Olu Oluwatimi proved he belonged with hard work and leading by example

Coming into Michigan as the new guy in an offensive line room that was coming off a Joe Moore Award-winning season, Olu Oluwatimi transferred in from Virginia and decided to tread carefully.

Not wanting to step on anyone's toes, he decided to tread carefully when it came to sharing his experiences or becoming a vocal leader. Knowing anything at Michigan is earned and not given, he decided to follow that and lead by example.

To let his work ethic be shown by his actions, not his voice.

At least to start with.

"Initially, I didn't say much because I didn't want to step on anybody's toes," Oluwatimi said. "So this is already a group that performed very well. So I just kind of put my head down and worked. I wanted them to see I'm a hard worker and committed. Eventually, when they gave me the blessing to open my mouth and start talking, I did just that."

The rest, as they say, was history as the Wolverines are currently 13-0 and the first program to win back-to-back Joe Moore Awards in the history of the award.

Oluwatimi went on to win the Rimington and Outland Trophies, the first Wolverine in program history to win the Outland.

While his stay in Ann Arbor will be brief, it was an impactful one.

The immediate success is notable for him, no doubt. However, there is still plenty left to be done before the Wolverines' season is officially over.

"It means the world," Oluwatimi said about the Wolverines' success this season. "During spring ball, Coach [Sherrone] Moore, every day he would put up our goals. And we were reminded every day before we went out to practice. So there will be no slack or no letup. Just being able to check off those goals that we had throughout the season so far. Even though we still got some more goals left. It just means the world. We put in the work. We don't take anything for granted. We have a talented team. But now we want to take it to the next level."

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