The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 43 BY JOHN BORTON R ashan Gary didn't try to hide it. He wanted Chase Winovich back in a winged helmet, looking to double down on mayhem. The freakishly athletic junior defensive end didn't attempt diplomacy with the poten- tial fifth-year senior defensive end, who was weighing a decision about a jump to the NFL. There was no, do what's best for you, or I'm with you no matter what. No, the charismatic crusher from Plain- field, N.J., approached his Thor-coiffed elder from Jefferson Hills, Pa., like he would an opposing quarterback — head on, holding nothing back. Gary put it bluntly: Come back, and let's try to be the best defensive end duo in the nation. The approach didn't put Winovich off, at all. Quite the opposite. "I'm happy that he wanted me to come back," Winovich assured. "That's a great feel- ing, to be wanted. As opposed to, 'Hey, if you leave, we understand.' "He knows what we go through, how hard our practices are. It was cool, and he has a point. I've said it for a while. I'm trying not to get in trouble making promises about how great we're going to be, on the record, but …" But the sentence didn't need to be finished. The two first-team All-Big Ten performers — Gary got a first-team nod from the coaches and a second-team laurel from the media, while his counterpart got the inverse — know where they stand. They know what they be- lieve they can accomplish, and know they'll go after it like a pair of starving lions racing toward a wounded wildebeest. Gary has always been jaw-dropping in his physical skills, and increasingly vocally jar- ring of late, infused with the passion to win and the fury to back it up. Winovich declared at age 17 he'd like to be President of the United States someday, so he doesn't shy from big goals. They're together for one more year, and they can't wait. "We've been pushing each other to be the best duo in the country," Gary assured. "Hav- ing him back just makes my job easier." The Overhead View They'll both make the job of opposing quarterbacks infinitely harder. They com- bined for 145 tackles in 2017, along with 14 sacks, 30 tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hurries and three forced fumbles. It's pick your poison, especially given Michigan's strength up the middle. Gang up too much on Gary, and Winovich comes off the edge, blond locks flying. Gamble on one-on-one protection against Gary, and prepare to scramble. Oh, and don't make him angry. As Dr. David Banner (aka The Hulk) once famously cautioned: You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. "Rashan Gary, last year, got obviously held with no call on one play," recalled Doug Karsch, the Michigan radio broadcast team's sideline reporter. "The next two snaps, he was shot out of a cannon, as if, 'Okay, I'm done screwing around.' He lit up the quarterback the next two plays. "It's almost as if it woke up the beast. I think Rashan Gary can be that player every down this year. That's part of the maturation level, physically and mentally, where a player becomes unblockable. "He took it upon himself, the next two downs, to single-handedly blow up pass plays. As you get older and you realize this is what it takes every snap, I think Gary can be that player." While not as overwhelming physically (253 pounds at the end of spring, to Gary's 281), Winovich brings it on every down. It might take an act of Congress to get him out of the lineup to take a breather. Of course, Winovich would probably cast his veto. "Chase Winovich is just as colorful and as delightful a player to be around as any I've seen, just because of what he has to say," Karsch noted. "I think he has a chance to be a great leader on this team. The young guys will follow him. "Plus, he's relentless. He is absolutely re- lentless. It's a great combination — two dif- ferent guys, with different skill sets, that make for a great tandem." Greg Mattison thinks so. The longtime Michigan assistant coach cautioned that when players return following the type of decision Winovich wrestled over, there's always a hint of doubt with the coaches. They wonder if there will be any hesitation, any regret, any holding back on a full com- mitment to getting after it for one more year on the college level. They didn't wonder long about Winovich. "From day one, he and Rashan have said, come on," Mattison assured. "We're going to get this group going, as good as they've ever gone." Mattison also sincerely believes Winovich can improve himself over last season, in many ways. "A lot of the great things that he did last year were toughness and effort," the defensive line boss noted. "When you go to the next level, everybody has that. The thing he is re- ally trying to work on now is better pass rush technique, with that toughness and effort. "The other thing is, it's great for him to be a leader. It's great for him and Rashan to say, okay, these are our guys now. That's good." Leadership will bring out the best in both Winovich and Gary, Mattison confirmed. "When you lead, you'd better be the guy that shows it," Mattison said. "All you have to do with Chase Winovich and with Rashan is put the film on, and you're going to see ef- fort. You're going to see guys that don't make many mistakes. "When they're leading and telling guys, 'We've got to do this,' they're doing it. They're not just talking. "Rashan has become a lot more vocal, be- cause that's his job. Chase is still the same as he's always been. When a guy plays as hard as he plays and does the things he does — the way he handles himself off the field and the way he performs in the classroom — the guy deserves to have some fun, and that's what he's doing, having fun." But the real fun comes in winning. They fell short of what they so desperately wanted last fall, and in fact enter 2018 on a three- game losing skid. That's not taken lightly by either. Gary finds it tough to even think about the end of last year. He and junior linebacker Devin Bush Jr. opted for their own version of horror films, just for a motivating reminder. "We were watching games, seeing where Winovich claimed he was told by the NFL ad- visory board that he would be a second- to fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, but he decided to return for his final year of eligi- bility in Ann Arbor. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Tag-Team Terrors Rashan Gary And Chase Winovich Are Looking For The Knockout Punch