The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/480355
Offensive Line Looking To Make Everything Go The good news for Michigan's quarterbacks and run game prospects going into spring practice read like this: following two years of seasoning, the Wolver- ines could trot out a front involving all veteran starters. That "not so fast" you hear involves Michigan's new head coach, Jim Har- baugh, and his offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Tim Drevno. They're all about earning it, and any sense of entitlement gets crushed like Vincent Smith by an unblocked Jadeveon Clowney. "It's really just a clean slate," Drevno insisted. "You just turn on the film and see who's doing it at a high level, doing it at the top of their craft. At USC last year, I started three true freshmen. I'm just trying to find the best players out there. That's the best thing about it. Guys are trying to compete to be the best. "It takes take different times [for players to separate themselves] through spring ball. People start to pull away. That's a neat time as a coach, when they've caught on to everything taught and are still trying to get better at things and you're on your way. That's a fun time." The fun ended quickly for po- tential fifth-year senior center Jack Miller. He opted out of the program four practices in, citing "studies" and "business opportu- nities" through a U-M spokesman. Just like that, the four-year vet- eran who started all 12 games in 2014, and 16 on his career, was gone. For the final eight games last season, Michigan's starting of- fensive line settled in as follows: sophomore Mason Cole (6-5, 287) at left tackle, fifth-year senior Gra- ham Glasgow (6-6, 303) at left guard, Miller at center, senior Kyle Kalis (6-5, 292) at right guard and senior Ben Braden (6-6, 331) at right tackle. (Note: Class years indicated are for fall 2015). Senior Erik Magnuson (6-6, 296) started the first four games at left guard, with Glasgow at right guard for three of them. So consistency held, with the tackles and center seeing one individual start all 12 games at those spots. Jack Miller, who started all 12 games at center last year, opted not to return for a fifth season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL