New Starting QB Davis Warren Reflects on Journey from Survivor to Michigan Football

As it almost always is with the departure of a star, the biggest story line and question mark surrounding the Michigan football program heading into the 2024 season has been the quarterback battle.

After weeks of insider information that had junior Alex Orji as the starter, former walk-on Davis Warren surged ahead and trotted out with the first-string offense in Michigan’s opener vs. Fresno State to start his first game at any level in five years.

From Walk On to QB1

Originally a member of the class of 2020, he reclassified to 2021. But when the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he saw his senior season canceled and couldn’t send any new film to the program in hopes of a scholarship.

He decided to bet on himself and walk on at Michigan, enrolling ahead of the 2021 season. While not seeing any game action for Michigan’s Big Ten champions during his true freshman campaign, he was named scout team player of the week for the Western Michigan, Rutgers, and Nebraska weeks of preparation.

Warren spent 2022 and 2023 sitting behind then-starting quarterback JJ McCarthy, attempting just 14 passes over the last two seasons in mop-up duty. Aside from his status as a former walk-on, Warren has had an extremely unique and difficult road to starting at quarterback for the Wolverines.

“In March of 2019, I was diagnosed with leukemia and that was something that – you know, something you never expect.” Davis told reporters at a Monday press conference. “I was actually talking to Chris [Fowler] with College Gameday out there and he seems like one of the guys who does a ton of those Make a Wish pieces and stuff like that. It’s always something – I was a huge football fan growing up. So you wake up early, watch Gameday, and it’s something that you always see those stories on, things like that, but you never expect that to be you.”

“The way I look at it is everything that happened from when I got diagnosed to when I got out of the hospital was just a blessing,” he continued. “Things went kind of exactly how they were supposed to. Had a great group of doctors, great nurses, great family around me who supported me and helped me through that. But, it was really difficult. Spent almost that entire time in the hospital and lost probably 35, 40 pounds, almost all my hair.

“But I just got really lucky. The fact that I can come out here and play the game that I love, pursue my dreams at the highest level after an experience like that – not every kid gets the opportunity to do that.”

Seizing the Opportunity with Composure

The opportunity that Warren has in front of him is taking over for the reigning national champions and replacing a top-ten pick at quarterback in a brand new era of college football, with super conferences taking over the sport and the introduction of a brand new postseason format. Warren’s stats – 15/25 for 118 yards and a touchdown and an interception – may not have been eye popping, but Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was more than pleased with the performance of his new starter.

“Yeah, he was great,” Moore said at his weekly press conference. “Eyes weren’t too big, he was super calm. He was in the moment, play at a time, so he did great.”

After the past two seasons saw Michigan face three non-power conference opponents in the first three games of the season, the out of conference slate ramps up immediately with the top-five Texas Longhorns coming to Michigan Stadium for week two. But for Warren, it’s easy to see why he doesn’t get wrapped up in the highs and lows that come with playing quarterback for the Wolverines, offering a unique perspective from his journey to Ann Arbor.

“I just count myself super lucky and blessed and I’d say it just redefined a ton of things for me. It’s hard to wake up and have a bad day at this point,” Warren said. “It just reaffirms my why of why I do this and why I want to go out there every day and play at a high level. Just having that mental makeup of ‘nothing can bother me’ regardless of what happens. Whether it’s within a play, within a drive, within a week, whatever it is, nothing can bring me down.”

So when a play doesn’t go his way, like his first deep attempt of the season getting picked off, or when a third-down pass is dropped past the first down marker, he is easily able to shake it off and get in the right headspace for the next drive. And Michigan’s first year head coach loves that about his quarterback.

“He’s fought as big of adversity as you can fight, so even throwing an interception, that doesn’t compare to what he’s been through in life,” Moore said. “And for him, he just, he rolls on, attacks the next process. Doesn’t blame, doesn’t point fingers. He’s really all about the team and doing whatever he can to help the team win. And the kid is just unbelievable off the field, on the field. He’s in here studying countless hours doing what he needs to do to be great.”

Thank you for reading Blue by Ninety. For more Michigan Athletics and Big Ten content from Blue by Ninety, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Also, be sure to check out our shop and our podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms