The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 49 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL will have one year to play at their new respective schools. Speight announced his decision to grad transfer out of Ann Arbor back on Nov. 26, and UCLA was instantly thought to be a possible destination, due to former U-M passing game co- ordinator Jedd Fisch residing there at the time. Fisch was hired to be the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordi- nator Jan. 24, though, meaning there will not be a reunion between Spei- ght and his former mentor. Bunting, meanwhile, will join for- mer U-M receiver Maurice Ways for one final season in Berkley. The tight end only caught 11 passes for 124 yards during his four years in Ann Arbor, and had seemingly been passed on the depth chart in 2017 by redshirt junior Zach Gentry, junior Sean McKeon and redshirt junior Ty- rone Wheatley Jr. — Austin Fox NOAH FURBUSH AWARDED POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP IN BO SCHEMBECHLER'S NAME On April 12, Michigan fifth-year senior linebacker Noah Furbush was awarded the National Football Foundation (NFF) Coach Bo Schem- bechler-University of Michigan Scholarship, which is worth $10,000. It is the first time the scholarship is being awarded. NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell said the scholarship was the creation of former Michigan athletics director Bill Martin, who got together with several others that were close to Schembechler to make the idea into a reality. It took three years for it to become fully endowed, and is now expected to be given out each year to a member of the Michigan football team, as long as there is a candidate that qualifies. Furbush will graduate this spring before embarking on a one-year graduate degree in aerospace en- gineering. He'll be focusing on the space engineering side. "No more airplanes, just rockets and spacecrafts," Furbush said. The scholarship will allow him to explore a number of different things related to his degree. "There are so many cool things happening right now in the aero- space industry in general, but espe- cially in space," Furbush said. "You have billionaires sending their own sports cars into space, so many cool things. In New Zealand, they're 3D printing rockets for a couple million [dollars]. It's incredible the kind of things that are happening right now. "To be able to have resources avail- able to explore all those exciting op- portunities that I'll have with this master's program is amazing." The NFF has awarded scholarships to student-athletes since 1959, includ- ing one to former UCLA quarterback Mark Harmon, the son of Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Tom Har- mon. Mark Harmon is now an actor on "NCIS" and narrated the Amazon series "All Or Nothing" on Michigan football. The Schembechler scholarship will be awarded each spring to a member of the U-M football team that is a contributor on the field — not just a bench player — and has at least a 3.2 grade point average in school. Hatchell said community service is also a plus. The school will nominate the ath- lete it views as being worthy of the scholarship to the NFF, which then can make it official. "If you're on the football team at Michigan and contribute, that's as high as it gets," Hatchell said. "That's as big time and significant a football team as there is. To do as well as he did academically, at an institution that is terrific like Michigan, means that this is an outstanding person in all regards. He's not just a good foot- ball player, not just a good student, he's the whole package." Michigan was strongly behind Fur- bush and felt he'd be a great first recipient of the honor. "When you can stand out as a real leader in both football and in the classroom, it's very special," Hatch- ell said. "In this day in time with so much cynicism, we like to turn around and say wait a second, take a look at Noah. You want to see a guy that can get it done? He can play at Michigan and be a great student at a great institution. It's a huge state- ment." Furbush said that one day he'd love to go into space and believes that it is more feasible now than ever, and could be even more so in 10 years, when there are more pro- grams that put civilians into space. He has a dream of going to Mars, but if he could pick anything to do, it'd be something a little different. "If we're really out there, I think it'd be cool to experience inter-stellar travel," Furbush. It's safe to say his knowledge of both the real world and football will help out the Wolverine defense this season, with Furbush slated to be a key contributor once again. Before football season, however, he will be an intern at Ford (at the Dearborn plant) in the research and develop- ment area. "I think it's going to give me a re- ally refined look at what engineering is like, working in an industry that's been around for so long," Furbush said. "It's going to be a great oppor- tunity for me." Furbush has one final year of eli- gibility. He started five games last fall and had 30 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and two fumble recoveries — including one for a touchdown in the season opener against Florida. "Our whole goal is to recognize that you can play at a high level, be a great student and go on to be a leader in our country," Hatchell said. — Andrew Vailliencourt Noah Furbush was awarded the first annual Coach Bo Schembechler-University of Michigan Scholarship, worth $10,000, by the National Football Foundation April 12. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN