With the Michigan Wolverines' football team down in Orlando for the Citrus Bowl this week, Jim Harbaugh's weekly 'Attack Each day' podcast featured pre-recorded conversations with fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow and junior defensive end Kwity Paye.
The duo talked about high school and their paths to Michigan, and briefly touched on their academic careers and what their next steps will be after football.
Jordan Glasgow:
"I was probably going to go to Western Michigan, but one of the Michigan coaches called me and asked if I'd like to come here, and I called the next day and said I'd love to come to Michigan.
"I remember my brothers ganging up on me as a kid when they weren't fighting with each other. I was a crybaby; I'd get hit and then go to my mom or my dad.
"I remember times where I'd be getting held down by one and getting punched by the other. It'd probably be the same result now if they ganged up on me again.
"I'm grateful for how I grew up and it made me who I am. I've learned from my brothers' mistakes, and have gotten an understanding of how to go about things.
"I graduated from the Ross School of Business last year and am in a graduate program now. After football, I'd like to work in real estate in New York or California and be somewhere a little different than where I've been.
"I've been in Coach [Don] Brown's system the last four years at varying positions, and have become a much better player just because of his coaching. He stresses technique, and it helps making up for a lack of speed because of technique and his coaching.
"I was a safety the first few years I was here, and then I played the viper. I'm now the Will linebacker, and I've played special teams here as well.
"I'll be playing in the Shrine Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla., and I look forward to the journey ahead.
"A lot of us in the linebacker room have been here multiple years, and we accept people when they come in. We have high character guys, and we all just get along.
"Alabama has a great receiving core and great running backs and offensive line, and a quarterback who is doing very well.
"We're preparing, and I think we'll be ready for the challenge they'll provide. They've had a lot of success in the last 10 years, and it'll be an opportunity to show what we've got against a program that has been touted as one of the best in college football."
Kwity Paye:
"I committed to Don Brown when he was at Boston College, and he got back in contact with me when he came to Michigan.
"I came to the Michigan/Wisconsin game in 2016 and saw the atmosphere, and knew there was no way I could pass it up.
"I called Coach Harbaugh two days later and told him I'm coming to Ann Arbor.
"I got a taste of the field a little bit my freshman year, and just kept working and working and working after that.
"My advice from the older guys was to keep my head and chest up, and make sure I'm doing whatever I need to be doing to improve.
"I think [sophomore defensive end] Aidan Hutchinson and I filled the spots left by Chase [Winovich] and Rashan [Gary] very well this season.
"My dream has always been to go to the NFL, and having an entrepreneurship background in sales and marketing I think will also help me someday.
"I had promised my mom in eighth grade that if she sent me to Bishop Hendricken High School [in Rhode Island], she wouldn't have to pay for high school.
"I'd have to wake up at 5 or 6 AM sometimes and take a 40-minute bus ride to the school, and I worked hard in the classroom to catch up to the other kids.
"I didn't see it as a sacrifice; if you really want it, you'll sacrifice everything to go get it. I kept remembering the promise I made to my mom, and I think I've done a good job of making her happy.
"She watches the games every Saturday, and so do my four brothers.
"She wasn't too into the recruiting process, just because she didn't know much about it. I don't think she realized how big it was, but I'd see a smile on her face when she'd tell her friends about how well her son is doing."
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