The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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46 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW outside of Pittsburgh, in Jefferson Hills, Pa., they had an Ohio State fan on their hands … for a bit. Their son speaks his mind, whether extol- ling the virtues of Irish mixed martial artist Conor McGregor or respectfully offering Jim Harbaugh ideas on improving winter conditioning. His parents discovered long ago he's good on his feet, and not just on the football field. "When his brother got married six years ago, Chase came out with this speech and a big, long scroll," Anina Winovich recalled. "It shocked the heck out of everybody in the entire room. We'd never heard him give such a presentation. "Where it came from, we had no idea. He did it all, because he was the best man." He was also 17 at the time, in front of 400 guests. "Our mouths just dropped," she said. "That's about the time he started saying he'd like to be president." He would have done almost anything for his brother Peter, 10 years Chase's senior, their mother assured. "He idolized the ground Peter walked on," she recalled. "Peter was the high school quarterback and broke all kinds of records. The bar was pretty high for Chase. "From an early age, he had to prove he could do just as well, or better, than his older brother. He wanted to make his brother proud." When Chase was 7 and Peter 17, Chase served as the water boy for the football team. He served all … but exerted a laser focus on his priorities. "All the kids are dying of thirst," Anina Winovich recalled. "Chase starts onto the field with his water. He jukes and jives and all these guys are like, 'Chase, water, water!' He went straight for his brother. They were dying on the field, holding their hands out. "He wouldn't give anybody water until Peter got water. He was Peter's private water boy. Everybody was like, 'What's he doing?'" When Peter prepared to go off to college, Chase begged him: "Please don't leave me." That separation occurred, and little brother began staking out his own athletic reputation. "Every time I turned around, we were making shirts, because he had organized this team and that team," she said. "He was always the leader of the team. He had the whole neighborhood wearing different T- shirts for different events." His competitive fire quickly showed up as well. "If you would give Chase an assignment to do, he's going to give you 120 percent," his mother observed. "That kid is not going to stop unless you have to cart him off that field. He's fiercely competitive and deter- mined." Chase's father, Peter, recalled a moment of truth from high school football preseason practice. The team ran sprints, starting with 100 yards, then moving down to 80, 60 and 40. Chase never had any trouble holding off his teammates in the 100, but began falling behind thereafter. "He always took pride in winning it," his father observed. "The other kids on the team caught on, and what they'd do was dog it on the 100, and then on the 80 and the 60 they beat him, because they were loafing on the other ones. "He comes up to me, and he's madder than a hornet. He's so competitive. And we're talking about just a workout. "This is the kind of kid he is. He says, 'I can't believe it! They were slacking, way behind in the 100, then they beat me in the 80 and the 60!'" Dad opted to toss another log onto the competitive fire. "I said, 'Well, why did you let them win?'" Peter recalled. "He goes, 'Because they were dogging it on the 100.' I said, 'That's not the question I asked you. I said why did you let them win?' "And he goes, 'Oh, I get it.' He said, 'I'll never lose again.' "He never lost, in any of them. That would tick him off more than anything. He would beat them every time, and it just shows his competitive spirit." That's not a bad fit with Harbaugh, Peter assured. As a Michigan parent, he's con- stantly asked what the Michigan head coach — a lightning rod for attention in the college game — is like. The elder Winovich doesn't hesitate. "The guy just wants to win," he said. "He has such a passion and a heart for it. More than anybody, he just wants to win, and win the right way. There's a difference about that. "They're in it to do it the right way and to win it the right way. They're never settling for anything else. I appreciate that, and that's Gary and Winovich (above) combined for 145 stops, 30 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, 13 quarter- back hurries, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries last fall. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN