Chris Barnett Plans to Continue with Football

Tag: Ex-Wolverines

25Aug 2011
Uncategorized 2 comments

Chris Barnett Plans to Continue with Football


As reported earlier today, freshman TE Chris Barnett is no longer with the University of Michigan football program. Per our conversation this afternoon, Barnett is back with his family in Texas and intends to enroll at another school after he reviews all of his options. “Everything is moving so fast,” he said. “[I’ll be looking] at whatever’s out there.” Barnett stated he will address his reasons for leaving the program after “declaring a new school.” A time frame for that decision has understandably not yet been established.
Chris always presented as a respectful, humble young man during our conversations, often addressing me as “Sir” and describing himself as a “family man.” I’m sure I speak for the Michigan community when I say that we wish him only the best going forward. To learn more about Barnett as both a player and a person, check out an interview with him from earlier this summer.

16Aug 2011
Uncategorized 2 comments

Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia Update: Tony Drake

Tony Drake (#12)

Former Wolverine commit Tony Drake made the news this past week, and not for a good reason.  Drake was declared academically ineligible to participate for the 2011 season at Colorado State.

Drake committed to Michigan and Rich Rodriguez in March 2009.  Coming from Skyline High School in Dallas, TX, he could have been the first step toward building a pipeline to the powerhouse program.  However, rumors started to swirl during the 2009-2010 school year that Michigan had stopped recruiting Drake, likely due to grade issues.  Sure enough, by late January 2010, Drake switched his commitment to Colorado State.

As a Michigan-level recruit playing at Colorado State, he had a fair amount of success in his true freshman season.  Drake split time between wide receiver and running back, catching 6 passes for 71 yards and rushing 7 times for 89 yards and 1 touchdown.  He also led the team in kickoff returns, taking 29 of them back for an average of 24.3 yards per attempt.

Unfortunately for the 5’8″, 169-pounder, his road may have ended when he was pronounced academically ineligible last week.  He no longer appears on the CSU roster and will either get his academics back on track and rejoin the team or perhaps end his career prematurely.

Find out about Drake and others in the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia, read his commitment post from a couple seasons ago, or check out his high school highlights below:

[Thanks to reader Robby for alerting me to Drake’s academic status.]
8Aug 2011
Uncategorized 6 comments

Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia Update

The Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia is really interesting to me. I’m not sure why that is because ex-wolverines don’t impact Michigan Football whatsoever, and in many cases, the players have spurned Michigan in one way or the other. On the other hand, I find the case study aspect interesting, and I like to know whether or not the players would have made an impact at Michigan if they had stayed.
Here’s an update on a few players. For a complete ex-wolverine list, go here. As always, please email/comment with any info/updates.
Justin Turner

Turner reportedly enrolled at Notre Dame College of Ohio after leaving West Virginia during the 2010 season, which Justin was scheduled to sit out due to transfer rules. But an assistant coach at the junior college said enrollment never happened: “we thought for sure he was going to enroll, but then he dropped off the map.” The coach also heard that Turner may attend “a college in California” but wasn’t sure about the credibility of what he had heard.

Demar Dorsey

After being denied admission to Michigan, Dorsey enrolled in Grand Rapids Community College. Coach Andrews, the school’s defensive coordinator, said that Dorsey chose GRCC because he knew several of the players on the team who are from Florida and, as a child, Demar even played little league football with a couple of his GRCC teammates. Despite a rocky start, Coach Andrews said that Dorsey has attended all of the team’s voluntary workouts this summer and is slotted to see action as a defensive back and kick returner this fall, but he doesn’t expect Dorsey to see any action on the offensive side of the ball.
Also of note, Coach Andrews recently spoke with Chris Singletary, who indicated that Michigan would still be interested in Dorsey if he continues to demonstrate positive behavior and invest in academics. For reasons unknown to Coach Andrews, Oregon is Dorsey’s current “leader” although Dorsey hasn’t had any recent contact with the University. “Maybe it’s because they were just in National Championship game; maybe it’s because he likes their uniforms,” Coach Andrews speculated half-jokingly.

Conelius Jones

After failing to academically qualify at Michigan, Cornelius enrolled at Marshall University, a former member of the MAC and a current member of Conference USA. A Marshall blog posted an article that says Jones had more academic problems at the University, but the writer then added an emboldened “Edit” bit at the end of the page that says Conelius just wanted to be closer to home. Either way, it doesn’t look like Jones will be continuing with his football career.

Justin Boren

Perhaps my least liked ex-wolverine, Boren signed on to play for the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent immediately following the NFL lockout.
Tate Forcier

Although most people seem to be disinterested with the Forcier saga, I find it fascinating for a couple reasons. Firstly, had he kept his academic house in order, I would have enjoyed seeing the role he might have played in the Borges offense. Secondly — the first half of 2010.
So if you don’t already know the story, Forcier reportedly committed to play for Miami (FL) but backed out because the school was too far from home. He then showed interest in Hawaii–which is a similar distance away from his San Diego home–but was denied enrollment due to issues with his Michigan transcript. Here’s to hoping he lands on his feet.
4Aug 2011
Uncategorized 10 comments

Christian Pace, ex-Wolverine

Christian Pace

Offensive lineman Christian Pace has received a medical scholarship and will no longer play for Michigan.  Pace was a member of the 2010 class and represented the entirety of the offensive linemen that committed to Michigan that year.  He suffered a shoulder injury in practice during the season that will prevent him from continuing his football career, at least in Ann Arbor.  This is disappointing, since it leaves the offensive line woefully thin and might make it more necessary for a freshman like Chris Bryant to see playing time in 2011.  It’s also disappointing because Pace looked like a solid player coming out of high school and could have developed into a quality college offensive lineman.

Once David Molk departs after the 2011 season, the depth at center will consist of redshirt senior Rocko Khoury, redshirt freshman Jack Miller, and any freshmen who can potentially contribute there (perhaps Caleb Stacey); redshirt seniors Ricky Barnum and Elliott Mealer would also be available to play center, if necessary.

Eighteen months after National Signing Day 2010, only 17 of the 27 signees remain with the program.

24May 2011
Uncategorized 22 comments

D.J. Williamson, ex-Wolverine

D.J. Williamson

It seems that wide receiver D.J. Williamson has left the football program.  Though there has been no official announcement, he no longer appears on the roster, and there were rumors all spring that he had decided to transfer.  Williamson was a class of 2010 player who redshirted as a true freshman.  Rivals ranked him as a 3-star and the #53 player in the state of Ohio.  Scout ranked him as a 2-star and the #165 wide receiver in the country.  Other than straight-line speed, Williamson didn’t seem to offer much as a player; furthermore, there were rumors that he dropped a lot of passes in practice and turned the coaches off with his unreliability.

This leaves the Wolverines with 11 wideouts on the 2011 roster but only 7 remaining for 2012.  I can’t help but wonder why the new coaching staff turned away class of 2011 receiver Devin Lucien, who would have been a Wolverine if the coaches hadn’t him to play defensive back instead.

Check out other departed Wolverines in the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia.