'Physical freak' Myles Hinton fell in love with football and realized Michigan was the place to be

Some assumed Myles Hinton, a four-star, top-40 recruit in the 2020 class would follow in the footsteps of his brother, former Michigan Wolverines football defensive lineman Christopher Hinton, but he wound up at Stanford instead. Myles Hinton has made his way to Ann Arbor after all, though, through the NCAA transfer portal.

The truth is, Hinton wanted to pave his own path, and he wasn’t all that sure how much he loved football. Stanford gave him great opportunities off the field that he wanted to take advantage of. But it was time for a change, and football has become more of a focus.

“I learned that football can work for me,” Hinton said of his time at Stanford, discussing with Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast. “Going into college, I wasn’t really sold on the sport, which is surprising to people. I was like, ‘OK, I’ll play the sport, I’m gifted physically, my dad played it, my brother played it, it’s kind of part of the family.’ But once I got to college I started playing and learning more about football, I was like, ‘Wow, this could really be a vehicle for future success.’

“I was trying my best to put myself in a good position to have future success in that facet. But also, I learned that there’s more to it than just being a talented player. You have to really understand and digest the information you’re getting. In the meeting rooms, you’re watching film, you can’t just watch it and see your footwork and be like, ‘OK, that’s whatever.’ You have to understand the defense and see what they’re doing to do what you do.’”

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The new Michigan offensive tackle had a revelation last season while going through an agility drill.

“It felt so smooth, I was like, ‘Maybe I can work on this,'” Hinton said.

“Once I got to a point mid-last year, I started to love the sport a lot more. I realized that this environment that I’m in right now, I don’t know if this is conducive to me being the best player that I can be. It wasn’t really the coaches’ fault or anything, I think it was more the university, the area was kind of constricting.”

Growing up, he didn’t identify as a “big-time athlete,” he said, always feeling like he was tagging along with his brother. Hinton discerned last season that he has the ingredients to be a high-level player — and even more importantly, he found the desire to ramp up honing his skills.

“The biggest thing was me really realizing my ability,” the Michigan senior said. “For a while, I really didn’t understand, I’m kinda quick, I’m kinda strong. It took a while for me to really grasp what I could do on the field and off the field, physically-wise.”

When weighing the decision to enter the transfer portal, Hinton had Michigan on his mind. And when the Wolverines picked up the phone and called, Hinton knew he had to take advantage of the opportunity this time around.

“For me, it was like, if anywhere, it was [going to be] Michigan, just with the history with the school and my brother and being a recruit in high school,” Hinton revealed. “I knew the program, knew people around the program, knew what it was about. I was like, ‘If I leave Stanford at all, that’s where I’m going,’ and I landed here, so it worked out in that way.”

Hinton wasn’t scared away by the competition in the Michigan offensive line room. In fact, it was just the opposite — he’s relishing it. He’s nearing the end of his recovery from surgery on his right shoulder but will be able to battle for a starting job in fall camp.

Now that things have clicked and he’s developed more of an affinity for football, the sky’s the limit for the 6-7, 320-pounder. Graduate center Drake Nugent, also a Stanford transfer, believes he’s got all the tools.

“The dude is a physical freak. I’ve always been a weight room junkie — I love lifting weights and trying to have top numbers in everything — but then you get guys like him,” Nugent said on the same podcast episode. “He can do it naturally, and as soon as he realizes he can do it naturally and then he puts even more work in, it’s just terrifying what he can do.

“I’ve seen plays with him where he barely touches someone and they fly like 10 yards. You’re like, ‘Oh my God, do that every play. You’ll be a first-team All-American.’

“When I look at him, he’s just a monster of a human being, and as soon as he’s able to harness that and be explosive on the field and apply it to everything he does and the small minute details, then playing offensive line will be [easy].”

Here are some more highlights of what Hinton said on his In The Trenches appearance:

On how he sees the competition going for him this fall

“Honestly, I don’t know yet. The course of action for me is to get better, get stronger, quicker, faster, just learn the play book as fast as I can and see where it falls. Also the reason I came here was to be challenged. I didn’t want to come and walk into a spot, because I knew if I walked into a spot, I wouldn’t grow. So if I can come to a spot where there’s some comp, there’s room to grow, I’ll be pushed in that way.”

On strength coach Ben Herbert and his staff

“Love the staff. I love the whole entire weight staff; they’re really cool guys. Right now, I still have shoulder issues, I had surgery in December, so I’m still recovering. I saw Coach Herb and he was like, ‘When’s it getting healthy?’ I was telling him the protocol, when I’m going to get healthy. He was like, ‘It’s going to be scary when you get going.’ I’ve been doing all left arm stuff, and he’s just really excited to get training with me. And I’m the same way — I’m ready to get going.”

On rehabbing from a right shoulder injury

“I had surgery in high school on my left shoulder — same kind of issue — so I know the process rehab-wise. But I like challenges, personally. I like being challenged. I don’t like comfort, because when you feel comfortable, you get complacent like, ‘Oh, I can do this,’ but that’s just not the case. I like having something to strive for, so being behind the 8-ball, I guess you could say, makes me want to work harder. And then if I work harder, I’ll grow more. Putting myself in positions where I might be a little bit behind or a little bit disadvantaged, in the long run it’ll work out to my advantage.

On his biggest strengths and what he needs to work on the most

“My strengths would be: I have pretty good feet. But the contrary to that is I need to work on balance, in the run game especially. I’m balanced in pass pro, but in the run game I feel like I get tossed off late more than I should because I block kind of head-heavy. I bend the waist more than the knee bend.

“I have really big steps — especially outside zone, I take really big steps. I need to shorten my steps up, play with more knee bend and strike with my hands instead of hands and head. It gets dicey when you get head and hands in there, you get a little head-heavy.

“Pass pro, up until midway last year, I didn’t punch very well, at all. I would punch or I would miss, but midway through last year I started doing a little bit more independent hand punches, punching with my post hand first.”

On his impressions of Michigan offensive coordinator and line coach Sherrone Moore and his entire position group

“The room is amazing. Everybody’s cool, everybody has a great attitude toward sport. They all want to learn. Everybody has a great mentality toward making mistakes. If someone messes up, it’s not like a huge [deal] like, ‘Oh, you suck.’ It’s a learning experience.

“Same way with Coach Moore — he’s not going to harp on a mistake. Just don’t repeat it. Just don’t do the same thing over and over again. He’s not like a big screamer or yeller, which I prefer because that gets you nowhere, in my opinion. For me, I learn better when someone is talking to me as an equal, because it’s like, ‘I have respect for you, you have respect for me.’”