a matter of get- ting the opportunity. "As far as going against some of the big hogs of the Big Ten, he's fast enough to beat you with speed. He's strong enough to beat you with strength. I don't have any question about any of that." Melissa Colson doesn't question the miracle. She just appreciates it. "What an amazing gift … it's a two-way gift," she said. "We gave Junior the gift to follow his heart and his dream. The gift he gave us back is that when he pushed and we kept him in his lane, he smiled and thanked us. "He continues to thank us by being the amazing individual he is and giv- ing back to his sport, to society, being a good human." Not to mention, he's one life-tested linebacker, with a story to tell. ❑ MARCH 2021 THE WOLVERINE 33 DID YOU KNOW? • Is an early enrollee at Michigan. • Recovered two fumbles as a senior and also returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. • Played soccer as a youth and is still relatively new to the game of football. • Born and lived in Haiti for nine years before being adopted by Steve and Melanie Colson and moving to the United States. 2021 Projection After Michigan's linebackers struggled in 2020, Colson has the opportunity to get in the rotation right away, especially following the departure of Cameron Mc- Grone to the NFL as an early en- trant. The early enrollee is on an even playing field with returning players when it comes to grasping new coordinator Mike Macdon- ald's defense. He also has the abil- ity to play any linebacker position, which will help him see the field early in his career. Melanie Colson, Junior's adoptive mother, on him declaring his childhood dream to play college football "We weren't going to tell him no. But the first three or four years he came here from Haiti, there was no indication this young man would grow up and be a Power Five football player."