Michigan QB Tate Forcier still a Wolverine, at least for now

It has certainly been an interesting year for Michigan QB Tate Forcier. A season removed from being Michigan’s starting QB as a starter, he lost his starting job to fellow sophomore Denard Robinson. He was seen as immature and lazy to the extent that head coach Rich Rodriguez took the iconic Michigan wings off of his helmet. Then there were the rumors of him transferring from Michigan to another school where he would have the chance of starting.
As this past season progressed, things for Forcier seemed to get better despite the downfall in the Big Ten season for the team as a whole. Forcier got more chances to play when starter Denard Robinson went down with injury, including playing a considerable amount of time in the triple overtime victory over Illinois. Furthermore, Forcier’s demeanor on the sidelines went from an immature malcontent to a backup QB ready to support his team at any cost.
Angelique S. Chengelis of the Detroit News recently talked to Tate Forcier about this past season and his future with the Wolverines. Here are a few interesting quotes taken from her article…
Forcier was asked if there was any rivalry with Denard Robinson over him taking his starting job at the beginning of the season…

“Everybody always thinks there’s a rivalry,” Forcier said Monday during a break in the team’s beach day activities as part of the Gator Bowl. “That’s the thing with Denard. It bothered me that he took my job, but you can’t get mad at the kid. The kid is nearly perfect.
“You’ve got to give him credit. He’s had a lot of success. I’m happy for him. He’s a freak athlete. Sometimes you just …I feel like this system is tailor-made for him. I can run this system, but it’s Denard. It’s a running quarterback’s system. I can run if I have to, but I’m more of a thrower.”
Forcier was also asked about the scene where he was sitting on the bench with a towel draped over his head at the end of the Connecticut game…

“Oh my God,” Forcier said, his voice rising. “I was cold. And people were on my (butt) for that. I was freezing. Anybody else sitting on the sideline, they were freezing, too. Perception drives reality, I guess. People were more focused in on it because it was the first game, I’m not playing, Denard’s in, so people made more of it than it was.”

He was then asked about the rumors surrounding him, including Twitter posts implying just that…

“That was like the fourth time I’d heard that,” Forcier said. “I would have left if I was leaving. You just never know what can happen. It’s God’s plan. You don’t know who’s watching, and it’s really what you make of it. So I stuck it out. It was actually after the UConn game that I just decided I’m going to stick here at least for this year.

“I think it took time for me. If I were to leave, I didn’t realize what I would be leaving. One of the things I noticed, everyone who left would have had a shot to play if they would have stayed.
“God has a plan for me, and I’m going to stick to it. I ended up having a lot of fun this year. I got to play more than I would think as a backup. That’s all you can really ask for. When you get your shot, you’ve got to do what you can. It’s all about the preparation.
“I give a lot of credit to (quarterbacks) coach (Rod) Smith, he prepares me like he prepares Denard. So when it’s time for me to go in, I know exactly what the defenses are doing just like Denard does.”
I have been a huge critic of Tate Forcier since his freshman season with the Wolverines. I was also convinced that Tate would leave the program in the weeks after the Connecticut game. Forcier was quite a surprise though this season, not just for the way he was able to come into games and play well (despite his limited playing time) but the tremendous character improvements he made as the season progressed. One would think that Forcier’s dissatisfaction with his role would have increased as the season went south for Michigan, but that simply didn’t happen.
Forcier’s future at Michigan still seems to be up in the air. This also can be said with his chances of being the starting QB for the Wolverines next season. With Michigan’s coaching situation surrounded by immense speculation of change, there is still a chance that Forcier once again becomes the starting QB next season given a new system. That along with the time that Forcier has put into the University of Michigan academically and athletically are reasons enough for him to stay. You cannot blame the guy though for wanting to start somewhere else if not here.