Transfer QB Already Being Called 'Savior' of University of Michigan Football

By Ross Kelly July 31, 2018 at 8:12am

The University of Michigan is one of the dozen or so schools who have a legitimate claim to the nickname of “Quarterback U.”

They’ve had, of course, Tom Brady, but also Brian Griese, Elvis Grbac and Jim Harbaugh play in “The Big House” and all four of those players were Pro Bowlers in the NFL.

But in recent years Michigan has struggled to find a signal-caller who could match the play of those before him. Their two most notable quarterbacks since the turn of the century were a guy whose best sport was baseball, Drew Henson, and a guy whose best position was most definitely not quarterback, Denard Robinson.

But thanks to Ole Miss being caught up in a recruiting scandal, Michigan may have found its savior at quarterback in Shea Patterson.

Patterson was the top pro-style quarterback in the recruiting class of 2016 and he has transferred to Michigan, adding insult to injury for Ole Miss. His former school was issued a two-year postseason ban, placed on three years of probation, will have scholarship reductions and lost its best player in Patterson.

Thanks to Ole Miss’ blunders, Patterson will be available to play right away and Michigan certainly needs him. They used three different quarterbacks last year and those three combined for nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Most Michigan students weren’t even born the last time the Wolverines won a national championship in 1997, but there is a sense of optimism with Patterson under center.

“Yeah, I can feel it,” Patterson says. “I walk around town, and people come up to me, and it’s not like, ‘Hey, what’s up? How are you doing?’ It’s, ‘Hey, we gotta get it done this year. This is the year.'”

But before Michigan can even dream of a national championship, they still need to get through the Big Ten and they’ve run into two roadblocks since Harbaugh took over as coach in Ohio State and Michigan State.

Will Michigan finally get its first victory over Ohio State with Jim Harbaugh as coach?

Michigan’s two biggest rivals are a combined 5-1 against the Wolverines over the last three years, and while most expect Patterson to be the quarterback when they face off this year, Harbaugh isn’t ready to hand over the reins just yet.

“We’re confident we can win with any of our quarterbacks,” Harbaugh said at Big Ten Media Day.

Patterson doesn’t mind that Harbaugh won’t outright declare him as the starting QB and the coach’s approach is one of the reasons he chose to transfer to Michigan.

“I love the South. I was born in Ohio, but my heart is in the South,” said Patterson who attended high school in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. “The professional approach here is what attracted me to Michigan. Just the way they handled their business. That has a lot to do with Coach Harbaugh.”

Patterson will be the best quarterback that Harbaugh has coached at his alma mater and that’s been the one thing Michigan has lacked since Brady played his last game as a Wolverine at the 2000 Orange Bowl.

“Jim’s problem is he hasn’t had a quarterback,” says one Big Ten coach. “They’ve been terrific on defense, they play smart, they’re tough, they don’t hurt themselves. They’ve just been normal for three years at a position where you need to be exceptional.”

Patterson is ready to fill that void, and at the very least, lead Michigan to its first conference championship since the 2004 season.

“It’s not pressure to me; it’s second nature,” Patterson says. “I watched Michigan play last year. I saw the talent on the team. I came in here thinking if I can help them out, maybe I can be that missing piece.”

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