CHICAGO — Michigan fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich has long admired UFC fighter Conor McGregor.
Last season during media availabilities, he would often come prepared with a quote or idea that was from McGregor — who made waves by boxing against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last summer — and talked about the inspiration he receives from the way he handles his business.
This summer, Winovich got the chance to talk with his idol on FaceTime, and though the conversation was brief, it clearly was impactful.
“It was a really cool experience,” Winovich said. “You guys who have been following me locally, know I’ve always been a big fan and huge admirer of his work and how he approaches things. It was special.”
The call lasted about a minute, but Winovich was able to express his appreciation for the fighter and received some words of encouragement heading into his final season at Michigan.
“It was quick but we said a lot, we both speak pretty fast,” Winovich said. “I started off by telling him how much respect I have for him — and I get goosebumps just thinking about it — he says, ‘it goes both ways brother’ and that was cool.”
Before signing off, McGregor told him he’d be a beast this fall — something no U-M fan doubts will be true.
One thing that both athletes have in common is their willingness to be on camera. McGregor filmed a documentary that is now on Netflix, while Winovich was a part of the Amazon series “All Or Nothing” that aired this spring on Amazon Prime.
The defensive end opened up about that experience during media days.
“It was a great experience, I’m happy it happened, but it was a little annoying,” Winovich said. “I’d be in our team defense meeting room in the front row, and the camera was this close to my face. I don’t know if this was a wide panel thing but I’m not the most handsome man in the world, so you get a little insecure sometimes. You just don’t know what’s going to be on the film.”
Drawing advice from his role model once more, he added that McGregor believes things like that should be documented — even if it’s annoying — because it’s important for you and your family to be able to watch and learn about your past experiences.
Winovich Relishing Last Chance to Beat Rivals, Reach Playoff
A frequent topic of conversation at media days was about the college football playoff, which Michigan of course has not yet played in — largely due to its inability to beat rival Ohio State.
Winovich didn’t hide or step around the questions, however, and answered matter-of-factly, citing a scene from the Lion King.
“It’s in the past, the past may hurt, but you can either run from it or learn from it,” Winovich said. “We’re not shying away from the fact that we’ve really struggled against our rivals. We’ve been in every game, we just haven’t gotten the breaks we’ve needed and found a way to win.
“If we don’t win a national championship, it will be a disappointment because that’s just our mentality.”
Capitalizing on chances in rivalry games is something the 2018 team will need to do if it hopes to win the Big Ten and beyond. Winovich knows this, acknowledging that just a few plays throughout the course of a season can be the difference between the playoff and staying home.
“The margin for being in the playoffs and not — look at 2016, it’s inches,” Winovich said. “It really comes down to that. Any game that we were in last year, other than the second half against Penn State, I feel like we could’ve won.”
Note:
• Winovich says that he has plans to do something “a notch higher” with Tammi Carr this season for The ChadTough Foundation, but has to go through compliance to get it all worked out. Expect to hear more on this during the season.
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