Bredeson Reflects on Four Seasons as Starting O-Lineman for Wolverines
11/14/2019 10:46:00 AM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Left guard Ben Bredeson is set to make his 43rd start for the University of Michigan when Michigan State visits Saturday (Nov. 16). He became a four-year mainstay just like Mason Cole, the teammate who helped him adjust to the demands of starting on the offensive line as a true freshman.
Bredeson is the 12th two-time captain for the Wolverine football team, and has been a two-time All-Big Ten second team selection. He is on the Outland Trophy watch list and was on three All-America first team preseason teams. He has also won Academic All-Big Ten honors and been selected the Toughest Player of the Year by his teammates in 2018.
It's been quite a run for Bredeson, who came from Hartland (Wisconsin) Arrowhead High with big expectations and lived up to them. He was a USA Today All-American first team selection, and also rated as the top guard in the nation as well as the best player in his home state. USA Today this year rated him the No. 4 offensive lineman in the country.
Bredeson sat in a comfy leather chair on the second floor of Schembechler Hall before a practice this week, and reflected on all of it -- the good, the bad, the best. Here is that conversation with MGoBlue.com:
Q: What have you loved most about your four-year journey at Michigan?
A: I've always said that the people are the best part. It's the people you run into, the equipment guy, the trainers, coaches, team staff, everybody. It's not just your teammates. You meet a lot of quality people, and people move on from here to better things. It's a place that can really shoot people forward, and the network that I've built with people from all over the place has been cool to watch.
I always have the stories and memories of the big games, and I could go on and on -- the overseas trips, you can't beat those.
Q: What's been your best moment?
A: Being selected team captain would have to be up there. It was a very proud moment, something that I'm very proud of. Of the individual accomplishments, I'm most proud of that one. It was a little bit of disbelief that it was happening. It's an immediate responsibility for you, and it's hard to put into words.
You are surrounded by these guys all the time. We do everything together: eat, sleep, workout, hang out. And for them to trust you to be their leader, their guy, means a lot.
Bredeson (right) is the 12th two-time captain in Michigan football history.
Q: On the flip side, what's been the worst moment, the worst day?
A: Ohio State in '16. And I think it hurts more now, as the years go on. At the time, being a naïve 18-year-old, I didn't understand the complete, long-term ramifications of what had just happened in that whole end-of-the-game scenario, and how that played out.
(Note: Kenny Allen's field goal would have made No. 3-ranked Michigan a 27-24 winner had the fourth-and-1 call that Buckeye quarterback J.T. Barrett gained the one yard needed been reversed. Replays appeared to show Barrett did not reach the required spot and Wolverine head coach Jim Harbaugh believed he was one foot short. On the ensuing first-down play, Curtis Samuel ran for a 15-yard touchdown that made No. 2 OSU 30-27 winners in double-overtime.)
It was so weird. They scrambled and got a lot of yards, and then it was the fourth-down play. I remember hanging up my helmet on the bench and watching, thinking, 'This is the game right here. We stop them right here and we're going to go to the Big Ten championship, play Wisconsin, win that, and we're going to go to the (College Football) Playoff.'
Everything came down to one play, and my reaction was that he was short. There was this big roar on our sideline, cheering for the hope of it, and watching the replay over and over. They finally announce 'First down.' And next play, they score, and in five minutes you go from on top of the world, thinking you're headed for the national championship game, to watching it on the couch. It was tough.
Q: You have two more times to come down the tunnel and jump to hit the "M Club Banner" with your teammates. What is it going to be like to do that for the last time?
A: It's something I don't even want to think about. I get chills thinking about it right now. Coming into my senior year, I realized it was all coming to an end. After the Notre Dame game, I looked up and thought, 'Wow, I've got two home games left. Two more times to run out there and slap the banner, get the home crowd going, the whole home game routine, seeing the same people at the team hotel the night before games. That was when I started counting it down.
But you couldn't have it scripted any better for your senior year. Your last three games are Notre Dame (45-14 win), Michigan State and Ohio State (Nov. 30).
Q: If you could recognize one person as the most important to getting you where you are today, who would that be?
A: I'll go with my older brother, Jack (a fifth-year senior pitcher on last season's Michigan national runner-up baseball team). He's done a lot for me, more than he even knows, and just being my support system. He lived right over on White Street. I'd walk by there coming down from the dorms my freshman and sophomore years. I'd check in there and hang out for a little bit, and get my mind off things. I don't even think he knew that he was helping, but we played with each other in high school, and ended up coming to the same school. He came first, and would come to all my football games. I'd go to all his baseball games. Those are my best memories -- just he and I going back and forth.
Q: What's the most meaningful lesson you've learned from Harbaugh?
A: You know, he has a lot of 'Harbaughisms,' and talks about enjoying things along the way. There are two that I'll always remember:
"A leisurely stroll is a gift." He says that all the time when we're heading to the stadium, and he talks about not having to run to make it at the last minute, enjoying it and letting it all soak in.
Then he says, "The days are long, but the years are short." I remember hearing that for the first time in camp my freshman year and thinking the days could not get any longer. But now, looking back, I can tell you everything that happens, and it seems like yesterday. It's very true. You get in this battle rhythm of long days, but everything's really flying by.
Q: What enabled this team to get the focus it has now?
A: I think the entire year has been a good focus, but as of late we've really turned it up. I think that's because we have guys who have really been around the program a lot, and you think back to the Chris Wormleys, Mike McCrays, Jake Butts, Mason Coles who taught our class how to do it. Now, we're just passing the torch down the whole way, trying to do the same things they taught us when we were freshmen and Chris Wormley was teaching us, just trying to keep everyone focused. And I think it's very effective. It's especially working real well now, and it's a great feeling seeing the freshmen and sophomores playing with emotion and having fun, but still doing their job and being focused about it.
That's what's really leading to our success.
Q: Where have you made the most strides as a player?
A. I'd say my knowledge of the game. Coming in here, I didn't know a whole lot about the X's and O's in the football world. Even during my freshman year, I was just kind of surviving in it. I knew my job on every play but I didn't know what everybody was doing. I've loved learning the entire system and how a play's supposed to work. I learned that and it's helped me a lot in my game -- predicting what the defense is doing, and if they're out of shape, what's coming. It all builds on each other. Growing in that area has been most beneficial for me. I can react quicker.
Q: And the game becomes slower?
A: Absolutely.
Q: Where have you grown the most as a person?
A: I come from a small town in Wisconsin, and there are things to do here. But I feel I've become a lot more worldly person since coming here. I've had the privilege of going to different continents and countries all over the world, and seeing things that most people don't have the option or ability to see. Going to a place like Michigan teaches you how to mature and put yourself out there, try new things, and learn how to handle your business. You learn that it's cool to be responsible and stay together and have your head on straight. It's definitely made me grow up a lot, and it's very empowering, very assuring.
Ruiz (left) and Bredeson
Q: Describe what it's like to be in the huddle and then break the huddle with your O-line mates, and the brotherhood you guys feel.
A: It's always been there -- especially with this group here. My freshman and sophomore years, there were a lot of changes going on along the offensive line. But this has been one that's stable. Jalen (Mayfield's) the newcomer this year (at right tackle). I mean, (Jon) Runyan (Jr.) and Cesar (Ruiz), I've played so many snaps with those two guys. They've been with me the entire way.
(Note: Left tackle Runyan and center Ruiz, along with Bredeson and right guard Michael Onwenu, have started all but the first two games this season as a four-man unit since the beginning of 2018. Runyan was injured for those games and Ryan Hayes started in his place.)
There's times when we don't even make a call. You know what each of us is going to do. We're on it, and that's it. It's just knowing how they're going to react emotionally and physically during a game, and we feed off that, knowing who needs help, who needs to get fired up. Those are your best friends out there, and you get to play next to them. We always have each other's back, and, on the offensive line, nobody can do it alone.
That brotherhood is something special; I think it's the tightest on the team, any team, because of that fact. The only stat we keep is sacks allowed, and you don't want one of those. Nobody's going to get any love, any stats, and we thrive on that. You're not going to put our face on the cover of Sports Illustrated. We're just a sound part of the team and love doing that.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years, and how will your Michigan experience have helped you get there?
A: Obviously, I'm hoping to play football as long as I possibly can or stay in the game of football as long as I possibly can. That's truly my passion. I found football is my passion here at Michigan, and I always want to be a part of the game in some way.
People always say there's a Michigan difference, and there is one. It teaches you things. It pushes you and makes you be a lot better than you would be if you were anywhere else. It maximizes the most out of every person who goes here, and that goes for socially, the professional world and obviously athletically as well.
Being able to say you went to Michigan, and graduated from Michigan and played football at Michigan, it's a head-turner. I'm very proud to be a part of all of it. It's been a very quick ride -- I'll tell you that -- but I've loved it.
