The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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you have to who you have. When you have a kid like Chase, you have to find a way to put the ball in his hands and find a way to make plays on defense. "Going into his senior year, he had some great tape, but he still wasn't the player he is going to be. He's 225 pounds now. A lot of the things he did this year caught people by surprise. By the end of last year, we had people offering him that didn't even see him. For him, his best football was his se- nior year, so he wasn't really ranked. A lot of these coaches now view him as the top player in Pennsylvania." That's what new Penn State head coach James Franklin told Cherpak, when he made one last attempt to pry the Pennsylvania native away from his Michigan commitment in January, to no avail. The U-M coaching staff was one of the few from a high-profile program who saw the potential before Winov- ich's breakout senior season. Michigan head coach Brady Hoke brought Winovich in for a visit in March. A few weeks later, the coaches called to offer. "I called Michigan up and said, 'I want to get back on campus and get more of a feel for what Michigan is all about,'" he noted. "I scheduled an overnighter there. I went there with a buddy, and [redshirt junior outside linebacker] Jake Ryan showed us around. We had an absolute blast. I went there for that, and it was instant. I knew this is where I wanted to be. It fit my personality, and everything I wanted to see in myself was available to me at Michigan. "It didn't matter to me if the school was in California, a five-hour drive from home or right next door — I wanted to find the place where I felt the most comfortable, and Michigan was definitely where I wanted to be. You can't make that decision un- less you see your other options and compare. I stayed overnight at Ohio and Pitt and looked into some other schools, but everything kept pointing to Michigan." Winovich was happy to have the support of his family, friends and coaches, who gave the linebacker the freedom to make his own choice. Even if Cherpak didn't influence the deci- sion, he's happy about Winovich's choice. "Everything about Michigan — the school, the program, the campus — that is the type of kid he is," Cherpak said. "He went up many times, spent weekends up there, went to games. He really did his research, and found that it was the perfect place for him. I know the campus, and I know he will fit really well there." The Michigan coaches have told Winovich that, for the time being, they are projecting him as a strongside out- side linebacker, which would play to his skill set and experience as a safety, dropping back in coverage. "To be honest, I just want to get on the field," he said. "I don't care if it's at Sam backer or water boy or kicker or whatever. I just want to play, and whatever Michigan asks me to do, I will obviously do. They know better than I do. I want to be the best player I can possibly be. Whatever they tell me to do, I will give 150 percent." — Andy Reid