The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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28 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2014 FOOTBALL PREVIEW M Redshirt sophomore Kyle Kalis hasn't experienced life in a Michigan uniform ex- actly like he figured it would play out over the past two seasons. He spoke about that in impassioned fashion this past spring, noting his determination to rise above a host of unexpected struggles. A Rivals.com five-star lineman out of Ohio, Kalis was expected by many to be- come the rare offensive lineman to break into the starting ranks right out of high school. That didn't happen, and even when he claimed a starting job in 2013, it wasn't all smooth sailing. Kalis started the first six games of the sea- son, but got pulled from the lineup in the heart of the Big Ten season, missing starts against Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska and North- western. He came back to start the final three games of the season and projects to hold the job as starting right guard this season. According to U-M offensive line coach Darrell Funk, what's past is past, but the learning has to be incorporated into the fu- ture. "I don't want him to sit there and think about last year all the time," Funk empha- sized. "I want him to learn, good and bad, from last year — what went well, what didn't. How do you fix it? I think he's on his way. I thought he had a solid spring, but he was a little bit slow starting out, like they all were, in a new system." There was the curveball. Michigan's young linemen fought through learning all the blocking schemes asked of them before, but they changed this spring under new of- fensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier. Even so, Kalis expressed an excitement for the change, and for how what he described as a simplified system will allow linemen to fire off the ball and attack. Still, the adjustment isn't automatic. "Once he got going and started really lis- tening to what he needed to fix — whether it was pad level, whether it was the movement, whether it was hand placement — he started to really realize, 'I need to work on this. I don't just need the coaches to make me work on it, but I need to do that on my own,'" Funk observed. "I thought he started to do that, about mid-spring. Just like [Kyle] Bosch, he'll pull from last year in a positive way. He'll be bet- ter off. The tough thing about playing young guys is, it's tough when bad things happen. The nice thing is once they're in their sopho- more and junior and senior year, you've got a guy that's played a million games." It's a process, Funk noted. They're all go- ing through it, but Kalis brought the highest profile into the formative stages of an offen- sive line career in a winged helmet. "Kyle has learned a lot," Funk said. "It's easy, when you're recruited that heavily, to just assume you're going to come in and everything is going to take flight on its own. It's never been about work with him. He works hard. He has great summers. He runs, he lifts, he's always one of the top ones Coach [Aaron] Wellman talks about. "But sometimes a young guy just thinks it's naturally going to take off, when you're doing the work. Sometimes you've got to sit back and evaluate — okay, this worked, that didn't. That's the stage he's at." OFFENSE Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 87 Devin Funchess 6-5 230 Jr. 10 Da'Mario Jones 6-2 198 So. LT 78 Erik Magnuson 6-6 295 R-So. 52 Mason Cole 6-5 275 Fr. LG 65 Kyle Bosch 6-5 301 So. 55 David Dawson 6-5 295 R-Fr. C 61 Graham Glasgow^ 6-6 308 R-Jr. 60 Jack Miller 6-4 297 R-Jr. or 57 Patrick Kugler 6-5 295 R-Fr. RG 67 Kyle Kalis 6-5 304 R-So. 55 David Dawson 6-5 295 R-Fr. RT 71 Ben Braden 6-6 319 R-So. 52 Mason Cole 6-5 275 Fr. TE 88 Jake Butt* 6-6 250 So. 84 A.J. Williams 6-6 263 Jr. 92 Keith Heitzman 6-3 271 R-Jr. WR 82 Amara Darboh 6-2 214 R-So. 86 Jehu Chesson 6-3 195 R-So. or 17 Freddy Canteen 6-1 170 Fr. Slot 17 Freddy Canteen 6-1 170 Fr. 23 Dennis Norfleet 5-7 167 Jr. QB 12 Devin Gardner 6-4 218 5th-Sr. 7 Shane Morris 6-3 202 So. FB 36 Joe Kerridge 6-0 247 R-Jr. or 39 Sione Houma 6-0 240 Jr. RB 4 De'Veon Smith 5-11 223 So. or 5 Justice Hayes 5-10 190 R-Jr. or 27 Derrick Green 5-11 227 So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Yr. WDE 57 Frank Clark 6-2 270 Sr. 53 Mario Ojemudia 6-3 250 Jr DT 43 Chris Wormley 6-4 292 R-So. or 99 Matt Godin 6-6 283 R-So. or 69 Willie Henry 6-2 297 R-So. NT 96 Ryan Glasgow 6-4 297 R-So. or 56 Ondre Pipkins 6-4 313 Jr. SDE 97 Brennen Beyer 6-3 256 Sr. 33 Taco Charlton 6-6 275 So. MIKE 47 Jake Ryan 6-3 235 5th-Sr. 42 Ben Gedeon 6-3 236 So. WILL 35 Joe Bolden 6-3 225 Jr. 48 Desmond Morgan 6-1 232 Sr. SAM 52 Royce Jenkins-Stone 6-2 225 Jr. or 15 James Ross III 6-1 221 Jr. SS 44 Delano Hill 6-0 205 So. or 24 Dymonte Thomas 6-2 191 So. or Jabrill Peppers 6-0 205 Fr. FS 22 Jarrod Wilson 6-2 222 Jr. 34 Jeremy Clark 6-4 206 R-So CB 26 Jourdan Lewis 5-10 174 So. or 18 Blake Countess 5-10 183 R-Jr. CB 6 Raymon Taylor 5-10 183 Jr. 8 Channing Stribling 6-2 176 So. Nickel 18 Blake Countess 5-10 183 R-Jr. or Jabrill Peppers 6-0 205 Fr. Michigan Football Projected Post-Spring Depth Chart Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 45 Matt Wile 6-2 223 Sr. P 40 Will Hagerup 6-2 223 5th-Sr 91 Kenny Allen 6-3 230 R-So. KO 45 Matt Wile 6-2 223 Sr. Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Yr. H 91 Kenny Allen 6-3 230 R-So. LS 43 Scott Sypniewski 6-1 256 R-Fr. KR 23 Dennis Norfleet 5-7 167 Jr. PR 23 Dennis Norfleet 5-7 167 Jr. SPECIALISTS This is a projected depth chart by The Wolverine based on conversations with position coaches for the Football Preview. *Begins the season recovering from injury; ^Suspended for the first game of the season Kyle Kalis Looking To Turn Around Hard Knocks Kalis, a redshirt sophomore, was a Rivals.com five-star prospect out of high school, and he projects to be the Wolverines' starter at right guard this season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 8,10-12,14-28,30-32.IMA.indd 28 6/19/14 5:02 PM