Tate Forcier Will Likely Get His Chance To Shine As Starter For Michigan

Tate Forcier is already the starter for the Michigan Wolverines just a short time into the spring practice of his true freshman year. But he didn’t exactly earn that spot – it was handed to him. Junior Nick Sheridan fractured his leg in a practice scrimmage and will be out 4-6 weeks, so Tate Forcier has been handed the reins for now. But will it last? It seems that all signs point to the idea that the job at Michigan is Forcier’s to lose, especially since they have nothing to lose after last year’s travesty.

Coach Rich Rodriguez has completely dismantled the football program for the Wolverines in order to reassemble it in his own vision, and Tate Forcier was hand-picked by Rodriguez to fit his spread offense. The kid is very young, very fast, can throw accurately on the run, and has all of the potential in the world. After last year’s debacle, it doesn’t look like the powers that be at Michigan are going to take a short-term approach to a long term problem by expecting Rodriguez to win now. They seem to be willing to wait it out and pay the price to let him recruit and develop the players he needs to fit his system, and Tate Forcier is numero uno on Rodriguez’s charts.

Playing Freshmen Pays Rich Dividends

It has been proven time and time again in recent years that playing freshmen and letting them develop will bring rich rewards soon down the road. Let me take the liberty of using the example of my hometown team, the Buffalo Bulls. Coach Gill did the same thing coach Rodriguez is doing. He kept players on the field that fit his template and disposed of the rest, while recruiting guys he knew could be winners and playing them right away. The results? In coach Gill’s third season in Buffalo he took one of the worst programs in the nation, one that had never won more than three games in a season in Division I, and won the MAC Championship with them.

Expectations Are High At Michigan

The problem is, the fans in Michigan have become accustomed to nothing but the best, and they’re tired of waiting already. As Mike Salerno said in a recent blog about Tate Forcier:

“If Forcier is given the starting job, look for the Wolverines to bounce back and contend for the Big Ten title.”

Wow! So much for patience and keeping the expectations in line. Mike didn’t give a time frame on that statement, so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest that he was referring to the next couple of years, not necessarily this year.

But Is Tate Forcier Ready For The Bigtime?

In a word, nobody knows. Yes, I know that’s two words, but people love one-word answers and I was afraid I might lose some readers if they knew they’d have to wade through two words and an explanation to follow.

In a recent article about Forcier, Tate was quoted as saying:

“Coach Rodriguez has already made it clear that nobody’s going to win the job throughout spring, it’s going to come in the fall. I’ve seen so much improvement with Nick since last year. You can tell he’s a lot more comfortable with the offense.

“I feel like right now, I’m kind of at the point where he was last year, trying to understand why coaches are doing this and why they’re doing that. He knows why they’re calling this or that.”

Yet Another Starting Freshman QB at Michigan

If given the nod, Forcier would be the third true freshman to start for Michigan in the past five years. He is getting the chance to run the first team offense, and regarding that, Rodriguez said:

“We will see how composed he is working with those guys. We have a smaller package. We’ll simplify things. He shouldn’t get overloaded.”

Let’s just say “shouldn’t” was the key word there – meaning the coach has an agenda and clear expectations of where Tate should be at this point. Now it’s Tate Forcier’s job to show the boss, and eventually the Michigan Wolverine fans, that he’s ready.