PASADENA, Calif. — While there are plenty of storylines to go around for Michigan football as it embarks upon its third straight College Football Playoff semifinal appearance, one of the biggest has to do with a player who will not participate in the Rose Bowl at all.
Early enrollee quarterback Jadyn Davis is the prize of the 2024 class in Ann Arbor. The recent high school senior joined his new team in Los Angeles this week as the team prepares for Alabama. On Thursday, defensive players Mike Barrett and Junior Colson shared that Davis had impressed them in his first practice, and he has remained a big topic of discussion since.
On Friday, media received an opportunity to see Davis in action in practice, and he didn’t look like an incoming freshman in the limited reps we saw. Head coach Jim Harbaugh recognized the four-star QB was a player he wanted in Ann Arbor pretty early in the recruiting process.
“He’s a two-time Mr. Football in North Carolina. The thing that’s — we can talk a lot about what already happened, but the latest is being able to watch him on the field and get to coach him,” Harbaugh said. “The thing that is sticking out is like one book — you give him a coaching point — like I’ve given him four now since he’s been here, and he gets it immediately. It is the next rep — he’s doing it exactly how I just explained it.
“Just the intelligence, the athleticism it takes to do that I’ve found is rare, that you have that — you can understand something, and then athletically be able to just repeat — just go do it, as opposed to many reps, much time on task.
“He’s got the ability to visualize what you’re saying and then athletic enough to immediately replicate it. That’s special. That’s something I’ve noticed immediately.
“But a great guy. I’m so excited to coach him.”
As far as Davis getting these early reps, many believe it will pay dividends down the line, but Harbaugh isn’t sure. But he sees many similarities in demeanor and ability to another Michigan football star and current fan favorite — perhaps an omen that bodes well for the Wolverines’ future.
“I don’t know. I don’t know how important that is,” Harbaugh said. “But yeah, just jumping in and just watching how he handles himself, it’s kind of an important tool for me to see because you can tell — it’s like watching J.J. when J.J. took the field for the first time.
“Just the presence that he has and had, and to watch Jaden do that, very interesting. How is he going to approach the first day. There it is. There’s the presence. There’s the genuine confidence. There’s the work ethic. There’s the humility. It’s great to see.”
Even during the 15-minute media window on Friday, we could see Harbaugh working with Davis on his footwork, taking time away from the incumbent starter, despite — you know — there being a kind of big game coming up on Monday.
But in his limited work with the new Michigan quarterback, what has Harbaugh worked on? He shared a pretty comprehensive list as well as his outlook for Davis’ future.
“His eyes on the target. When he throws a deep ball, quarterback has a tendency to lift their eyes up and watch the ball instead of keeping their eyes on the defender and the receiver the entire time,” Harbaugh said. “Coached him on the snap. Like a lot of guys they don’t take a snap in high school, so getting that coached up.
“There was a ball-handling coaching point that I made, how to get away from center faster that he just immediately, immediately replicated.
“One other I threw in a corner route that — he just can pick it up. When I say, listen, there’s a real art to that, like to listen, to really hear what the instruction is, and then be able to embrace the instruction and then to go execute the instruction.
“But hear it, really hear it, embrace it wholeheartedly, and then go execute it to the best of your God-given ability. He’s got that talent to do all three.”