INDIANAPOLIS — When Michigan football recruited Mike Sainristil, Jim Harbaugh promised the two-way star that his program would prepare him for the NFL better than anywhere else.
Some five years later at the NFL Combine, Sainristil says the Wolverines accomplished that vow.
Coach Harbaugh made a promise while I was being recruited that when my time at Michigan is done, I’m gonna be prepared for the next level,” Sainristil said. “He kept that promise true and that was through every experience on the field and off the field.
“Everybody in the program, from the staff to the players, definitely helped me get prepared for this moment. Time and time again, you hear from people who have left the program: There’s no other program that’s gonna help you get ready for the NFL like Michigan would. I’m very appreciative of everything that I went through at Michigan. I’m appreciative of all the guys and all the staff that I was able to go through it with.”
Sainristil began his career at Michigan as a wide receiver, but he made the switch to defense before the 2022 season. Though he was a playmaker on offense, his star shined brightest as a cornerback, and Sainristil made some of the biggest plays in recent Michigan football history as the Wolverines won Big Ten titles and eventually a national championship.
“It happened pretty natural. Definitely one of the better cases of switching positions so late in your college career,” Sainristil said. “Shout out to Coach Harbaugh, because it was a great decision when he called me and asked me to make that switch. He definitely saw something. And I believed in him, I trusted his vision. And the mindset I had when switching defense was, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to help this team, help this defense, fill in a spot that was much needed with Dax Hill leaving.’ The transition was pretty easy. I went in there and got the playbook right away, wanted to learn as fast as possible so I could have an immediate impact.”
Have an impact he did: Sainristil was voted a captain, logged the first sack of Michigan’s 2022 season, had the unforgettable pass breakup in Columbus, added a clutch interception in the Fiesta Bowl, and then decided to return to Ann Arbor for one more year.
Last fall, Sainristil earned First Team All-Big Ten honors during a season highlighted by a pick-six against Michigan State, two forced fumbles in the Big Ten Championship Game against Iowa, and the 81-yard national championship-clinching interception against Washington.
“I can say I model what [Charles Woodson] did,” Sainristil said. “I didn’t get a chance to go back and play offense like he did. Probably if I did, I would have been in the same conversation as him.”
Woodson is a legend, but Sainristil might be selling himself a bit short, because he leaves the program as one too. Now he turns his attention toward the NFL and making his mark at the next level.
“Even though I’m not the most physically imposing looking guy, the smaller frame, the willingness I have to be able to go down there and put my pads on somebody or get myself around the ball, however that looks, that’s what I want to do,” he said. “I like the physical part of the game. You have pads on for a reason, so there’s no point of being scared. You’re protected, so use what you have and get down and get physical.”
