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| Image via a major Detroit newspaper not named the Detroit News |
I should be talking with incoming freshman linebacker Royce Jenkins-Stone in the next day or two. If you have any questions for him, leave them in the comments section and I’ll address them in the interview.
I should be speaking with incoming freshman safety Jeremy Clark in the next few days, so leave a question for him in the comments section if you’d like me to address something specific during the interview. To learn more about Jeremy, check out his (somewhat outdated) TTB commitment post or MGoBlog’s recent profile post in which Brian has a few Jeremy Clark-related questions of his own.
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| Image via ESPNHS Football |
Incoming defensive lineman Chris Wormley has been a busy guy the last few years. Besides keeping up with his classes and coursework, Wormley was a three-sport athlete at Toledo Whitmer, participating in football, basketball, and track & field. His academic and athletic efforts earned him scholarship offers from some of the best institutions and programs in the nation, including the majority of the Big Ten, Alabama, Florida, and Notre Dame, among others. And as if those undertakings weren’t enough to keep him swamped, Wormley also held down not one but two jobs for much of his high school career – one umpiring baseball and another making pizzas.
Despite his tireless schedule, Chris found a few minutes to speak with me before punching in at work in order to discuss his future at Michigan and answer several reader questions.
Throwing heavy objects: “Last year I made states in both shot put and discus, and I place sixth in disc and ninth in shot. My farthest so far for shot is 58.3 feet and discus is 184.1. . . .yeah, there’s the strength and then the technique is pretty big.”
Screaming like a Panther: “That photo shoot was for The Blade, which is our newspaper in Toledo. The photographer was just doing different poses and different shots. It was for defensive player of the year for all of division one in Ohio.”
Kickin’ it with Koger: “Oh yeah, he actually went to Whitmer as well. Right before my sophomore year is when we started talking and stuff. He was my host up there when I went on my visit, so he showed me around campus and everything. I definitely talk to him and stuff. . . . He would say stuff on my Facebook [during the recruiting process] like, “Go Blue!” and one of my good friends lives across the street from him, so I’d go over there, and he’d be over there for discing or something and we’d throw it across the yard. But he wasn’t too annoying with it to the point where I’d get annoyed, but he’d put stuff in my ear. . . . Oh, man, who’d win [in a game of basketball] between me and Kevin (laughs)? Well, he’s been away from basketball for five years now and he’s pretty massive, but I think my shot’s a little better than his right now, so I’d have to take me. . . . I think I’d win.”
Strengths and weaknesses: “I think one of my strengths is my size. You know, most D-ends are 6’4”, but I’m 6’5”/6’6” – and my intelligence of the game, too, knowing the game. I think one of my weaknesses is going side to side, which is definitely a big part of defensive end. You have to change your direction, so that’s something I’ll have to work on during the next four years.”
Height, weight, position: “I’m 6’5” and 270 [pounds]. . . . Hopefully they can give me a target weight when I get up there but as of now they haven’t given me a certain weight that I should get to. . . .As of now they said [I’ll play] the 5-technique, but depending on if I lose a little weight or gain twenty pounds that could affect the 3-tech position that way, whether I go down there or just stay at the 5-technique.”
Redshirting: “Well, I think most freshmen come in and try to get on the field and try to play. But if not and I get redshirted, then that’s an extra year of school, an extra year to get bigger and stronger and work on the game of football.”
Strong motivation and drive: “Just wait and see. You can watch film all you want and roll back the tape of the games, but come out to practice, come out to a workout, go in the classroom and I’ll definitely prove you wrong, whoever thinks that my motivation isn’t at 100%.”
Learn from the pros: “I like the way Jared Allen plays for the Vikings, just how he plays defensive end and his style of play. I like to watch Jared Allen and DeMarcus Ware. Those are my two favorite defensive end players.”
More Wormley:
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| Image via seanworkphotography.com |
I should be talking with incoming defensive lineman Chris Wormley from Toledo, OH, in the next day or two. If you have any questions for him, leave them in the comments section, and I’ll address them in the interview.
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| Mentor (OH) Mentor defensive end Tom Strobel (#36) |
Defensive lineman Tom Strobel was indoctrinated into Ohio State culture from childhood, received an Ohio State scholarship offer, and even admitted to favoring the Buckeyes in the early stages of his recruitment. Aside from being raised in Ohio and identified as one of the top prospects in the nation, Tom graduated with a 3.8 GPA, maintains a focus on academics, and talks about a strong commitment to his team and “doing things the right way.”
In short, he’s just the kind of recruit that Brady Hoke and the coaches love to reel in.
Tom was recently nice enough to volunteer a few minutes of his time to update Michigan fans on several topics and answer a couple reader questions.
Playing 5-tech, playing early: “As far as right now, the plan is that I’m going to play the 5-technique – not necessarily starting but just getting in the rotation. That’s really what I’m looking to do. . . . The plan is to not redshirt me. If they chose to, then I’d be more than willing to take it, but I’m ready to play whenever they need me.”
Height and weight, greasy food: “I’m 6’6” and 255/260 [lbs.], but I’ll definitely be putting on weight. In the off-season I dropped weight because I started to get a little bit fat, so I’m putting on weight the right way now. . . As long as I can still move, I’ll get as big as I can. I’ve got so much room to put on weight – I’ll get bigger right off the bat. I’m nowhere near my full potential. . . . I try not to eat any greasy or fast food because that just destroys me. I can tell the difference when I don’t eat something right; I feel it in my workouts. I know my body that well now.”
Studying with Matt Godin: “I’m looking to go into business and finance. My ultimate goal would be to get into the business school. That’s difficult to do, but I’ll buckle down and see if I can get in there because that will be better for my future and help me get a job, hopefully after I go to the NFL. But I’ve been working so hard. My parents have pushed me my whole life to do well in academics. . . . My roommate Matt Godin – who will also be doing business with me – we’ll be working hard together.”
Respect your enemy: “There are just a lot of Ohio State fans [in Mentor, Ohio]. They’re just everywhere. You get the closet Michigan fan every once in a while who’ll say, ‘I’m so excited for you to go [to Michigan],’ and then they walk away. . . . So I’ve adjusted, and my family’s adjusted because we grew up Ohio State fans. . . . I think Ohio State is a great place, a great program, and they’ve done some awesome things, so all respect to them. But aside from that, when they were recruiting me, the coaches would be around, but it didn’t seem like they were truly 100% focused on you. And that’s what I look for, so it was like, ‘Do you really want me that bad? Obviously you don’t.’ They stopped by and talked to me and gave me their little tour, but I didn’t get that feeling from them or from the coaches that I actually had a future with the team, and they wanted me to do things with them. They didn’t really give me that push, so I didn’t really like that about them. And also, their academics are decent, but when it came to Michigan – I mean, hell, look at their reputation as being the Ivy League school of the Big Ten. And the coaches at Michigan were so welcoming and helped me. At first, I was like, ‘Is this too good to be true? Can these guys really be this nice?’ And they really are. And then at Ohio State, who knows where I’d be playing there. They wanted to move me down to defensive tackle or something. . . . It just wasn’t very clear. It was an uncertain future. And that was before Tressel got booted. I had no idea about that situation before I committed [to Michigan], whatsoever.”
A singer and thespian: “I love to sing. I sing whenever I can. . . . I was in choir in ninth grade, and I was in a musical this year. They were begging me for years to do some sort of play or musical with the school. So I did the musical the Titanic this year, and I won the lead role.