Tag: Mike Sainristil

These Michigan football freshmen are impressing in fall camp

Excited to hear some of these names! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While Michigan football’s 2023 freshman class isn’t exactly making national headlines for how good it is on paper, there are several who are impressing a few of the team captains in fall camp.

We got a glimpse of a few in the spring game — running back Benjamin Hall, wide receiver Fredrick Moore, and cornerback Jyaire Hill — but who are some of the other first-year players who have made a strong, early impression?

Sixth-year linebacker Michael Barrett has liked a lot of what he’s seen, almost particularly on his side of the ball, though a few offensive players have also stood out to him. Barrett feels that once they get more acclimated and don’t have to split time with the freshman ‘bridge’ program, where they miss some time in camp for the classroom, that the group will really move to the next level.

“This freshman class, they got a lot of young dogs on there,” Barrett said. “On the edge, you have (Enow) Etta, I like the guys in our room and they’re working, man. So we got a couple of young guys — Jason Hewlett, Semaj Bridgeman, Hayden (Moore).  A guy like, like I said, Semaj Morgan on the offensive side, we’ve got Fred (Moore) on the offensive side. Yeah, we got a lot of young talent. DJ Waller, he’s working.

“A lot of young talent how that I feel like once they get comfortable, out of the classes — they’re working at bridge during the summer and during this time so they really couldn’t have the full time to be with us and learn everything. But I feel like once they get comfortable in the building and up and kind of go out the process, they’re definitely gonna make a lot of plays.”

Nickel Mike Sainristil has a little more familiarity with DJ Waller, as the former three-star and late addition from Ohio is in his position group. Waller has garnered some praise of late in fall camp and Sainristil explains exactly why there’s some newfound excitement about the player from Youngstown.

“DJ Waller — I think for his size, he’s very freaky,” Sainristil said. “Like he moves very well for his size, he runs better than people might think because of his size. And for him, I feel like once he does understand that, once he does get the overall concept of our defense, and once it slows down for him, he’s gonna be a really special player here.”

Fans will get their first chance to potentially see many of the aforementioned on Sept. 2, when the Wolverines host ECU for the noon season-opener at The Big House.

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Michigan football team captains reflect on pivotal moment when they knew they’d beat Ohio State in 2022

Now this is leadership in the most crucial of moments! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As Michigan football was working to secure a rarefied victory against Ohio State in Columbus — something that hadn’t been done in 20 years at that point — the Wolverines needed a spark. They needed some leadership.

But it wasn’t Jim Harbaugh or team coaches that provided it. It was player-led.

The maize and blue were galvanized on the sidelines when cornerback Mike Sainristil and linebacker Michael Barrett gave an impassioned plea to their teammates about the moment at hand. The Game was tight in the second half for a while, with the Wolverines wresting away a Buckeye halftime lead. But OSU was starting to fret, as its vaunted offense could do next to nothing while the visitors marched right down the field for a methodical touchdown. The defense had to hold serve, and that’s where the defensive duo came in.

Sainristil was seen as the ringleader of the sideline speech, and he backed it up with action, keeping tight end Cade Stover from catching a sure touchdown pass and forcing Ohio State to settle for a field goal. Michigan scored a long touchdown by Donovan Edwards in the immediate aftermath, essentially sealing the game. The Michigan nickelback says that his speech wasn’t planned, it was just something that happened in the moment.

“I will say nothing about that was forced,” Sainristil said. “Like I’ve mentioned before, that was just something that I noticed, how the opposing sideline looked. And I was like, ‘You know what? Right now, it’d be a great time to tell these guys, let’s keep going, this game’s not over. We just need to keep the foot on the gas. And just take everything away from those guys.’ Because their demeanor showed that it was over. We’re on our sideline energetic. And I just wanted to let everybody know if you keep going your hardest for four to six seconds per play, this game will be ours at the end. So that’s just something that I felt in my heart, I had to say at the time.”

Sainristil already had a captaincy in Ann Arbor, but Barrett didn’t earn one until this week, 10 months after that game. Yet, he exuded leadership in that moment.

For him, it was just a moment where he recognized that the almighty Buckeyes were down — not just in score, but emotionally — and that it was the perfect opportunity for the Wolverines to take advantage.

“We just knew we were playing a great game at that point,” Barrett said. “And just looking over to their sideline, just kind of seeing the defeat in their eyes and hanging their heads. We just wanted to get everyone together just let everyone know it’s our time to go finish this — like we’re here now. We know what we want to do, we know what we want to accomplish. Let’s go do it. There’s no point like — we see they’re defeated. Let’s go stomp them while they’re down.”

Michigan has now won two straight in the series and very well could be favored to win a third once The Game arrives in late November.

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Championship or bust? That’s not what Michigan football is chasing

Believe it or not, this is the right mindset. #GoBlue

INDIANAPOLIS — It has been said the 2023 season for Michigan football is “championship or bust,” but that’s not the mentality inside of Schembechler Hall.

That’s not to say the Wolverines aren’t striving for more, but Jim Harbaugh and his team are working toward the same goals they worked for a year ago — they just came short in the College Football Playoff.

As far as Harbaugh sees it, the goals are indeed the same — and the national championship is among them.

“Championship or bust? What does that mean? That doesn’t mean anything to me,” Harbaugh said. “Same as we always are, the way we go into every year — our goals are to win the (Big Ten) championship, win the national championship, to beat Michigan State, to beat Ohio State, to beat Penn State. I mean, we have so many good teams that we play, so many football fights.

“I haven’t heard one football player (say), ‘It’s championship or bust.’ I know I’ve heard that media-driven slogan but that means nothing, that word bust.”

For team captain Mike Sainristil, it’s more of achieving those goals daily rather than looking toward one overarching achievement.

As Sainristil notes, this team doesn’t know what it’s like to win a national championship — it’s something it has to learn to do. Thus, the process, in turn, is the goal more so than the trophy. Should the Wolverines achieve their day-to-day goals, then a championship will work itself out.

“Personally, I don’t think that winning the national championship this year not determines the future of this program,” Sainristil said. “I think the most important thing that we need to understand is we don’t know what a national championship looks like. So our focus shouldn’t be the national championship is the only thing that we’re focused on, because we have to focus on the day-to-day process, what’s going to get us to a national championship — what haven’t we done in the past two years that didn’t get us over that hump. So we have to figure out, OK, from Week 1 to Week 2, what adjustments do we need to make Week 2-3, Week 3-4, so on and so forth to help us get over that hump?”

Michigan has twice made it as far as the College Football Playoff semifinal, but as been ousted in that first round. While the Wolverines claim “championship or bust” is not the ideal within Schembechler Hall, they’ve also instituted a “beat Georgia” drill, with an insistence on being more physical in the case that the team does match up against the Bulldogs in the postseason.

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What Mike Sainristil has seen from incoming transfer Josh Wallace

Will he win the starting cornerback job? #GoBlue

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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WATCH: Michigan football CB Mike Sainristil at Big Ten media days

Great stuff from the captain! #GoBlue

INDIANAPOLIS — Coming off of a season where he switched positions, was a team captain, and had arguably the highlight play of the entire season for Michigan football, Mike Sainristil was bestowed with a new honor: he was one of three Wolverine representatives who came to Lucas Oil Stadium for Big Ten media days. He was joined in Indianapolis by running back Blake Corum and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins.

Sainristil had his turn at the podium on Thursday, day two of the event, where he spoke for 30 minutes. WolverinesWire set up a camera at his station to capture the entire interview. You can check it all out below.

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WATCH: Mike Sainristil talks about returning to Michigan this season

So happy he’s back! #GoBlue

In the sixth installment of ‘Those Who Stay’ the Michigan football program features nickel Mike Sainristil.

The Everett (MA) product might of started out as a wide receiver for the Wolverines, but he actually came to Ann Arbor as a three-star cornerback in the 2019 class.

Jim Harbaugh converted Sainristil to nickel last season and he didn’t miss a beat. The 5-foot-10 Sainristil started 11 games for Michigan in 2022 and tallied 58 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and one interception. He was an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention for the Wolverines. Sainristil will forever be remembered for his pass-breakup against Ohio State in the end zone.

Sainristil decided to return to Michigan for the 2023 season as a graduate student. You can watch the video below to see what made him decide to return. He also talks about his parents being his motivation and his love for bowling.

It’s truly hard not to root for his guy and it’s clear why he is a fan favorite.

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Mike Sainristil thriving with second year on Michigan football defense

Can’t wait to see what he does this year! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It appeared to be something of an optical move at first, Michigan football wide receiver Mike Sainristil moving to the defensive side of the ball last spring. But when looked like a novelty, working to put a player in a new position given the logjam at wideout, paid off visible dividends as soon as the season began.

And when Sainristil made the play of The Game, batting away a sure touchdown out of the hands of Ohio State tight end Cade Stover with 7:30 left in the contest, the move went from pretty good to a grand slam.

Now Sainristil is in his second year on the defensive side of the ball, and it’s also Jesse Minter’s second year with the program. From a holistic standpoint, he feels like the defense is on good footing, knowing where it’s been but realizing that in order to be better, it can’t stay in the rear view.

“Things have been able to start off well. The team is in a great spot,” Sainristil said. “Coaches are helping everybody understand that in order to get back to where we want to be, we have to not really focus on what we did. We understand what we need to do. Just my position, making sure that I can do everything I can to help the team succeed at the highest level possible.”

For Sainristil, the big thing for him is expounding upon that which he did a year ago. After all, he hadn’t played defense since high school.

He had said last year that he was working off of memory to some degree, but that he wanted to expand his repertoire this year having another year in the system on that side of the ball. Now that he knows the playbook and has that part down, he can dig into the minutiae and work to improve himself in a way that he couldn’t a year ago.

“Just being able to really focus on little techniques, small details,” Sainristil said. “Last spring, I really was more focused on learning the playbook more than I was being able to understand techniques and everything. But now that I have a year of the playbook under my belt, I make sure I get with the coaches to help me find those finer points in the techniques and details.”

That said, his role may be expanding this year. While it appears that fellow converted wide receiver Amorion Walker will get some run playing outside corner, Sainristil is also getting reps there, not sticking strictly inside as he did for the bulk of 2022. It’s a challenge he’s welcoming wholeheartedly, and the player who once said he’d play offensive line if asked has the same attitude for a more naturalistic position switch this time around.

“Wherever the coaches want me is where I’ll be,” Sainristil said. “Like I said, just helping the team succeed in whatever spot I am. They’ve been moving me around a little bit from nickel to corner. Wherever they want me, wherever they need me the most is what I’ll do.”

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PFF rates Michigan football defender top at position in country

He’s been incredible! #GoBlue

Jim Harbaugh has an eye for talent, and he apparently has an even better eye for seeing where that talent fits best.

Go back to his time at Stanford. Harbaugh made one of his most consequential switches, taking wide receiver Richard Sherman and making him a cornerback. Sherman became a star at the NFL-level for his prowess in the defensive backfield.

At Michigan, he has had several players who have made high-level switches (which we’ve chronicled). And while all eyes are on his latest move, wide receiver Amorion Walker to cornerback, a similar move he made last year paid off greatly.

PFF often reminds its followers on social media which players were atop their position groups and the outlet did so again on Thursday, tweeting that Michigan nickel back Mike Sainristil was the country’s top slot corner in the country in their estimation.

Sainristil was recruited as a defensive back by many schools but came to Ann Arbor as a receiver. He only made the switch back to the defensive side of the ball in 2022, and he did so with rave reviews. His biggest play came in the biggest moment in the biggest game of the season when he knocked a sure touchdown out of Ohio State tight end Cade Stover’s hands to force the Buckeyes into a field goal situation.

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Michigan football players reiterate ‘we will be back’ after disappointing loss

Love the belief here! #GoBlue

It looked like this might have been Michigan’s year.

The Wolverines had a nearly flawless 2022 season, going 12-0 in the regular season with big wins against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State. The maize and blue also had a commanding win against Purdue in the Big Ten Championship, and it appeared Michigan was a team on a mission heading into its second straight College Football Playoff appearance.

But TCU had something to say about that. On Saturday, the Wolverines were bounced out of the playoff after losing to the Horned Frogs, 51-45.

The Wolverines turned the ball over three times; two pick sixes from J.J. McCarthy and a goal-line fumble by Kalel Mullings. While Michigan found itself down 19 points late in the third, the Wolverines came back, but fell short.

A disappointed McCarthy answered one question after the game. He started by giving TCU all the credit for the victory, but he made a promise for next season’s Wolverine squad.

“All credit to them,” said McCarthy. “They won the game in the 60 minutes that were played. They’re a good football team. No matter what it is, they got the win.”

“Fought our hearts out. There’s a lot of things that we could have done better. Can’t wait to watch the tape. But we’ll be back, and I promise that.”

Running back Donovan Edwards ran for 119 yards in the game on Saturday. Once Michigan went down by multiple scores, it was clear the Wolverines would need to pass the ball to stay in the game. But even trailing big for the majority of the game, the sophomore said they believe they are still a complete team and he shared similar sentiments to McCarthy.

“We had our heads up high the whole game,” said Edwards.” Regardless, we’re a four-quarter team. We’ll be back.”

“It sucks that we lost the game,” Edwards said. “Our whole season preparation has been to win a national championship, and this is the second year that we have lost in the 14th game of the season. So we’re just like, ‘We will be back.’ Same thing we said last year.”

After turning the ball over three times, Michigan had too many self-inflicted wounds. The Wolverines had several chances to complete the comeback, but between the offense fluttering at the wrong times and the defense getting gashed by the run — the comeback stalled.

Edwards said Michigan will get back to the drawing board and fix its mistakes. The Wolverines should have plenty of players returning for next season and freshmen Will Johnson and Colston Loveland gained valuable experience. Because of that, Edwards reiterated the Wolverines will be back.

“It ain’t nothing to it,” said Edwards. “Just back to the drawing board, you know? It’s like we got a good amount of the same people that were here last year and this year. So the new guys that are here this year, they understand what it takes.”

“The freshmen that were here, Will Johnston, Colston Loveland, et cetera, et cetera, they understand what it takes and the preparation that we have to be able to be in positions like this. So we’ll be back.”

Nickel back Mike Sainristil is one of those players that will return next year. He could have declared for the draft after a solid campaign as a defensive back, but he wants to hone his skills one more season. He believes Michigan will learn from this loss and come back better than ever.

“I would just simply say it’s time to — we’re going to learn from this one” said Sainristil. “Once we get back to the drawing board, it’s just time to rebuild, refocus.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it now, but learn from the mistakes and do the best we can this offseason to put ourselves in the best situation for the beginning of next year.”

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Why Mike Sainristil decided to return to Michigan football for another year

#Michigan’s secondary is in good hands. #GoBlue

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — While it might not be surprising on one hand, it was somewhat a surprise that nickel back Mike Sainristil publicly announced he will return for his fifth season.

Most of the time, players make decisions like that about their future after their season is over. Sainristil moved to the position this offseason, and while he has at least one more game to play this year, he realized early that it’s in his best interest to give it another go playing at defensive back after spending three years at wide receiver at the college level.

“I kind of was bouncing around between leaving and coming back just all year long, just thinking about what’s the best situation for me would be,” Sainristil said. “I thought, ultimately, the best decision would be to come back to put more film to show I can move around more so there’s more of my toolbox, more of my skill set. And just being able to come back and fine-tune my technique, my details and help myself put myself in the best position, best situation possible.

“In terms of next year’s draft class, I want to come back and be a top name. Be one of the top nickels in the country coming back. Before the season, I was ranked at 50. Right now, I was ranked sixth. I want to be in that top three coming back next year. So, to help my draft stock, to just double down on myself.”

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Other defensive players still have decisions to make about their futures. DJ Turner, Mike Morris, Gemon Green, Michael Barrett, Mazi Smith and Kris Jenkins could leave but either haven’t decided or haven’t revealed their intentions publicly.

Sainristil says he approaches them about running it back again next year, but is respectful and isn’t forceful in his attempts.

“Sometimes. I don’t really like persuading guys to do one or the other. I kind of just leave it up to them,” Sainristil said. “But I always want to make sure that whoever it is, is in the best position possible. So, I hope they make the best decision whenever that time comes.”

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