For Michigan quarterback Davis Warren, supporting Charles Woodson's clinical research fund is personal. Warren, who is entering his fourth season with the Wolverines, was diagnosed with leukemia in high school, a moment that changed the trajectory of his football career.
On Friday morning, Warren participated in "Golf on Main," a charity event at Travis Pointe Country Club. He spent much of his morning posing for photos with participants and practicing with a young patient from C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, whose ceremonial first putt began the day's friendly competition.
"For me personally with my story, I know what my 'why' is. I know what it is," Warren told The Michigan Insider. "It's kids who I meet in the hospital. It's making a difference in those communities. And every time I go visit kids or participate in events like this, it's just a really special thing to be able to give back and not only put smiles on kids' faces when you're in the hospital, but also raising money to put an end to cancer, especially in children. That's something that's very near and dear to my heart. And Charles feels that same way.
"Even last night talking to people from Mott and doctors and researchers, all these people talking about, 'Hey, this really does make a difference.' It jumpstarts things that change kids' lives and change people's lives. That's just a special thing to be a part of, and I'm happy to be here."
Warren's cancer went into remission, and he earned a spot on the Michigan football team as a walk-on in 2021. Three years later (and now on scholarship), he is among the candidates forthe Wolverines' starting quarterback role, which remains very much up for grabs.Like Alex Orji and Jayden Denegal, Warren has limited in-game experience. ButWarren has repeatedlyflashed during Spring Games —including136 passing yards and two long touchdowns leading his team to victory in April 2024.
Warren joined Sam Webb and The Michigan Insider crew on Friday to discuss all that and more. Here's what he said:
Davis Warren on his 2024 Spring Game performance:
We talk about it all the time in the room: Whatever day it is, we're going to have the best day of the year. Whether it's a Monday, whether it's a Wednesday, whether it's a Saturday in the Big House, whatever it is. Coach Campbell stresses: This is going to be our best Tuesday of the year, or whatever it is, our best Saturday of the year.
I pride myself on consistency and going out there every single practice and earning the respect of the guys. That was a big goal of mine this spring is earn the guys' respect, have them be able to trust me when we go out on that field, because that's a huge part of playing quarterback is you're leading this offense, you're leading this team.
I just tried to show that each and every day, and the Spring Game, I think was a was a good example of that. And just something that we just pride ourselves on as quarterbacks and want to keep rolling as we get into the fall.
Davis Warren on how he's grown as a quarterback:
More reps and getting those reps with the ones against the first defense was huge.
That defense is stout and going against them every day. Coach Harbaugh, he came up to me at the Pro Day and was like: 'Hey, as long as you guys hang with them in the spring, you guys will be just fine.'
And that's something that I've kind of taken. Did we win every play against the defense? No, but we wonour fair share. And it was every single day we knew we were going out there, we had to put our 'A' game out there because they were bringing their game every single day.
That's something that's been a theme of my career at Michigan. And it's just going to keep being the case of those practice reps in the spring, in the fall, and then on Tuesdays is really a day where we have good amount of good-on-good in the season. Those are harder than the games. That'sthehardest part of the week.
So keep that thing going. And it's clearly worked. We know what the blueprint is and we're just going to keep it going.
Davis Warren on his success against pressure in the Spring Game:
That goes back to the defense, whether it was Mac, whether it was Minter, whether it was Coach Wink now.
They're willing to bring pressure and they're willing to show different looks to us. And they present a variety of things in practice that we need to be prepared for. And that's something that I've gotten used to. And we do a great job.
Our O-line does a great job giving me time and protecting what we can. Sometimes they bring more than we have blocking, and that means we've got an extra guy on the route. That's when we really got to take advantage of those opportunities and make our defense pay but really, in the fall, make other teams pay for trying to bring pressure and do different things.
Because when we're going to throw the ball, we want to be efficient. And the blitz is a great opportunity for us to take advantage of numbers.
Davis Warren on the Michigan QB competition and the tight-knit QB room:
100%. Alex, Jayden, Jadyn, Jack. We've got a lot of the same names in there.
We're just such a tight group. And we all feed off each other and we're all trying to push each other, make each other better. And whether it's a small thing of just being like, 'Hey, good ball there,' when it was a good ball. 'Yeah, that was a rip. Way to cut it loose.'
When someone eats, everyone eats. And then off the field, we're all really close. Coach Campbell has done such a good job of making us all feel like we're in this together.
It's hard. Quarterbacks naturally are hyper competitive guys. We're that top of the food chain, trying to apex predator, trying to be the best.
Coach Campbell's done a great job of that. And it takes all of us, though. Even when Jadyn is coming in the room as a freshman, that's something we stress early: Listen, this is a tight-knit group. This is not like other QB rooms. And Jadyn has done a great job of of meshing into that.
Even Jack [Tuttle], when Jack came in, he had been in a couple of different QB rooms. And one of the first things he said was, 'Wow, this room is different.' And so obviously it's a little easier when you got one guy who's really the leader in J.J., who did a great job. And he's such an incredible kid, and then we were all just kind of behind him.
But we've stressed it even more now that it's a true competition of, yeah, we're all here for each other. We all want to see each other to succeed. And hopefully one day we're all lining up against each other on Sunday. It's a pretty special thing.
