As a high school recruit, Donovan Edwards strongly considered the possibility of playing for Tony Alford at Ohio State. Now, Alford will coach Edwards in his final season at Michigan.
Ohio State’s running back recruiting efforts for the 2021 class focused primarily on three top targets: Edwards, TreVeyon Henderson and Evan Pryor. Ultimately, the Buckeyes took commitments from Henderson and Pryor even though Edwards was uncommitted at the time. Edwards, a native of West Bloomfield, Michigan, chose to stay in-state as a result. But he acknowledged Thursday at Big Ten Media Days that he would have loved to play for Alford from the beginning.
“I really wanted to play for him,” Edwards said. “He's a hell of a recruiter. But even more than that, he's a hell of a coach and a hell of a person to get to know. So he's my, I would say, a best friend for me, and I really look up to him a lot.”
Even though they were on opposite sides of the rivalry for the past three years, Edwards said he maintained a relationship with Alford. So he’s thrilled to have the chance to play for Alford in his last year as a Wolverine after Alford left Ohio State for Michigan in March.
“I've always had a relationship with him since the recruiting process. Regardless of the rivalry, we've always had a relationship, we've always stayed connected,” Edwards said. “And for him to come into the Michigan program, he was embraced with open arms. He's a tremendous coach. I see why he's had so much great success as the running backs coach at Notre Dame and at Ohio State. So I think he’s going to be a hell of a running backs coach at Michigan.”
New Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said Thursday that he has known and respected Alford for “a very, very long time,” leading to his move to hire Alford away from Ohio State.
“Just an unbelievable human being,” Moore said of Alford. “Respected throughout the business for what he’s done in the recruiting department, how he’s coached, where he’s coached and who he is. So for us, it was just a great fit of a great person first and then a great coach and teacher second.”
Edwards, who is set to be Michigan’s top running back this season after serving as the No. 2 running back behind Blake Corum for the past two years, hopes to lead the Wolverines to their fourth straight win over Ohio State. While the Wolverines lost head coach Jim Harbaugh and most of their starting lineup from last year’s national championship team, Edwards said their expectations remain the same.
“Just because we lost a lot of players doesn't mean that we don't have anybody on our team,” Edwards said. “We have tremendous, talented guys amongst our team, and we're jelling together.”
Asked about playing Ohio State specifically, Edwards said the Buckeyes as a “very, very talented team and a very good team.” But he said Michigan’s goal coming off of last year’s 15-0 season is to win every game again.
“I think for us it's important to win every single game,” Edwards said. “Our goals are to beat all of our rivals, to win another Big Ten championship and to repeat a national championship. And for us, that's what we're going towards every single day.
“It would mean a lot,” Edwards said of the possibility of beating Ohio State again. “But at the same time, you have to treat every game with the same level of importance. We're going to come in Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 with the same mindset of Week 12, and that's just the Michigan brand of football.”
Ohio State, of course, is entering the season with the same goals of beating its rival, winning the Big Ten championship and winning the national championship, with a specific emphasis on winning The Game after three straight losses to the Wolverines.
“Every part of it, honestly,” Ohio State cornerback Denzel Burke said Tuesday when asked how much of an emphasis Ohio State’s losses to Michigan had on his decision to stay at OSU for his senior year. “No Gold Pants, no natty, so that was a big part of our, one of the reasons why we came back, and we're all on the same page. We've got to win every single game. No ifs, ands or buts about it.”
Ohio State hosts Michigan at Ohio Stadium on Nov. 30 at noon in the regular-season finale for both teams.
