For Michael Barrett, his Michigan football career will end working with a face that got it to begin as it was.
As a quarterback at Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes, Barrett’s primary recruiter to Ann Arbor was Chris Partridge, the Wolverines’ ace recruiter for a time, who handled the region.
Barrett was thought to be coming to Michigan as an offensive weapon,
but quickly transitioned to the defensive side of the ball, first as a defensive back, then as a linebacker.
Last year, he blossomed playing the linebacker role after having been a VIPER under Don Brown’s previous scheme,
and with Partridge coming back to the staff to coach linebackers again,
as he did in 2016-17, Barrett is finally playing directly under his primary recruiter —
something that didn’t look feasible since Partridge left the program after the 2019 season,
to be the co-defensive coordinator at Ole Miss.
So, when Barrett heard that his recruiter was coming back to town, he was very enthusiastic about the opportunity.