The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 117 potential for much more, which he proved at the beginning of last season and again this spring. He was so impressive during the first week of practice that he earned Brown's "Dude of the Day" after a March 7 scrim- mage in which he picked off two passes. He also earned Harbaugh's highest praise. "Channing Stribling was catching the ball and about had more receptions than any of our receivers, tight ends or backs had today," Harbaugh quipped. "I gave him the practice ball after practice. I thought it was a heck of a performance by him." Stribling was just as impressive the rest of spring, to the point that Harbaugh said it was "cold, set in stone" that Stribling had emerged from spring as the starter opposite Lewis at corner. Both of them practiced as though they were still trying to earn it, Har- baugh marveled — always a great sign when the best players are also the hardest workers. His work ethic, though, isn't limited to the football field. The NFL is a dream and will very likely be a reality for him, but if that doesn't happen, he'll be well prepared. "Education was real big for my parents," he said, adding it was also a real part of the culture at Michigan. "A lot of guys here could have left for the league, but it was education first. "If you're going in the first five[draft picks, then maybe, but before then get the education and then you can do what you want to do. If you're good enough, the op- portunity won't go anywhere. Football will go away, but education won't." He's made the most of his, a psychol- ogy major whose hands-on training includes working with underprivileged children in Detroit. Stribling plans to move right into a career as a therapist following his playing days. "I'm down in Detroit with the kids Tues- days and Thursdays," he said. "There are different kinds of therapy, like relationship therapy, but there's a lot of terminology to learn and understand. If I do this, I want to understand what somebody is going through … I want to explain it in their words. "Children look up to you, are more influ- enced by you, and you can be a better influ- ence to them. I grew up in the same type of areas in Alabama somewhat and have seen a lot of things. "The kids see I'm from [the University of] Michigan and automatically think I have money, but they realize once we start talking I've seen the same things they've seen — probably even worse." Whatever is in store for him, he empha- sized, it's down the road. His mind is on the present and his senior season. He continues to battle good friend and fifth-year senior Jeremy Clark — "He's like my brother," Stribling said — for time at corner, and there's no let-up. Clark was Brown's most improved player of the spring, and the two corners will continue their com- petition into the fall. The day will come soon enough, though, that he gets his NFL shot. If he and Robin- son should cross paths and Stribling should get the better of him, stepping in front of him for a critical pick or a pass broken up … there will be no tattoos to commemorate the event. "My mom would kill me," he said. ❏ Over his first three seasons, Stribling compiled 40 tackles and three interceptions while playing in 34 games and making five starts. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL