The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL higher than our offensive linemen." Regardless, he's turned things around and become the weapon his teammates and coaches thought he could be heading into the season. MARCUS RAY SEES BETTER DAYS AHEAD FOR MICHIGAN Former Michigan safety Marcus Ray spends a lot of his time talking about football these days, on local ra- dio, on TheWolverine.com podcasts and as a football analyst on the Big Ten Network. He insists that with a maturing roster, bigger gains could be in store for the Wolverines in 2015. He's not predicting national cham- pionship success, like the crew he performed on in 1997. But he sees the Wolverines accumulating talent Thomas: "It made me strong and tough — mentally tough. It really made me push myself and it made me realize that in life, when you get older, there are going to be things you don't want to do and times where you mess up — ex- cept in life, that can get you into more trouble. "But with him, it made me tough, and it made me realize I can do anything as long as I put my mind and heart to it." The Wolverine: What's your relationship like with him now? Do you remain close? Thomas: "Oh yeah. I talk to him every day, every night. He's at pretty much every game. We're best friends, two peas in a pod. "Him pushing me as hard as he did made me the player I am today." The Wolverine: You came in as a four-star, the No. 12 safety in the country, with high expectations. Was it disappointing to not contribute regularly on defense in your first year? Thomas: "When I first got here, I thought I was going to play a lot, and I didn't. I talked with a lot of upperclassmen, and they told me to be patient and wait my turn. The coaches did a great job of keeping me positive and telling me that I'd get my turn, and when I did I'd have to step up to the plate. "I stayed patient and waited my turn. I kept getting faster and stronger and getting better as a safety. I got my hips better. And everything started to come into place." The Wolverine: You were a high school linebacker. Did it take a little longer than you thought it would to learn a new position? Thomas: "It was a big transition, playing linebacker in high school and now being at safety. You've got to really have good hips, and that took me a while. Nickel really helped me understand the footwork, got me understanding how to jam people, back pedal and turn and play coverage. "Now I'm at safety, and that's allowed me to take some of the linebacker skills I had in high school and some of those nickel skills and put them all together." — Chris Balas