Nobody knows what's going to happen when the head coach barges into a position meeting in the middle of training camp.

In came Michigan head man Jim Harbaugh into the Wolverines' offensive line meeting ahead of the 2020 season, and out of his mouth came one simple statement, followed by a question.

"I'm thinking Honigford to tight end. Do you want to?" Harbaugh asked Joel Honigford, who's now a redshirt junior and made the first start of his career during U-M's season-opening victory over Western Michigan last week.

"Yeah, absolutely," Honigford said.

He packed up his things, left the room and joined the tight ends ... and the rest was history.

Honigford played as an extra blocker for the Wolverines in 2020, and excelled in the role, posting a solid PFF mark of 76.1 in 97 snaps on the year.

Then Harbaugh approached him again, this time early on in the spring of 2021.

"Hey, why don’t you just drop the weight and become a real tight end?" Harbaugh asked.

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"Yeah, why not?" Honigford replied.

And so the transformation continued. Honigford was listed at 305 pounds in 2020. He weighed in at 255 pounds Tuesday. Losing roughly 50 pounds isn't easy for many, and while it was a challenge for Honigford, it came naturally.

"I just went back to how I would normally eat — two meals a day, and I control what I eat at night more, not as many carbs and stuff like that," he stated. "Just over time, working with [strength] Coach [Ben] Herb[ert] and Abigail [O'Connor], our dietician, just working it down over time and watching the progress."

It culminated with his latest body scan in May revealing that he lost 27 pounds of fat and was up nine pounds of muscle.

"I’m at my highest amount of lean mass right now than I ever have been at Michigan," he said. "I feel strong and faster than I’m used to and confident in the positions that they’re putting me in."

Now, he's a "real tight end" for the first time since middle school, though that stint lasted only a few plays. He credits quite a few people for helping him throughout the process.

"It’s really a culmination of a lot of people," Honigford said. "I have [redshirt junior] Carter Selzer, [sophomore] Erick All, [redshirt sophomore] Luke Schoonmaker. Those guys are all really good tight ends and have a really good understanding of the game.

"Playing offensive line, I understand a lot of the blocking — that’s what linemen do. But as far as route-running, reading coverages, things like that — [offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator] Coach [Sherrone] Moore, when he was tight ends coach last year, Coach Jay [Harbaugh] this year. Really, just everybody has helped me out, and it’s a lot different from o-line."

He and the rest of the tight ends are also watching plenty of NFL film in an attempt to find some details they can pick up and implement into their own games.

"We watch a lot of tight ends in the NFL. A guy like [Tampa Bay's] [Rob] Gronkowski, who’s a big dude. We watch a lot of his in-line blocking and things like that, which I can compare myself to. Also, to learn from him running routes.

"A really good guy that we're watching a lot is [former Michigan tight end and NFL player] Jake Butt. he wasn't necessarily the fastest guy on the field — he wasn't going to outrun you — but he was a very technical player, which is right up my alley."

Honigford hasn't caught a pass in a college game yet, but he insists he has the hands to do so if and when the ball comes his way.

Channeling his inner offensive lineman, Honigford doesn't have a planned out celebration for if he finds the end zone for a touchdown.

"Celebrate with the boys," he said with a grin.

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