The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/201975
back to Brennen, Cam and the coaches. I don't know how much I helped, but I think I coached pretty well." Ben McCready knew Ryan was coming along, having developed a relationship with his parents, Tim and Sue, and No. 47 himself. The godson of Michigan legend Bennie Oosterbaan met Ryan shortly before the kickoff of the Michigan-Air Force game in 2012, when Oosterbaan's number came out of retirement. McCready, his wife, Anne, and his son, Bo, met up with Ryan after this year's Central Michigan game. Ryan donned the jersey Michigan had presented to McCready in honor of the Oosterbaan connection, and McCready came away with a sense of the new No. 47's eagerness to begin pulling on football gear in earnest. "His joy and enthusiasm seeing and wearing the Oosterbaan Jersey was a great reminder that these incredibly gifted, hard-working athletes are really just kids at heart," McCready noted. "It also reminded me of why Jake was the perfect choice to wear the Oosterbaan/Ryan Jersey. Like Bennie, Jake loves playing the game of football and, hopefully, like Bennie, he will always have fun playing the game." Ryan knows this much — it's far more fun to play it than to watch it. He experienced some soreness following the Penn State game, but it was the good kind of soreness that accompanies athletic competition. He wears a knee brace, not because he's convinced he needs it, but just for that extra bit of support. Doctors cleared Ryan for play after the Minnesota game, and his excite- ment began to rise. His parents were excited for him, but not without some reservation. "My parents actually came in and talked to the doctors also," he recalled. "That was good. My mom felt a lot better about it, and my grandma was there, too." Some uneasiness proved inevitable, no matter the assurances. "Moms are always going to worry.," said Ryan. "She's worried about it happening again or potentially something else happening. Knock on wood, that's not going to happen again." Hoke kept his foot on the break a bit, listening carefully to the doctors, monitoring Ryan's measured reintroduction to football drills, light practice work and eventually full contact. "You're always a little apprehensive," Hoke admitted. "The more snaps he's played, the more comfortable he is. Believe me, he has never said he wasn't comfortable. As a coach, I would like for him to be comfortable and feel good about how he feels. I think he's done a pretty good job." With games against Penn State and Indiana under his belt, Ryan has been able to knock off some of the rust. His mix into the flow of the defense should only increase as he goes along, according to his coaches. "He's got great potential to get better," Mattison pointed out. "He's got a whole year and a half left." "It would be more his instincts and the speed of the game, getting used to game speed," Hoke said. "He played against two entirely different offenses, and we asked him to do different things to some degree, and he handled