His playing days over, Jason Forcier will stay in Ann Arbor to mentor brother Tate Forcier
Jason Forcier won’t play for Michigan this year, but he plans to spend the fall in Ann Arbor anyway, mentoring his younger brother, Tate.
In a phone interview Tuesday, the elder Forcier expressed no regret that things didn’t work out with his potential transfer to Michigan. At issue, he said, was an NCAA rule that requires transfer graduate students seeking immediate eligibility to enroll in a program unavailable at their former school.
Michigan and Stanford offer similar graduate degrees, and Forcier, with time an obstacle, couldn’t find a suitable one-year program he could finish while on scholarship.
“I was hoping, I was being optimistic about it,” Forcier said. “But things happen for a reason.”
While he waits to begin a career in sales or marketing, Forcier, who played two seasons at Michigan before transferring to Stanford, said he’ll live with his brother “for a portion of the season” to help him get acclimated to life as a high-profile college student.
Tate Forcier, a true freshman who enrolled in January, is the frontrunner to start at quarterback for Michigan this fall. Fellow freshman Denard Robinson and junior Nick Sheridan also are in the mix.
“Just kind of keep an eye on him, make sure, because if you’re the starting quarterback, you’re the face of Michigan football,” Jason Forcier said. “A lot of things come with that, good things and bad things. There’s going to be some bad influences I don’t want him being around. Or try to at least teach him about them.
“He is a college student, so you got to be a college kid. But I just want to let him think about what the possible consequences are before going out or something.”
A regular at Michigan practices through the first two weeks of fall camp, Jason said Tate is “ready” for the starting role. “I think he looks good,” Jason said. “They’re going to put the pressure on him, and I think it’s good because you hear the analogy all the time, the Michigan offense or any offense is like driving an exotic car.
“They got to make sure he can drive that high-performance machine and got to make sure he can make that third-and-15 throw against Ohio State, Notre Dame, in two weeks in the fourth quarter. They got to be able to have all their trust in him. But I think it’s good. I think they do have their trust in him and it’s building every day.”
Dave Birkett covers the University of Michigan football team for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidbirkett@annarbor.com
Comments
Hills
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 : 7:39 p.m.
Considering that BOTH of Tate's brothers transferred to other schools when they couldn't get on the field with their original teams, it's nice that Jason is going to be around to help Tate decide where he'll play next.
tommy2tone
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 : 10:12 a.m.
so jason thinks there are gonna be a lot of 3rd and 15 this year?
SonofScoot
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 : 8:57 a.m.
Jason will help Tater when he decides to transfer when DRob wins the QB job.
jeremy
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 : 7:27 a.m.
this is the best thing that could happen for a young quarterback. His brother will be there to study tape with him, keep him out of trouble, and hopefully keep the golddiggers away. I am very interested in seein both freshmen qbs and see if they're legit. part of me questions if tate's size could make him mcguffie like
MetricSU
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 : 4:52 a.m.
Jason, come to MSU. We need LOTS of help.
redceder1
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 : 1:54 a.m.
Very nice that he has a support group and a brother that cares to keep him out of trouble.
bigblue
Wed, Aug 19, 2009 : 1:38 a.m.
hail to the victors valiant hail to the victors hail hail to michigan the leaders and the best. all the doubters better get what ever they have off their chest right now because in two weeks big blue is officialy back.
tater
Tue, Aug 18, 2009 : 10:10 p.m.
His phone should be ringing off the hook with sales job offers. I would imagine that his family name will sell just about anything to anyone in Ann Arbor the next four years or so.