The Wolverine

ago. Malzone came in January, in the middle of his senior year. "John O'Korn came in after two years of being a starting quarterback and then losing his job. What does that mean? Does he come in hum- ble? How does that work for him? The players seem to really like him." How much Michi- gan's quarterbacks like each other isn't neces- sarily a top concern. While a certain cama- raderie as teammates always factors in as important, the QB can- didates are competing for that one most-scru- tinized job on the field. F i s c h d e l i v e re d a refreshingly candid a s s e s s m e n t o f h o w buddy-buddy those battling for the right to go under center actu- ally need to be. " We d o n ' t w a n t negativity entering the building, but we love competition," he said. "It's hard to be warm and fuzzy with the guy you're fighting, scrapping and clawing [against]. That would be hard for me. "If somebody told me you two guys were going to fight it out to see who is going to be the pass game coordinator on Sept. 1, and it's going to be between you two for the next month, I don't think we're going to be too warm and fuzzy. I'm going to grind. I'm going to make sure if we're both on the treadmill, he gets off first." Soon enough, one QB will get off the treadmill and onto the top of Michigan's first depth chart of the season. When? Well, that remains to be seen. Fisch pointed out there's no battle be- tween an option-style r u n n e r a n d a t r u e d ro p - b a c k q u a r t e r- back, so it's not a mat- ter of hiding approach. Opponents generally know what to expect from a Harbaugh of- fense. "Now, it's just a mat- ter of who we think is the best guy," he said. " W h e n h e ' s re a d y, we'll name him. But it's a wide-open com- petition right now. "It will go until it's clear. And when it's clear, that guy will be named." A n d , t h e c o a c h noted, the key traits of that quarterback won't be a mystery to any- one, at least in terms of what Michigan's new coaching staff is seeking to trot out against Utah. "Confident. Accurate. Consistent. Leader. Winner," Fisch checked off. "Give me a guy that fits those five criteria, we'll all have a good fall. We need a guy that can do that." ❏ Although he is a true fresh- man, Zach Gentry might be the most intriguing quarterback option given his 6-7, 230-pound frame and athletic ability. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL

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