What the NFL told Michigan transfer center Olu Oluwatimi
Michigan transfer center Olu Oluwatimi was a Rimington Award finalist last year after an outstanding season at Virginia. The 6-3, 310-pounder is off to a great start and will man the middle of the Michigan line this year.
He’s been so good, in fact, that some on campus wondered how they got so lucky to get him for a year U-M rather than watch him enter the NFL Draft.
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Oluwatimi explained in joining former Michigan offensive lineman Jon Jansen on his In the Trenches podcast this week, noting he “definitely did” explore his NFL options.
“I got my draft grades back and my feedback from the league, and I was getting day three grades and undrafted,” the Michigan grad student (School of Social Work) said>. “So, I was like, I’m going to use my last year of eligibility to work on what the league says I need to work on.
“Michigan offered that for me the best instead of me returning to the University of Virginia.”
Especially after head coach Bronco Mendenhall abruptly resigned.
Even if he’d returned, Michigan might have had a shot. Oluwatimi seemed to be looking for a new challenge, one in which he could showcase his run blocking ability. The U-M coaches will ask him to pull, drive block and more, and he’ll have an opportunity to put more on film for NFL scouts.
Watching film of the Michigan line from a year ago — the Joe Moore Award winners for top offensive line nationally — caught his attention.
“Obviously, the brand of football. Here, we’re a physical unit,” he continued. “We love to run the ball. We want to establish the run game, and that’s what I wanted.
“Being at Virginia, we had an explosive offense, but we didn’t run the ball a lot. I definitely wanted to work on that part of my game [at Michigan].”
He’s done his part, too, to lead by example to be accountable to his new teammates. He knew eyes would be on him when he took the field and hit the weight room, and he’s met expectations.
“Guys want to see you work hard because they know they’re going to count on you in the fall,” he added, noting he wants to build relationships even more. “Being more comfortable opening my voice around these guys, because I’ve only been here for three months. That’s going to carry the momentum all the way through fall camp and then through the season.”
He’s already one of the guys, and his relationship with Michigan line coach Sherrone Moore has helped that, too. The offense starts in the middle, and Moore has made it clear.
He’s also made it obvious Oluwatimi is more than just a number to him. That makes it even easier for the big transfer to compete.
“We talked on the phone when he started first recruiting me. But when I got up there for my official, honestly it was kind of like a big brother role,” Oluwatimi said. “We were just talking and having fun, getting to know each other. It wasn’t really like a coach player relationship. I kind of enjoyed that because I have been in college for a while, and I am like one of the older guys on the squad. That was my first interaction.
“But actually, he coached one of my former teammates at Virginia, coached him when he was at Central Michigan … a tight end. That tight end had nothing but great things to say about Coach Moore. I kind of knew it was going to be a great marriage.”
And is has been. There will be adversity, of course, and it won’t all be easy. But Oluwatimi has made a great first impression, and there are huge expectations of him for Michigan this fall.
