ANN ARBOR, Mich. — No player ever transfers, especially former starters, and expect that they’ll be riding the bench at their new school. That’s not the likely trajectory for Drake Nugent after coming to Ann Arbor from Stanford, but he’s embroiled in a fierce competition with Greg Crippen for the starting center position.
If anything, the competition has helped him find something he was starting to lose: his love for the game of football.
Nugent went from playing for the second-worst team in the Pac-12 with the Cardinal to the two-time defending Big Ten champions, and a team that has made two College Football Playoff appearances in as many years. Not only has joining a team with a winning attitude helped him regain his joie de vivre, but the fact that he needs to be his best in order to secure his role on the field has reignited something within him.
“Honestly, it’s kind of refreshing. (At) Stanford, we don’t really win very many games there. And I love those guys there,” Nugent said. “I was captain last year, which is great. But I just feel like that, personally, I needed a new change, just almost like spark for my love for football again. Not to say I didn’t love it last year, but just gave me like that ‘no excuse,’ like, I came in with competition and stuff, I gotta be on myself every day. Where at Stanford, you can give yourself an excuse, even though I would say I didn’t — it’s there.”
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When was it that Nugent found that place where he realized his love for the game once again?
Given that he arrived in Ann Arbor in January but was precluded from spring ball due to injuries, it wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that he realized, OK, yeah — this is what he signed up for when he first got into football.
“Probably back when I started fall camp. I mean, obviously, I came in here in January and started working my butt off, tried to earn everyone’s respect as fast as I could. And I never really lost that spark. But I think definitely being on the field again, was like, ‘Well, this is awesome.’ So that’s kind of like when I was able to truly love it again, where I’m at.”
He has some lofty shoes to fill, and that’s also helped him maintain a competitive edge.
Nugent is joining an offensive line that hasn’t just won two-straight Joe Moore Awards, but he also will potentially be taking over for Olu Oluwatimi, the reigning Rimington and Outland Trophy winner. That was part of the lure to coming to Michigan from Stanford, and he even got an opportunity to meet with Olu before he made his decision.
Now, it’s motivation, because in order to cement his legacy in Ann Arbor, he has to do what he can to meet the expectations set by the guy before him.
“Obviously, that played a big role,” Nugent said. “And I knew who Olu was obviously throughout last year and all the guys in the room here. Hear about Zak and Trevor and Hayes and (Karsen Barnhart), even Trente, stuff like that. But what he was able to do obviously played a big role.
“And I came on my visit in December — they’re in bowl prep, I was able to talk to him. He had a rolled ankle, I think and he wasn’t practicing the day I came. So it was nice to talk to him aside, ask questions about the offense, stuff like that and how it’s similar, different than Stanford was. Definitely played a huge role. And obviously, they’re big shoes to fill there and I’ll do the best I can.”