Blue By Ninety - E88: Joel Honigford

Episode Date: September 23, 2021

Michigan TE Joel Honigford joins the Boys this episode to talk his transition from O-Line to Tight End, Harbaugh on Zoom, Jess Speight building tree houses, Endor - Pump it up and more. Crack a cold one and enjoy the show.

This is the University of Michigan. Touchdown, Michigan! The Beats of Michigan! And they've caught extra pass. And it goes for the win! The three-pointer by Jordan Poole! Down the sideline! Peebles-John!

Touchdown, Wolverines! All right, welcome back to Blue by 90. I am Justin, joined by Jack and Kalen, as always. And today we have another special guest on. Today we've got Joel Honigford of the Michigan football team, Michigan tight end. Joel, how you doing tonight? Oh, I'm doing all right. How about yourself? Not too bad. Not too bad. Yeah, you guys just got done with practice and a little lift session.

Did you guys pump it up a little bit in there? Yeah, we were pumping it up. Today's our, you know, we're closer to game day, so we hit arms today. Get some chin-ups going, too. Put some chains around the neck. It's real nice. Got to get the glamour muscles ready for game day, right? Exactly. Yeah, you can't go out there in that jersey with some twig arms or something. That's when, you know, you've got the photographers out there.

You've got to get those bi's and shoulders looking good. Yeah, we know what's going on they said they set us up for success love that love that um all right so i mean right now you guys are obviously playing very well um you know three and oh going into uh big 10 play right now um and and really nobody i don't know people didn't know what to expect from this team this year right um and so you know coming off of a off of a weird year last year obviously covid obviously it's just like wasn't what you guys wanted out of that you know what what do you think changed especially about this offense from from last year coming into this year? I think last year, I mean, it's easy to say,

but there were just a lot of distractions. Like, there was so much going on that we had to do every day. And it was the fact that we started back in June and we were practicing, like, every other day of the week, but we couldn't hit anybody or we couldn't touch people. We had to stay away from people just because of COVID restrictions and stuff. So we had to deal with that. And then like I myself got put in quarantine three different times. Holy shit.

And I didn't even have it. Like I didn't even get it any of those times. Wow. I mean, it was just like a lot of in and out and like it was like very mentally challenging because like right when I got out of my first quarantine the day after is when the season got canceled and I was like I was like all right well this is cool like I'm just with the whole season right yeah then, like, we still continued to practice. They, like, toned it back. But – and then it got reinstated.

And then we had to wait, like, another eight weeks for it. So, then we were practicing for even longer. So, like, fall camp's, like, a month normally. And last year it was, like, three months in total. And it was just, like three months in total. And it was just like all drug out. With the offense, I mean, I think it just like relates back to that. Like there was just so much going on that we had to do every day where you couldn't just like go out and play football.

There was so much other stuff you had to worry about. Like some weeks our parents were allowed to come to games. Other weeks our parents weren't. And it was just like all over the place where you couldn't just like really hone in on football and like even meetings you couldn't have normal meetings like as a tight end group last year we met in the indoor facility just like us like 10 guys met on the giant turf field with like right out like it's like recess or something and you're yeah it was ridiculous like normally like when you're in meetings you got a projector and like that's how you're watching a film we were literally using the jumbotron in our indoor

facility oh man oh my god that's crazy i mean it kind of sounds like I you know obviously you never want to like say this right but I know that throughout a season there are times when you like don't want to be there right and I think that goes for every athlete you know every athlete's probably in most interviews or most whatever is going to say yeah you know we're grinding it out we're having fun there were probably a lot of times last year where you guys just weren't flat out weren't having fun yeah i mean you had to worry about you know are we gonna be able to play this week and like when you when you have to worry about that more than like just the game itself like what are we doing like yeah this isn't even football anymore we're we're worried about a freaking

virus and it's just like it was just taking over everything like wake up at 7 a.m in the morning go get your COVID test and then your class is online so you just sit in your room all day until you go to football which like we would even have meetings online sometimes uh just depending on like what like it was like in the facility with COVID and stuff and so it was just like I mean it was still fun to play like last year is my first real year to play um but so that was fun but like there was just so much more to it than just having like, just being able to play football. I mean, that's, that's so tough for you guys too,

as college students and athletes too, right? Like there's so many restrictions put on you guys where more people, you know, they've got, I mean, us as you know, we're older. So we had a little bit more freedom on what we could do, what we couldn't do. But I mean, you're responsible for your teammates and you can't be going out and doing stuff. Otherwise you're putting them in jeopardy, you know, whatever, whatever might happen. I mean, I couldn't even imagine having to deal with school and athletics under all

those restrictions, like props to you guys for making it through that. That's brutal. Literally did not. I would not leave my house unless I was going to football. Like other than that, I't leave my house at all. That's like, I mean, you might as well be in solitary, like in jail, right? I mean, that just, it doesn't sound fun no matter what you're doing, no matter if that's football, life, whatever, you know,

just being in that environment doesn't sound great. But, you know, fast forward to this year through three games, I don't know about you, but I'm having a lot of fun. You know, we're tailgating we're, you know, back in the big house, it's been a blast. You guys look like the energy has changed. And I think we've talked about your guys' new energy on every single episode for the last two months, but still it's like, it's, it's contagious a little bit. You guys really, you know, it feels very different for what you guys are. And I feel like it's almost like caged animals that were, you know,

caged up for so long. And now you're just like, you, you feel it in the momentum just keeps rolling and rolling and rolling. Yeah. I haven't, I can honestly say I haven't been part of a Michigan team where everybody on the team has played as hard and as physical as like we do now I mean like we go out there with the intent to make the other team quit like that's what we're trying to do and I mean you can there is a distinct point in the game where you can look into somebody else's eyes and you can like tell like they don't want this anymore and like that is it's an unreal feeling because you're like all right like this is pretty

sweet and like we didn't really have any expectations coming into season like I mean obviously we think you're a good football team but you never want to get ahead of yourself and uh like going into western Michigan um we weren't you know we're kind of feeling it out seeing how it's going to go because obviously we all know how last year went uh but man i mean just getting out there with the boys and and flying around in front of the crowd is just it is like it is so much fun like i have never had more fun playing football and like you can tell like the guys are having fun but they're still staying locked into it too so it's not like no one's too loose out there it's like a nice balance and the thing is that's like through like the coaching staff and everyone like I've never seen like the morale this high on a team before and like everyone's feeding into it and buying

into it which is exactly what we need and that's like the perfect combination of what you guys want and, you know, a team and when you're playing football, right? And going back to what you said earlier, what you started your statement off with, I mean, you were on that 2018 team. I mean, that was a pretty good football team, right? I remember you guys being favored going into Ohio State and winning in Columbus. And, you know, obviously we all know how that turned out. But, I mean, that was a good football team. mean is it is it that much different from 2018 to now I mean I know the years

in between were kind of you know a little bit a little bit different but that 2018 year that was a good season yeah I think just like from a team aspect it like sounds cliche but like we've like we have not had a tighter team than what we have this year like there's not anybody who has a problem with anybody else I mean yeah like dudes still get on each other's nerves in practice but it's football like we're hitting each other like this is how it goes but like as far as like people like trusting like everyone trusting each other like I've never seen it before like we have it now like everyone's buying into what everybody else has and is like worried about,

you know, like just doing their job and trusting the other guy, which is like, I've never seen it like this before. So, I mean, I, I don't want to like, I feel like it is and I don't want to buy into that as a, almost as a fan kind of, I feel like everyone's bought into that you know and it's and it's almost like it sounds too good to be true honestly from an outside perspective and so you know I want to temper expectations still with that but I did I think it is a changed perspective and it's really cool to hear that you know especially after last year after even the

offseason where you didn't really know what was going on with this coaching staff. Right. And so for all of that to go on in the past, you know, 12 months and for us to be here in week, you know, going into week four, talking about such positive things, I think is just such a cool thing for you guys specifically. And so let's talk about you. You know, you are a fifth year senior. You came in as an O-lineman. Now you're just shredded doing biceps and chin-ups all the time. What's the transition? What's just like your timeline been like through, you know, when you came in originally to where you are now uh so came in june of 2017 i knew i was a lighter guy

i knew that coming in i knew it was like more of a developer which i was fine with. Um, and as I tried to gain weight, cause I think I came in around 275 ish. That's where I came in. Um, as I tried to gain weight, I was like, Oh, this is actually kind of hard. Like how much we were working out. I was like, this is pretty tough to like, and I was like trying to eat a lot to the point where I was getting tired of it, which doesn't sound like you'd be a thing, it really is yeah and uh so I really struggled to gain weight um I started out at a guard I played there um didn't see any time my true freshman year redshirted uh move into my redshirt freshman year and uh they they moved me up to second team guard but even then like i wasn't ready like i was just too weak i wasn't developed enough um but they gave me a shot and so uh kind

of went through camp there and um i think bastardis ended up jumping ahead of me and then i think at my first time against western mich Michigan actually um that 2018 year which was pretty sweet uh so I kind of got a taste of it uh but it was like it was weird because it was 70,000 people in the stands but they were uninvested like we were up by so much that like the game couldn't have been lost so I mean yeah they're excited for a touchdown but it wasn't like this is pivotal like this is like you know but um moving forward you know they kind of were moving me around uh moved out to tackle and seemed to work a lot better there um 2019 and I like tackle a lot actually i was much better at tackling it was a guard

um which i think is kind of why i got moved to tight end um that's interesting though a little bit just because for being a smaller guy you're usually better off at guard right because you move more the tackle is supposed to be that really you you know, the big dude that can hold ground against a top DN, right? Yeah. But the thing is about guard and like, if you're talking about like pass protection, you're taking on some like 320 pound guys who were trying to run through your face. I did. I just wasn't stout enough to handle that. Where like at tackle, like I could just learn how to set the guy.

So he would try to run around me and then i could just run him by because like i was athletic enough that i could do that and i kind of found my niche there um but moving forward get sent home for quarantine then i was like i really got to gain weight this give me a big year for me like i have a chance to you know start and eat a lot of my mom's food at home during quarantine came back 305 for the first time in my life i didn't feel that good i was like 305 but whatever i was like i was rotating uh with uh Jalen and Ryan. Us three were rotating for the two tackle spots. And then it just, I mean, Jalen's a real good player.

Ryan's a real good player. So they ended up getting it. And I was good enough to play, but there just wasn't a spot for me. And so one day we're sitting in meetings and coach harbaugh comes in our meetings he's like he's like he said hey i had an epiphany i was like and like we're so we're in two separate rooms um because you know we have like covid regulations i was still with our line so we're in two separate rooms because, you know, we have like COVID regulations. I was still with O-line.

So we're in two separate rooms. So the other room is Zoomed on the other. So I just hear him through the Zoom. He's like, I had an epiphany. I'm just kind of listening to it. I'm not thinking anything. And he's like, hunting for it at tight end. And I was like, oh, all right.

He didn't even ask our O-line coach. He wasn't like, he wasn't wanting to feel like he was okay with you. He was like, you know, Joel, you want to do that? And I was like, yeah, I do, absolutely. And he was like, all right, let's go. I grabbed my stuff and left the offensive line room. Went down the line. That's all it was.

It wasn't like, hey, he's going to go into, you know, Warner's office, have a conversation first, and then we'll maybe bring it to you in like a one-on-one or something. He just walked in and was like, you're going to tight ends. And he walked out. Yeah, that's literally it. I picked up my stuff and I left. It was like a five- is that the most harbaugh thing like you've ever experienced like you got to have some good

harbaugh stories you've been there for a while now right like what what's what's the best harbaugh you have um i'd say uh probably this summer um so i i got an internship at uh caterpillar the construction company i was doing engineering stuff for them uh so i was working for them this summer and i got a call on my phone from coach harbaugh and i was like i was like what could this be about um And we were, we were just listening at the time where there was no other like football requirements. So I answered, he's like, he's like, Hey Joel, what are you doing? And I was like, Oh, I'm at work right now. He's like, okay. He's like, what time are you off?

And I was like, I get off at five. He's like, ah, five o'clock. He's like, I'm building a tree house for my kids he's like and i need an engineering mind oh my goodness all right i was all about it i was like all right let's do this and uh i was like i get off at five i was like i'll be back home by six he's like yeah he's like you know that's a little late um i was like, get off at five. I was like, I'll be back home by six. He's like, yeah. He's like, you know, that's a little late. I was like, I come by tomorrow, though. And oh, because I had class that night. I had class that night from five to eight. And I was like, I can come over tomorrow, though.

He's like, ah, you know, kind of trying to get it done as soon as possible. And I was like, oh, OK. And he's like like you know anybody else who's woodworking and the only other person i knew in town was uh jess fate who's my oh yeah and i was like oh yeah jess is real good at it he was like he's like jess okay like yeah you know what i'm gonna give me a call and i was like all right hangs up the phone i text jess and i was like yo uh you're about to get a call he just texts me back and he's like so you think i'm pretty good at woodworking and i was like all right i said are you going to his house and he just sends me a picture of him at the

gate of his house and this is not like one o'clock um in the afternoon and then so i got back home from work just still wasn't back to the house man i'm just like laying on the couch doing nothing and uh he comes back at 9 30 at night the dude covered in like dirt and sweat and just oh man i mean he they went to work like they were putting up a serious tree house and he's like he's, thanks for volunteering me, dude. Thanks a lot. Amazing. So funny, because Coach Harbaugh's dad, Jack, he told Jess, he's like,

you know, you're going to learn something real quick. He's like, you don't want to be good at these types of things. When you're good at these types of things people are going to ask you to help them out he's like you got to do what joel did and just sell out somebody else yeah oh yeah oh that is a good one i gotta i want to see a picture of this treehouse now man i mean if he's out there for eight hours covered in sawdust and dirt that thing's got to look pretty uh pretty incredible i'm sure it's legit if it's in coach harbaugh's backyard or whatever oh yeah i i don't i don't know what it looks like well i

saw a picture off of jess's phone but i know they got like a post hole digger and we're like putting cement into holes with posts in it like it's like the real deal yeah that's a badass treehouse i love too that he's just like nope sorry this can't wait till tomorrow this has to this has to be done today like yeah i mean i was like all right oh and then i was like i can like send you a picture maybe of like something you would want or whatever he's like yeah yeah go ahead and do that and so they had gotten a couple hours into working and finally decided because they were like clearing the area and whatnot. And they decided on the design that they wanted.

And it took them a while to decide. And then I had texted coach Harbaugh a picture of the design. I thought he should do. Oh no. He was like, hold on here. Hold on. Oh no.

We need to look at this. You're about to start building it and they stopped because they have like analyzed my design that i said jess is probably sitting there like man what the hell you got me into are you still friends with jess or did he like tell you to piss off forever no we're good friends we're good Oh, man. I wouldn't have blamed him to just tell, like, all right, this is it. Friendship's over. I was just sitting in the living room when he was coming back inside. I was preparing for the worst. I thought he was just going to come and absolutely rip me.

Oh, God. That is a good one. So what's Jess doing tomorrow? because i got a tree in the backyard here too i can let him know i'm sure he'd be down to do it yeah selling out again yep yeah he's not taking any texts or phone calls from you anymore it's like it's like all right what do you need from me now yeah now he's he probably got a guy for himself too he's like all right i need to figure out who i can pass anything along along to now too oh yeah it's chuck filiaga i already know it just keep moving down the line here yeah yeah chucking

well that sounds like it's about as hardball as you can get he's got a treehouse guy now yeah oh yeah it was so funny oh man so i mean obviously you guys are tight-knit from that i mean first of all you get, how often do you just get a call from coach Harbaugh? Like, I feel like you can't get calls from him that often. Right. Um, not like not all the time, but like recently, like in like the last year and a half, like we've been like talking a lot. Like we got like a really good relationship now. And like, I mean, really everyone does on a team

like that's also part of it too like he's got he's like built relationships with all the guys on the team which is really good and like I mean everyone respects him too and uh listens to what he has to say which is like also contributed to where we're at right now so that's cool I mean that's really cool to hear I think you know obviously from the outside you hear a million things and and you don't really know what coach does from day to day or what that environment is like you know and so um I think a lot of people probably would be surprised to hear that just because he's a quirky man right right? He's definitely an odd duck. You know, there's no doubt he'd, I'm sure he'd admit that himself. You know, but I think it's great to hear

and it's, it just seems like after everything that's gone on in the last seven years with him, you know, here at Michigan, it's, it's great to hear how well things are going here in year seven. So, you know, go talking about practice too, cause we talked to Valari about about practice and you guys are now playing music in there. Coach that doesn't really like it. He said, you know, but the strength coaches are the ones that play it. But, you know, are you guys, you all like super jacked up in practice you've got the beat ohio drill you know is practice different than it was in the past years too oh yeah for sure um in the past we would like it wouldn't be uncommon to fight in practice

dudes would just get like pissed off at whatever and just start fighting and like i couldn't tell you the last time we did um not the fights are like the worst thing ever i mean it's part of the competitive nature yeah but i mean obviously you don't want to hurt your own guy but yeah energy is like very high at practice like it it doesn't ever seem to like really drop off i mean dudes are like i mean dudes just out there vibing and playing football. Like, it's fun. It's fun to be out there. Like, I – I mean, personally, like, speaking for myself, like, I've, like, regained a love for the game.

I mean, part of that's just because, like, you know, moving to tight end and, like, that position change has gone really well for me. You know, I've gotten to play and gotten significant time and like, I just really enjoy it. But like, and it's just like, there's not one person that's trying to bring everybody down or, you know, like, Oh yeah, this sucks. I don't want to be out there today. Cause I mean, it's not every day that you want to go out and practice. Like, that's just the reality of the situation. But I mean, dudes are like, like like if someone's down somebody else is going to come pick him up like they're not going to let him stay down and like yeah practices are fun like we'll play music in uh warm-ups and they kind of switch it up like the other day they're playing

like heavy metal and then like and then today I think they're playing, like, Lil Baby. So they, like, switch it up. Perfect. Hit all the genres. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they dance around there. But, yeah, dude, I mean, the energy is just way up.

Guys are loving it. You know, the guys are, like, buying into, you know, the practice. And, like, to Coach Harbaugh's credit like he also is not burning us out like he's taking care of us in practice like yeah we have to go like first team's got to go go against the first team but we're not doing that the whole practice like we're getting our periods in practice where we're doing that so we get that competition and then we're also getting our scout periods where we're getting looks like this week. Yeah, I mean, I remember stories from the Coach Hoke days of, like, guys. I remember specifically going into that year.

I can't remember which year it was, honestly, where they had Michigan-Bama game one at Jerry Jones Stadium. And they said, like, they went so hard one-on-ones and tackle, you know, every day that by the time they got to even game one, everybody's bruised up and banged up and all that. And they were just like, they didn't want to play much more. And so, you know, obviously then you go against Bama's O-line and D-line and you're probably like, shit, I'm good on this. You know, I don't want to go up against those guys,

but you know, I do think that there's a big, there's, there's definitely a balance of like making sure that you're game ready and game speed ready, but not like burning you out completely for sure. So if you like camp, like all fall camp like you're gonna you're gonna smash each other in practice like it has to happen you have to figure out like okay who can actually play and like who can't play like right it's just what happens and you don't figure that out in a day you figure that out over like two three weeks and so like we went through that period where dudes were like all bruised up and banged up but like it had to happen like that's just that's football um but like as we

got like closer to game one like he really started to like take it back you know focus more on like taking care of our bodies and also focusing on preparing um for western and things like that which is like different than what we've done in the past and like I know all the guys on the team really appreciate it too just because like we're all feeling real good right now too which is not something that has been common in the past I mean we used to really bang during practice but we still do now but it's not like it's not idiotic. And I think, too, I don't want to call anybody out. But over the past few years, I feel like there have been some stories of some guys maybe milking some injuries or sitting out practices and stuff like that. And I you know, that can be contagious as well.

Right. In a negative manner, you know, that can be contagious as well. Right. In a negative manner, you know. And so it sounds like that is moving in a positive direction and you don't really have that going on either. Right. Yeah, I mean, just like with our leadership, like, yeah, we have four captains, but like there are so many leaders on our team. You're not going to get away with anything like if you're trying to like skip a rep or do something like that or like you know be soft in practice like you're not going to get away with it like eric all like if the scout team guys are like being soft in practice he will get on them about it and like and like really all of us will like just like we need a good look we need a fast

look like like hit us like come on like we need to get ready for this game and so like guys don't get away with things like that and like you understand with the people you work with like you know if they're actually hurt or if they're not like it's pretty easy to tell um you kind of develop that over the years it's harder with like the younger guys because you don't really know them that well but um like with our older guys like no one's going to do anything like that which we have had in the past but i can like confidently say like guys are being accountable for themselves and for other people which is something that has always lacked in the past so i want to ask you about your switch to tight end. So other than not having to finish 40 pounds of food to keep your weight up,

what's your favorite part about that transition from O-line to tight end? Unless you enjoyed, you know, being able to pig out a little bit. To be honest with you, like, my favorite part is playing out of the backfield i love to play out of the backfield i love to slice block like i mean i'm like alignment at heart so i love to smash people like that's what i do and you're hitting smaller guys now which is great yeah i mean like i'm like going in motion and, like, playing off the ball. Like, what am I doing here? It's so sick.

Are you Bench Mason 2.0? I think I might be. I was thinking about that. I think I look like he might be. I love that. I love that. Well, I did notice, I mean, they have Michigan for pretty much all Harbaugh years has had a true fullback. This is like the first year that you guys don't have a true fullback

and have been using, you know, either two running back sets or having a tight end back there, a.k.a. you. Yeah, I mean, I love it so much. Like, it's just like – it's something I've never done before. Like, I always played offensive line. Like, it's just like, it's something I've never done before. Like I always played offensive line, like offensive line is offensive line. Like it is what you see it, that it is what it is. Like with tight end, like there's just so much more to do,

like understanding like route concepts and coverages and things like that, which is something I never thought I was going to have to deal with. But like, I'm doing it every day now. It's just like, it's just like it's so sick I mean it's like the dream right for an offensive lineman oh you get a running start are you kidding me it's awesome and like I was talking to Ryan Hayes about this because he was recruited as a tight end came in and went to offensive line I was like never recruited as a tight end like that wasn't even a line i was like never recruited as a tight end like that wasn't even a thought it was just like oh you're a smaller offensive lineman we'll develop you and then like i get put in in these shoes and now i'm a freaking 255 pound tight end

and my locker is right next to ryan and i just give him crap about it every day he'll be like what's up buddy i'm living out your dream right now. 255. Holy shit. That is like crazy to go from 275 where you came in at up to 305 back to 255. I mean, wow. That is nuts. Yeah.

I was like, I'll tell you when I figured out, I knew I was gonna be able to lose weight just because I had so much trouble gaining weight, but I had, we do like body scans. So it tells us like our lean mass or fat mass, things like that. So I did one, uh, I think at the end of last season when I was like 290, uh, fast forward to do one in May where I was like 263 and, um, I had lost like 27 pounds of fat mass and put on nine pounds of muscle. And I was like, Holy shit. I was like, I could do this. Like, let's go.

That's insane. Like, super pumped. Like, they obviously, like, all alignment, you know, after football they want to lose weight. And, like, I kind of got to jump on that. But, like, now I'm freaking in a position that I love. And, like, it's going really well for me. It's just I love playing tight end.

Like, I love the guys that I get to play with. Like, Eric Hall, Carter Sells, or Matt Hibner Luke Skinmaker like those dudes are the best and like they they help me so much because like in the spring um coach Harbaugh came up to me in the spring because I was still like 285 I just expected to be a big tight end like really extra offensive lineman again this year he was like he was like, hey, why don't you just lose all the weight? He was like, you don't have to be anymore. It was literally before practice, and I was like, okay, yeah, I'll do that. And so then, like, from there, I just went from eating four meals a day

to two meals a day, which is, like, what I would normally do. And, like, I had to watch what I would eat but not to the extent where it was like not enjoyable like and it wasn't that hard um I feel like it's more it's honestly harder the other way when you overeat you know I've been there too trying to put on weight for football and it's like when you're eating 5 000 6 000 calories a day you don't like food anymore all of a sudden this is not enjoyable no it's brutal oh yeah it was nice to be able to just go back to like i'd eat when i was hungry i wouldn't overeat like it was chill and then i just ended up losing 50 pounds so that was pretty so so i. So I'm a big foodie.

And obviously you're in Ann Arbor, right, playing football. What's your favorite spot to eat? To be honest with you, probably No-Tie. I freaking love No-Tie so much. Oh, man. I also love It's Just Wings. That's my go-to DoorDash order. Get It's Just Wings, the boneless with the curly fries oh man oh yeah like me and wings it's like it's like a next level

experience like be alone when i'm eating wings because like the one the one day i was eating them out in our living room with Andrew Stuber. And, like, I was, like, I was getting after it. Like, they were bone in the wing. It was, like, all over my face. And I was, like, sweating because they were hot. They were buffalo. And he looks over at me.

He's, like, dude, are you good? And, like, bones from the wings. And I was, like, dude, you have no idea what just happened over here oh my god are you um are you trying to you know play at the next level too now i know you've moved around so i don't even know what position it would be at. But, like, you know, are you looking to, you know, possibly play at the next level? Yeah, that's the goal. I mean, if you go back two years ago and you had asked me,

I would have told you that I was going to finish my career as a backup offensive lineman in Michigan. Fast forward to now, and I'm in a completely different spot. And that would be something, like, I'd have to think to people about it, but that would, like, I would love to have that opportunity. I don't know, like, I don't know where I would play. I mean, I could lose more weight and really just accept, like, to be, like, I mean, I say i'm a true tight end now and i mean

but i'm still like on the bigger side of tight ends right i mean not every tight end is a 255 260 um so i don't know what that would look like but that is uh really that's my number one goal right now is to uh go to the next level um I mean I set myself up with like getting an internship and stuff like that this summer just if like football gotta have gotta have options for sure for sure how are your hands by the way how you know coming from a lineman's to a tight end not all linemen have good hands so are you you know was that a natural transition to start catching the ball uh it was yeah i'd say it was i did have to learn like i didn't know like how to like flip my hands and things like that with like different position of balls um because some stuff i would do

they were like you look like a middle schooler trying to catch okay well just alignment so get off my back but now I actually have pretty good hands if I start thinking about it way too much like I'll be out there running around in practice and I'll see the ball coming my way and I'll be like it'll just get in my head I'll be like you're alignment you're not supposed to be catching this thing no but i actually do have pretty solid hands i'm not uh i'm not lying about that but yeah we'll see i hope i get to showcase them yeah come on now come on we can should we try and talk to uh to kate and into uh you know getting you the ball more yeah tell them to toss it my way you know what here's the thing here's the thing about me and cave so we're playing western michigan all right i'm in the

game i'm a single tight end in the game they called a play they gave us the formation i'm split out to the right it's me and uh i think it was roman Wilson as well. And the play that they called, I had like, it was an option route for me. So it was like a one-on-one, like the ball is coming to the tight end. And like, I'm not going to lie. I saw a signal. I was like, I don't know if this is for me. Like, I don't think. And I see Cade and Cade's over there pointing at me and looking at the sideline. And I was like, Hey, listen, like, I'll tell them that I don't know about this. You don't have to be the one to let them know.

Oh, man. I see Eric all just sprinting on the field. And I was like, that's my cue. Damn it. Damn. That's painful, man. That is painful. You're like, shit, I could get away with one here i can get

away with one no hell no all right we got to get you one we were talking i've been you know we've had valerian we're talking with him we told i was telling him we got to get him in the game that he's one for one passing because all he does is just run the ball when he gets in, right? So we need to get him one for – maybe it's a pass from Valari to you. Maybe that's what we need to do. I mean, I'd be down for that. Me and Danny Dimes working it out there.

Danny Dimes, baby. Danny Dimes. He said he can sling it. Does he sling it in practice? Oh, yeah. He said he can sling it. Does he sling it in practice? Oh, yeah. Yeah, Danny can sling it. So, have you seen his highlight tape? That little highlight video he's got on his Instagram?

No, I haven't. You need to watch that. Because you watch that, you're like, this guy, give him the Heisman already. You got to give him the Heisman now. It's incredible. It's incredible.'s incredible oh shit I think the guy who swings it in practice is freaking Alan Bowman I'll be just like standing there before practice like just trying to catch some passes you know warm up the hands a little bit this guy's

like firing balls at me tearing the leather off my gloves like dude I'm all right you could throw somebody else like i mean i do feel like that qb room has four like really good arms right yeah yeah they all love to just fire the ball at people it's awful i'm like 10 yards away he's like one of these. He's got to get some passes. Oh, man. That's funny. All right, Kalen, you got a question? I do, yeah. I was curious, in the tight end room,

do you guys watch any of the previous tight ends from Michigan who have kind of come through? I'm thinking like Zach Gentry, another guy who transitioned into tight ends. Not quite as much the only guy we really watch a lot is uh jake butt like we watch him a lot like a lot of his like god yeah he's a beast i mean he's a great dude too um but like a lot of his route running and stuff like that is like super technically sound, like he does everything to the book. And, uh, like, so we always watch him. Um, but like, other than that, we'll watch a lot of NFL film, uh, guys like TJ Hawkinson. Um,

like we'll watch a lot of their stuff. Cause I mean, they're pros. Like they do kind of look like, I was going to say, you're missing the beard a little bit but uh you know you got the hair for Hockinson yeah I mean I'm not gonna lie once I came to True Tight End I was like I gotta let the hair go I mean I gotta have a little lettuce hanging it's like part of the deal like papers and I get the hair so you got might need to get you on the skates too for the hockey team man come a goon yeah there you go i can do something i don't smash some people into the boards oh yeah hey they're gonna be pretty dang good this year too they've got all those

real good draft picks like crazy so oh yeah we're real Yeah. All right. I've got one more question for you. We're going back to the music. Should we officially make Pump It Up like the touchdown song? Every time you guys score, you guys play Pump It Up. Listen, that song, I brought that song to Michigan. You did? Hey, okay. Danny Dimes didn't tell us that.

Yeah. Listen, nobody wants to give away the secret but 100 that was me that song i don't know where i heard it but i was like this song is a banger and i have to take it and like so i would work out at 6 a.m uh this summer and like i go in the weight room and i throw that song on in the weight room just get myself juiced up and uh like our assistant strength coach then started playing at practice and all the dudes were getting super fired up and so like all right we gotta play this in games i was like let's go i brought this song here this is love it let's go love it love it all right we got some connections to the big house DJ.

So we'll, we'll make sure that they keep playing that for you. Yeah. I'm all about that song. All right. I think it's gotta be, I mean, I wish they would have played it after every touchdown on Saturday,

they would have played it nine times and then, you know, bumps every single time. Oh yeah. They would play that song so much. So we asked Valari, what's your thoughts on Mr. Brightside? Are you on the sideline? Are you singing along with the student section and all the fans?

Dude, I don't mind Mr. Brightside. I don't know why people hate on him. I could see you on the sideline just banging your head around, just fucking singing along. Yeah. I mean, as long as we're head-by-nose, I'll be over there jamming out too. Yeah, I mean, if we're down,

if we're down, I'm probably not going to be singing. Quietly, quietly singing. Yeah. I mean, don't ever listen to the song outside of the end of the third quarter, but it's fine.

Like, it's chill. I don't hate it. I know Jalen Mayfield hates it. I don't know about all that. I don't know. Yeah, that's your guy, Jalen. What's going on with Jalen? I don't know.

I think he's just making up lies. He's trying to play to the people. That guy was also singing Mr. Brightside on the sidelines. Oh, shit. of lies he's trying to play to the people that guy was also seeing mr brightside on the sideline all right we're gonna have to call him out on that too then all right uh well joel thank you so much for coming on we appreciate it what what do you need to plug here for yourself you got you know social media you want to plug we need to get you some sponsorships as well uh what do you what do you want to plug. We need to get you some sponsorships as well. What do you want to plug here?

Cuban links, baby. They're coming to the tight end room. I love it. Yeah. Yeah, Cuban links, dude. I need to hook up the tight ends with those. Social media, Joel underscore Honeyford 59. You can follow me on Twitter, J-A-H-O-N-I-G 59.

So other than that, I don't really have anything else. I mean, just support the kid. Love it. Love it. All right. We're supporters for sure. You're on the Blue by 90 squad now. So, you know, our following is pretty faithful here. So I think they'll be supporters of you too.

So we're all on the squad. So, hey, we appreciate you coming on, though. is pretty faithful here so i think they'll be uh they'll be they'll be supporters of you too so we're all on the squad um so hey we appreciate you coming on though thank you so much that was a fantastic interview that was a lot of fun uh great stories so um you know joel honingford huntingford huntingford huntingford huntingford all right i'll say it right yeah i'll say it right it works too only took us 50 minutes yeah right yeah exactly so um go follow him on his social media and all that um you know support him on saturdays too uh if you if you've got a sponsorship sponsorship that you're looking for somebody or if you're looking to build a tree house, call Joel. He'll make sure to either do it or get you somebody who can. And then for us too, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

at Blue by 90 podcast on YouTube. Shout out to Truly for our sponsorship here. They supply us with some beverages at the tailgate. But we appreciate you, Joel, for coming on. And we will see you guys later. Go Blue. Go Blue. I appreciate you all for having me on.

Go Blue.