Why Colston Loveland is glad he came to Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Idaho isn’t exactly a hotbed of college football talent. Though, many who are talented end up going to the flagship in-state school, Boise State.
Gooding, Idaho native, Colston Loveland, did manage to rise above the pack, rated a four-star recruit, the top player in the state, and the No. 10 tight end in the country in the 2022 class. He had an offer from the Broncos in Boise, but also got the attention of Alabama, Auburn, and LSU, with the three SEC powerhouses issuing him an offer.
As he was starting to get going, coming off of his sophomore year when he was still primarily a wide receiver, the tight end was concerned that perhaps he would go unnoticed — that is, until Idaho State came calling.
Then, Utah State and Nevada offered on the same day, Utah came in two weeks later, Oregon State a week after that, Arizona State a week after that, and it just snowballed.
By the following spring, Loveland had some of the nation’s most coveted offers. But he wasn’t sure that they would come in at one point.
“Yeah, that was a worry for sure,” Loveland said. “Because growing up, I’d seen a lot of talent, actually, in my school, and Idaho, in general, kind of gets looked over. So it was a little bit of a worry. But you know, people ahead of me have preached: if you’re good, people will find you. So it’s kind of what I stuck with.”
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But why did he choose Michigan? After all, Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide offered him a full month beforehand. For Loveland, there was something special brewing in Ann Arbor, he could feel — and after his official visit in June of 2021, he decided to make it official that he was going to be a Wolverine on the 4th of July.
“Obviously, academics is great,” Loveland said. “And when I came here my visit, just the culture felt right and all the players that I met, and obviously the staff and coaches, they were all like something special’s here. And ever since I came, it exceeded my expectations. Everyone here is — just the staff and the players are super great. And we’ve got a bond like I really I’ve never seen anywhere else, like all my visits, especially. It’s super, super cool. And I’m glad I came.”
His decision seems to be paying off. Usually, a team coming off of a Big Ten Championship and a College Football Playoff appearance doesn’t have a lot of room for freshmen to be early contributors. That’s especially true at Michigan, given that both starters at his position — Erick All and Luke Schoonmaker — both returned. But through four games, Loveland has seen 81 snaps, and his role hasn’t really diminished, despite the Wolverines entering Big Ten play.
In fact, while he didn’t have a catch in the Week 4 game against Maryland, he did have what can be considered the game-winning play, recovering an onside kick by the Terps, which could have given Maryland an opportunity to tie or win outright if they had recovered.
Loveland knows the honor bestowed upon him by the coaches, giving that they put him out there in a pivotal position during a pivotal time in the game. It was made all the better when his teammates surrounded him after he made the game-saving play.
“Just super blessed to be put in that position, honestly,” Loveland said. “I had the trust of the coaches and seeing it lined up, had a good idea was coming to me and luckily got ahold of it. Yeah, it was just a pretty, pretty awesome experience for sure.
“Now all the guys, obviously, celebrating with me, that’s huge. Love the guys.”
Through four games, Loveland has four catches for 33 yards. With All being out with an undisclosed injury this past week, should he remain sidelined, his snap count could grow in the coming weeks, especially against tougher defenses like Iowa and Penn State forthcoming.
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