The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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26 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MAY 2024 ger than you, and you might know that we're going to run the ball. "I think back to that Penn State game, running it 32 times in a row that sec- ond half. They knew it. I think every- body watching that game in the stadium knew it. But they still couldn't stop it. That was fun, right there." Prior to the pinnacle in Houston, the Wolverines had to get past big, bad Alabama. To do it like they did, in the venue so hallowed by Michigan teams for more than a century, only added to that memory. "Obviously the national champion- ship is the national championship — it is what it is," Gentry noted. "But in the Rose Bowl, being down, coming down to that last drive, going into overtime and just doing Michigan football. Handing the ball to Blake [Corum], letting the O-line go to work and then getting that stop on the fourth-and-goal. "That was just a defining moment. It really showed who we were as a team." SUDDEN CHANGE, BIG OPPORTUNITY That team will never pull on the maize and blue together again. Not only did the offensive line go out on top, they left among 18 NFL Combine invitees. A host of coaches followed Harbaugh to the Los Angeles Chargers, and U-M's offensive line coach moved not on, but up — into the big office at Schembechler Hall. Former Wolverine Grant Newsome, last year's tight ends coach, now han- dles the entire offensive line. He's look- ing to reconstruct a strong front wall, and likes what he's seen from many thus far, including Gentry. "He's done really, really well this spring," Newsome said of Gentry. "He's been kind of a Swiss Army knife for us in years past. He's backed up multiple spots, and so it's been awesome being able to see him compete. "The other thing for him is, he's go- ing into his third year in the program, but taking that mission, he was out of football for two years. It's been awesome to see now that he's got his strength back. He's able to compete at a high level. He's been playing well, and we're excited to see how he and some of these other guys continue to battle it out for the rest of spring." Gentry agreed that his versatility, position-wise, helped him prepare to be ready for this opportunity. "It helps a lot," he said. "I really only played right tackle in high school. Hav- ing the opportunity to move around, be that Swiss Army knife that Coach New- some mentioned, it was a great learning experience for me. "I learned different things from each guy last year, that I was backing up. I look at a guy like Karsen Barnhart, who was literally able to play anywhere. He started games at right tackle, left tackle and right guard, and was there to help us in any situation we needed. I'm trying to help myself and the team in that way as well. "If it ever did end up that they needed me to plug and play at guard, or on ei- ther side of the O-line at left or right tackle, I'd be ready and willing to do that. It's definitely something I could help the team with. It's helped me a lot. It's also helping my craft as an offensive lineman. When you play different positions, you learn different fundamentals." Gentry and his teammates look to stiff-arm those who insist the Wol- verines will be fundamentally flawed personnel-wise, via the massive de- partures. He's with NFL-bound quar- terback J.J. McCarthy, who when con- fronted by a skeptic at the NFL Combine who projected a big drop-off for this year's Wolverines, noted: "You keep thinking that," and cited Michigan's re- serve of talent and tenacity. "One-hundred percent," Gentry said. "There are a lot of people in the media, the national media, who have just kind of written Michigan off for next year and said, it will be a 'rebuilding year' for them. But just like J.J. said, wait and see. We've got lots of guys who were ready to play the last couple of years, who just had really, really good players in front of them. In my mind, that makes us even more dangerous, when you've got good players learning from even better play- ers the last few years. "You've got guys who are older. It's not going to be guys that are true fresh- men starting next year, or second-year guys. You've got guys who have been waiting a long time, and learning. That's attributed to our coaching staff keeping guys here. That's pretty rare to see these days, with the transfer portal. We've got guys who have been waiting their turns. It's going to pay huge dividends to us this year when we're playing on Satur- days. We're pumped to see what we can do and prove some people wrong." Gentry, the No. 1 high school prospect in Colorado in the 2020 On3 Industry Ranking, arrived at Michigan in 2022 after serving a two-year Mormon mission in Orem, Utah. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY