The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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30 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2017 BY JOHN BORTON D evin Bush Jr. gets where he's going in a hurry. That's always been the case, but Michigan fans are just catch- ing their first in-earnest glimpse of it. The sophomore linebacker scorched the field in the first half of Michigan's season, ranking among the nation's leaders in sacks (0.75 per game, tied for 27th) and the best tacklers in the Big Ten (8.3, tied for third). Nobody would have expected those results so soon … except perhaps Devin Bush Sr. The elder Bush — himself a former football standout at Florida State who spent eight seasons in the National Football League — has witnessed this rise before. He'd once been begged by his 4-year-old son for permission to start playing tackle football. Told to wait until he was 7, Bush Jr. didn't forget. When he turned 7, he renewed the plea. At that tender age, Bush encoun- tered his first of many mental tough- ness tests regarding the sport. "I wanted to see how bad he wanted to play," noted Bush's father, now a Michigan defensive analyst. "I wanted to see his drive to play. They had tryouts, and I knew he'd made the team. They told me he had. "But when we got home, I said, 'Devin, I know you tried your best, but you didn't make the team.' "He fell on the floor, kicking, crying and screaming — he really wanted to play. He asked why couldn't he play, why didn't he make the team, what happened? I let him cry, and I let him go through that. "Then I said, 'I just wanted to see how you'd react and if you really want to play this game. You made the team.'" A fist pump and a "Yes!" later, Bush Jr. was off and running. He shows no signs of slowing down as an in- tegral part of one of the nation's top defenses. SETTING THE TONE Bush certainly acknowledges the older, more seasoned mentors around him, like friend and captain Mike Mc- Cray, a fifth-year senior linebacker. But the sophomore won't take a back seat to anyone in terms of fiery, on- field aggression and pursuit of the football. He attacks ball carriers like cruise missiles attack target sites, with much the same tracking prowess. His speed and sense for where the football is headed helps render Michigan's de- fense an ill-intentioned posse. Fellow sophomore Rashan Gary, himself a redoubtable defensive end, said he's not seen a faster linebacker. "None," Gary stressed. "He flies sideline to sideline the best I've seen. I tell him after every play he makes, after every game, I'm happy that I'm playing with you." Bush is just happy to be playing, and playing with a purpose. Prior to last year 's Orange Bowl, reporters asked him about the future, and he defiantly waved off any notion of a precipitous falloff for the Michigan defense. His message, all boiled down: Watch what's coming next. Bush's play through the first half of the season assuaged fears about Michigan's departed linebackers. His attitude belies his class status. "I'm more of an emotional guy when I get on the field," Bush said. "Setting a tone would be one of the things I think I do well. I like getting my guys going, and I just love com- peting." That's always been the case, Bush Sr. noted. He expected the success of both his son and the Michigan de- fense this fall, despite the personnel losses. "I did," Bush Sr. assured. "I've seen it before. I was his high school head coach. I saw him get pressed into having to start his freshman year and make plays that made me say, 'Wow. I can't believe he's making these plays at this age.' His sophomore year, he just completely dominated. "Seeing it before, and just the way he trains and he works … I tried to put it in him early. If you're going to train, why not reach for the stars? Expect to be the best." The approach and the expectations didn't fall far from the tree, in this case. "All the hard work we put in this summer, all the hard work we put into camp and all the hours we spend in the film room, why fall short?" asked Bush Jr. Bush Sr. noticed his son's physical prowess when he was just starting out in the game, long before he starred at Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, Fla. "I saw these instincts he had, the balance he played with, the lateral quickness," Bush Sr. recalled. "The way he can move, bend his body, and torque and change directions … I thought he can do it if he wants to." Back then, Bush Jr. wasn't the fast- est player on the field — by design. "I made him play with older kids, so he wouldn't be the fastest and the strongest," Bush Sr. said. "I was trying to put a mental chip on his shoulder, because I knew the game was tough. I wanted him to be tougher than the game." By the time his son was dominating in high school, playing nearly every position, Bush Sr. had assurance the prep level wouldn't be the last stop. "There was no doubt," he said. "Once I knew he was mentally tough, there was no doubt. He was going to be physical, because that's what he had trained to be. He's a physical player, because it's a physical game. "I could see his awareness of the game, his knowledge of what the of- fense was trying to do, the plays they were trying to run, how they were trying to attack. He could diagnose it Bush was Michigan's leading tackler through six games, notching 50 stops (24 solo) during the Wolverines' 5-1 start. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN FAST AND FURIOUS Devin Bush Jr. Is A Sudden Staple Of Michigan's 'D'