LEGEND STATUS: Michigan DB mike sainristil will leave outstanding legacy…..
Mike Sainristil has cemented his status as a Michigan football legend
INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Sainristil took his moment and made it about the rest of his Michigan football teammates.
The U-M captain stood on the stage at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the Big Ten Championship’s MVP Trophy in hand. Joel Klatt asked about the performance that had earned him that hardware — two forced turnovers as part of a shutout by the Wolverines en route to a third-straight Big Ten title.
“Man, this MVP trophy is not for me, man,” Sainristil responded. “This is for the whole team. The work we put in this offseason, the work we consistently put in every single day. This is for all of us, man.”
It’s true Mike Sainristil couldn’t achieve what he has accomplished without the rest of his teammates, but it’s equally true that Michigan wouldn’t have achieved its own successes without Sainristil. The two-time captain has cemented itself as a U-M legend with what he has accomplished both on and off the field.
On the field, few players have made as many impactful plays. And even fewer have contributed so many big ones on offense and on defense. Everyone remembers that pass breakup in the end zone against Cade Stover and the Ohio State Buckeyes; it was one of two he had that afternoon. But he also scored his first career touchdown in that emphatic 2019 win over Notre Dame. He made a spectacular diving catch during the 2021 road win at Nebraska. He switched to defense and recorded the first sack of the season on an excellent 2022 defense.
And this year: The pick-six against Rutgers, when he flung Junior Colson off his back before taking off for the end zone. The pick-six against Michigan State, when he tiptoed the sidelines before striking the Paul Bunyan pose. The two INTs against Maryland, both important in the 1,000th victory for a historic program. How he slowed down Ohio State at nickel and then as a corner. His two forced fumbles against Iowa in the Big Ten title game to clinch a three-peat.
All of that from a player who changed his entire career mid-stream, flipping from starting at wide receiver to battling for his role on the defense to better serve the Michigan football program. And boy has that move been successful for everyone involved.
As Jim Harbaugh said in Indianapolis: “When a play has to be made, when the magic needs to happen, Mike makes it happen.”
“It’s been game after game,” he continued. “Especially down the stretch here these final four games, he has been a stalwart. He intercepts. He makes the big hit. He makes the big hit in the fumble, causes a fumble. Just an incredible player.”
But Sainristil’s legacy is not just what he has accomplished individually as a player. The Michigan defense, one of the best in the country, wouldn’t exist in its current form without Sainristil.
Last winter, the receiver-turned-corner actively recruited Josaiah Stewart — his former teammate at Everett (Mass.) High School — from Coastal Carolina to Michigan.
“That’s my recruit. I recruited him,” Sainristil told The Michigan Insider last December. “He’s a dawg. That’s my boy. I played with him in high school.”
“As soon as I seen he was in the Transfer Portal, I told Coach. I was like, ‘Coach we got a guy in the portal. Great player. I think he’d fit in the program very well.’ And they watched his film, they liked them. They trusted my word and we got him here.”
And why did Stewart choose the Wolverines over his other finalists, USC and LSU? Sainristil did a bit of persuasion to help convince him.
“I was just really telling him how it is,” he explained. “And I was just letting him know that Josaiah, if you come here, you have the opportunity to change your life. If you had 12 sacks in the Sun Belt, think about having seven plus in the Big Ten against the competition we play. Your ceiling is really high. Your future is right here your hands. Come here, come win a championship, come be a part of a legacy
“If you do anything close or anything more than what you did over there at Coastal, you’re going first round. And I was just letting him know that it’s a brotherhood here. You have coaches who will really stick their necks out there for you. The bond here we have is special, so I really want you to come be a part of this. He believed me, he came, he visited and he loved it.”
The result: Stewart was an All-Big Ten selection in 2023. He has appeared in all 13 games and could very well become a superstar next year.
Then there’s Josh Wallace, the UMass transfer who heard a similar message from Sainristil when he was considering the Wolverines.
“I had texted Josh while he was being recruited,” Sainristil recounted . “And I told him the opportunity he had. I said, ‘Look: You wouldn’t be being recruited if coaches didn’t think you could be here, one. Two, you have an opportunity to come and potentially start at corner, so take advantage of it if you do decide to come.’”
When Wallace committed to the Wolverines, and Sainristil shot him another message: “Be by my side all summer. I promise I’ll lead you in the right direction,” Sainristil told him.
The result: Wallace was an All-Big Ten selection in 2023. He forced a fumble that nearly ended the game against Ohio State and recovered a fumble in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Then there’s Keon Sabb, the sophomore thrust into a starting role earlier this season due to injuries to Rod Moore and Makari Paige. Sainristil took Sabb “under his wing,” helping to ease his transition into the role.
“Take it for what it is,” Sainristil tells the underclassmen on the U-M roster. “Don’t let the opportunity go to waste. A lot of people would do anything to be in the shoes that we are in. And you are one decision away from not even being at the school. One wrong mistake from not being at this school. So you’re here. This is what you always wanted. Take that opportunity and run with it.”
Sainristil has seized his opportunity at every step. It’s because be has done so that he’ll be in the NFL next year. And he’ll be long remembered at Michigan as a program legend.
