Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Donovan Jeter doesn’t want to be on the bench again.
Coming into Michigan, Jeter was ranked as the 13th best defensive end in the country by Rivals. However, in his first two seasons he barely stepped foot on the field. An injury before his first season derailed the start of his career and in his second season, he only played in seven games and had just seven tackles.
“I come in and basically sit the bench,” Jeter said. “I’m not used to that. I couldn’t just sit there and be ok with, I can be a backup. No, I have to try to be the best player I can be.”
After adisappointing start to his career, Jeter is determined to live up to his potential. During the spring, he has emerged as a consistent backup along the interior, behind redshirt junior Michael Dwumfour and senior Carlo Kemp.
Jeter credits himself along with the coaching of defensive line coach Shaun Nua in helping him get on the right track.
“I changed my mindset,” he said. “I told myself that I’m going to be dominant and I’m going to be physical…It was mainly just changing my mindset. Staying focused, just trying to correct the little things.”
With only a few collegiate reps under his belt, the learning curve for Jeter was high.
“This past season was almost like my freshman year because I got hurt a week before the Florida game in 2017,” he said. “So, I missed that whole year and last year was like [my freshman year] getting adjusted to the speed of the game, how strong guys are and how smart guys are. I used last year as a year to get a feel for the speed of the game, how strong people are and how smart people are.”
In addition to adjusting to the collegiate game, he also had to mature. Even though Coach Greg Mattison left for Ohio State, Jeter credits him with helping him grow up.
“I don’t want to say anything about Matty because I messed up a lot off the field and he kept his faith in [me],” Jeter said. “He could’ve just been, ‘I’m done with this kid.’ But he brought me along. He showed me how to play, how to stop the run, how to be a professional.”
Jeter’s growth also came from improving his technique.
“I’ve always had power, I’ve always been strong, but I had to just fine tune everything,” he said. “I’m still working on it. Every day, I would tell myself, I’ve got to get better at something, whether it’s my feet, or my hands or how I play a certain block or how I read the back, there’s certain things I had to do.”
Jeter said he’s a smarter football player now and things are coming a lot easier for him.
His emergence will be a critical one for Michigan’s defense.
“I’m ready to be a big-time player, I’ve been working like it,” he said. “I have to fine-tune some things still, there’s still so many things I want to work on my game. I think I have what I need too, now it’s just about putting the work in and really just executing, tweaking those fine little things.”
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