Michigan football: Shea Patterson’s return means Wolverines are top-5 team in preseason

It’s easy to fast-forward now that quarterback Shea Patterson has announced he’s coming back to Michigan for his senior season in 2019. That’s a wonderful thing.

But let’s do a little rewinding first. It explains a lot about his decision.

When Patterson left Ole Miss and all its messy NCAA violations, there were two decisions that had to be made. The first was his, in picking a new school. The second belonged to the NCAA, which was petitioned by Patterson — and others leaving Ole Miss — to waive the rule where transfers have to sit out a year.

So when Patterson picked Michigan in December of 2017, he did so without knowing how the NCAA would rule. They had started to allow rising seniors to transfer without sitting out, but Patterson had two years left. Those cases of “mitigating circumstances” were being reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

In other words, when Patterson came to Michigan, it was with 2019 — and not the impending 2018 season — that was first on his mind. So when the NCAA gave him a pass, being able to play this season was a bonus.

Patterson’s decision this week to stay in 2019 isn’t really a surprise. He’ll be an NFL quarterback some day, but he’s no sure-fire high first-round draft pick. Another year with coach Jim Harbaugh certainly would be helpful. That’s a viable reason to come back.

And then there’s this: The debacle at Ohio State that ended the regular season. That had a lot to do with Patterson returning.

“I’ve been thinking about it for the past month, ever since after that (Ohio State) game,” Patterson told Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News when announcing his decision.  “I just thought to myself there’s no way in hell I’m leaving this place on that note. Regardless of a draft grade, whatever the case may be, I would never end my career with an opportunity to come back with a loss to that team. That’s the one thing that has ignited me. I think one of the biggest things that impacted me coming back – one of them – was that last game in Columbus.

“I just felt we worked so hard and had such a good season leading up to that game. I was more upset that I couldn’t do enough to get us a win. I love the guys so much and let down the Michigan fan base, and I just felt like we all did that that day. That just brought a lot of emotions. Anger. I think anger was the biggest one. I hated to lose, and even more, I hated to lose to them, especially with what we had in front of us.”

Patterson’s first season at Michigan was a good one. He had 21 touchdown passes against only 5 interceptions, and helped guided the so-called “Revenge Tour” with victories over Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin that helped erase bad memories of losses from a year ago. But the 62-39 loss to Ohio State failed to complete the tour, and the season ended with a thud, without a Big Ten East title or ticket to the conference title game. A potential College Football Playoff spot disappeared, too. A 10-2 record is good, but the Wolverines wanted more.

It was a good season, but he’s wiser for coming back to Ann Arbor as opposed to being a mid-round — at best — NFL draft pick.

“I think my original plan was to come here and help the team out as much as I could,” Patterson said in the exclusive interview with the Detroit News. “The thoughts were maybe come out after one year, so I think there might have been some speculation there. At this point, I feel like everybody thinks I’m coming back. Excited to get that out there so they know.”

Patterson is the best quarterback Michigan has had in years, so it’s a wonderful thing that he’s back for another season. With his return and a solid roster in 2019, the Wolverines are going to be the favorites in the Big Ten, and a likely Playoff contender once again.

They’ll be ranked in the top-5 with the first preseason polls come out, somewhere in there along with Alabama and Georgia, possibly Clemson and a few others.

”It’s going to be fun,” Patterson said.

Tom Brew

Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.