Michigan Football Quarterback Battle | Davis Warren | The L.A.B.

Intro all right welcome into another episode of the lab presented by Wolverine and why not finish the quarterback Carousel it's the conversation you guys have been dying to hear about you've been talking about it around the clock throughout Camp so we're bringing in one of the guys in the heat of that quarterback battle Davis Warren and Davis we were talking a little bit pre-show you guys are in the thick of Camp uh I think Camp is almost over I just want to kind of give you the floor a little bit to update us on where you're at with things how you're feeling and is it has no State time yet or you still competing against your defense yeah well thanks for having me this is uh fun to be on and and yeah it is it is now it is true Fresno State uh it got done today with the last day of true kind of Michigan on Michigan good on good uh type type stuff and you know you do that for four weeks you kind of get tired of going up against the same guys and things like that and I think we're ready more than anything to just kind of all eyes on Fresno and kind of put all of our attention to that get get a little more ahead than we normally would in a given game week and man just just see be start watching film with someone else and really getting to know them and and the challenges they bring and then just be ready to go kind of let it all fly next Saturday are are you ready like I mean I just the journey you've taken and and now you know really just in the thick of this quarterback battle just just tell us where you're at mentally physically uh at this point in your career getting ready for Fresno State really for the whole season yeah I mean I'm I'm as as ready as I've ever been I mean I knew kind of coming into this camp that it was going to be a grind uh just as much honestly just as much even more mentally than physically like just being to be having to be on all the time and like you know like being in Camp like there's really no off time like you're going pretty much 247 you feel like your brain's on football all the time and I think Coach Moore has done a good job of as we've got closer kind of physically bringing things down a little bit kind of getting guys ready uh especially those guys in the trenches kind of freshening them up as we get closer to game time but for for us quarterbacks it's it's all systems go mentally all the time and I think that's something Coach Campbell stresses and he probably talked about it on on on Big 10 but just like whatever day it is like this is the best day of the year so whether it's the Monday of the first day of Spring ball or we talk about it all the time as a team like preparing like it's the Thursday the Friday and then the game day of Ohio State like it's the best that day of the year so whether it's the Tuesday the Wednesday and he says that before every practice like practice walk through hey this we're going to make this one the best one of the year and I think having to take that approach every single day just prepares us for when you go out there on Saturday it makes it feel that much easier and I think all the guys last year felt that as hey like what you end up in practice is harder than what you're going to face in the game and and I think the same thing especially with this defense like the same thing applies so U man I'm I'm I'm more than ready to uh to get out there and and uh you know go get out to the Fresno State yeah I do want to talk to you in a second about the defense um but before we get there you know during my time at Michigan uh the first two years that coach harball got there like I we we we had quarterback battles going on between Shane Morris and Jake rudock and then Shane Morris John oorn and Wilton spay and uh you brought up a point of like how you feel you have to be on like every day is your best day and um like look we we have nothing to reveal like I know you guys don't know who the starter is going to be there's like no hidden agenda here but it is really interesting to me and I'd love to hear your perspective on this kind of the challenges of having to be on every day and hey if you're the you're gonna have good days and bad days regardless because that's football you never always win uh but if you're the starter there's less pressure you just have a bad day and you say great I'm going to learn Quarterback Battle from it but now you're in this battle and it's easy to maybe over complicate some of that process how are you dealing with that mental side of this Camp yeah I think for me um like like you said like the QB battle like you feel like you're getting scrutinized and looked at all the time like whether whatever it is like it's just you feel like it's always whether it's routes on air whether it's seven on seven team reps two minute whatever um and I think something that I've stayed true to and actually me and Alex have talked about is like just knowing your why um and like why you do this and for me like my journey what I've been through um and kind of how I got to Michigan um I know what my why is and that's kids that are in children's hospitals fighting cancer like every day and I mean that like sincerely like when I'm not feeling up for it or man I'm not feeling great today or I'm tired or my mentally I'm fatigued like I remind myself of where I've been and where some kids are who are still fighting their battles um and that just motivates me to push through whatever it is that I'm dealing with and I think a little bit for me that's my exactor like I have the perspective to be like no like screw being tired screw whatever like there are people going through way worse right now than this um I've been through way worse than this and when I was in that moment in that hospital room dealing with it the only thing I wanted to do was be back out be healthy and and do the things that I love to do um and so that just get reminded of that um and it's just allowed me to really just play free and and just take it every day at a time of like hey today this is my opportunity to to be the best version of myself and I think so far I've been doing a really good job of that yeah that that perspective is huge and and I I'd imagine probably a lot of Michigan fans know your story uh probably a lot of our viewers know your story but maybe there's a chance that some don't or maybe you know some don't know the full context and man if if you could take a second and kind of you know lay out what you have had to overcome and what that Journey's been like to get here yeah yeah so kind of Spark Notes version of Davis' Story it but uh yeah grew up Southern California and uh played you know freshman sophomore junior high school kind of played well um you had Talent was a little weren't you a four-star recruit I don't know like people have this like thing like oh he's a high super highly rate I wouldn't say I was I was never like a highly rated like super highly rated the podcast is brought to you by Wolverine boots and apparel which represents that blue work ethic whenever and wherever it shows up whether that's on a job site or on the football field and uh really cool chance to say thank you to our sponsors Wolverine this is a limited edition as you guys I'm G to try to get it right here for you guys you can see it limited edition work boots it is called the Thousand Mile boot commemorative really chance to reflect on team 144 obviously you can see the blue leather you got the stitching right here the Block M right here in the middle uh so there's a ton of details of course that represent just a really Quality Boot they smell great they feel great in your hands um and it's a chance to you know reflect as we're on the precipice of a new season reflect on the principles that represent Wolverine and that represent the Wolverine football team uh that allowed that team last year to go 15-0 to win the Big 10 title to win the national title uh do something that had never been done in Michigan history which is 15 wins in a season so uh want to take a chance say thank you to our sponsor to Wolverine to let you guys know about this limited edition boot uh really represents perfectly the community uh the brand Wolverine and and you guys as part of our fan base as well so uh chance for you guys to get your hands on it uh you can head over to wolverine.com bler I mean um I knew I had a ton of talent and could play at a high level um my junior my junior high school my team we went triple option Veer style system seriously okay which kind of hampered a little bit and then we actually one game was like we were weren't playing very well and the coach just said screw it we just ran our two-minute offense which was like all spread the rest of the game we scored a couple touchdowns and think I had like 300 350 passing yards and um so we did that a little more the rest of the season which um was huge which I needed uh because I needed game film and stuff like that but I was getting recruited by you know kind of some smaller some FBS schools Ivy League schools um you know some some power FES some initial interest um but nothing like major um and then in the spring of my junior year got diagnosed with leukemia and you know hard to really I could write a book on kind of how that felt and that whole situation for me and how I had to deal with it but pretty much you know woke up one morning went to my 6 a.m. workout and a weight that I would normally lift in that kind of progression in the weight room I I I couldn't even do the warm-up rep of it like I couldn't even lift the 135 pound bar like off the ground like it it was just like and I had to sit down I was dizzy lightheaded and I just knew that something was off um and that night my dad took me to the Urgent Care and before I knew it I was at Children's hosital to Los Angeles and sitting in a bed at 2: in the morning and doctor comes in and tells you have leukemia uh and that just puts a lot of things in perspective for you of like what's really important and um redefined a lot of things for me uh and I think I didn't it didn't really sink in until like you know you get diagnosed you're in the urgent care or the emergency room kind of down below and then they're like all right now we're going to take you up to like your hospital room and they literally like forced me to get in a wheelchair and I was like that was when it really sunk in for me like oh like you know I was no sicker the day before than the day that I got diagnosed but you feel different right wow um so then they pretty much by the end of the weekend uh found out that I had acute myo leukemia which is didn't find out till later but it's it's only five to eight months of treatment as opposed to the other form which is much more common which is three years uh but the survival rate is significantly lower um but I really just the only thing I could say like about that whole experience is just I was so blessed and so lucky um that I everything that pretty much happened from when I got diagnosed to when I rang the bell in mid August went exactly how it was supposed to um hit every deadline every Milestone you know didn't have a ton of huge hiccups along the way and the biggest thing that I've learned since then is just how many kids don't get that story and don't get to tell the story that I'm telling um so I just super grateful and lucky and uh ended up kind of long story short playing in a football game in mid- October at about 155 maybe 60 pounds uh still had my hair growing back and uh played a couple weeks and then my platelet count wasn't high enough so couldn't play and then was drinking Papaya juice to try to up my platelets to play in the last game of the year and got to play in that one um and so yeah it was it was a really just kind of surreal experience I still look back on it and I'm like w that really did happen but I think the biggest thing since I've come to Michigan is just being able to get back and use my platform to inspire their kids and it's it makes really has helped me come to peace with my journey and my story and I've realized that how much joy and and hope it can give to other kids so uh it's been really special yeah well I appreciate you sharing that and and you know it can be a bit like almost deceiving in a sense you know how great you look and and all the story you know the the story of the competition you're in right now and uh I appreciate you kind of revisiting that and sharing it because it is important and you talk about I mean perspective of saying hey I want to play football again but you mentioned the the survival rate and I I'd imagine you know you weren't even thinking about football at some points right like the weirdest part was that like I actually kind of was like I one of the first questions like I'm I've said this before and like very naive of me to think that like I at the time I didn't realize like what Childhood Cancer was like the only thing I knew about it was stuff that you see on a ESPN game day piece or something like that and you never think like oh that would never happen to me and then you're s in that chair and you realize that's you but in my naive head at the time one of the first questions I asked doctor was like so how quickly can I play football again because I heard five to eight months I thought at that point it was March 21st I thought you know April May June July August five months be back on the field by October uh literally the day that I circled in my calendar of like yeah I'm G to play in this game like it ended up happening um and I think and I literally truly just super blessed because like I said there are so many kids who don't don't have that experience and don't get that that opportunity and um you know I just never I never forget that and lose track of that and I I do truly feel like it's an X Factor for me and I tell kids that all the time too that are going through it of like you know these kids that are missing school or feel like they're behind in their lives or in their development because they're going through treatment but it's like hey like this is going to make you 10 times stronger 10 times tougher 10 times more resilient 10 times happier than anyone else like I I don't feel like I wake up and have a bad day like it just yeah so it's it's um I'm just super blessed and now to be able to be in the position of you know to to be the starting quarterback of Michigan it's it's a really special thing you know it's like uh like we think of like wisdom is like that the old man with like gray hair and a beard and like all that symbolizes like a long life so they're full of experience you know and like you know going through that at such a young age and you know you mentioned you spent a ton ton of time at moths with these kids that are maybe some of them even younger than you were going through uh you know their different battles and it's just like my goodness that experience so um I got to ask you though so when you get back there in in October were they still running the triple option where they're like all righto scho a new school so the other like Cave of that is I switched schools went somewhere else and it up working out way better for me we were running all sorts of drop back and cut it loose so good deal didn't didn't forget how to throw the ball thank God I was I actually the last during like my last round of treatment like I was was doing whatever I could in the hospital like I was in Fall Camp there five and a half months of five months of treatment I was in there for probably four and a half of the five like I was pretty much in the hospital the whole time and uh getting on the bike or you know doing laps around the hospital or and then as I got into the last round of treatment I remember texting my quarterback coach like so how do I like get my arm back to and and I could only do so much because of like blood counts but I would play catch with my dad in the in the garden and stuff like that so uh it was and and I think that played a big role me I always tell kids like hey whatever you can do to like make yourself like the best medicine obviously the doctors have their own thing but like a little bit of sweat a little bit of smiles yeah getting that heart rate up a little bit if you can do that safely like man that's that's priceless yeah I mean Coach Harbaugh would always say like the medicine's on the field too right like you know get he's not wrong he's not wrong at all so he's he's certainly right to an extent and uh it's it's it's definitely beneficial to like you know have a reason to wake up and then then it comes full circle like you're saying right now in some of those tough days in Camp when I man there there's a lot of long days T days where you're tired mentally tired you can kind of you know go back to that place and say wait a second I I there was times when I said boy do I just wish I had another chance and here you are doing it so hit it right the head yeah so like I I guess you know to that point here you are and one of the bigger challenges is at least watch and practice the other day is is you're going against this this wink marale defense and that defensive line is tough and will Johnson's there at corner and you know the secondary is deep as well um it forces you to be at your best every single day uh you know what is it true it's easy to be like yeah of course like that's what a great Advantage Michigan gets to play against one of the best defenses every day in practice like do do you feel you're growing from playing such a challenging defense you know throughout camp and throughout Spring ball I think without a doubt um I I definitely think in Spring uh we we probably I think at fall Camp we've kind of we kind of turned a corner a little bit and started and you know kind of figuring dialing things in a little bit more and figuring things out and and just being more precise and and uh you know definitely you know gave them a run for their money I think in the spring they probably gave us a little more of a run for our money but it's always a backup forth and like right I I never felt like there was a time where we were overwhelmed um by by what they were doing and what they were but I will say this like my freshman year was uh Mike McDonald and and he brought a totally different system than that was there in the past and I think it helped our team as a whole just being able to get used to different ton of different looks and different coverages and different schemes and then he leaves and and Jesse men kind of brings in a and has the exact same system pretty much and just having to prepare for all different types of looks and coverages and I mean there's nothing that we see on Satur on a Saturday last year that we didn't see in the spring or fall Camp yeah just the just the varied style of of defenses that they want to play and then wink comes in and as the you know kind of the grandfather of that system and does sort of the same stuff um and obviously has a ton of new wrinkles and different things in there too and and so there's nothing that we haven't seen and I think that just dials us all into hey we're not just used to this one rule in our offense we're used to every rule so then when we play or we look at Fresno or we look at Texas or we look at Ohio State or whoever we're like yeah we've seen that we know how to deal with that we know what works for us that's gonna beat that that defense or it's going to give us the best you know an advantageous look to to go make a play uh and I think just like you said dayto day I mean you really have to be on uh with the protections I think that's the first thing like Coach Campbell talks about getting up to the line of scrimmage and just having that checklist of things you got to hit as a quarterback to make sure you're ready to even snap the football and be included into protection be included into what the O Line's doing be included into how the routs adjust to certain coverages like you gotta be on and then and then you got to go out there and execute it you got to go out there you got to take the proper drop you gotta you know maybe escape a rusher here or there and and you got to put the ball in a spot where only your guy can get it and trust me this defense they give up no easy yards so you feel like you got to earn everything and it just makes us better and I think makes us all more prepared for for you know the things that we're going to face come October November December I just think that's that's the part of this battle that is is such an important factor that maybe isn't getting discussed enough is like the mental side of this and I I even go back to you know JJ's progression and from everything I understand you know what when JJ was ble to make a a huge leap it was mentally what he was able to do and you know we talked to Coach Campbell about this in the spring just having JJ become very familiar with the protections know it the way the o line knows it see it before it happens having JJ be aware of uh the way coverages get rolled know it and see it before it happens you should be a step ahead and now that's kind of what you're alluding to in your own process right now and it even comes full circle when you think about the wink Martin that picture Chang is post Snap what you see pre snap so you have so you you really have to be dialed into these cues um is that kind of as you as you think about your own game and and your own strengths would you say the mental side is one of your strongest points or kind of how do you view yourself as a quarterback what you bring to the table Yeah I think for me like that's a huge part of my game uh being able to process information super quickly and I think I think it goes back to even like my freshman year like me and you know you know I know K kade's gone now but um you know me and him I used to sit in with him I mean he was the upper class guy at the time and I used to sit with him every night after practice two three hours we'd sit and watch film with the opponent Monday Tuesday Wednesday every week and I I wasn't even close to touching the field I was scout team you know through and through but I knew that that was important for me to learn and I learned so much from him then about how to watch film how to prepare how to be a veteran um how to CD defenses and then Coach Campbell comes in and you know K kind of leaves the picture and and Coach Campbell just adds another you know Kate added three layers Coach Campbell added 10 layers to that and my understanding of defenses and and how things happen and and you got to see all 11 as a quarterback and I feel like that's something that I'm able to do well you gotta and and but the reality is like coach gamble says you can only see so many guys at once and you got to feel the rest of them um and he's done such a good job for us and and it it wasn't like you know it didn't just happen like I definitely had to work at it in terms of how coach Campell was trying to teach us but then me and JJ kind of going through that together as Coach Campbell became the quarterback's coach and and really put a system in place for us to understand what the defenses were doing and um kind of me and JJ going through at the same time and then seeing him going out and executing that last year um it was super fun to see but at the same time I'm sitting there and I'm like man like I can do this I can I can I'm seeing what J JC and I'm I'm I'm feeling that out I know how this is going and obviously me and JJ are at different points in our journey and um it wasn't my time yet but I felt like coming into the spring I was super excited just for the opportunity to be like show like hey I can do this and I can do this at a high level consistently over and over and over again make the right read make the right decision um keep our offense moving forward Coach Campbell always talks about it like not only do you have to move the chains and keep the offense moving but you got to put the ball in the end zone mhm and I think the red Zone's like the best example of that cuz the windows get tighter things happen even quicker the defenses get more crazy you know the the field gets you know shrunken down and and you got to be super precise with how you do things and so that's definitely a part of my game that I hang my hat on and and I think the way that Coach Campbell has built it for us and and the way that I see it happening like I I'm prepared for whatever a defense throws at us and wink has really helped me with that because we don't know what going to bring today like we don't know the new Blitz or the new thing that he's going to do for us today but you stick to your rules and you and you stick to you know key in you know what we talk about in the quarterback room and and then it pays off and I think that's something this fall camp that I've done a great job of and and it's fun to see it pay off because then the guys in the receiver room they trust you and they see and they know they know like hey like this I know I'm gonna get the ball in this look and or yeah man maybe before I didn't know I might just be this guy but oh man I'm going to get the ball here and you know and everyone's just working on on the same page and you establish that camaraderie amongst the guys and and then everyone plays a little bit harder and strains that little extra half second to to make things happen it's been fun to see it pay off yeah those mental reps are key too man just like and it's a lesson to the young guys maybe maybe some young viewers are watching this like I remember when I tore my ACL like going into my sophomore year and like you can't practice but like I I think I Wide Receiver Group actually got made some of the most progress that year by I izing what I should do without having been able to actually do it and it's amazing when you're in it your your perspective is limited a theme we're talking about when you're out there you can see the full picture and you you miss some things when you're when you're repping it you know what I mean totally and I think last year like being hurt and just taking that backseat look and being able to have that kind of balcony view like we talk about of the offense and and all that like I I got so much better and it helped me so much that mental side and and then going into spring it kind of kind of showing off a little bit and then even more as we got to Camp it's been it's been because then because like I mean you know all you do when you're hurt is thinking about it right like I couldn't sleep some nights because I'm just thinking about man I can do this like I I still have this in me like I know I have it right and then you don't get to do it and then that opportunity comes and you're like yeah like and that's the best feeling in the world when you're like you're out there and it's and it's working and things are clicking you're like yeah I I can do this like this is I belong here and uh that's something that I feel like has has showed itself in the spring and and here in Fall camp and I'm excited to you know show it in the big house yeah man we're excited to watch you and I I know these next kind of what 10 days right I mean we're we're about under two weeks out are going to be really really exciting for you and for the team and uh you know we know you got to get going here soon but I'd love to just ask you from your perspective too uh we're going to be introducing some new pass catchers as well I mean we know Tyler Morris took the shallow down the sideline we know colon Ln uh but just kind of getting to know the rest of these guys in this group like what's up in like for you have you built a connection have you seen some guys step up is there anything you can you know share with us about receiver group yeah I think even I think it's even started in Spring like in the same way that I had something to prove because you know in the past JJ's been was operating at a high level for us as a quarterback room there's so many other guys on the whole offense that feel the exact same way there's an offensive coordinator who feels the exact same way there's a head coach who feels the exact same way there's a head strength coach who feels the exact same way in our building right now like they watched it happen and now they're in this role um so I think in terms of just the offense I mean I mean you guys I mean you know Coulson like you said you know Tyler um and donno and and kle and those guys are going to make a ton of plays for us but you know Marlin's Marlin's had a great Camp Max he's he's been you know kicking butt out there and and just going to see more of him he's he's a great football player and and sets really sets the tone for yeah for our offense and then you know guys like Fred Moore guys like pton o Payton's had a great camp and and been dialed in and me and him are roommates so we have a special connection where we always know where we're going to be and and I know I can you know Look to Him and trust him and then even guys like amaran Walker and and uh you know Kendrick bell comes back he's you know obviously a lot of the Michigan fans know his name but they've all just stepped up and and taking our offense to another level and um they have and I think they trust what coach Campbell's doing and and like in the same way that I'm going up against the whole defense every day like they get will every day yeah you know they get to go against will Johnson every single day and Pon gets to go against mcari page every single day and it it just helps everyone so I think I'm really excited to see what they do when they're not going up against will Johnson you know and when they get to you know really you know we get to open things up and just cut it loose and I think that's been my message to them is just man just play play free we'll keep Venia the rock you know there's only one ball so it can only go to one man every single play but um just stay alive for me and and plays will get made and and I think Michigan fans are going to be really excited when when these guys come out here like you said 10 days and man just make make plays and and play football at a really high level what a beautiful thing to because you you say hey something to prove what a beautiful team what what what a beautiful thing for the team to be coming off of 15-0 National Title season so you know what winning looks like but you still got a group of guys that are hungry with something to prove like that does feel like a recipe for Success you know what I mean totally I think man everyone like I think everyone has a little chip on their shoulder of like wanting to prove something seeing it happen and then wanting to make it happen again and like you know people say like oh like Maddie hangover this that like I think it's the exact opposite for us like man this is a Super Hunger group on offense and on defense and like like I said like it it's and I think that's the really cool part is like it's almost Universal across at least the offensive side of the ball of like guys having to step up and so we're all kind of going through the same thing everyone obviously going through Growing Pains here and there but like we're all in the same spot of hey like this is our opportunity like this is on it's on each of us now individually and then as a group to to make this happen and I think like that's something Coach Campbell said like the first day of Spring ball he was like just so you guys know like jjj's not gonna be out there today Trevor Keegan's not gonna be out there today Blake corm Zack zener you know Cornelius Johnson Roman and those were guys who had been there since I was a freshman like those three foury year guys who had been starters been played a big role that's doesn't happen very much in college football so yeah there's been a lot of guys just like me just working behind the scenes um you know waiting for their opportunity and I think it's going to be it's going to be really exciting when it when it all starts to kind of get the snowball rolling yeah I can't wait to watch man and and what a great opportunity too I mean Fresno State is a dangerous ball Club I mean there'll be no overlooking them and their their coach Jeff Tedford just retired for health reasons those guys are going to be playing really hard of course Texas to the big house so uh no time to wait man and uh we'll get to find out about you and the team here early in the season so uh Hey man congrats another camp in the books you know you're on your own two feet uh that that's a blessing as you know in and of itself so it was great to see you here these past few days and uh really looking forward to to uh seeing you kick off the season here coming up next weekend man so thanks so much for joining us yeah thanks for having me appreciate it Jake appreciate it all right guys thanks so much for tuning in to the lab presented by Wolverine we'll see you guys next episode