The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/144506
commitment profile called them and tried to handle it the most respectful way I could. It was one of the most difficult things I ever had to do. I did what needed to be done, but they were all great coaches. It wasn't an easy decision. "I think what it came down to was I think Michigan was the best fit for me, and I felt most comfortable at Michigan. It's not that I didn't feel comfortable any other place — I just felt good there, which is ironic be‑ cause the climate is a little different for me there." The 6-3, 216-pound Winovich joined Michigan commit Michael Ferns in U-M's linebacker corps for the 2014 class, and the pair are not just future teammates, they're already friends. Ferns' home in St. Clairsville, Ohio, is just an hour away from Pittsburgh, and the two built a bond at the Rivals Camp Se‑ ries event in that city, and have hung out many times since. Ferns was one of the first to know which choice Winovich would make. "He asked me, and I kind of hinted to it," Winovich admitted with a chuckle. "He kind of went along with it. Wilton [Speight] texted me and said something like, 'You have a big day tomorrow,' and it kind of went all over Twitter. Even before I made it official, Michael texted me and said, 'Address and shirt size?' For the Team 135 t-shirt." Winovich is a three-star prospect and the No. 29 outside linebacker in the country, but it's likely that he'll continue to improve during his final high school campaign and move up the rankings. He's only been play‑ ing linebacker for half a season — he previously focused on running back and safety — and more experience should give him the comfort level and skill set that are needed to excel. "Some highly ranked linebackers put up 150 tackles," Winovich said. "Mine were relatively low in com‑ parison to that. I think I had like 77 and the next kid on my team had 40. I did make all-conference, and I only played linebacker for about eight games last year. "I've worked pretty hard in the weeks and months after the season. I've put on probably 20 pounds of muscle since football season, and that's never an easy task. I think you can always take it to the next level. Now that I've got the commitment out of the way, I'm going to really try to focus on that." Winovich's relationships at Michi‑ gan extend from fellow commits to — most importantly — the coaching staff. "Coach [Darrell] Funk is just a re‑ ally good guy," he said. "They said they had me at Sam linebacker. That's where they'd start me off, and possibly after having me around they could either have me go down to defensive end, or maybe evolve into more of middle linebacker. They compared me to Jake Ryan." If Winovich can live up to Ryan's legacy — the former three-star pros‑ pect has 125 tackles and 10 sacks in two years — the Michigan coaches will be very happy. — Tim Sullivan