The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/641955
2016 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE side my entire life has been incred- ible. "He's got ways of knowing just what each player needs and always telling you how to get better. It has been some tough love, but he's made my game so much better than it ever could have been otherwise." Uncles coaching at the pinnacle of the sport played a role in his devel- opment, too. "I was born into football," Kemp said. "It's in my blood. If my mom ever had a boy, he was going to play football, like it or not. It happened that I love it. "Having both uncles coach at the highest level of football, it's been great. They can tell me what I need to do to get to the level of the best athletes and best football players in the world. It's been great to get their perspective and have them give me their knowledge on what it takes to one day be there and be coached by one of them. "They're both really good defen- sive guys, that's their specialty. We just talk about how I can get to the quarterback, how I can come off the edge, how I can improve my hand fighting. They've always got a great answer for me. It's just been awe- some having that resource in my life." Although he'll be the first member of his family to attend the University of Michigan — a journey he began in January after enrolling early to participate in offseason workouts and spring practices — Kemp even had a connection directly to the Wol- verines. His head coach, Tom Mc- Cartney, spent some of his formative years as a resident of Ann Arbor. Bill McCartney, his father, and Jack Harbaugh were assistant coaches un- der Bo Schembechler from 1974-79, and their sons, Tom and Jim, respec- tively, were childhood friends. "I never pushed Carlo toward any school," Tom McCartney said with a laugh. "I wanted to make sure he gave the right respect to our home- town school [Bill McCartney was head coach at Colorado for 13 years after his Michigan tenure], but I was going to let him make his own deci- sion. I wanted to be a resource for him, because naturally I knew a lot about two of his favorite schools." "It was just full circle," Kemp added. "When I think about it, it's just crazy. Coach Mac and I are really close, and he's always just talking about how everything happens for a reason and saying: 'The choice that you make will be the right choice.' "Considering how close Coach and I are, it's almost unbelievable how I'm going back to where he began. He was a little kid when his dad was on the coaching staff with Bo. I get to complete that story, and I think it's a special opportunity." Kemp received The Denver Post Gold Helmet Award winner as the state's top football player — on the field, as a student and as a citizen. He has the opportunity to blossom into one of the best college players in the country and perhaps complete an- other full circle: playing for or against one of his uncles in the NFL. ❏