Michigan OL Trevor Keegan: 'I bet on myself to stay here another year'

Michigan Wolverines football has 3/5 of its starting offensive line returning for the 2023 season, including graduate left guard Trevor Keegan, a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches last fall. He’s a leader and potential captain on a line looking for its third consecutive Joe Moore Award.

Keegan’s decision-making process on whether to remain at Michigan or head to the NFL was “super hard,” he told host Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast, but he’s excited that he decided to stay.

“You grew up your whole life wanting to go to the NFL. When it’s in the grasp of your hands, you want to take it,” Keegan explained. “But talking to family, friends, coaches, everything, you realize that another year at Michigan can help me even more in the future.

“That process, it took a while, talking to people, figuring out. There are people saying, ‘Go,’ ‘stay,’ ‘go,’ ‘stay.’ It messes with your head. And finally you make the decision on your own, and I feel like this is the best decision for me.”

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Scouts were able to provide feedback to Keegan’s agents and Michigan staff members. There were conflicting reports, Keegan said.

“It’s like, why make a decision that’s not really in your hands?” Keegan continued. “You can’t really changed where you’re going to get picked. You can always bet on yourself, but I bet on myself to stay here another year.”

Michigan fell in a close game against TCU in the national semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl New Year’s Eve, 51-45. The Wolverines have made the last two College Football Playoffs but have yet to advance to the national championship game or win it all. That, Keegan stated, played a part in the tough decision for both he and senior right guard Zak Zinter, who could’ve went to the NFL after three seasons at Michigan.

“It was kind of our own decision, but after the TCU game on the field, I said, ‘We gotta come back and win a national championship,'” Keegan revealed. “I told him that, and he was like, ‘Yeah, we have to.’ That feeling alone, I couldn’t go out being a Michigan Wolverine with that feeling.

“It was definitely a motivating factor. In my opinion, my mentality was like, we’re gonna go to the national championship and play Georgia. The whole time, that’s what I was thinking.

“For that not to happen and our goals not to be achieved, it’s definitely a kick in the butt. But you just gotta come back, get with the guys, keep working and get to that goal.”

Not only is Keegan motivated to win at a higher level for Michigan, but he’s looking to improve his game as well, using the feedback he received from the NFL.

“It was mostly staying on blocks to the second level,” the Michigan lineman said of what NFL scouts were looking for. “Staying on balance if I get knocked off balance, how to regain my balance. Getting out in space, getting to the third level. Just finishing. Little things like that, that I have to work on. I knew I had to work on them. We have a plan and will get those things done.”

Trevor Keegan ‘super excited’ for another Michigan mission

The Wolverines brought in three transfer offensive linemen in tackles LaDarius Henderson and Myles Hinton (Stanford) and center Drake Nugent (Stanford), and have a slew of talented young players as well. In part, it’s up to Keegan and the other upperclassmen to make sure everyone’s on the same page come spring.

“I think it’s just coming every day with a mission, and that will just take care of itself, honestly,” the Michigan lineman said. “We’ve got guys in the room that care for each other, a coach that cares for us, and we care for him. With those things, we can be just as good, if not better, again.”

Back-to-back Big Ten champions, Michigan hasn’t lost a Big Ten game since October of 2021, when it lost by four points at Michigan State. The Wolverines will head back to East Lansing this fall, and also take a trip to Penn State, where the Nittany Lions are expected to once again be a top-10 team. Ohio State hasn’t beaten Michigan since 2019 and has to come back to The Big House after being humiliated by the Wolverines two-straight years.

“I’m super excited,” Keegan said of the Big Ten season ahead. ‘That feeling that we had after Michigan State two years ago, we’re going to do everything possible not to have that again. I’m super excited. I think Penn State’s probably going to be a white out. I haven’t experienced that yet, and I’m super excited for that. And of course, having Ohio State come back in here, beat them again, it’s super exciting.”