One short year ago Curtice native Jordan Kovacs was told by his coaches at the halftime of the Notre Dame–Michigan football game to get ready to play because the Wolverine’s starting safety was cramping up. 

In that moment, the dream of playing in the “Big House” before a capacity crowd of over 110,000 screaming

 fans became a stark reality.  Kovacs got into the game in the second half and played almost all of the final

Michigan safety #32 Jordan Kovacs

quarter as Michigan eked out a thrilling 38-34 last-second victory over the Fighting Irish in Michigan Stadium on September 12, 2009.  Playing at the safety position in the Wolverine’s defensive backfield for the first time ever, he made it into the record books logging two solo tackles and assisting on another. 

This year Kovacs is the starting strong safety for the Wolverines.  In Michigan’s 28-24 win over the Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium last Saturday, the former 2008 Clay High School graduate, was credited with 10 tackles (six solo and four assisted). 

Kovacs also made a key interception late in the third quarter picking off a pass from Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist at mid-field and returning it 10 yards.  The interception was his first of the season.

Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez had a simple two-word response when asked during the post-game press conference about the importance of the Kovacs’ interception especially since the Michigan defense was having trouble containing Notre Dame’s quarterback.  “It's huge”

Rodriguez went on to say, “Jordan is a tough competitor.  Many of you -- the local media -- know the story about him being the student body tryout star.  He went from being a walk on guy a year ago to being our starting safety and playing at a high level every week.  I thought he made some great tackles.  He is a great physical guy.  He's a leader back there, with a whole bunch of freshmen [and] redshirt freshmen.  He kind of keeps things together.”

The reference to Kovacs being the “student body tryout star” by Rodriguez is a slight-handed compliment referring to how he shot up from virtual obscurity to the top of the depth charts for the Wolverines last year.

Just like his father, Kovacs wanted to wear the famed maize-and-blue winged helmet.  Lou Kovacs walked onto the Wolverines football team in the early 1980s and played in one game during the 1982 season.  The younger Kovacs was also a walk-on but things have turned out much differently.

Last season, Kovacs played in 12 games and started at safety in eight of them.  He saw limited special team action in the Wolverine’s home opener against Western Michigan and made his first start against Big Ten conference foe Indiana on September 26.  By the time the season ended he was the second-leading tackler on the team with 75 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one interception. 

His efforts earned him a varsity letter and a spot on the Sporting News Freshman All-Big Ten team and CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America second team.

Most importantly, head coach Rich Rodriguez made good on a promise by awarding a scholarship to Kovacs prior to the start of this year’s season.

Does Kovacs’ success surprise his former high school football coach?  Not at all.  According to Clay head coach Mike Donnelly, Kovacs was in the right place at the right time with the right attitude. 

“He works hard.  He studies hard.  He puts in the effort.” said Donnelly. 

Kovacs was lightly recruited by colleges because his size and speed were nothing out of the ordinary. 

“Sometimes you have to look beyond size and speed,” stated Donnelly. 

While attending Clay High School, Kovacs was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track and field.  In the classroom, he was a four-year honor roll member and an All-Ohio academic honoree.  As a senior he earned first-team All-District honors as a defensive back and was named to the All-Toledo City League first-teams as both a receiver and a defensive back.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed