On Monday, quarterback Shea Patterson formally announced he had decided to transfer from Ole Miss to the University of Michigan.
— Shea Patterson (@SheaPatterson_1) December 11, 2017
Ever since news broke that Patterson was exploring his transfer options, Michigan was immediately mentioned as his likely destination. In fact, the Wolverines seemed like the only place the former No. 1 ranked prep quarterback was considering, though LSU, Florida, and UCLA were also mentioned.
Throughout the process, there was speculation from everywhere you turned but there was really never anything said by Patterson, himself. Now, he has opened up in an exclusive interview with the Toledo Blade about what exactly went into his decision to transfer to Michigan.
“I’m really not one to jump ship on anything,” the Toledo native said. “But I’m really big on setting goals and achieving them. I did that throughout high school. One of the main goals was to win a national championship. At Ole Miss, I didn’t have an opportunity to do that. Things didn’t shake out the way I planned — coach [Hugh Freeze] got fired, the two-year bowl ban. I couldn’t look back on it after college and say I never got an opportunity to play for something like that.”
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Patterson noted he was extremely impressed with the “business-like” approach the Wolverines took to practice and how “awesome” it was to meet with Wolverines head coach, Jim Harbaugh.
“I had a really good feeling around the players,” Patterson said. “How professional and business-like they were in practice really attracted me. It was just awesome meeting with coach Harbaugh. I could definitely see myself playing for someone like him.”
Now that Patterson has made the decision to transfer, the big question is, when will he actually be eligible to play? NCAA rules say transfers are required to sit out a year before playing for their new team but because of the sanctions imposed against Ole Miss, he could be granted a waiver. If granted the waiver, he would be able to play immediately.
“It’s in God’s hands,” said Patterson, who would compete with Brandon Peters and Dylan McCaffrey for the starting job. “From what I’m hearing, I’m pretty sure that I will win that and be able to play next year. If I don’t, I’ll work as hard as I can learning the offense and I’ll be playing the year after.”
If he is able to play in 2018, Patterson vows to do whatever he can to help the team to do great things.
“I knew if I went to Michigan, I’m going to be put in the best position to succeed, and I’ll grow not only as a player but as a person as well,” Patterson said. “They have a really, really good team coming back next year. Anyway I could help or contribute to that, I felt we’d have a really good shot at going far.”
Though most Michigan fans seem pretty fired up about the news of Patterson transferring to the Wolverines, it really should not be a huge surprise.
“Michigan’s always been in my blood, especially growing up in Toledo,” Patterson said. “I was a huge Michigan fan. My parents were and a lot of my relatives still are season-ticket holders. That really drew me to it.”
So, now the Wolverines and their fans must wait to find out when Patterson will be eligible to step onto the field. Once that decision is finalized, you can be sure there will be a great battle for the No. 1 spot on the depth chart.
