The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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104 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Again, count his high school coach among those not stunned by these developments. Ask Miller if he could have ever imagined the type of success Hudson is experiencing now, and the answer isn't exactly couched in amazement. "Honestly, yeah," Miller said. "He was so strong and physical and fast. We've had kids that are really fast. We've had kids that are big and strong. He just could put it all together. "I was hoping. I was like, man, it's hard to believe there are a lot more of these kids run- ning around. We often talked about how we knew we had something special. "He was able to bring such an intensity to the football field, to the practice field, to the weight room, to the classroom. It doesn't come around very often. We knew he was special, and we are really proud to see the things he's been able to accomplish so far." Miller laughs in recalling Hudson getting flagged for playing too rough as a running back. The star ball carrier didn't back down from anyone, especially would-be tacklers. He liked to dish out punishment, rather than take it. That led to an apology that still brings a smile to the head coach. "He's had two 15-yard penalties carrying the football, because he punished the defense twice," Miller marveled. "He came over to the sideline in a playoff game. He had a 15-yard penalty called on him after a 20-yard gain. "The corner was tackling him. They said it was a helmet-to-helmet contact. He laid out the corner from the other team. "He said, 'Coach, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't …' And I said, 'You keep doing that. We'll be fine. That's a horrible, horrible call.' Two 15-yard penalties for being overly ag- gressive with the football in his hands. That stands out." In fact, Hudson's offensive prowess, along with his toughness, eventually turned the heads of recruiters. Even now, he stands 6-0, 205, far from the biggest performer on the football field. Results eventually won out. "He had over 600 yards rushing in the first two games of his senior year," Miller recalled. "Because he's not extremely tall, some of the major schools were a little slow in coming around — the Michigans, the Ohio States. "They were a little tentative. But after the first two weeks of the season, he shoved all the doubters aside. He scored like seven touchdowns in two games." Now he's shoving blockers aside, making plays in the fashion of Don Brown vipers of old. For his part, Hudson sees no let-up in sight. A Forward Vision Hudson admitted mixing it up in the box isn't what he envisioned, coming out of McK- eesport. Brown noted earlier in the spring Peppers had to be "talked into" the idea of playing the position, one that makes big de- mands both against the run and the pass. The junior viper acknowledges not seeing this coming. "This took some time to get used to," Hudson said. "I came in as a safety, I never thought I'd be [playing viper]. But that's part of God's plan and I'm attacking it every day. "I have no specific goals right now. I just want to be better than I was last year." Those are high goals, even if his efforts didn't place him higher than third-team All- Big Ten in the eyes of the league coaches. That seems incongruous with his numbers coming in better than Peppers' from the year before, but Hudson isn't worrying about that. In fact, he has nothing but praise for Pep- pers, who showed him how to do what he did last season. "Seeing him do it taught me a lot," Hud- son said. "The way he played, how explosive he was, the plays he made — it made me want to play that position." Miller enjoyed seeing him play it and get- ting numerical confirmation of how well Hudson performed. "Our superintendent actually sent me the stat, that he had better numbers than Jabrill Peppers," Miller said. "I was like, 'Wow.' I never realized that. I knew he had a good year, but didn't realize it was that good. "But you know what? It doesn't surprise me. That's what he's striving for. There was a lot of pressure put on him in his high school years that he was going to be some- thing special. And he could have taken it easy, after he accomplished his goal of get- ting a Division I scholarship. "He's never done that. He's been full- speed ahead. He's always achieved all of his goals, and he's very goal-oriented and determined." Hudson isn't any stranger to new lineback- ers coach Al Washington, either. Washington recruited the junior to play running back at Boston College, back when he and Brown were colleagues in Chestnut Hill, Mass. "Coach Washington, that's my dude," Hudson said. "He's a cool dude, a high- energy type of guy. He cares about us. He Hudson went from mostly a special teams performer as a freshman — he saw action at safety in just two games — to a key cog in one of the nation's best defenses as a sophomore. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL