NM’s Stewart heading into senior season with highly touted Michigan Wolverines

By Brendan Samuels
LocalSportsJournal.com

ANN ARBOR–Noah Stewart hasn’t even considered playing any other position than offensive line since he was a member of the North Muskegon football program.

Even then, the possibility of Stewart swapping to tight end was just something the Norse coaching staff toyed with. Now, Stewart is a senior at the University of Michigan and that possibility became something very real for him.

At least for about two weeks or so.

“In spring ball, Coach (Jim) Harbaugh pulled me aside and said ‘hey, we’ve got a lot of offensive tackles coming in, so we want to move you to tight end and see if we can get you on the field there,’” Stewart recalled. “I loved getting to play that position, but then we had some injuries so I was moved back to tackle after a few weeks.”

Photo/Jake Szetela

Stewart’s 6-7, 292-pound frame would’ve made for an impressive blocking tight end on the edge of the line, but that just wasn’t how the cards fell. Still, the opportunity to take on a new position and learn has done nothing but increase Stewart’s knowledge of the Wolverine’s offense.

That started with opening up the playbook and having to memorize an additional 80 percent of information he’d never seen before. Quickly Stewart went from only worrying about the defensive line and the stances they were in to watching shifts, pass concepts and formations.

“I’ve been playing football since I was 10 and I’ve never learned that stuff,” Stewart laughed. “It was a change of pace and it took a lot of late nights trying to remember it all.

“It was kind of funny. We had two weeks off for spring break during our spring ball period and when we came back, I showed up for practice and started looking for my No. 33 tight end jersey. I couldn’t find it, so I looked down the line and saw No. 61 and said ‘Oh shoot, guess we’re back at tackle.’ That was my brief stint at tight end.”

Noah Stewart with his parents Mike and Kerri Stewart (Photo/Leo Valdez)

That was the case as Stewart approached his tight end coach and asked what was going on. Injuries had forced the staff to keep Stewart at his natural position, but the information he gained was invaluable.

Paying attention to what the tight end position has to do is something that Stewart can’t shake, even when he’s on the field as a tackle. When there’s something that goes wrong, he’s the first to understand what it was and now has additional information to help him correct it.

“Usually with our plays, I’ll just look at what the O-line has to do,” Stewart said. “But now, I’ll look around and understand that the tight end has to do this, this and this. A lot of times when you have a missed assignment there’s more you can pick up on. Now I understand what the responsibility is for that position, I’ll know what they’re doing and where they’ll be. It helps a lot.”

That knowledge is something that’s also thrust him into a bit of a leadership role. Oftentimes he’ll find himself practicing with the younger group of tight ends and coaching them up on what they need to do.

Regardless of which position he’s at, there’s only one thing on Stewart’s mind and that’s elevating the Michigan football program to new heights. As a member of the current squad, he’s had the chance to experience some big games.

The Wolverines are back-to-back B1G conference champs, own a few significant wins over bugaboo rival Ohio State and have made the College Football Playoff the last two seasons. With all that success, they have yet to advance to a National Championship appearance, something Stewart thinks will change this year.

“In the Spring of 2021, there was a huge mentality shift here where guys started showing up more,” Stewart said. “It went from feeling like a job to becoming exciting and fun being at practice. That new life has carried over into last year and this year. The best way to put it is, it’s a fun and violent environment to be around.

“This year we’re a lot more mature as an offense and we’re returning most of our starters on the line. We’re all playing really good football right now and it’s going to be fun to watch on Saturdays.”

Stewart and the Wolverines kick off their 2023 season on Sept. 2 when they host East Carolina at The Big House.