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Something of a casualty this offseason has been those who have enrolled early.
With the novel coronavirus changing the way the world operates, the expectation was that those who had come to Ann Arbor early would have a jump on the process, getting all 15 spring practices as well as participating in the annual spring game.
However, now those players are just like anyone else, holed up due to the current ‘stay at home’ efforts. That, though, doesn’t mean there haven’t been benefits afforded to those who did arrive at Michigan a good 6-7 months early.
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis appeared this weekend on the In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen, and explained what those who did forgo their final semester of high school to come to Ann Arbor have experienced, and why they still are somewhat ahead of the curve when it comes to the football program — as compared to those who won’t arrive until presumably June or July.
“I think the benefit for the early-enrollee guys is they were able to get with Coach Herbert and really get the culture and the way we do things down,” Gattis said. “They got a number of good morning workouts in before they were – obviously before we were (set) to start spring ball. They really understood, okay, how do we really want to do things. How do the upperclassmen do it? And I’ll tell you what: that’s a really impressive group of young guys. How well they work, how well they pay attention. How well they pay attention to the details. There’s some impressive guys in that group. That was the biggest thing offensively for us.”
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On offense, there’s but two players who came early — offensive tackle Zak Zinter and running back Blake Corum.
Both got a little time in already, with three practices as the team readied itself to play Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl. However, particularly with Corum, there were strong anticipations about getting him ready to play in year one, despite an already loaded running backs room.
Still, Zach Charbonnet, who ended up starting in his first year last fall, was somewhat similarly in the same boat, as he recovered from an injury that prohibited him from taking part in spring practices. Thus, Corum could still find himself ready to go.
Part of why is the leadership that other former early-enrollees have exhibited. They’ve helped those along the way to help make sure they’re fully acclimated, despite the curveball that the pandemic has thrown the country as well as the football program.
That said, Gattis feels that with the different pace of things at the moment, it’s also allowed the two first-year players to understand the concepts of the college game a little bit better than had they gone though the alternative ‘normal.’
“We only had two early-enrollees,” Gattis said. “We had Zak and we had Blake. Both of those guys have done a really good job of keeping up to task. Our veteran players have also done a really good job of bringing those guys along. We make sure we check in on those guys. I think it helps with a number of mid-years we had last year. A guy like Cade (McNamara) has been really good with taking those mid-year guys in. Ben Mason has done a really good job of taking those mid-year guys in. We’ve had some guys that have been assigned to bring those guys along, making sure we’re able to get those guys adjusted. I think from the strength and the workout standpoint, they’ve done a really good job. But this was their first install. Now they’re going through their first football install truly with it being remote. So we just gotta make sure – I think the way we’re going about it in going about it a little bit slower with one a week has really helped those guys really understand.”
To some degree, the players have been quite innovative with keeping in check with their new workout regimens during what should have been spring ball.
For instance, Corum posted a video of one of his workouts, and it certainly highlights what kind of shape he’s in.
Hamstrings activated! pic.twitter.com/D8P9trcKPv
— #2⃣BeSavage (@blake_corum) April 29, 2020
As of right now, the Big Ten extended all organized team activities to be on continued hiatus until June 1.