Michigan Football Parents On Having Their Sons Home, Training, More

Michigan football canceled its spring practices due to the COVID-19 breakout, and the school sent students home to finish the semester online.

For U-M football parents, that means their sons are back home — still preparing for the football season ahead. Three parents of current Wolverines joined Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast to talk about that and more.

RELATED: New England DE TJ Guy Breaks Down Commitment To Michigan

RELATED: Where Michigan Sits In National Recruiting Rankings

• Concerns about the virus and the communication from the football staff to the families: "In the beginning, we thought everything was taken care of very well. When the virus started hitting, we really weren’t worried at Michigan yet. We knew everything was done well to keep the kids healthy and to keep them safe.

"Once it really hit and the football department was talking to the team, saying, ‘Hey, we’re not sure what’s going to happen with the practices,’ and if they were even going to have spring practice. They kind of went on a 10-day hold. We decided to bring Zak home right away."

• Nutrition and workouts: “The football department, they’ve done an excellent job keeping him up to date on what to do, the workouts. I love how [dietician] Abigail [O’Connor] keeps him up with the nutrition, checking in with what they’re eating. So, the football department has done a phenomenal job trying to engage with the kids daily on how to keep them honest, how to keep them up do date with their workouts, that kind of thing. I can’t really complain. Now, I wish they were back there doing everything, just because it’s different. It’s different having him home than if he were there at Schem[bechler Hall], doing everything with the team and his teammates and coaches.

”We’re fortunate enough to have a home gym in our basement, so that’s huge. And then, as soon as we kind of figured out that this was all going down, we were able to get some 115, 125 and 150 pound dumbbells from a friend that he’s loaned us. [Strength coach] Coach [Ben] Herb[ert] has been awesome in getting the workouts for all of the kids, obviously. Zak’s got awesome sheets down there that he can go by on what they’re supposed to do on a daily basis, so Zak’s down there grinding out by himself and then his brother goes down with him and they push each other. Zak’s doing it six days a week, he takes one day to recover.

"Him and his brother and my husband Paul will go up to the field, we have a high school field that’s still open here, and they go and do footwork a few days a week. With all the time that we have, that seems like either they’re studying, they’re eating or they’re working out."

• The adjustment of Charbonnet being home: "Look, it’s been great. We lost that time when he early enrolled, and I can remember dropping him off and thinking, ‘Well, this is the end of that version of life.’ That’s sort of the expectation that he’s off to school and from there, he’ll be employed in some sort of way and never be back under our roof. Having him home on the one hand, is great."

• Training: "In terms of the training and all that stuff, he’s such a self-starter that that part is frankly easy. I would even argue that in getting home and reconnecting with some of high school buddies that are playing college football, the first couple of weeks, they were probably over-doing it, because there was a little bit of, ‘Let me show you my gains from the last year.’ There was a little bit of almost over-doing it. But then, there’s little things that are great, too. He’s taking his brother with him, so his younger brother is getting in the same level of work and reps and stuff. From that standpoint, it’s been great."

• Silver lining in not having spring practice: " I think the thing that I personally have confidence in, is his ability to handle the physical part of the game. I have confidence that he can a) mentally read where the blitz is going to come from and b) put himself where he needs to be to pick up the blitz. Every kid, of course, gets better with game speed reps and all that sort of stuff, so I’m not trying to mitigate the value of spring ball, but I quietly in the back of my own head, was sort of OK with his ability to continue to just train because what he missed last year was development of his lower body in the offseason, because of the surgery that he had in January. So, to have sort of an extended period of time, those extra weeks, by not being in spring ball, he continues to do lower body work and develop his lower body. For me, I see it, it’s probably a value."

• While Kemp was in Ann Arbor: "Ann Arbor certainly was starting to become a little hot spot, and every day that we were talking, I just kept telling him, ‘How are you feeling? How are your spirits?’ And him being the leader and doing what he did, he’s like, ‘Mom we got this, we’re just moving ahead one day at a time.’ I felt comfortable, but deep down I was a little bit nervous in just making sure that he was taken care of and doing the proper stuff. Every day was going to the football facilities, going to class and then each day as it progressed, it was like, ‘Wow, this is coming down a little bit harder.’ Once it went to the stay at home in Michigan, it was time to get him home."

• Having Kemp home: "It’s been incredible to have him home. It’s been four years. You send him off to college, and then you get this simple little blessing that he came back, got to come home and be with us. We live with my mom and dad, so we are on pretty much lockdown at my house. My dad’s 82 and my mom’s 86, so I keep them tucked away every day, and now both of my sons are home. I’m the one person that’s leaving the house, going and coming because I’m a caregiver and my job is still needed."

• How Kemp is doing: "He’s doing pretty good. I’ve always led a very structured life for my children, and I always felt like that was the best thing. And then, this kind of chaotic situation that we’re living with, both him and [Kemp’s brother] Mariano work out together. They have a little system going.

"My dad has been non-stop cooking. The food is probably my biggest fear is the food and having to make my trip to the grocery store because I try to buy for at least three weeks. You can’t imagine the meat that is coming into our home. My dad, I know, is so overjoyed to have both the boys back, but it is non-stop eating. The blender never stops."

---

• Talk about this article inside The Fort

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine

• Sign up for our newsletter, The Wolverine Now

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett

• Like us on Facebook