The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 61 success, while struggling to come to grips with personal results dragged down far short of the goal line. But he learned — a lot. Isaac absorbed an up-close-and-personal lesson in how very tough it is to compete at the highest level in college football. He learned there aren't any shortcuts and that results matter more than anything. "Coach Harbaugh and our staff have al- ways been about results," Isaac assured. "Whatever is asked of you, you do it. What- ever you say you're going to do, you do it. Don't be a talker. Be a doer. "Last season, for the most part, I wasn't playing up to my own personal standard. I know what they're expecting. They want guys that do their job and be efficient." From pass blocking, to knowing assign- ments, to playing through discomfort, it's always been about more than running the football for a Michigan tailback. Isaac insists he knows that now better than ever. He wanted to show off all he could do in the spring of 2015. It didn't happen, and the 6-3, 228-pound Isaac found himself playing from behind the rest of the year. Isaac doesn't even like to talk about it. He'd rather do than talk, echoing the lesson from the top down. But he knows there's a story to tell and from which to learn. "If you ask anybody who has participated in any kind of spring ball, if you're healthy, it seems like a long time, but if you're hurt, it goes by so fast," he recalled. "Personally, it killed me. "We get a new staff, I feel like I had a pretty good offseason, and then you go and get banged up. You don't get the chance to perform in the spring, and you've got to wait four months until fall camp." Again, it's not just running with the foot- ball. Isaac has always handled that well. He piled up 5,305 rushing yards in his career at Joliet (Ill.) Catholic Academy, scoring 67 touchdowns his junior and senior seasons combined. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry and scored a pair of touchdowns in his only sea- son at USC, before transferring back to the Midwest. He's quick to point out, though, that he can look around a room littered with Michigan running backs that ran away from prep competition and can carry the football at this level. Making the rest of the game work — which makes the rest of the offense works, proves a separator, he stressed. "That's 50 percent of it, or 75 percent of it," Isaac said. "Everybody in that room is there because they can run the ball. You've got to have guys who can pass block, know all their check-down routes, know all of the offensive line calls if something gets au- dibled because of a protection on a blitz. "You've got to know those things, so that they can trust you know that. Then in any situation, they can feel comfortable putting you in the game." That's where Isaac wants to be. He found out the hard way he wasn't there a year ago. "I've got to be able to trust you on the field," Michigan running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley stressed. "That's with taking care of the football, No. 1. You can't run the ball if you're fumbling all the time. "Number two, I have to trust you in pass protection. You've got to be able to protect the quarterback. You're a pseudo offensive lineman. In the passing game, if these guys start blitzing, you've got to be able to protect. "Last but not least, you've got to be able to mentally prepare yourself, stay focused and not make many mistakes on the field. I'm not saying he didn't do all of those things, but he needs to do those things better and give it to me more often, on a consistent basis." Isaac chooses his words carefully, when talking about not seeing the field in the sec- ond half of last season. He's not pointing fingers. He's not bemoaning his fate. He's quietly stressing he wishes he'd done more to fully immerse himself in Michigan's breakthrough first season under Harbaugh — especially the 41-7 New Year's Day romp over Florida in the Citrus Bowl. "I can remember being on the sidelines, just watching,' said Isaac. "I wished I would have put myself in a position where I could be out there doing something. "I'm lucky enough to have another season, and I can take control of my own destiny. That's what I'm trying to do." That's what Harbaugh stressed to him, in a closed-door conversation later in the 2015 campaign. The message proved simple and straightforward: Seize the opportunity. Change while you can. Leave no room for regret. "That conversation definitely stuck with me," Isaac insisted. "You'd rather have Isaac's talent was on full display when he ripped off a 76-yard touchdown run en route to 115 rushing yards against UNLV Sept. 19, but he carried the ball just 10 times for 39 yards in the final 10 contests of the season. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN "I don't want to just be along for the train ride and not have a fingerprint on it. I want to be out on the field, helping the team win games." ISAAC