Michigan football captains reflect on high honor: 'Biggest accomplishment of my life'

There were no tears, at least not publicly, but pride emanated from all of Michigan football's newly named leaders.

One by one, U-M's six freshly appointed captains — Blake Corum (running back), Kris Jenkins (defensive tackle), Mike Sainristil (defensive back), Michael Barrett (linebacker), Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter (both offensive guards) — took the dais inside Schembechler Hall on Thursday and reflected.

Not just on the moment they found out peers voted them the faces of the program for 2023 — or about the cheers received from teammates as they were handed their captain coin from coach Jim Harbaugh — but also the journey that got them here.

All of which looked a little different.

"The biggest accomplishment of my life," said Keegan, who didn't play a snap his freshman year and played in just two games on the offensive line as a sophomore before he became a mainstay on the past two Joe Moore Award-winning lines. "It means everything. I feel like I’ve kind of had to earn my role here and be in the role that I am. It’s honestly a loss for words."

It was 25 years ago this August when Tom Brady was named a captain in his senior year in Ann Arbor (an honor he received again as a fifth-year player). Seven Super Bowl wins later, Brady still calls it his "single greatest achievement," having gone from seventh on the depth chart to the leader of the team.

And as each player said Thursday, it's not about just leading on the field, but in the eyes of his teammates.

Sainristil, a receiver his first three seasons before switching to defensive back and becoming one of the nation's top nickel backs, can relate, as he is now a two-time captain himself.

“It feels good being viewed by teammates in that light,” he said. "I don’t think there’s a brighter light that you can be viewed in than this one. Because these are the guys that see what I do daily, hear how I talk daily, know how I act daily."

While Keegan and Sainristil had meandering paths to their starting roles, perhaps no one's journey to prominence was longer than Barrett's. The oldest player on the team, a sixth-year linebacker and big hitter known as "Mike B," Barrett was named the defense's most improved player in 2022.

His best game came when he had two interceptions against Rutgers, returning one for a touchdown to solidify his standing.

Thursday was another moment to savor, and his mother was the first phone call he made.

While he didn't have long to talk, it was enough time for a loud scream to come through the speaker — a parent's emotion of watching almost two decades of their son's work come to fruition.

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"I've had a ton of those low points in my career, to where I just questioned a lot of things," Barrett said. "Just sat down, keep grinding, that kind of was always my focal point. Ignore the outside noise, me versus myself everyday, just getting 1% better.

"And, you know, (remembering) 'Those Who Stay' in the back of my head."

Another Wolverine who stayed is Corum. He's the star of the group, the one even casual fans know, the type of player who comes to mind when thinking of the prototypical "captain." That's not the case for the other five: three interior linemen, a linebacker and a slot defensive back.

Often, it would be a quarterback, but J.J. McCarthy was not eligible as a junior: U-M's leaders must be at least in their fourth seasons.

Corum has the flash, talent and pizazz of the nationally known "star" players, but, like his peers before him, he wasn't elected solely because of his on-field talent. He's often said to be the hardest worker on the team and that's what he said was so gratifying.

This time last year, he wasn't sure if there would be another season in the Big House. A Doak Walker Award finalist who ran for 1,463 yards and 19 total touchdowns, Corum was on pace to leave for the NFL before he suffered a knee injury in the last home game of the season.

As he weighed the pros and cons of returning, a moment like Thursday was chief among the reasons to run it back. When it became official, U-M's first unanimous All-American at running back in 75 years called it his "greatest achievement."

“It’s definitely one of the reasons I came back,” he said. “I was hoping I was going to be able to be captain, and I am. It means a lot. It shows my consistency ever since I got here. People respect that.”

One of the blockers for Corum is Zinter. He made the All-Big Ten first team unanimously in 2022 and could've been a Day 3 NFL draft selection in April like a couple of his former teammates (Olusegun Oluwatimi and Ryan Hayes).

Instead, he came back and got the honor he desired.

“Even though there's six of us captains, we have so many other leaders on this team," Zinter said. "It's not gonna gonna be just us six. It's definitely gonna take all of us — J.J., we got Colston (Loveland), the guys on the edge — Jay (Jaylen Harrell), Braiden (McGregor). There's a lot more that goes into it."

Jenkins, like Corum, had a second-day NFL draft grade last spring but opted to bet on himself with another season at U-M.

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Jenkins felt almost as close to a sure thing in this vote as Corum and Sainristil — not just because of the way teammates and coaches have talked about him, but because he was one of three representatives in Indianapolis at media days in July — but even if it was a formality, the moment hit home for the son of former NFL standout Kris Jenkins.

“This is everything,” Jenkins, a fifth-year senior, said. “I never would have expected to be here. This is beyond an honor and a privilege.

"Honestly, I just want to do everything in my power to represent the block ‘M’ in the best way possible.”

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on X at @realtonygarcia.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football captains reflect on big honor: 'This is everything'