ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Nick Saban, Lincoln Riley and Deion Sanders all wanted Alex Orji. But Orji wanted something different.
Orji, a quarterback whose athletic qualities have captivated coaches at every stage of his career, will make his first start Saturday when No. 18 Michigan faces No. 11 USC. The coach on the other side, Riley, personally offered Orji a scholarship when he was at Oklahoma, Orji’s father said. Saban wanted Orji at Alabama, too, but there was a catch.
Willy Orji, Alex’s father, recalls a conversation with Saban that took place during a recruiting visit to Tuscaloosa. Saban told Alex he could get a scholarship from Alabama, but only if he was willing to change positions. Alex looked at Saban, looked at his father, and declared he had worked too hard to become a quarterback to give up on the dream.
“A lot of people talked to him,” said Red Behrens, Orji’s coach at Sachse High School in Texas. “I’m talking about big schools, all the head coaches. What Alex wanted to hear from them was, ‘We’ll give you a good chance to be a quarterback.'”
Before college football fans were introduced to Coach Prime, Sanders was trying to recruit Orji to his team as well. Sanders had a youth football program called Truth Sports in the Dallas area, and Orji grew up playing on teams with Sanders’ sons, Shilo and Shedeur. Before becoming the head coach at Jackson State, Sanders was on the staff at Trinity Christian Academy near Dallas, the school his sons attended.
Deion wanted Orji to play for Trinity Christian, Willy said, but there was a problem. Shedeur was the quarterback and no one could beat him. To get on the field at Trinity, Orji would have had to play a different position. Instead, he chose to play at Sachse, where his quarterback performances became legendary.
There was a time when Deion Sanders recruited Alex Orji to play for his high school team in the Dallas area. (Photo courtesy of Willy Orji)
If you mention a particular play to Behrens, he will describe it as if it happened yesterday. Orji was forced out of the pocket and was running toward the end zone. All he had to do was lower his shoulder and force his way through a defender, but he chose a different route and jumped over the defender by a few inches.
“In terms of sport, he is one in a million,” said Behrens.
With so many coaches raving about Orji’s potential, it was only a matter of time before one of them figured out how to get him on the field. And yet, Orji’s debut as Michigan’s starter comes with more than a little trepidation. Three weeks ago, Michigan evaluated its quarterback competition and chose Davis Warren. Only after Warren threw six interceptions in three games did the Wolverines reverse course and name Orji the starter.
With Orji, the question remains the same as always: Is he a good enough passer to play quarterback at the highest level?
“He has great arm strength,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “The accuracy has improved tremendously. It’s going to take great mental, physical and spiritual preparation this week to get him to where we need to be, and I think he’s going to do that.”
Orji was one of those high school athletes who could do a little bit of everything. He was a sprinter, high jumper, basketball player, safety, wide receiver, linebacker and punter. At first, he didn’t see himself as a quarterback.
Orji has two older brothers, Alston and Anfernee, who played linebacker at Vanderbilt. Anfernee signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2023, spent last year on the practice squad and started both of the Saints’ games this season.
Orji is built like a linebacker at 6’3″ and 235 pounds, and it was natural to assume he would follow in his brothers’ footsteps on defense. When he was in middle school, he started training with Kevin Mathis, who played with Deion in Dallas and has trained with him throughout his career. Mathis, now cornerbacks coach at Colorado, was the one who suggested Orji play quarterback.
“He kept trying to get him to do it,” Willy said. “Alex was happy with what he had always done: running faster than others and pushing others around.”
Orji started playing quarterback in middle school, but it wasn’t until his junior season at Sachse that his future at the position became clearer. He transferred to Sachse during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Behrens didn’t have many opportunities to evaluate him before the season began. Behrens used him at quarterback and quickly discovered he had a weapon.
“He would break through people who tried to grab him or arm tackle him and get out of the way and just keep rolling,” Behrens said. “Most high school kids didn’t like to get in front of him.”
In his senior year at Sachse, Orji rushed for over 1,000 yards and threw for over 2,000 yards, completing 51 percent of his passes. He was recruited by a number of major universities, but most wanted him as an athlete, not a quarterback. One exception was Virginia Tech, which ran a similar offense to the one Orji played at Sachse.
Orji committed to the Hokies as a three-star recruit for the class of 2022. A few weeks before signing day, Virginia Tech released Justin Fuente and he decided to reevaluate his options. He visited Michigan and met with coach Jim Harbaugh, who said it would be up to Orji to decide if and when he wanted to try another position. If Orji wanted to play quarterback, Michigan was determined to give him the opportunity.
“As long as I’m here, we’re going to develop you and get you where you need to be,” Willy remembers Harbaugh saying.
Michigan had a package of plays for Orji last season and used him in key moments, including the Rose Bowl and the game against Ohio State. When Harbaugh left for the NFL and JJ McCarthy declared for the draft, Michigan’s starting quarterback position was open. Orji didn’t get the job in the spring, but most signs pointed to him being the player taking the first snap of the season for Michigan.
“Even though we’re at the top of college football, I want to take us even higher,” Orji said this spring. “Whoever goes out there on Saturday, no matter what 11 players are on the field, I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to selflessly pursue excellence.”
By most accounts, Orji had a strong start to preseason training. He struggled in the middle and gave up too many turnovers. Warren played better in the home stretch and secured the starting spot.
Of course, Willy wanted to know what had happened. Had Orji taken his foot off the gas? Was he too confident? Had he not worked hard enough? Orji scolded his father and reminded him that there were more important things than being the starter. Orji vowed to be a good teammate, support Warren in any way he could, and keep working for his chance.
“If you are a father and your child is trying to teach you something, listen,” Willy said.
Michigan’s first drive of the season ended with Orji throwing a 3-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Edwards. The Wolverines used him for a snap or two for variety, but Warren was the primary quarterback. Although Warren threw two interceptions against Texas, he remained the starter against Arkansas State, playing every first-half snap. Late in the third quarter, after Warren’s third interception of the game, Michigan switched to Orji.
Moore didn’t comment further after the game, but came to his Monday press conference with an announcement: Orji would become Michigan’s starting quarterback. The public announcement came as a surprise to some, including two Michigan players who met with reporters after Moore’s speech. Moore made it clear that the job belonged to Orji and that he had the team’s full support.
“We have a plan for Alex and are ready to unveil it,” Moore said.
Disappointment would have been a natural reaction when Orji didn’t get the job in camp, despite being the favorite for most of the offseason. If Orji was hurt by the decision, his father didn’t notice. Moore said he didn’t notice any change in Orji’s confidence or demeanor after telling the quarterbacks that Warren would open the season as the starter.
“His attitude never changed,” Moore said. “Of course he was disappointed. He’s a fighter. He’s a kid who wants to be in the starting lineup. If I was a quarterback fighting for the job, I would want to do it too. But the way he led, the way he acted, the way he presented himself, was no different than today.”
No one knows how Orji’s first start will go. He’s thrown seven passes in his career and it’s not yet clear how his athleticism will translate to the role of full-time quarterback. The only way to answer that question is to put the ball in his hands and see what he can do.
Now is the time for Michigan to find out.
“There were a lot of schools, but they always seemed to come back to this: ‘We’ll find a place where you can play,'” Behrens said. “He wanted to hear: ‘We’ll give you a real chance at quarterback.’ Michigan gave him that opportunity.”
(Top photo: Rick Osentoski / Imagn Images)
