At any home football game, a common phrase attendees hear is “Schools on the Run.” This is, of course, in reference to junior running back Wesley Schools, who recently became the second running back in school history to reach 3,000 yards. The Wolverines have faced their fair share of challenges the past few seasons but are looking at a bright future for the program. Schools has had a huge impact on rebuilding in the past few years and offers unique perspective on the team’s vision, challenges, and goals moving forward. In their game against Carnegie Mellon, Schools said they shifted their game plan to run the ball more and then throw to one-on-one matchups to wide receivers. Adjustments to the Wolverines’ game plans come in light of a quarterback change. Former quarterback Randall Labrie is out for the season, this is not a new challenge for the team as they lost their starting quarterback early in the season last year as well. In the face of this challenge Schools noted that Labrie is “very much still a leader on the team, he’s sent out emails and is still actively involved as a captain.”
The vision for the team is not dependent on its personnel, the culture that Coach Andrew DiDonato has created is one in which every member plays a role supporting the team’s vision, whether they are on the field, the bench, or as in Labrie’s case, off the field for the season. Schools said that he has not ever seen the likes of DiDonato in terms of individual player development. Schools stated that “DiDonato cares more about the person than the player, he practices what he preaches, and teaches the team ownership, vision, and work ethic no matter what obstacles we face.” The rest of the season will be an uphill battle and yet Schools is optimistic that the Wolverines can still finish at their projected 7-3 record and even move past the regular season. The team is looking fresh and put together moving into the latter half of their season and Schools is ready to keep on running.
