A bigger role is coming for Michigan EDGE Eyabi Okie (don’t call him Anoma)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It’s been a fast six weeks for Eyabi Okie, the latest addition to the Michigan soccer crew.

The College of Tennessee, Martin, switch went from becoming a member of the crew on the midway level of preseason camp to taking part in within the Wolverines’ season opener, a fast-moving improvement that Michigan coaches say was a direct results of his means to be taught the protection.

Okie (who’s modified his title from Anoma; extra on that beneath), a gifted edge rusher with earlier stops at Alabama and Houston, has appeared in all 4 video games this season, primarily in third-down blitz packages. However head coach Jim Harbaugh says extra might be coming.

“He retains progressing. He didn’t get right here till the center of August,” head coach Jim Harbaugh stated on Monday. “There’s studying the protection; there’s calls; there’s subtleties. However Eyabi is that gifted. And he’s that good.”

Earlier this month, after Michigan’s Week 1 win over Colorado State, line of defense coach Mike Elston stated the employees was holding particular particular person conferences with Okie to assist catch him up on the decision sheet and his obligations. Okie had simply collected a sack and two quarterback hurries in 9 snaps throughout his debut, a sure-fire signal that he was a fast examine.

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However the 6-foot-5, 244-pound outdoors linebacker additionally has loads of expertise, evident by his five-star recruiting rating out of highschool. Okie was later dismissed from the Alabama soccer crew after his redshirt freshman season, then by no means performed a down at Houston earlier than it booted him from its soccer crew for unspecified points. He landed at UT-Martin, the place he graduated from within the spring, prompting his switch to Michigan.

In 4 video games, Okie has performed a complete of 41 snaps and generated 4 pressures and a sort out, per Professional Soccer Focus.

“I don’t dive again into that any of that and take a look at to determine his psyche,” Elston stated. “I’ve simply by no means been a coach like that. I favor to see who he’s by myself and construct the connection that approach, then assist him in the one approach that I can.”

Up to now, gamers and coaches say, Okie has been a mannequin citizen. Not solely has he slot in with the locker room, however he’s taken to teaching and picked up a lot of what the Michigan employees has been relaying to him.

“Each week, there’s increasingly more calls that he is aware of, and we are able to play him,” Harbaugh stated. “Now it’s simply down to some, actually,  that he’s nonetheless mastering.

“Gamers love him. We love him. You’re going to see him in there increasingly more due to the time on job and understanding his place, his 1/eleventh within the system.”

As for the title change, Eyabi formally went from Anoma to Okie (each on the roster and along with his jersey) previous to the Connecticut sport. We perceive it’s a private matter, however he took to social media within the days main as much as the change to write down, “Eyabi Okie not Anoma.”

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