Everything you need to know about the NFL showcase taking place on Thursday, February 1, 2024.
It will be one of the last opportunities you’ll get to see outgoing Michigan football players wearing their winged helmets, as several outgoing seniors participate in one of the esteemed NFL showcases.
There are four former Michigan football players who are participating in the annual East-West Shrine Bowl which is held in Frisco, Texas at the practice home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
Here are the details you need to know about the game:
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2024 Time: 8 p.m. EST Where: The Star (Frisco, Tx.) Channel: NFL Network
Here are the former Wolverines who will be participating in the game on Thursday evening.
The big question for Michigan football coming out of spring ball last year was who would fill that outside cornerback position opposite Will Johnson? There was a sea of hype for “unicorn” Amorion Walker, who had converted from wide receiver. After a not-so-great showing in the scrimmage on April 1, however, the program was a little less confident in what he’d look like during the season.
Then, the maize and blue received a surprising boost late in the cycle. UMass team captain and starting cornerback Josh Wallace became available through the transfer portal, and he ended up choosing the Wolverines.
While he had some down moments, Wallace superseded expectations, helping the maize and blue cement the nation’s No. 1 defense and second-best pass defense (through 15 games).
Now that he’s a national championship-winner, Wallace has announced he’s moving on to the NFL draft.
Wallace has exhausted his intercollegiate eligibility as he played for five years, including the COVID-19 year. Certainly, however, he’ll look back particularly fondly of his single season in Ann Arbor. It didn’t take long for him to win more games than he had in the rest of his college career, combined.
Josh Wallace has quietly been one of the best transfer portal additions to a Michigan team that welcomed seven heavy contributors to the 2023 roster.
Wallace was brought it late to address the need at cornerback opposite Will Johnson and has played well enough to keep his spot on an undefeated team. There has been negativity directed towards Wallace at times, but he has responded well and has been exactly the solid cornerback that Michigan needed to guard the boundary.
“Got to ignore the criticism,” Wallace noted. “Can’t really get too caught up in it, just listen to what the coaches tell us and get better every week.”
Wallace, and the rest of the defense, are excited for the challenge that awaits them on Monday. Some would be afraid of an offense that averages 350 passing yards a game, but Michigan sees it as a chance to cement themselves as the nation’s top defense.
“It’s a great challenge for the defense,” Wallace said. “They have an elite quarterback, elite wide receivers, and it’s another opportunity for our defense to show why we’re the number one defense in the country.”
Though Wallace credited the Washington offense, he also mentioned that going against McCarthy in practice every day has helped him prepare.
“In my eyes, J.J. is the quarterback is the best quarterback in the country,” Wallace bragged. “Going against him every day is always a blessing and he helps us every single day to get better.”
Wallace added that even though McCarthy is underrated by much of the national media, the signal caller is focused on the team’s one goal of winning a national championship.
“He’s focused on the natty, just like all of us. I’m just glad that he’s my teammate, you know, at the end of the day.”
Wallace, McCarthy, and the rest of Michigan’s team will take on the Washington Huskies in the national title game on Monday.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It appeared the rout was even more on than anticipated when Michigan football looked to have its second interception of the day on Saturday.
In tight coverage, new Michigan cornerback Josh Wallace turned on a dime to face the quarterback. As the ball hit off the wide receiver’s hands, Wallace corralled it for what looked like an impressive pick.
However, as the Wolverine offense took the field, play was stopped by an officials’ time out. The interception was waived off, and the East Carolina offense remained on the field.
So what happened? Why was it deemed an incomplete pass? Acting head coach Jesse Minter shared more about the officials’ thinking.
“Yeah, so the receiver made contact with the ball while he was out of bounds first, before Josh really had control of it,” Minter said. “So because he was touching out of bounds and the ball — Josh was actually in bounds, but it was deemed out of bounds because the receiver was touching it while he was out of bounds.”
The dumb rules aside, the play that wasn’t was a solid one by the former UMass player who transferred in late this offseason.
With Will Johnson out with an injury, Wallace was tapped as the No. 1 cornerback for the Wolverines on Saturday. Along with former walk-on Keshaun Harris, who started in the opposite position, Minter believes the duo did a good job in Week 1.
“I thought Josh did a great job,” Minter said. “I was confident in him. And he stepped up to the challenge. I thought he and Keshaun Harris, both, like just steady, consistent, pretty sticky coverage. Overall, I thought Mike (Sainristil) set the tone early with a great interception, something that we want to try to get more of. And so I felt Mike led the group and I thought the rest of the guys really just fell in line and played capable of the way we needed them to play.”
Overall, Michigan’s secondary gave up 132 yards passing, but 66 of those yards came in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided. It was an impressive debut from the entire defensive unit, which will get more work next week when the Wolverines host UNLV in Week 2.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football was intent this spring to coerce Amorion Walker into a starting role at cornerback. The only thing is: it was his first time really playing the position at the college level. With a steep learning curve and the Wolverines chasing a championship in 2023, they needed some insurance.
Enter Josh Wallace, who transferred over the summer to Ann Arbor from UMass.
Wallace now has a full fall camp under his belt, and thanks in part to Mike Sainristil, he’s acclimated nicely to the program. And it turns out, he didn’t need much convincing to end up wearing a winged helmet.
“I had texted Josh while he was being recruited,” Sainristil said. “And I told him the opportunity he had. I told him, I said, ‘Look, you wouldn’t be being recruited if coaches didn’t think you could be here, one. Two, you have the opportunity to come in, potentially start at corner. So, take advantage of it if you do decide to come.’ And then when he got here, I told him, I said, ‘Look, be by my side all summer. I promise, I’ll lead you in the right direction’. And he takes me back, he said, ‘I already planned on it!’
“So since he’s gotten here, he’s been like a brother to me. We’ve already gotten close. And I feel like he has a bright future.”
While that speaks well of Wallace finding the right mentor in the building, what kind of player is he?
Sainristil is quite confident in his skills having seen him in action during fall camp. He says he’s willing to put his body on the line to make a play, and he listens to direction when it’s given. If he does, indeed, have the playbook down, the Wolverines can rest easy that they probably have a solid starting cornerback to play opposite Will Johnson.
“Josh, I think he’s a great cover guy,” Sainristil said. “He’s not a guy that’s scared to come down and hit somebody. He’s physical when needed. And he’s a guy that takes coaching. He doesn’t take anything personal. And he’s just got — he’s looking to do the right thing, he’s looking to help however.”
Fans will get their first chance to see Wallace in maize and blue on Saturday, when Michigan hosts East Carolina for the season opener. The game will kick off at noon at The Big House and will be streaming live on Peacock.
INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan football hopes it has the program’s next great cornerback, Will Johnson, but there are big questions who will play opposite him in 2023.
The prevailing thought all spring was that Amorion Walker, who originally came in as a wide receiver, would be up to the task, but after a rough spring game, it’s not certain. Ja’Den McBurrows is now healthy, and he’s contending, as are second-year corners Myles Pollard and Kody Jones.
But the Wolverines brought in a former team captain, Josh Wallace, who entered the transfer portal late out of Massachusetts.
At Big Ten media days, Mike Sainristil sang Wallace’s praises, but also noted he’s still acclimating. So much so that, at times, he doesn’t seem to understand that he’s actually a part of the team.
“Josh is an interesting guy, that’s my boy,” Sainristil said. “I actually just got off FaceTime with him. Josh, he’s a character. But, since he’s been here, he’s been doing a really good job for himself. And don’t be surprised if you hear his name called a lot on Saturdays.
“He works hard, he keeps his head down. He minds his business, he puts in the work he needs to. And since he got here, he’s been around me, I told him, I said, ‘Look, just be around me and I promise you that I’ll take you to a good, good place.’ But one thing I need him to do is understand that he’s on the team.
“Josh, and I will be talking like, and anytime Michigan’s brought up, he’ll refer to Michigan as ‘you guy’s’ as if he’s not on the team at the moment. So he’s been working on it. It’s something we joke about, but you know, Josh — that’s my guy.”
Sainristil is still cautious about what Wallace will do in 2023, which makes sense given he’s yet to put on the winged helmet formally. Fall camp begins next week, and regardless of if he wins a starting role or not, Sainristil is confident that Wallace will make the team better.
“I think he’s a guy who’s going to come in and immediately impact the room in the sense of getting other guys to compete, getting other guys to work hard,” Sainristil said. “And just giving that extra push, because no one wants the guy to come in and take their spot. But coming in, you want to take somebody’s spot, so he’s going to increase the level of competitiveness in the room.
“But I think there’s a good amount of guys right now that could play in that next second cornerback spot, so I can’t wait to watch the battle, be a part of the battle during camp, come next week.”
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Michigan already had eight players coming to Ann Arbor via the transfer portal for the 2023 season. But Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines weren’t quite done adding to their already stout transfer class.
By getting Wallace, Michigan tremendously improves its depth at the only position of need. The maize and blue return starters Will Johnson and Mike Sainristil, but the Wolverines are rather raw at the corner spot. It appeared either converted wide receiver Amorion Walker or Ja’Den McBurrows would start opposite of Johnson. Although one of them still can, the addition of Wallace gives the coaches a safety net.
During his four seasons at UMass, Wallace totaled 140 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three interceptions, and 28 pass breakups. The veteran corner had a stellar 2022 football season. He had 41 tackles, two interceptions and 28 pass breakups in his senior season with the Minutemen.
After the big addition to the secondary, Michigan Twitter went nuts. Here are the best reactions we could find after Wallace announced his decision.
Time will tell, but it looks promising for #Michigan to land him!
Michigan football is loaded at every position heading into 2023.
If you can say the Wolverines have a weakness, you could make a small case that it’s at the corner position. The maize and blue return star sophomore Will Johnson, who became Michigan’s best cover corner last season. The Wolverines also return Mike Sainristil at nickel. Sainristil, the converted receiver, made a seamless move to the defensive side of the ball and looked like a natural last season. But the biggest question mark heading into the season is who will start opposite of Johnson? Jim Harbaugh loves Amorion Walker, another converted receiver, and corner Ja’Den McBurrows is finally healthy and is ready to fight for a starting job.
But with both being unproven in game situations, the Wolverines have been looking into the transfer portal to find a potential starter, or at worst, depth. Michigan recently hosted UMass graduate transfer Josh Wallace this past weekend. Reports indicate things went really well and Wallace announced on Instagram that he would make his final decision this Wednesday.
UMass cornerback transfer Josh Wallace will announce his commitment Wednesday.
Wallace has also taken visits to Virginia Tech and Oklahoma and those two round out his final three along with Michigan. The Michigan Insider’s Steve Lorenz placed a Crystal Ball for Michigan to land Wallace on Monday. And if you look at On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, Michigan leads for the four-year starter with a 59.6% chance.
During his four seasons at UMass, Wallace totaled 140 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three interceptions, and 28 pass breakups. The veteran corner had a stellar 2022 football season. He had 41 tackles, two interceptions, and 28 pass breakups in his senior season with the Minutemen.
Wallace will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Apparently, there is quite a bit of interest between the four-year starter and the Wolverines. According to Josh Henschke with the Maize and Blue Review ($) the former UMass captain will be visiting Ann Arbor this week for a multi-day visit.
If you check out Wallace’s Twitter account, he is currently on a visit to Oklahoma and Michigan would be the second team this week to host the sought-after transfer. He also has offers from Penn State, Michigan State, Iowa, Indiana, Virginia Tech, and Oregon State.
During his four seasons at UMass, Wallace totaled 140 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three interceptions, and 28 pass breakups. The veteran corner had a stellar 2022 football season. He had 41 tackles, two interceptions, and 28 pass breakups in his senior season with the Minutemen.
Wallace was also coached by former Michigan defensive coordinator, Don Brown. Brown took over as the head coach of the Minutemen in 2022.
Michigan brought in a talented haul via the transfer portal for the 2023 season.
We’ve seen the Wolverines offer a few more players in the portal since spring ball has ended, but the maize and blue have been selective about who they’ve gone after.
And it appears Michigan has found another prospect in the portal the coaching staff has its eyes on. On Friday, the Wolverines offered cornerback Josh Wallace, who entered the transfer portal after spending four seasons with UMass.
Wallace took to Twitter to announce Michigan offered him. According to his Twitter feed Penn State, Indiana, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oregon State and Virginia Tech have all offered the two-time captain.
Wallace was a four-year starter for the Minutemen, which would bring veteran leadership to whichever school he chooses to attend in the fall. In his four seasons at UMass, Wallace totaled 140 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three interceptions and 28 pass breakups.
The veteran corner had a stellar 2022 football season. He had 41 tackles, two interceptions and 28 pass breakups in his senior season with the Minutemen.
Cornerback is a need for Michigan. Will Johnson is the only returner that has much experience. Mike Sainrstil is locked in as the starting nickel, but the Wolverines are somewhat limited at who might start across from Johnson. Michigan loves what it has in Ja’Den McBurrows and Amorion Walker, but both are unproven.
Wallace played for former Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown at UMass. Brown has been the head coach there since 2022.
