Welcome to "Catching Up With..." an occasional feature here at AnnArbor.com where we chat with someone who used to be involved with Michigan athletics. If there's someone you'd like to see AnnArbor.com catch up with, e-mail us at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com.

Our first guest is David Brandt, who played offensive line at Michigan from 1997-2000. When he left Michigan, he played in the NFL for a couple seasons before returning to the state. Check out what he's doing now.

Michael Rothstein: What have you been up to?

David Brandt: “Right now I’m a stay-at-home dad. I have two boys, Hunter and Hudson are their names. And I’m coaching over at South Christian freshman football with a friend of mine. That’s about it. I’m doing a lot of hunting and fishing, just starting out.”

MR: You played in the league for a while. Is this what you envisioned when you got done?

DB: “Yeah. The plan was, when my wife and I were planning on having kids, if we could that I would stay home if we were good enough financially if that was possible. It turned out that way so I was able to stay home and enjoy spending this time. I talked to a lot of dads and they just said ‘You’re very fortunate’ because they never get this opportunity to spend this much time with their kids. So, I enjoy it.”

MR: So what are your daily activities with your kids? Do you have a go-to-lunch day?

DB: “Well, my oldest is now starting school so he has a full day of school Monday, Wednesday and a half-day Friday so then I’ll take them to the gym the other days, I’ll work out and then take them swimming or something like that. Otherwise we just hang out at home, play outside until it’s too cold and then it starts snowing.”

MR: That doesn’t sound half-bad.

DB: “No, it really isn’t. I can’t complain at all.”

MR: When your younger kid goes into school, do you see yourself going into coaching because you’re already dabbling in that now?

DB: “Well I am coaching now. I’m coaching freshman football. I don’t think I’ll coach anything higher than that, but yeah, I enjoy coaching and teaching kids what I have learned over the years. It’s just funny, looking back on when I played high school and started out in college, all of the things I learned once I got to that level and now I can turn around and teach it to these kids. I think they are kind of understanding these things that they are getting a lot of things that they want to learn with me coaching them. But they are a good group of kids. I enjoy coaching the offensive and defensive lines.”

MR: Do the kids you’re coaching now, do they have any idea who you are, who you were?

DB: “Yeah. Last year I did the eighth grade last year and came up and am doing the freshmen this year so they know my background.”

MR: Is it something you tell kids or is it just kind of known at this point?

DB: “When I started coaching, I just told them what my background was, where I played and how my coaching style is.”

MR: Were they like ‘Whoa, there’s an NFL guy coaching us?’

DB: “Yeah, kinda. It was real funny last year because we were playing a team with a real big tight end and we didn’t have anyone to represent that so the last practice of the season, before the last game, I came out and threw my pads on, put my football uniform on and they got a kick out of that. Put my Michigan helmet on. They want me to come this year dressed up like that but I haven’t done it yet.”

MR: Do you still watch a lot of Michigan football?

DB: “Yeah, I try. A lot of games conflict with my hunting but the big games, I’ll sit down and watch them. Some of the smaller games, I’ll try to catch up with the highlights. I usually go to one or two games every year.”

MR: You’ve mentioned hunting. I’m guessing that’s always been a thing for you. Do you hunt a certain thing? Is it a competitive thing?

DB: “I’ve hunted deer in the past and now I’m getting more into water fowl, which are ducks and geese. But I also hunt deer. And I fish pretty much for everything, salmon or bass, pretty much whatever is out there, I’ll try to catch. It’s more of a leisure thing for me, a hobby, something I enjoy. Getting outside and being part of nature.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.