The NCAA ruled this past offseason that the 2020 campaign would not count toward what year a collegiate football athlete is, meaning everyone would be allowed to return in 2021 (including seniors and fifth-year seniors).
Two Michigan Wolverines football players took advantage of that opportunity — safety Brad Hawkins and center Andrew Vastardis, with the former returning for his fifth-year senior season and the latter for his sixth year.
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Vastardis started Michigan’s first four games last season at center before suffering an injury and missing the final two contests, with then-redshirt freshman Zach Carpenter starting in his stead.
Carpenter transferred to Indiana this offseason, however, increasing the significance of Vastardis’ return to Ann Arbor for another year.
“You can’t ever come back to football, especially when it comes to college ball,” Vastardis told Jon Jansen on his ‘In the Trenches’ podcast this week when asked why he chose to return.
“I had conversations with family and loved ones, and deep down I knew I’d regret it if I left any meat on the bone. I was welcomed back by the coaches, and the energy has since been so different right now — we’re all hungry.”
An increased sense of energy has been the theme throughout U-M’s spring ball throughout its first few weeks of practices, with junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, in particular, most notably emphasizing that sentiment last week on Jansen’s podcast.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh revamped his staff this offseason (especially on defense), and the infusion of young, energetic coaches has been one of the primary reasons for the added intensity level.
Vastardis and his offensive line brethren will have a new position coach in 2021, with Sherrone Moore — who played offensive line collegiately at Oklahoma — having taken over for the departed Ed Warinner.
“Coach Moore has a lot of energy and the atmosphere he’s created on the o-line is energy, energy, energy,” Vastardis exclaimed. “That’s the same way with all the staff and the shakeups that were made.
“Players are feeding off of it and the coaches are feeding off the players. We’re flying around out there right now and we have a chip on our shoulder. We’re finding any way to get better and we’re all pushing one another to get better — that pretty much sums it up.”
Despite Vastardis’ return for his sixth-year senior season, Michigan’s offensive line as a whole will be incredibly young. Several youngsters were thrown into the fire last year following injuries to Vastardis and then-redshirt sophomore tackles Jalen Mayfield and Ryan Hayes, with freshman guard Zak Zinter and redshirt freshmen tackle Karsen Barnhart and guard Trevor Keegan being the primary beneficiaries.
“Nothing is set in stone yet and everyone is competing and healthy,” Vastardis revealed when Jansen asked him about the chemistry the club’s top offensive linemen are building with one another.
“We have more confidence in each other — however it shakes out, I know I can trust the guy next to me because we’ve all created good mojo with one another. Coming out of spring, we’re trying to set the mentality that we’re going to hit you in the mouth and keep hitting you in the mouth.
“We’re trying to set a standard every day and sustain it. We wake up, ask ourselves what we need to do to get better and attack.”
Recent reports out of spring practice have noted that Michigan’s offense is ahead of its defense, which shouldn’t come as a surprise when considering how mightily U-M’s defensive unit struggled last season.
When Jansen asked Vastardis if the offensive line has been getting the better of the Wolverines’ defensive front, the sixth-year senior didn’t give a specific answer, but was encouraged by the battles the two fronts are having.
“It has been violent,” he confirmed. “Guys are getting after each other. There’s a learning curve with learning a new defense, but they haven’t slowed down one bit. It’s awesome to play against and awesome to think about what it could mean for this defense in the future.
“I talk to interior guys like [redshirt junior defensive tackle] Donovan Jeter and we learn from each other every day, and push one another to be the best we can be.”
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