New Tight Ends Coach Grant Newsome Hypes Up Erick All

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh once said that Erick All has the chance to be the best tight end to ever play for the Wolverines. All probably isn't going to reach that level, but he could be in line for a huge senior season. New tight ends coach Grant Newsome definitely sees great things for All in 2022.

"I think first off, he says he’s a truly dynamic athlete," Newsome said. "I think you guys saw it in the Penn State game last year. To catch that ball and outrun all of their secondary on a bum ankle; he was two weeks off a high-ankle sprain doing that.

"I think he is a really, really special athlete dynamically. His mentality — we have to try to kind of pull him back sometimes because he just wants to kill everything. He just wants to hit, hit, hit. That’s great and we’re trying to be smart about that, especially in spring ball and get into the season. But you’d much rather trying to pull someone back than have to constantly push it forward."

All has been that way since arriving at Michigan as not much more than a jumbo wide receiver. Despite never being the biggest tight end on the roster, All has always been one of the feistiest and has never been afraid to put his face in the fan.

"He’s got the mentality that you could line up Shaquille O’Neal across the field from him and say, ‘Hey, you go slice block that guy.’ He’d come out and say, ‘Cool.’ And then he’d come off and say, ‘Yeah, he’s a coward!’ which is something you’ve got to love," Newsome explained.

Now, All is mashing up the high-level athleticism and uber-intensity with the leadership that comes from being a senior who has played a lot of football.

"I think really the other encouraging thing I’ve seen is he’s taken so many steps as a leader this offseason," Newsome said. "It’s rewarding for me. I knew him as a true freshman when he was 17 years old as an early enrollee, 18 years old that season. He was it was a kid in age and mentality. He’s the kind of kid that would tap you on the left shoulder and then pop around on the right, playing kind of childish tricks like that, but he’s always been a great kid.

"Then the moment I kind of knew, ‘Erick, he’s that guy now,’ was when I walked into the first special teams meeting and Colston [Loveland] is sitting right in the middle and that person sitting right next to him is Erick. So for me to kind of see that come full circle where that was Sean [McKeon], that was Zach Gentry, that was Nick Eubanks helping Erick his freshman year, now to see that he’s taking on that role and taking Colston under his wing, it’s really rewarding for me.

"And there’s really nothing I did, obviously. It’s all because of Erick and his hard work, and Sherrone [Moore] and Jay [Harbaugh]."

All has a chance to go out with a bang after he really came on last year. He finished the season with 38 catches for 437 yards and two scores. Those are pretty impressive numbers, but All has another level in him. Newsome, with Moore as the new offensive coordinator, could be the tandem to get it out of him in 2022.

Add us as a preferred source on Google