Redshirt sophomore right tackle Nolan Ulizio came to Michigan in the 2015 class as a rare two-star prospect.
To many’s surprise, he won the starting right tackle job in fall camp this year, beating out the likes of redshirt junior Juwann Bushell-Beatty and redshirt sophomore Jon Runyan. Ulizio said one of the keys to his success was the way he changed his body this past offseason.
“I transformed my body and added a bunch of good weight,” he revealed. “At the beginning of last season I was down to 280, but now I’m back up to 296.
“Another thing that helped me was the way I picked up the playbook. For guys who are just getting here, our playbook is very simple. Now that we have a 200-plus page playbook, it takes some time to adjust. As time went on, though, I got better at understanding it.”
Ulizio also touched on how one of his fellow offensive lineman has helped him tremendously during his time at Michigan.
“When I was here on my high school visit, [senior left tackle] Mason [Cole] was my host and we created a special bond,” Ulizio explained. “I can go up to him now and ask him for advice on anything I need help with. With him being our captain, anyone can go up and talk to him and he’ll give them advice.
“Mason really hasn’t changed much since I met him — he’s still the same relaxed goofy guy who’s easy to get along with. The way he practices is the way he plays — consistent.”
While Cole seemingly has had the left tackle job locked up for a while, the same can’t be said for Ulizio at right tackle.
“It was an open competition at every spot,” the redshirt sophomore explained. “The coaches wanted to find the five best guys, and I think I showed I was one of them.
“There were a lot of nerves since it was my first start,” he said with a laugh. “I settled down pretty quick though. For the most part, I think I did alright, but I need to get better at pass protection and run blocking.
“We had over 200 rushing yards as a team, so I’d say our line did pretty well, especially considering we were going up against such a good defense.
“Going in, we expected Florida to be good. They were extremely fast, which was the main thing we had to get used to.”
Even though Cincinnati isn’t the brand name program that Florida is, Ulizio explained that the team will use the exact same approach when preparing for the Bearcats.
“We have the same mindset every week,” he said.
Finally, the play of the quarterbacks has been stirring up plenty of discussion since Saturday’s game, and Ulizio gave his take on the matter.
“[Redshirt junior] Wilton [Speight] and [fifth-year senior] John [O’Korn] both did a great job this camp, and both are capable of leading this team. When John came in, we didn’t skip a beat.
“[When Speight threw the interceptions], we let him figure it out. He’s made mistakes before, so he knew what he had to do to come back and lead the team.”
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