Cesar Ruiz: Playing 'as if my dad was in the stands'
9/18/2018 2:00:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Cesar Ruiz is becoming an anchor on the University of Michigan's offensive line, manning the center position and barking out calls while literally pointing to defensive adjustments prior to snapping the ball to former high school teammate Shea Patterson.
It is important for Ruiz to get things right, and that is why he will hustle from the academic campus to Schembechler Hall to spend 45 minutes ironing out the game plan with offensive line coach Ed Warinner between classes.
"He's developing well as a center," said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. "He's a very smart player, players gravitate to him. Coaches like him. He's got a lot of energy and is good to be around. Personality-wise, he's a well-liked guy."
It is also important to Ruiz, a 6-foot-4, 319-pound sophomore, to be the best football player he can be. He is playing for his father, Cesar Ruiz Sr., who was killed while acting as a Good Samaritan, changing a tire for someone in need of help, before an errant vehicle veered off a New Jersey highway and directly into him.
"Being as my dad never got a chance to see me play football," said Ruiz, "I started to develop this thing that I am going to play as if my dad was in the stands watching me play. I want my dad to see all the things that I'm able to do and how athletic I am. It's not something I think about every single game, but I have flashes of it like, 'Hey, my dad's here right now.' Or I'll have moments in the game like my dad's here."
He paused and smiled.
"That was 11 years ago," said Ruiz, shaking his head, "and I still think about it a lot. It was a roadside incident. A guy had a flat tire, my dad pulled over to help him, and as he was going into the trunk to get something, a car lost control and hit him in the back. It was crazy.
"As a kid, that was a hard thing to deal with, especially at such a young age. At the time, I was the oldest. It was just me and Benjamin (Concepcion), my little brother who's 13 now."
Cesar Ruiz (far right)
His mother, Latoya Shambry, is proud of the man he has become.
She said, "What I would like people to know about my son is that he's a very respectful, humble, honest and independent young man who I am a very proud of. The quality about my son that makes him so special to me is that he has made me stop and realize how precious and special life really is. I would like to see him accomplish all of his goals, which include graduating college, becoming a professional football player, and giving back to his city. My son lost his father at the age of 8 years old. I look at him as a blessing from God."
Cesar cannot wait for the day when his mother sees him play in person at Michigan Stadium.
"My mom has not been to a game in the Big House yet," he said. "Last year, she had my baby brother, and I just had another baby sister. You can't travel a lot with young children. But she did drive up last year for the spring game and came to our away game at Maryland."
Mention two-month-old sister Samiyra and 2-year-old brother Sam to Ruiz and that big, infectious smile his teammates and coaches have come to love gets as wide as possible.
"Sam reminds me of myself," said Cesar. "Mom says it, too: 'He's just like you when you were a kid.' I think that's funny because I look at him at times and wonder if that's really how I was as a kid, exploring everything."
Mom will be at Rutgers Nov. 10 in what will be a homecoming game for her son and nine teammates from New Jersey.
"I'll finally get to be home for everyone who's been supporting me by watching our games on TV," said Ruiz. "They'll be able to see me play in person. I haven't played in Jersey in a while."
He played as a freshman and sophomore at Camden High but moved to Bradenton, Florida, for his last two years at IMG Academy. Those teams, which included Patterson and Wolverine sophomore linebacker Jordan Anthony, went 9-0 in 2015 and 11-0 in 2016 while playing a schedule of top Florida schools and national powerhouses.
"It was just like college, being around athletes from other parts of the country," said Ruiz. "Seeing all of those athletes on one team was great. You learned a lot from a lot of people."
Ruiz was the consensus No. 1 center in the nation according to recruiting websites, while Patterson was ranked the No. 1 quarterback prospect and chose Ole Miss. However, Patterson opted to transfer after last season, and the NCAA granted him a waiver to become immediately eligible at Michigan this season.
Center and quarterback have been reunited.
"It's cool," said Ruiz. "We're real close friends, and having him back here seems normal. Playing with him again is something I never thought would happen. It's great having him back there and watching him make all those plays."
Ruiz also visited Auburn, Florida and North Carolina but said, "I always knew I was coming to Michigan." He said he wanted to become a Wolverine along with lifelong friends, safety Brad Hawkins and defensive lineman Ron Johnson.
"But nothing compared to Michigan," added Ruiz. "There's no place else I'd rather be."
He enrolled early in January 2017 and started at guard for a good part of last season, something rare for a true freshman. Now he is back at center and snapping both with Patterson under him and behind him in the shotgun formation. Ruiz said he had not snapped in a game to a quarterback under center since his sophomore season at Camden High, but he downplayed any difficulty in revisiting that skill.
"He's very important," Warinner said of Ruiz. "I mean, we put a heavy burden on him to make a lot of communication calls. He came in today between classes, and for 45 minutes we went through a whole series of plays for this game to see what he's supposed to do pre-snap to make sure we get everyone on the same page.
"So, he's very interested in growing there, too. But it's critical. What he does up there, he's the quarterback of that group."
Ruiz added, "If I feel there's something I have a problem with or something I don't understand, I have to fix that problem immediately because it's going to weigh on me, and I'm going to think about it a lot. Until I get the right answer on how to fix it, I'm going to scramble around to find out.
"So, when I have time, I just come here and find Coach Warinner or (graduate assistant) Coach (Patrick) Kugler (last year's starting center), anyone who's around, to help me out with the questions I have. Coach Warinner is a great guy and just wants to see us become better. He has a lot of confidence in us and loves motivating us before games."
Warinner added that Ruiz is ably handling the added communication responsibilities at center.
"He has a high ceiling, too," said Warinner. "Cesar can get better, and he can continue to grow with understanding and consistency and just playing together. I mean, there's an assumption that Cesar's a veteran. And he started his first game in Division I football at center at Notre Dame.
"It's a process, a work in progress."
Cesar is diligently going about becoming a player his father would certainly be proud to watch. Dad also would surely admire the big heart his son displays, something he seems to have come by quite naturally.
