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| Sam Sword celebrates a win over Minnesota (image via MGoBlue.com) |
TTB Andrew has scored an upcoming interview with former Michigan linebacker Sam Sword. If you have any pertinent questions for one of the many awesomely named defensive players of the national champion squad, post them in the comments section and TTB Andrew will do his best to get the answer for you.
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| Chantel Jennings interviews Novi (MI) Catholic Central’s Matt Godin |
Much has been written about incoming freshman defensive lineman, Matt Godin, including a Touch the Banner interview from June that you have probably read since it’s been linked on the sidebar for several months. We are again going to interview Godin to get his thoughts on his dominate senior season, preparations for heading to Ann Arbor etc., but first we’d like to open the floor to questions from you guys. So if you’d like to get any Matt Godin related information from Matt Godin himself, please leave a question in the comment section of this post, and we’ll try to address it in the interview.
[On a side note, I’ll be looking forward to the 2013 recruiting class tomorrow morning with a scouting report on Godin’s teammate Wyatt Shallman. -Thunder] |
| Carlsbad (CA) La Costa Canyon OT Erik Magnuson (image via GoBlueWolverine) |
Class of 2012 offensive tackle Erik Magnuson was kind enough to answer a few questions over the holidays. The 6’6″, 280-pounder will be enrolling at Michigan in the summer, but in the meantime, he’s enjoying the high school experience. Magnuson is a high 4-star recruit to all four major recruiting services and widely regarded as one of the ten best tackles in the nation.
La Costa Canyon went 9-3 this season and lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs. That’s a pretty good season. What is your favorite memory of high school football and why? My favorite memory is probably starting as a sophomore on varsity because it was my first year playing offensive line and we were the number one ranked team in San Diego County. It was my dream to start as a sophomore and I made it come true.
Offensive line is such a technical position. Have you received any private, individual tutoring aside from LCC’s coaching staff? If so, what have you worked on? Yes, my neighbor Ralph Perretta played offensive line for the San Diego Chargers [Editor: Perretta went to Purdue before playing for the Chargers and New York Giants from 1975 to 1980] back in the day and got me started on the O-line. Then also just coaches and a bunch of different camps helped me a lot along the way.
That’s pretty awesome to have a former NFLer as a neighbor. What was your favorite play to run at LCC? You guys are going to laugh at this but my favorite play that we had in our offense was a screen play to me. I acted like the defensive end beat me, then I looped around behind the QB; then the QB rolls out to the right then tosses it back to me and all the other lineman lead block just like on any other screen. But besides that, any downhill running play we have. I love run blocking, especially outside where I am one-on-one with a defensive end.
Obviously, every high school lineman needs to get stronger physically, but what kinds of workouts do you do and how often? Have there been any lifts or exercises that have helped you immensely? I have a personal trainer by the name of Brian Killion. He’s trained lots of pro athletes and football players. During the season I work out three times a week, and during the off season, I work out between four and six times a week. I’m kind of a gym rat. I love working out. And I have done just about every lift known with my trainer; we try to keep a wide variety so that I hit every muscle group.
What is an average day of eating like for you? Do you eat everything in sight, or do you keep a pretty strict diet? I eat a lot but try to eat healthy. I don’t eat junk food. I don’t drink soda. I try to stay as healthy as I can but each as much as I can, especially during basketball season or off season training when I’m running and working out a lot.
Lastly, just for fun, do you have any hidden talents that would surprise people? You know, like juggling, writing poetry, playing an instrument . . . ? Surprisingly, I am a very good surfer. I mean, I live about a quarter of a mile away from the beach and my dad is a big-time surfer, so I learned at a young age. But I always shock people because they don’t think a 280 lb. football player could stand up on a board.
Thanks to Erik for taking the time to answer my questions. Aside from highlight videos, Michigan fans can see him in action during NBC’s airing of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on January 7 at 12:00 p.m.
“I’m trying to get myself in some sorts of pressure situations. It’s really hard to do when it’s just myself, but one of the things I’ll do is I’ll set up balls in a certain location and I’ll give myself 10 seconds to run from the sideline to kick a field goal.”
To further prepare, Matt utilized the assistance of a kicking coach, Lance Ortega of the San Diego School of Football, to get himself in optimal form for the 2011 season. The duo worked exceptionally hard just prior to Wile’s move to Ann Arbor, spending hours addressing kicking mechanics, drills and habits. Matt is kind enough to spare us the intricate details of his kicking procedures, but he gives us a short overview of his game time routine.
“I go out on the field and get set-up; I take three steps back, two steps over. And before I give my head-nod to the holder to let him know that I’m ready, I always take one really deep breath [to] calm my nerves. And when the ball’s snapped, it usually ends up happening where I don’t hear anything anymore and all I focus on is the ball. And it usually goes through.”
“From [the ages of] 6 -12, I used to travel with my dad and go to football games. And I was 10 or 12 and San Diego State was playing Michigan. It was a couple hours before the game; there weren’t too many people on the field, so I asked my dad if I could go kick a field goal, and he said ‘sure’…and I ended up kicking a 30 yard field goal in my tennis shoes…right down the middle.”
“They [the Hoke coaching staff] knew about me at San Diego State, and they offered me. The first year that Hoke was with San Diego State, they offered me. So over two or three years, I was actually able to develop a relationship with the coaches, and that played a major factor in me choosing Michigan.”