Kornacki: How Speight Came to Lead the Wolverines
10/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 26, 2016
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Playing quarterback is all Wilton Speight has ever wanted to do. It incorporated the physical skill and mental fortitude that appealed to him.
"When I was playing pee-wee football at five, six, seven years old," said Speight, "I always wanted to prove to everyone around that I had the strongest arm, that I could lead the team best, and that stuck with me.
"Now that I'm into college ball, everyone has a strong arm, and everyone can make plays. It's about how quickly you can make that decision. That's what I love about the position. There's so much responsibility and weight on the team's success based on how the quarterback plays. That's something I've always loved."
He's thriving at the position for No. 2 Michigan and has completed 63 percent of 182 passes for 1,447 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions.
While the competition he faced from John O'Korn, Shane Morris and Brandon Peters to earn the starting job was stiff, Speight, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining after this one, came out the winner.
The Wolverines have had a bevy of NFL quarterback starters -- beginning with Jim Harbaugh 30 years ago, peaking with New England Patriots superstar Tom Brady and including prolific passers like Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins and Chad Henne.
Though, living up to greatness and competing against other elite players is nothing new for Speight.
He grew up watching Russell Wilson -- who quarterbacked Wisconsin to a Rose Bowl and the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory -- lead the high school he later attended to three state championships. Speight took the Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia, to the state title game twice himself and threw for 5,879 yards and 68 touchdowns as the starter in his junior and senior seasons.
"Thousands and thousands of people would come just to watch Russell perform," said Speight, 21, who is six years younger than Wilson.
Wilson has kept an eye on Speight and saw him lead the Wolverines over his Badgers, hitting Amara Darboh in stride for the game-winning, 46-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter.
"I've been able to watch Wilton a little this season," Wilson said in an e-mail interview with MGoBlue.com. "Obviously, they beat my Wisconsin Badgers, and that was tough, but I was happy for Wilton. Those games, those wins don't come easy.
"He's a great worker and has worked really hard to put himself in the position to be successful. He has a great family, and he does things the right way. That's what I love about him."
Wilton Speight and Coach Palyo
The bonds formed at Collegiate continue through the fame gained, and the distance thousands of miles can bring.
"There was another unbelievable quarterback in between me and Russell," said Speight. "It was Jake McGee, who is now a tight end for the San Diego Chargers (currently on practice squad). He went to the University of Virginia as a quarterback and switched to tight end but was an unbelievable athlete. So, I was the back up to him my freshman year and got a lot of playing time and learned from him as well."
McGee won two state championships, one less than Wilson, while the best Speight could do was get the Cougars to the title game twice. However, Mark Palyo, the offensive coordinator for Wilson and head coach for McGee and Speight, entrusted Speight with something that he didn't with the other two.
"One thing that I did with Wilton that I did not do with the previous two guys was there were times in games during his senior year that I would turn the offense over to Wilton and let him call what he saw on the field," said Palyo. "That's a lot of responsibility, and part of that is what you learn in talking about the opponent and seeing what they give you.
"This was really a sign of what Wilton is in taking on that responsibility, and then maturing in high school, and saying, 'Coach, I want you to call the plays again.' We did that a few times in his senior year. It just felt right with Wilton."
However, the coach also realized the pressure Speight was under because of the quarterbacks he followed.
"What did everyone want to do?" Palyo asked. "They wanted to compare him to the guys before him. But all three were different types of players with characteristics that separated them."
Palyo said Speight's attraction to the "responsibility" of the position is part of what made him unique.
"That shows how Wilton thought about things even as a young person," said Palyo. "Even with everything he was doing around school, he wanted to be that leader, the one others would look up to. When I think about Wilton on the field, the thing that comes to mind is how he grew as the leader of the team in terms of being the quarterback and the team captain.
"That responsibility, he takes it all to heart. He wasn't looking at it for personal numbers or anything like that. He wanted the team to be successful. When it wasn't that great of a performance from him, and maybe the team struggled a bit, he would take that on himself and acknowledge it, and tell the guys, 'Hey, I'm going to work better. I did some things that weren't so great, but I want to do better and help this team achieve.' I hear his interviews at Michigan, and he takes that same approach. He just wants his team to win, and he will work and study and take care of his end of things."
Speight learned how to compete and channel the tension it can bring at Collegiate.
"There's a lot of pressure there to be able to perform and lead a team and school to victory," Speight said. "But that's something that I always loved. I was used to it, too. I came to Michigan with a ton of pressure to be a successful quarterback with the history that we have. But I'd done it with Russell Wilson ahead of me and Jake McGee, too.
"I got a lot of comparisons to two big-time quarterbacks, and I was pegged as the big, slow quarterback. Obviously, I wasn't Russell Wilson. But I like to compare myself to (Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback) Ben Roethlisberger a little. He's not the fastest dude ever but is mobile enough to get out of Dodge and make plays when he needs to."
Speight said opposing fans chanted: "You're not Russell! You're not Jake!"
All he could be was Wilton, and that has ended up being pretty good. Though, greatness has been a carrot dangled in front of him his entire life, and he keeps reaching for it.
He stays up on Wilson through common friends and regularly communicates with McGee.
"I did stay in touch with Russell for a while," said Speight. "He's so mega-famous now and married to (singer) Ciara and all that. He's got so much on his plate that I just talk to people that are in his inner circle, and Russell will pass along words here and there.
"But I talk to Jake McGee all the time. He's a good buddy of mine. We always Snapchat together."
Speight still calls Palyo daily and also talks with quarterbacks coach Trip Featherston.
Russell Wilson (left) and Jake McGee at Collegiate School
Wilton Speight with Jake McGee at the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl
Collegiate School -- where the motto is: "Minds that seek. Hearts that serve." -- is a college preparatory co-ed school for students K-12.
Wilson said: "I think Collegiate for me was great because one, we were extremely talented in sports. We had guys all around that were dedicated to the game. There were so many great athletes on the teams and also coaches to help us be successful. Also, academics were so important. The teachers were always so caring and trying to help the students become the best of ourselves, and to become the best we could be academically off of the field and also the best we could be on the field.
"(The coaches) were great. We used to always watch film together. They were a big part of my development and all of our players' development because they really cared about teaching us to do things the right way -- not only from a physical standpoint but mentally as well."
Speight and his older brother, Griffin, and younger brother, Jess, all went or go to Collegiate, and Palyo beamed about the one game in which all three played together.
"There was no recruiting involved in me going there," said Wilton. "I'd been there since kindergarten, and all three of us (including McGee and Wilson) were, and that speaks volumes for how they teach students how to become men (and women).
"Our coach was Mark Palyo with Trip Featherston, and Charlie McFall was Russell Wilson's coach and retired when Russell was a senior. But those three guys were monumental in the success of all three of us quarterbacks.
"Coach Palyo came up for the Colorado game, and he and I still talk every day. He's had a huge impact on my life and my success to this point, as does Trip Featherston, my quarterback coach. The two of those guys were a huge reason why I'm here."
Speight, 6-foot-6 and 243 pounds, matches up close to McGee, who is 6-5, 250. However, Brady Hoke, the Michigan coach who recruited Speight, didn't move him to the line. He didn't play as a freshman, when Devin Gardner started. He played sparingly as Jake Rudock's backup last season but did make a key contribution by leading a comeback victory at Minnesota when Rudock was injured.
Harbaugh, who became the head coach two years ago, wasn't exactly enamored with Speight at first, and Speight frequently gets asked about the scene from an HBO show in which Harbaugh reams Speight in practice. However, he totally won over Harbaugh by accepting his challenges.
Speight uses each day, each game like a building block to the foundation of a career that rises every day, every game. He's bonded with Michigan passing game coordinator Jedd Fisch, who shares his affinity for study, preparation, creativity and the long ball -- which Speight throws with impressive touch and accuracy.
He completed 16 of 23 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions Saturday (Oct. 22) against Illinois for his most passing yardage in a Big Ten game.
"I thought Wilton Speight may have had one of his best games of his career," Harbaugh said after the game. "It was windy and tough to throw the ball whether into the wind or with the wind (coming from the northwest at 20-30 mph), he was throwing the intermediate deep stuff, you know the 30-, 35-, 40-yard throws. He was just on the money. He was impressive. I have a feeling that was the best he played.
"I mean, there were some really accurate throws today. It was just good, efficient quarterback play, and I think his statistics say the same thing."
Speight has only been picked off once -- albeit on a tipped pass against Wisconsin -- in his last 181 passing attempts since having his very first pass of the season intercepted.
The kid who got into quarterbacking because he loved flinging footballs as far as he could and the "responsibility" of leading a team is going deeper with his throws and leadership. The Wolverines are undefeated after seven games, and the quarterback from Collegiate is a big reason why.
