Hutchinson Living Dream of Following in Father's Big Footsteps at Michigan
9/10/2019 2:20:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sky-high expectations can put a player into a pressure cooker that brings about some very uncomfortable heat. It's not for everybody, but University of Michigan defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson seems to welcome it as if it were quite simply a part of life.
And that makes perfect sense when you get right down to it. Hutchinson grew up in a bedroom that included what amounted to a shrine to his father, Chris Hutchinson, a dominating All-American defensive lineman for the Wolverines. Dad's five Big Ten championship rings (1988-92) rest there in a shadow box, serving as a reminder that he was 4-0-1 against Ohio State. Dad's framed 1993 Rose Bowl game jersey bearing the same No. 97 Aidan now wears hangs on the wall in front of the desk.
One day about a half-dozen years ago, his father came into that bedroom to discover a prediction, written in cursive on a blank sheet of paper by his son: "I will play football at the University of Michigan."
Chris, now an emergency room physician just north of Detroit at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, chuckled about that prophecy.
"One day I was up in his room," said Chris, "and he hadn't told me about it, and I saw that taped to his wall there and I thought that was interesting. I walked over to my wife and said, 'Hey, honey, did you see what Aidan taped to his wall?' We looked at it, taped just to the left of his desk, and we thought, 'OK, well, if that's what you want, we'll help you try and achieve that.'"
Aidan smiled while reliving his creation of that goal: "It was always a dream of mine to play football here, and so one day I grabbed a white, blank sheet of computer paper and wrote, 'I will play football at the University of Michigan.'
"I put it on my wall with a couple pieces of tape and it was there for years. I always envisioned myself earning the scholarship and putting on the hat for signing day. That day really came true. It's weird that what you put out to the universe, how those things come true."
Chris Hutchinson's five Big Ten championship rings (1988-92) and his No. 97 jersey from the 1993 Rose Bowl victory over Washington with the gloves he wore in that game have hung in son Aidan's bedroom in Plymouth, Michigan, for several years (Melissa Hutchinson photo)
The championship rings, as well as his daily phone conversations with his father, are constant reminders of his team goals.
"Every day," said Aidan, "he tells me that he's never lost to Ohio State. I envy that; I really do, and I've got all of his Big Ten championship rings that he brought to my room. I've got to look at that every time I come home. ... He put them in a shadow box to remind me every day of what I don't have. They've been there ever since I was a little kid."
Chris said, "He was probably a freshman, maybe in eighth grade, when I took the rings out of the basement. He talked about how he hated his room, and he said he wanted that stuff in his room. My Rose Bowl jersey and gloves from that game went, too. It was all initiated by him."
It all served to fuel his son's fire.
Aidan added, "But I want it more than anybody, and we're all (on the team) starting to adopt the mindset of process over outcome in what it takes day by day, rather than looking at the expectations of us."
He embraces the pressure that comes with his desires -- feeds off it, actually.
Many players are reluctant to share their goals, but Aidan is not: "When I write down my goals every year, I shoot for the absolute highest. They are private, but if you think of the highest accolades in college football, those are my goals. First team All-Big Ten, first team All-American, getting the second (primarily) defensive (player) Heisman.
"If you don't shoot for the absolute highest, what's the point?"
The pressure he puts on himself isn't going to be exceeded by what others might place upon him. He wants badly to excel, and so, "Bring it on," he seems to say.
Watch: Chris Hutchinson and Aidan Hutchinson on the field as Wolverines.
Dad tied Mark Messner's school single-season record of 11 sacks as a senior in 1992, but set a mark for yardage on those sacks with 99, seven more than Messner had in 1988, when Chris redshirted and watched.
Chris finished second to Messner in career sacks and yardage with 24 for 188. He also finished third behind Messner and Curtis Greer (1976-79) with 38 tackles for losses for minus-221 yards, dropping opponents behind the line of scrimmage for well over the length of two football fields.
Aidan cherishes what his father did.
And there was only one place he could carry on such a legacy. It was just a 20-minute drive down M-14 to Ann Arbor from the family home in the quaint-yet-vibrant downtown of Plymouth.
"Michigan was always No. 1," said Aidan. "I just wanted to see if any other schools could compare, but obviously, no, because I'm here.
"It's always been in my backyard, a home away from home, and I got the ability to feel that living so close to here. I'm really happy with my decision to come here. If I could go back and change what I did, I wouldn't. It's the best decision I've made."
He said it didn't come down to the Wolverines and one other place. It was Michigan all the way.
ESPN rated Hutchinson, a two-way star at Dearborn Divine Child, the No. 1 recruit in the state, and he played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl with the nation's other elite players. Aidan made 65 tackles as a senior, and 27 were for lost yardage, including four sacks. He also played tight end and caught 38 passes for 419 yards and eight touchdowns.
Hutchinson was named Michigan's 2018 Team Rookie of the Year on defense despite being unable to crack the starting lineup because it featured NFL first-round pick Rashan Gary (Green Bay Packers) and third-round pick Chase Winovich (New England Patriots) at his end positions. Hutchinson made 15 tackles in 13 games.
He got his first start in the season opener against Middle Tennessee State, and made a big impact. Hutchinson made four tackles, including one for lost yardage on a third down play. He had a quarterback hurry that was a near safety in the end zone. He also could've had his first sack, but there were offsetting penalties that nullified the play. Hutchinson was originally credited with forcing the fumble recovered by Ambry Thomas, but that was later credited to Josh Uche.
Hutchinson chases Middle Tennessee QBÂ Asher O'Hara in Michigan's season opener on Aug. 31
"It was great to see him out there last year in the action he got," said his father, "but starting is a very different experience. It's been in his goals for such a long time."
Hutchinson made 10 tackles against Army in Saturday's (Sept. 7) 24-21 double-overtime victory, and dropped Cadet quarterback Kelvin Hopkins, Jr., for a three-yard loss on the second play of the final game's possession. He then combined with defensive end Kwity Paye to sack Hopkins and force the fumble recovered by Paye on the very next play, ending the game.
Aidan said, "It's been a completely different experience. Looking at where I was then and where I'm at now, it's really amazing how far I've come. I was just trying to get in there and run around, do my thing."
Hutchinson dug down to find something extra on a long, hot, physical afternoon in the trenches against Army.
"It was just a great performance by him," said Wolverine coach Jim Harbaugh. "He sweated through his entire uniform and looked like he just played a football game that was a heck of fight, and really contributed to the victory. I'm very proud of him – big hug afterwards.
"He's very capable of having a great year. He's just so focused and dedicated. You can be good at anything if you're dedicated, and he is. He's got all the physical ability. He's got all the intangibles."
He's also got a new defensive line coach in Shaun Nua, who replaced Greg Mattison after he went to Ohio State. Mattison was his father's position coach, too, and Aidan had known him since he was 10. That was a tough pill to swallow, but Aidan quickly took to Nua, a former NFL player whose enthusiasm and knowledge Aidan values highly.
"If everybody could be like Aidan," said Nua, shaking his head and smiling. "Aidan is a very, very special competitor. He's very competitive, hard on himself. That's why he's going to be a great player. That's my expectations of him. If he keeps doing what he's doing, he'll fulfill that role."
Nua (left) and Hutchinson
People ask Aidan about being a Hutchinson quite regularly. Funny thing is, though, they "always" ask Aidan (6-foot-6, 278 pounds) if he's related to Wolverines two-time All-American offensive guard Steve Hutchinson (6-foot-5, 313 pounds), who went on to seven NFL Pro Bowl selections after the Seattle Seahawks drafted him in the first round in 2001.
"Everybody always asks me if Steve's my uncle or something like that," said Aidan. "I met him a long time ago with my dad at a game, but don't remember much about it."
His father doesn't come close to their size. Chris played at 6-foot-2 and 249 pounds, excelling on speed, quickness and guile. He filled one of two tackle spots on the outside of the 3-4 defensive front and was the Big Ten's Defensive Lineman of the Year in 1992.
"I told Aidan that the Steve Hutchinson question would follow him forever," said Chris. "Steve won a national championship (in 1997) and he'll probably be in the Hall of Fame. So, develop a response for that question. Mine has always been, 'Yeah, I won five Big Ten championships and he won one national championship (laughter).' And people are so convinced that Steve is my brother, that I just say, 'Yes, he's my brother.' Somewhere down the line, we're brothers."
But, surely, some ask Aidan if he's related to Chris, right?
"No," said Aidan, smiling and shaking his head. "No, they don't. Compared to Steve, nobody even knows him."
Chris didn't have the size to play as an NFL lineman, and ended up signing as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns, then coached by Bill Belichick, whose defensive coordinator was Nick Saban. Chris said he had a tetanus shot with his training camp physical, and then felt tired and experienced back problems. He took it as a sign that his future was elsewhere and returned to Michigan to get his degree in medicine.
The size his son has comes from Aidan's late grandfather, Dale, who was 6-foot-8 and lanky, and uncles, Craig, 6-foot-6, and Mark, 6-foot-4. Craig also has passed away.
"My Grandpa and my dad's whole side of the family was tall," he said. "Dad was the runt of the family (laughter)."
The Hutchinson family (from left): Aidan, mother Melissa, sister Aria, sister Mia and father Chris (Melissa Hutchinson photo)
The Hutchinsons are Wolverines through and through. His mother, Melissa, and father met while attending Michigan. His oldest sister, Mia, is a recent Michigan graduate and his youngest sister, Aria, is a junior in Ann Arbor.
Melissa graduated from Michigan with an eye on a career in film or television, but instead became a professional model before transforming into a professional photographer and developing quite a work portfolio.
Mom snapped a photo of him at about 3 months old -- wearing his first baseball cap with a Block M on it -- getting a kiss on the cheek from Dad.
"That picture is actually in my room right now," said Aidan.
Mom also is huge into football, and she was most responsible for connecting Aidan to the TB12 Sports Therapy Center in Foxboro, Massachusetts, that's a business venture of New England Patriots and Michigan quarterback great Tom Brady.
"My dad texted Scot Loeffler," said Aidan, referencing the former Wolverine quarterback and close friend of Brady's who's the head coach at Bowling Green. "He has connections with Tom, and Tom texted his trainer (Alex Guerrero).
"Obviously, it was a really cool experience, something new, something I'd never seen before. I'm definitely going to go back there again because it helped me out tremendously in getting ready for fall camp and getting my body ready. It was my mom's idea. She's all in for me, and does so much for me. She wants me to succeed so much. It was my birthday present, and we went to TB12."
Where has he made the most improvement since last season?
Hutchinson at the TB12 Sports Therapy Clinic in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The training session at Michigan and New England Patriots quarterback great Tom Brady's facility was a birthday present from his mother (Melissa Hutchinson photo)
"I think it was just changing my mindset as a whole," said Hutchinson. "I really had to change how I thought because I came in last year, and had Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich, the big defensive names in college football, and I had to come in this year knowing they left and now it's my turn. It's been polar opposites.
"Now, I've got to step up. I've got to be one of the best defensive ends in college football, and so I've really been working this offseason to show what I can do."
He said the area where he's made the most strides is in his pass rushing.
"Every day in practice I'm getting as many reps as I can and going and going," said Hutchinson, an end in a 4-3 front. "Every day I'm improving and it's looking better every single day."
And he seeks Dad's input every day, too.
"Every day I send him a video of what happened in practice and call him," said Aidan. "He's able to correct me and we talk about it. That's great having a father that's able to do that."
Chris said, "If he wants to send me film of him going one-on-one against (offensive tackle) Jalen Mayfield, I can break that down. All of their film from practice is on his iPad, and he'll get his phone and we'll go over it. This is all initiated by him, and I get one to three clips a day from him. It's something for us to go over."
He also looks to his father where leadership is concerned.
"My dad was a captain here," said Aidan, "and I'm trying to adopt some of what he did. He was a great leader and always preaches to me about choosing 'the harder right,' and that has stuck out the most.
"In order to be a leader, you choose 'the harder right.' It's like the decision, for example, after you come home from practice and you can either do your homework or play video games. You can do the homework later, but then you are going to lose some sleep."
So, the homework comes first for the movement science major.
Aidan wanted to wear his father's number at Divine Child, but said it wasn't available there.
"It means the world to now wear his 97 at Michigan," he said. "I get to bring out our legacy with my name on the back and that number on my chest. That number goes deep in our family, and I'm really honored to wear it."
His number has been called by the Wolverines, and so the son who's an expanded version of his father has begun living the experience he's coveted for about as long as he can remember.
