The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1361683
MAY 2021 THE WOLVERINE 45 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL MICHIGAN'S EARLY ENROLLEE RECEIVERS IMPRESSING IN SPRING BALL Michigan saw two of its freshman wideouts enroll early this winter in Andrel Anthony and Cristian Dixon, with the pair having caught the at- tention of position-mate and sopho- more Mike Sainristil in spring prac- tices. "Andrel and Cristian add more to the receiver room, which will help us out a lot in the fall," Sainristil noted in early April. "Andrel is very fast and one of the fastest guys in the room. They both work on technique daily, and what impresses me is the way they enjoy learning and take to coaching. They both just keep work- ing hard." Enrolling early will likely give the pair a leg up on playing time in the fall, a sentiment Sainristil said he can attest to. The Everett, Mass., native was an early enrollee himself in the winter of 2019 and went on to play 173 of- fensive snaps as a freshman that year, significantly more than his fellow classmates and wideouts Giles Jack- son (46) and Cornelius Johnson (88). "Arriving in the spring is huge for those guys [Anthony and Dixon], in terms of how it'll feel for them once summer camp starts," Sainristil explained. "They'll be ahead of the other freshmen who will still have to learn the offense, and will go into fall camp with an advantage." — Austin Fox MIKE HART BRINGING SOME 'SPICE TO THE TABLE' AS U-M'S NEW RBS COACH Michigan head coach Jim Har- baugh hired Mike Hart away from Indiana this offseason to lead the Wolverines' running backs, after the latter developed 1,000-yard rushers at Eastern Michigan, Western Michi- gan and IU. R e d s h i r t s o p h o m o re H a s s a n Haskins and a pair of freshmen in Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum are expected to be U-M's three pri- mary backs in 2021, with the latter having carried 26 times and tallied two touchdowns last season during his first year on campus. "Coach Mike Hart brings a spice to the table — not only on the field, but in the classroom as well," Corum said April 2. "He just brings some oomph to drills we do on the field. He's also brought in some different types of cutting drills that we didn't do last year and ones I hadn't seen before as a running back. "Coach Hart has also taught us some things he did as a player." Corum revealed he already knew Hart prior to the latter 's arrival at Michigan, with the two meeting one another during the freshman's re- cruiting process. Hart stood 5-9, 202, when he played at U-M from 2004-07, and Co- rum — who has nearly an identical physique at 5-8, 200 — admitted he's enjoyed learning from a coach who shared a similar body type during his playing days. "I think Coach Mike Hart can help anybody, not just me and my stat- ure," the freshman opined. "He can help the bigger guys or the little guys — it doesn't really matter, simply because of how good of a running backs coach he is." — Austin Fox During his time on the staff at Indiana, Hart was a nominee for the 2018 Broyles Award, annually given to the nation's top assistant coach, and named one of the nation's top 25 recruiters by Rivals.com in 2019. PHOTO COURTESY INDIANA ATHLETICS MICHIGAN LOSES THREE MORE TO THE TRANSFER PORTAL Three Wolverines — sophomore wide receiver Giles Jackson, red- shirt junior defensive back Hunter Reynolds and freshman linebacker William Mohan — have recently an- nounced their intentions to transfer from the program and finish their collegiate career elsewhere, making it 12 U-M players to have done so since the team last played a game. Jackson entered his information into the NCAA transfer portal March 29, after playing with the Maize and Blue for two seasons. The Antioch, Calif., native served as U-M's primary kick returner over the last two years, averaging 26.4 yards per return and scoring two touchdowns. He also caught 24 passes for 309 yards and one score, and rushed the ball 12 times for 74 yards and one touch- down. Reynolds announced his departure April 5, with the former walk-on hav- ing had a very limited impact over the course of his four years with the program, totaling 22 tackles, includ- ing two stops for loss as a safety and special teams contributor. Also on April 5, Mohan announced his decision to leave U-M. He saw ac- tion in just one game a year ago, the season opener at Minnesota, and re- corded one tackle. He came to U-M as a four-star prospect from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was recruited to play the viper spot. With former defensive coordi- nator Don Brown replaced by Mike Macdonald, it's safe to assume that Mohan's role in the new defense isn't what he envisioned when he arrived in Ann Arbor last summer. — Clayton Sayfie 2021 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (2020 Record) Sept. 4 Western Michigan (4-2) Sept. 11 Washington (3-1) Sept. 18 Northern Illinois (0-6) Sept. 25 Rutgers (3-6) Oct. 2 at Wisconsin (4-3) Oct. 9 at Nebraska (3-5) Oct. 16 Bye Oct. 23 Northwestern (7-2) Oct. 30 at Michigan State (2-5) Nov. 6 Indiana (6-2) Nov. 13 at Penn State (4-5) Nov. 20 at Maryland (2-3) Nov. 27 Ohio State (7-1)