Although he grew up a Michigan fan – after all, his father, Brad, was a U-M defensive back 1981-85 – Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary’s 2016 defensive back Tyler Cochran had his eyes on another Midwest power for his college football until recently.

“I always thought about Michigan, because my dad played there,” he said. “That’s great and I’ve always been a diehard Michigan fan. However, I never wanted to feel like I got a preferred walk-on offer to Michigan because my dad played at Michigan. I had to think about that. I had a preferred walk-on to Notre Dame and I was talking to some Ivy League schools and Holy Cross, stuff like that.”

When he had a conversation with U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh in January, however, Cochran’s tune changed, and he'll be a preferred walk-on in the Maize and Blue. Harbaugh was the quarterback for the Wolverines when Brad Cochran was running out of the tunnel in the Winged Helmet, but that doesn’t mean he’s hoping for special treatment in the least.

In fact, it was clarifying that he would be just another member of the squad that helped Cochran grow comfortable with the idea of being a Wolverine. When he got that assurance, he gave his word to the Maize and Blue.

“It happened around the 15th of January I think, Cochran explained. “Coach Harbaugh called my dad – I was in Colorado taking a visit to Air Force – my dad gave me Coach Harbaugh’s number, and I called him.

“Basically, I was like ‘Coach Harbaugh is not going to put me on the field if he doesn’t think I can play. My dad has no influence on that whatsoever.’ My dad went there, and that’s great, but I knew I was never going to get any special treatment because my dad went there, and that’s what I was worried about. Once I came to that realization, I was pretty confident with Michigan.”

Cochran passed up an offer from Air Force to join the program he’d dreamed of playing for, and now it’s back to work. The 6-1, 190-pounder is ready to prove himself as a safety, after injury cost him parts of his final high school campaign (and limited his effectiveness in others).

"I was hurt early in the year; I pulled my hamstring so I was out for a little bit,” he explained. “I missed the first couple games, and then tried to come back too quickly in the third game – we had a big game at Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn. I tried to come back too quick and so the injury sort of lingered. The first half of the regular season, I was sort of limited and was trying to get back into it. After the fifth or sixth game, I was good to go.

“I like to come down into the box. I was a free safety junior year, and I liked to be up in the box a little bit more, so I moved to strong safety for my senior year. I like to come down and make plays near the line of scrimmage vs. sort of floating around in the back. On kickoff, that was a big part of my game too, to get down the field fast.”

Cochran was a big part of the Eaglets’ Division-3 state championship, making four total tackles in the title game while contributing as a blocker at tight end in the run-heavy OLSM attack. After a 29-12 victory over Chelsea High School, he ended his high school career as a state champion.

Now, he’s ready for the next phase – and a new championship challenge.

“I’ve been a Michigan fan my entire life – a big, big Michigan fan – so it’s something I’ve always thought about.”