"Nothing happens by accident."

Davis Warren will be the starting quarterback for Michigan when they kick their season off against Fresno State.

Warren had opportunities at other programs but chose to walk on at Michigan. He could have transferred at any point and landed in a spot with an easier path to starting, but he stayed in Ann Arbor.

Warren earned the opportunity to compete for the starting job at Michigan, a battle he has won.

But to understand Warren, you must realize he has already won the ultimate battle.

In early 2019, Warren was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, acute myeloid leukemia.

He would spend his summer, not preparing for his junior year of college football, but getting chemotherapy treatments at a hospital in Los Angeles. He set a goal to play that fall, and while he could get on the field a few times, he wasn't at full health yet.

Warren lost nearly 40 pounds during his treatments but fought his way back to play limited action in 2020. Warren transferred to Suffield in Connecticut.

Then, the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. It was already tough for Warren to get recruited without film or the ability to travel to camps. Connecticut canceled fall football due to the pandemic but were still able to practice.

Warren moved back to California, healthy and ready to find his next path in college.

Connections to Michigan had already started to form with former Suffield players like Brad Hawkins and Kechaun Bennett.

During his time training at a quarterback academy in Los Angeles, Warren was connected with then-offensive analyst Steve Casula.

The two worked together over Zoom, reviewing film and talking football. Warren eventually got his offer to play at Michigan, and following the advice of his old head coach, he chose to go to the best program he could.

"Nothing happens by accident."

The motto Warren had adopted in his life survival and now works to become a starting quarterback at the college level.

Warren's time in Ann Arbor has been about the respect he's earned from coaches and teammates, doing the work in practices, in film rooms, and on the scout team. Warren was in the room learning from Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy.

He was on the field emulating the better quarterbacks Michigan would face in 2021.

By 2023, Warren was expected to compete for the backup QB spot and was now on scholarship. A shoulder injury impacted him throughout 2023, and transfer rumors began.

Once again, Warren bet on himself and stayed in Ann Arbor. Ready to compete in what was labeled a 5-way battle in the spring. By the end of spring practices, Warren was playing against Alex Orji in the Maize vs Blue Spring Game.

Entering fall camp it was now a three-way battle with a healthy Jack Tuttle, but Warren was consistently not only part of this competition but making his case to be the starter. All signs pointed to fall camp being the determining factor.

In the last week of camp, Orji was seen by many as the leader to start. The favorite throughout the offseason, a dynamic athlete that the coaching staff at times framed as the QB with the job to lose. But make no mistake, Warren won this job.

With the defense ramping up and the test getting harder at the end of camp, Warren shined. His ability to read defenses, make pre-snap reads, and follow through on progressions became a separator. Warren was the best quarterback.

He'll start game 1 against Fresno State, but Orji will still play. What the identity of this team ultimately becomes, and what Warren is or isn't as quarterback is still to be determined.

In many ways, because of what Warren has faced in life this journey feels like it's reached an end, but it's just a beginning. Beating cancer, overcoming the adversity of the pandemic, and then simply the work put in to earn his chance at Michigan, his chance to compete, his chance to start have all led to here. But now he gets to do it, to be the starting quarterback at Michigan.

Yes, the story is very much about how he got here, but now it is about what he does and what he accomplishes.

Warren gets to write his own story.

A story where "nothing happens by accident."

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