Redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight made an appearance on the weekly Inside Michigan Football radio show at the Pizza House, and touched on several topics.
He admitted this year’s team has a different feel to it than last year’s, due to how many young players are on the roster. Speight has specifically had to deal with the youth at wide receiver, but said there’s no frustration when a miscue occurs.
“There’s not much conversation when I overthrow one of them or they drop a pass,” he explained. “They know I’ll come back to them and hit them next time — you just have to move on to the next play.”
That “next play mentality” has been engrained into Speight by three of his offensive coaches who have coached quarterbacks in the NFL — head coach Jim Harbaugh, passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton and offensive analyst Scott Turner.
“All three of them played the position and are now coaching it, so it’s basically a meeting of the minds at all times,” he exclaimed. “I’m in the last semester of college now, so my class load is not as crazy as it has been in the past. I’ve been able to sit in on their meetings and listen to what they have to say, so it’s nice being a sponge and soaking it all up.”
A lighter workload in the classroom has also allowed Speight to spend more time with his girlfriend Ani Sarkisian, who also happens to be one of the captains on the Michigan women’s soccer team.
“Saturdays are usually game day for me and she plays on Sundays, so Mondays are usually the night we go grab something to eat,” he said. “Her parents are from Armenia, so after the Rome trip this past spring, we went and checked it out — it was a great experience.”
While Sarkisian’s parents are half a world away, Speight said his attend almost every single game.
“My parents will make it to the Purdue game — they pride themselves on not missing any games,” he laughed.
“With extended family, I have anywhere from eight to 30 people at the games each weekend. My dad’s college buddies follow us closely, and there’s always a few weekends where they all get together, so I’m expecting about 40 of them at the Michigan State game.”
Speight also talked about what it’s like having his younger brother, Jess, on the team as a freshman offensive lineman.
“He came up in the summer and stayed with me as my roommate, but he’s living the dorm life now. When we ran out of the tunnel for the Cincinnati game and touched the banner, that was a special moment for Dad.
“Jess has a bright future. [Former Michigan defensive tackle] Ryan Glasgow was in town this past weekend and we saw him Saturday evening at dinner, and he talked to Jess about having a chip on his shoulder, and doing whatever he can to earn a scholarship.”
Finally, Speight briefly discussed last year’s epic game against Ohio State, specifically the overtime sessions.
“That whole first overtime was the most surreal experience of my life,” he said. “We were right on the student section side, and you could really feel the ground shaking. I looked around before the huddle and thought to myself how cool of a moment it was. Usually crowd noise doesn’t play a factor, but that was the loudest I have ever played in front of or witnessed.
“It’s the biggest rivalry in any sport, so you think about that game all the time. There were multiple nights where I thought about it in the offseason, and lost sleep over it. It’s a new season now, though, and there’s no time for that anymore. Sure, we look at Ohio State, but at the same time we have a massive game this weekend against Purdue.”
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