It was a long offseason for Aidan Hutchinson. Michigan's star defensive end fractured his leg last November in the third game of the season, a blowout loss to Indiana, and underwent surgery shortly thereafter. The injury forced him to put his NFL dreams on hold.
So you can imagine Hutchinson's excitement to get back on the field this spring after being cleared by his surgeon. And you can imagine his frustration when Michigan's coaching staff, primarily new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, decided he wouldn't be a full participant in spring practice.
"He had March 11 circled on his calendar," Chris Hutchinson's, Aidan's dad, told the Stoney & Jansen Show on Friday. "That was the day for the orthopedic surgeon to clear him 100 percent for activity, which they did. But quickly thereafter the athletic trainer had to tell Aidan that, 'Unfortunately, the coaches are not going to release you for complete competition.'
"Needless to say, the competitive Aidan was not very happy about that. I think he and the trainer may have had an interesting interaction, if you will. Ultimately it was Macdonald's choice. Aidan and Macdonald had to talk about the decision and Macdonald is quite aware that Aidan wanted to play and he said, 'Listen, we're going to let you do some things.'"
To that end, Chris said Hutchinson is taking one-on-one pass-rushing reps and doing "all the individual drills" and "some half-line, base-blocking things."
"But as far as full-team periods, (Macdonald) is like, 'I realize that you are cleared, but you're too valuable to this team to have some freshman offensive lineman trip and fall on your ankle and then hurt your chances for next year,'" Chris said. "While Aidan understood that, when you want to play ball it's a kick in the gut when somebody says you can't."
Chris added that Hutchinson "isn't really going to do much" in the spring game, which takes place Saturday.
If Hutchinson isn't in love with starting the year on the sidelines, he's optimistic about Macdonald's defense.
"He's been very excited about the pass-rushing stuff that he was able to do," said Chris, a three-year captain and All-American defensive lineman at Michigan in the early '90s. "And he understands that his job is to lead, which he's doing from the sideline right now, and his job is to help this defense achieve things that we hope they can achieve next year."
Harbaugh hired Macdonald from the Ravens to replace Don Brown after Michigan finished 95th in country in scoring defense last season. So far, Chris said Hutchinson "likes the change and the difference" in Macdonald's scheme.
"He is excited about some of the differences in this defense versus Don Brown. Clearly they're still going to blitz and that's one of their cornerstones, but it's going to be little bit different," Chris said. "Some of those things that Aidan got frustrated with in the previous defense, I think those things have been dealt with. Only time will tell. Every time a new regime comes in, it's all positive talk, but we gotta see what happens on the field and how these kids put it together. Hopefully the coaches can impart a fundamental game where they can tackle like they're supposed to and put these kids in position to make them successful."
For Hutchinson, arguably the most dynamic player on Michigan's defense, that will likely mean lining up in various positions.
"He's now a senior, he now has a skillset that he can do a lot of things, so they're going to move him around," Chris said. "Aidan realizes that he is going to be a marquee piece in this defense and they're going to put him in specific matchups in individual games that are going to benefit the team. He may line up in the base defense here, but depending on who we're playing and what their weaknesses are, he may move anywhere. He's aware of that, he's excited about that."
And mostly excited to get back in the mix.
