Playing for Each Other: Special Bonds at Heart of Michigan's Top 10 Season
12/27/2018 9:14:00 AM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ATLANTA, Ga. -- When the Wolverines play the Gators in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday (Dec. 29), it will mark the end of a season that many University of Michigan football players and coaches will remember for more than improvements achieved and the top 10 national ranking realized most of the way.
They will cherish this season because they were more than just teammates, more than just coaches, to one another.
Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh said something during the season that really struck a chord:
"This is a good ball team. I always thought the best ball teams were from the neighborhood, you know? Guys from the neighborhood. You're friends, and that makes up a ball team. This team reminds me of those great kinds of teams you were around whether it was high school, grade school, college or pro. They're for each other, and they're happy for each other's success.
"Another thing that really speaks loud to me is how they talk about each other. Rarely will they take credit for something when somebody's trying to give it to them. They disperse it to a teammate, and it's genuine. They're happy for the other guy's success, and there are so many good things."
The Wolverines personify the kind of team that truly plays for the name on the front of their jerseys more so than the names on the back.
So, as the season played out, I would finish many talks with players by mentioning Harbaugh's comment and then asking what made this team so special, one of those "Sandlot"-like teams that they'll always hold dear.
"You're going out there and playing for everyone who lines up across from you," said lineman Carlo Kemp, voted the team's most improved defensive player, "and everyone who lines up next to you and behind you.
"That's who we're all playing for this year -- it's for the people we've been doing this with since we were freshmen. You know, it's huge, having an impact and doing it for your brothers, and they're doing it for you. It's just a special feeling."
Defensive end Chase Winovich, who passed on entering the NFL Draft to play his fourth season this year, said going 8-5 last year after a pair of 10-win seasons provided this team some perspective.
"We've been on the other side," said Winovich. "In 2016 (when Michigan was 9-0 and ranked No. 2), we played, but it wasn't the way it is (now). And then last year, we got rocked in every which way offensively and defensively, and it was just a big learning year.
"And this year, we come out and it's like, we've taken our losses and looked them in the eyes. We've embraced it and didn't shy away from it. We're not the same team now. We have such a confidence, and I talk about the 'Revenge Tour,' but it's more than a slogan to me. It's just a title I put on the mood and the energy this team has this year."
Kemp (2, with Winovich) says the Wolverines' commitment to each other is "a special feeling."
No. 8-ranked Michigan (10-2, 8-1 Big Ten) lost its opener at Notre Dame and the finale at Ohio State and pretty much wreaked havoc in between with dominating wins over Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State -- each of which was ranked ahead of the Wolverines in the preseason, when they were No. 14 in the Associated Press poll.
That one-touchdown loss in South Bend was the fourth consecutive defeat for the Wolverines, and it would've been easy for this whole season to cave in right there. But Winovich faced reporters after that game and told them that this team was different.
Winovich, selected the Bo Schembechler MVP by his teammates after a marvelous season, said recently, "I just knew it from the very beginning because just everything from a team standpoint, from an attitude standpoint, it just wasn't the same vibe. I thought then, 'Maybe there will be a game that shakes that confidence from me.' But that (Notre Dame) game wasn't it. We had a bad first quarter (down, 14-0) but still at the end of the day felt we were in control of that game.
"That feeling was kind of taken away from us last year for whatever reason. Maybe it was our lack of offense. Maybe it was our maturity. When you don't have that feeling, that faith that you control how things go, you typically don't fight as hard. But this year we had a culture, an attitude, a mentality, a mindset shift."
Quarterback Shea Patterson, chosen the team's offensive player of the year after throwing for 2,364 yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions while running for numerous key first downs, said that closeness made this team go.
"I think we really, truly care about each other and have each other's back out there, and I think that adds another dimension to your team," said Patterson. "We have that very positive thing you need to keep winning, and we're just going to ride the wave and progress every single week."
First-year quarterback Patterson (2) has excelled behind an improved Michigan offensive line.
Patterson said that while the team itself is close, the individual position groups take the relationships deeper still.
"Those are some of my best friends in that quarterback room," said Patterson. "They're all going to be very good and have very bright futures."
Cornerback David Long, voted Michigan's top defensive skill position player, said, "I think we're all bonded by experience and time together. That pulls you together, whether it's tough times last year or spring ball. We've learned how to pick each other up. We're just kind of pushing and pulling off each other."
Middle linebacker and captain Devin Bush personified what this team was all about with both toughness and togetherness, but he suffered a hip injury against Ohio State and will not play in the bowl game. The Wolverines' defensive player of the year, a consensus first team All-American and Butkus Award finalist, he will forego his senior season to enter the NFL Draft, and he's projected as a high first-round pick.
Bush recently explained the bond this way: "I think it's just our confidence. It's the way we go about things. We poke our chests out. We walk around with our chests out. And we know that if you play us, you're going to have to play all four quarters. You've got to give us your best game -- because if you don't, we're going to take off and handle business."
Free safety Tyree Kinnel, a senior captain, said the deep relationships have gotten the team through challenges such as the 17-point deficit overcome at Northwestern in the season's most pivotal game.
"It's just trusting each other," said Kinnel. "In my time at Michigan, I feel this is the closest group that we've had since I've been here. We know everyone likes each other in the locker room, and everyone's excited for other peoples' success, and that brings us a long way. The difference this year is we're in the games, and we're finishing. We believe in each other."
Michigan's running backs and fullbacks get their time with Paul Bunyan after defeating the Spartans.
After the Wolverines triumphed at Michigan State, Harbaugh had a treasured moment with this team that has meant so much to him.
"Fellas! Fellas!" Harbaugh shouted over the joyous voices of his players. "Man, I mean that might be the biggest win ever. Never had a bigger win than that (at Michigan). Just on a personal note, I can't tell you how many guys came up to me and said, 'Coach, we've got your back.'"
Then Harbaugh was overcome with emotion, and his players roared for him. The Paul Bunyan Trophy was hoisted near Harbaugh and the players began bouncing up and down in pure joy: "HEY! HEY! HEY!"
Then they chanted: "It's GREAT to be A MICHIGAN WOLVERINE!" Over and over.
Harbaugh led them in the "The Victors," and they sang so loudly that some of them probably went hoarse.
Kinnel said of Harbaugh: "We're out there playing for each other and playing for him and the rest of our coaching staff."
They didn't end up winning the Big Ten championship or making the College Football Playoff, but they're in a New Year's Six bowl game Saturday in Atlanta with a shot at an 11th victory, playing in Mercedes-Benz Stadium with one more chance to run out of the tunnel together.
