The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/152358
"You know you can't take any day for granted," Kalis said. "You can't go out one day and screw up. If you mess up one play, you have to do better the next play. It's all about competing every day." The 6-5, 302-pound Kalis and the 6-6, 318-pound Braden are heeding their coaches' message, understanding that media forecasts do not mean anything because jobs are won with consistency in practices. "You can't be complacent," Kalis said. "You can't sit there and say, 'I have this locked up' because there are people right behind you that Coach Funk or Coach Hoke are ready to put in. You can't go into a day and think you can go through the motions. You have to approach each day like a new day. But this is a lot of fun. The opportunity is awesome. The coaches are putting confidence in us so early." When they were recruited, both Kalis and Braden represented Hoke's vision for the future — a mauling offensive line that never let up, grinding front sevens into the ground like a Wisconsin Badgers line would. That is the mentality Braden played with in high school before arriving at U-M, and the approach he's unleashing on his teammates in camp. "I feel more natural doing this because we ran a lot more downhill plays at Rockford," Braden said. Lurking only a step behind the redshirt freshman duo, Bryant is healthy after missing all of 2012 with a broken leg, and eager to force his way into the mix. The redshirt sophomore, at 6-4 and 316 pounds, has a reputation of being a punishing run blocker, and he might just outperform his younger teammates. "It's great to finally do what I like to do, which is play football and be physical," he said. Glasgow is also in the mix at guard, and the old adage of playing the five best linemen — not the best center or the best right guard — will win out again this fall. That may mean a starting lineup of Miller at center and Glasgow at one of the guard posts, or it may mean Glasgow at center and Kalis and Braden at right and left guard. The decisions the coaches make, leading up to the game with Central Michigan, are critically important. Hoke criticized the play of the line early in the 2012 year, and by the end of the season would skip by questions, frustrated the unit had not improved drastically over 12 weeks. The Wolverines' ground game struggled last season — U-M's 183.8 yards per game marked a decrease of almost 40 yards (221.8) from 2011 production — and the line was a central culprit. This year's offensive line features one great player (Lewan), one rising standout (Schofield), and three unknowns. Hoke has said he doesn't like the word potential because by definition it represents what a player has not yet accomplished, and he doesn't want to hear about the potential of the interior line. He wants to see results. Funk wants to see results, and the Wolverines presently in the throes of competition understand production, not promise, will win