The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL ferson Hills, Pa., he had 149 total tackles, 22 sacks and seven fumble recoveries. "I recruited him and felt he had a real high motor," defensive line coach Greg Mattison said. "He's a very tough young man, and he can really run. When we got a chance to get him back on defense, we put him in prac- tices. I would have played him in the bowl game, except our offense did such a great job controlling the ball that I didn't have time to get him in there. "He has a very high ceiling, I'm ex- cited about it." Hill's move to fullback is a natu- ral transition for a player that has al- ways been more athletic than his 6-2, 263-pound frame would suggest. "He's accepted the challenge," run- ning backs coach Tyrone Wheatley said. "He's working at it really hard. He's a very explosive guy, very tal- ented guy, faster than people give him credit for, but he brings a lot of thump when he blocks. "He's doing really well." Canteen, meanwhile, transitions back to the position he spent most of his first two years at, only switching to defense late in the 2015 season and for bowl practices. The 6-1, 182-pound Wilmington, Del., native has made three starts among 15 total appearances at wide receiver and hauled in six career re- ceptions for 22 yards (3.7-yard aver- age). A big surprise the first week of spring ball was redshirt sophomore Jabrill Peppers' move from corner- back/safety to strongside linebacker, a change that seeks to add a dynamic pass rusher to Michigan's blitzing packages. CHRIS PARTRIDGE TAKING CHARGE WITH LINEBACKING CREW Chris Partridge knows he's one of the newest of Michigan's position coaches and that his group is under scrutiny due to a graduation exodus. He doesn't mind that situation one bit. Asked about the impending na- tional microscope trained on a posi- tion stripped of experience, he just smiled. "That's what I live for. I love it," Partridge said. "I'm a competitor, and I wouldn't want it any other way. We'll get those guys going, and we'll take on the challenge. We'll make it work." They've already started. Practices at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., revealed some strong options already among the linebackers. That didn't change when the Wolverines came back north and continued spring ball. Senior Ben Gedeon became some- one to build around immediately, ac- cording to the new linebackers boss. "We've got to get some young guys ready to go, and we've got some great guys that are coming back that have played a lot of football," Partridge noted. "Ben Gedeon has stepped in and been an incredible leader right off the bat." Gedeon has been manning the Mike (middle) linebacker, while red- shirt junior Mike McCray has proven