The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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72 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW huge favor," he said. "We had spring ball down there. We're working out, 24/7. You're playing in front of at least 10,000 people every game. That was unbeliev- able and helped me prepare for coming up here. "But I didn't feel that I had any obliga- tion to stay in Texas, just because I lived there. "Texas high school football did a great job of preparing me. But I didn't think I owed it anything, as far as staying in the state." He wasn't a lock for Michigan, either, he pointed out. "I wasn't necessarily a sure Michigan commit when I got that offer," Frazier confirmed. "I wanted to see everything. Do I think being a Michigan fan growing up influenced my decision to come here? Probably. But Michigan would have been a school I was heavily considering even if I hadn't grown up that way." After two years in Ann Arbor — the lat- ter seeing him take over as Michigan's left tackle midway last season — the big line- man hasn't a single regret about ventur- ing to the land up north. "It's been everything I expected and more," he said. "I remind myself every day, I'm living a dream. When those days get tough, I think about being a 7- or 8-year-old kid, rocking the Jor- dan shoes at school. There's a picture that goes around every once in a while of me wearing my dad's helmet. Stuff like that makes this such a cool experience for me." Those Who Stay … Sometimes, of course, dreams take un- expected twists. While Frazier finished up high school with his classmates, Jim Harbaugh won a national champion- ship with the Wolverines. Frazier came to Michigan under Harbaugh's hand- picked successor, Sherrone Moore. Two years after that, Frazier found himself wrapping his mind around the fact that the head coach had fumbled himself out of a job, and mid-career Wolverines like himself were starting over. Most say they at least looked around in the time of unsettledness and question- ing, open to the idea of relocating if pre- sented with a better situation. For Frazier, it wasn't a long look. "Everybody knows what this school means to me," he said. "I wanted to be somebody that people knew was going to be on this team and looking forward to adapting to the new staff. If anybody had questions or concerns with everything that was going on — it was a big tran- sition — I wanted to be somebody they could lean on. "As soon as everything got settled and people were figuring out where they were going to be, I wanted to make sure I was one of those guys that was ready to come back and play. "I think it would have been naive to have completely ruled out leaving, but it was never a heavy consideration of mine. Of course it was looked into, just because I needed to make sure I was going to be in the best position, and with an entire new staff, it's hard to know that for sure." Asked again the why of it all, Frazier made certain to emphasize the intangi- bles, in addition to the status he's earned. "Because it's Michigan," he said. "This is where I've wanted to be my entire life, and I am finally getting to be in the role I wanted, as a starting guy, I wanted to make sure I wasn't restarting that by go- ing somewhere else. I've developed so many relationships here with teammates and staff that are still here. … It was im- portant to me to be one of those guys people could rely on." Frazier insists his listed weight no lon- ger applies. At the same time, he didn't give out a specific number in spring ball. Just know he's going to be able to move people this year, he implied. "I've gained a lot of weight," he ex- plained. "I'm not going to say a number. I've been talking with our nutrition staff. I like watching people on Twitter argue about whether I'm big enough or not. It's one of my biggest time-passers. I'm in a good spot. I was happy with it, and I'm as happy as I ever was. "The big thing for me when I got here was just adding weight. I came in about 250 pounds, which is nowhere near big enough to play tackle. That was the big- gest thing I had to do. My big focus on top of that was just not losing my edge. I pride myself on playing nasty. That's how I like to play. I tried to make sure with everything that was moving — learning a new offense, how to be in college — that wasn't something I lost. That was one of my biggest strengths." Meanwhile his new head coach seemed happy — albeit not satisfied — with Michigan's offense coming out of spring football. The Wolverines experienced a full system reboot, with Whittingham coming out of the spring encouraged by much of what he witnessed. "I think we're on track," Whittingham said. "We're not where we need to be ul- timately, but I think we're on track and we've got a lot of opportunity ahead of us to get better. "It was the same thing last year at Utah. We had the same exact situation where we installed an entirely new of- fense, and I would say we're right on par with where we need to be relative to what happened last year. Top Father-Son Michigan Combos The Fraziers, Steve and Blake, mark yet another father-son combination to have both started for Michigan. He's a look at some big-time legacies over the past 50 years. • Chris Hutchinson (1989-92) and Aidan Hutchinson (2018-2021) — This duo features a pair of Michigan All-Americans. Both wore No. 97, with Chris recording 24 career sacks as a defensive tackle and Aidan posting 16.5 sacks as an edge rusher before moving on to star for the Detroit Lions. • Jon Runyan (1992-95) and Jon Runyan Jr. (2015-2019) — Jon Sr. earned All-America honors at offensive tackle for the Wolverines. He went on to perform for 14 NFL seasons, making it to the Super Bowl twice. Jon Jr. also played offensive line, making first-team All-Big Ten twice and getting drafted by the Green Bay Packers. • Butch Woolfolk (1978-81) and Troy Woolfolk (2007-11) — Butch Woolfolk rushed for 3,861 career yards for the Wolverines, the tailback recording a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons. His NFL career became shortened by injury. Troy Woolfolk racked up 90 tackles in 23 Michigan starts at cornerback and safety. • Stan Edwards (1977-81) and Braylon Edwards (2001-2004) — Stan Edwards rushed for 2,206 career yards for Bo Schembechler's crew nearly 50 years ago. His son, Braylon, got off to a slow start at Michigan but became one of the most productive wideouts in the history of the Big Ten, with 252 receptions, 3,541 receiving yards and 39 touchdown grabs. — John Borton