The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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10 THE WOLVERINE ❱ JUNE/JULY 2023 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Michigan freshman offensive guard Amir Herring enrolled early to get a quick start on his career, and he's happy he did. He made great progress in the weight room, the classroom and on the field in the first chapter of what's expected to be an illustri- ous U-M career. Herring joined us this spring for this ex- clusive Q&A: The Wolverine: Overall, just describe your first several months at Michigan. Did it meet your expectations? Amir Herring: "It was fun just learning all the new things about being in college, on and off the field. It's really a pleasure to have older guys helping the young guys in our class. Everybody is really connected. It's just one big family here." The Wolverine: Has anything surprised you? Are there things that have been tougher or easier than you expected? Herring: "I wouldn't say easier than I thought, but I noticed a lot of differences. Offensive line play is a lot different in col- lege. The language we speak in the offensive line room is a lot different than high school. Just getting adjusted to that with Coach [Sherrone] Moore and the rest of the coach- ing staff, really the coaches in the offensive line room, was a big thing." The Wolverine: We've heard great things about the interior defensive line. What was it like going against those guys in practice, and did you hold your own at times? Herring: "Going against Kris Jenkins, Ma- son Graham and all those guys has really been good. It made me a better player over- all. Just going against those guys has been an overall great experience for me … getting to compete. That's really what I like about our practices and really our environment. Everybody is competitive, wants to compete, wants to get better. That's how we're going to be the best team. "I feel like I did what I needed to do in those practices and held my own, definitely." The Wolverine: Coach Moore tends to move guys around on the line. Where did you spend most of your time this spring? Herring: "I really lined up at right guard, just getting adjusted to the system, finding where I could fit in on the offensive line. Learning from those guys — they are the best in the business. I feel like Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter are going to be the best 1-2 guard combo in the country this year. "Overall, learning from those guys, learn- ing from the best … I'm just really a sponge to anything they say, because I know they're really trying to get me better and all the rest of the guys better." The Wolverine: What's it been like specifi- cally learning from Keegan and Zinter? Herring: "That's why I came to Michigan; because I know we have the best guys in the country in our room. Overall, getting to learn, getting those experiences, I know it's going to help me down the road in my career. "Just overall, they're really like big broth- ers in the group. To see how they work, how they come in, watch film, just seeing them … picking things up the way they do has really been a help to my game." — Chris Balas Herring enrolled at U-M in January and went through spring practice slotted as an offensive guard. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Michigan is chasing its third consecutive Big Ten title and hoping to cash in with a national championship next January in Hous- ton. The Maize and Blue were a consensus top-three team nationally in "way-too-early" rankings released back in January. However, ESPN.com's Football Power Index (FPI) is slightly less bullish on ninth-year head coach Jim Harbaugh's club, which has the fifth- most returning production in the country, according to ESPN's own metric. FPI is "a predictive rating system designed to mea- sure team strength and project performance going forward." Preseason FPI rankings rely on past per- formance on offense and defense, returning and transfer production and past recruiting data. Michigan ranks sixth in FPI, behind No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Texas. In order, USC, Clemson, Notre Dame and Penn State round out the top 10. Besides Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, the only other Big Ten team in the top 25 is Wisconsin, checking in at No. 20. ESPN's computer believes in Ohio State more when it comes to the Big Ten race, giving OSU a 71.2 percent chance to win the league. FPI projects the Buckeyes will beat Michigan at The Big House (that would mark their first win over the Wolverines since 2019) and that U-M will drop one other game. The metric gives the Buckeyes the best chance to make the playoff (82.2 percent), advance to the national cham- pionship game (57.2) and win it all (36.7). It doesn't predict that the Wolverines will lose another contest from an individual stand- point, but given the percentages, it believes another setback is coming, with the likeliest candidate being at Penn State (53.1 percent chance of victory). — Clayton Sayfie WHAT ESPN'S FOOTBALL POWER INDEX SAYS ABOUT MICHIGAN ❱ Sitting Down With Freshman Offensive Lineman Amir Herring Pct. Chance Date Opponent FPI Rank Of U-M Victory Sept. 2 East Carolina 76th 96.7 Sept. 9 UNLV 105th 98.6 Sept. 16 Bowling Green 125th 99.0 Sept. 23 Rutgers 78th 96.7 Sept. 30 at Nebraska 52nd 87.6 Oct. 7 at Minnesota 33rd 78.7 Oct. 14 Indiana 75th 95.9 Oct. 21 at Michigan State 31st 77.7 Nov. 4 Purdue 50th 93.4 Nov. 11 at Penn State 10th 53.1 Nov. 18 at Maryland 44th 83.2 Nov. 25 Ohio State 1st 29.6