As a former five-star at one point, Jaime Ffrench was supposed to be the next great Texas wide receiver. However, after only appearing in a few games and getting one reception for four yards, he didn’t see much time his freshman year. Even still, he fully expected to remain in Austin.
All the way up to the bowl game where the Wolverines faced the Longhorns. In fact, he never intended on departing the program for the team it had just played.
However, that’s what ended up transpiring, with Ffrench joining the maize and blue weeks later as the transfer portal opened. And while he couldn’t be happier now, it was far from being his first option. He shared more with Chase Herbrstreit on a Champ Media podcast.
“It’s strange because even when we played you guys at the bowl game, I didn’t have any intentions on transferring at all,” Ffrench said. “I was pretty much just like, at Texas, I loved Texas. I loved Austin and everything it had for me coming. It was just like pretty much coming back into that winter conditioning. Just going through the exit meetings and stuff like that. Things wasn’t, you know, talking like I thought it was. So just normal teams like Michigan receivers and stuff like that. So me and my agents, we talking. So I got in the transfer portal. It was a long talk and this (expletive). But when I got into it, I didn’t have any regrets.
“Like I’m saying, I’m here now, and I’m happy. So stuff like that.”
So what ended up drawing Ffrench to his newfound team? Though the tradition of Michigan was a big part of it all, perhaps the primary factor was playing with quarterback Bryce Underwood and wide receiver Andrew Marsh — two players he got to know well during the recruiting process.
“Definitely Bryce,” Ffrench said. “And so I don’t know if you know, but me and Bryce and Marsh, we had a good bond just in the recruitment process. 7-on-7, like stuff like that. Camps. So I always knew those guys. So that bond was easy. And just like Michigan, knowing the historical school, football school. So stuff like that. It was easy. No brainer for sure.”
Now that Marsh has had one year in Austin and a few months in Ann Arbor, he says that there are few differences between the two programs. Ultimately, there are the geographical differences, but if he had to note one other thing, it’s that there appears to be a stronger bond with the Michigan football team than what he experienced at Texas. Otherwise, football appears to be just that — football.
“I want to say it’s a bit different. I’ll say definitely the conditions, the weather. That’s probably all I’ll say,” Ffrench said. “Other than that, I don’t see any difference. They’re all good players. We’re in college football, so everybody’s good players. You’re going to compete. So I don’t really see a big difference. I just see a more strong of a brotherhood. Everybody’s attached more. Everybody knows everybody. That’s pretty much it.”
Ffrench is widely expected to be the No. 3 or 4 receiver, battling it out with freshman Salesi Moa, also a former five-star, in fall camp.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Jaime Ffrench explains his surprise Texas exit for Michigan football
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire | USA TODAY Network
