INDIANAPOLIS — Donovan Edwards was difficult to avoid at Big Ten Media Days. His snazzy off-white suit with an open-collared white shirt popped under the bright lights inside Lucas Oil Stadium. When Michigan coach Sherrone Moore wrapped up a 15-minute press conference on a large stage stationed in the north end zone, a voice rose from the crowd.
"What, no applause?"
It was Edwards, who somehow slid by unnoticed into the media's seating area. He jumped from his chair and clapped for the first-year coach. "Hell yeah!" he cheered.
It feels still as if Edwards is on top of the college football world. The senior running back sped onto the scene in Michigan's demolition of Washington in the College Football Playoff's National Championship in January where he broke records with a pair of 40-yard touchdown runs in the first quarter and finished with 104 yards on just six carries. Overnight, the man in the shadows was in the spotlight, supplanting superstars like Blake Corum and J.J. McCarthy after they hoisted the championship trophy and exited stage left for the NFL.
Yet, Edwards never felt like he deserved the notoriety. With Michigan missing leadership and a notable face, Edwards seemed to be the natural replacement as the program's new touchstone for the nation. EA Sports called and offered him a spot on the cover of their popular video game, "College Football 25." Looking for guidance, Edwards phoned Corum, whom he backed up for three years, and questioned the offer.
"I don't even deserve to be on here," Edwards told CBS Sports in May. "I didn't even have a great (enough) season to even be on the cover of this game."
Corum scoffed at the notion. Edwards was reminded of his journey as an oft-injured running back, the hard work required to recover from a major knee surgery in February 2023 and the multiple hand and wrist injuries he suffered since high school. And after averaging only 7.9 carries per game during the 2023 season as a junior backup, Edwards' patience had been tested.
"He [Corum] told me that there's no doubt I'm going to have a big season this upcoming year," Edwards said.
Introspection has long been required for the Edwards family. Before the national championship game in January, Edwards opened up about mental health and said he leaned on lessons in the Book of Job. The son of an educator, Edwards grew up in a single-parent home after his mother, Donna, died from cancer in August 2005. Edwards was just 2 years old at the time, but he carries his mother's name and the influence she had on the family.
"My wife did it all," Edwards' father, Kevin Edwards Sr., told CBS Sports. "She made me finish my college degree. I had a good job and she said, 'Nope, you're going to school. Both our kids are going to know we have our degrees from a university.'"
Edwards Sr. graduated from Wayne State University in 2000, and after his wife's death, followed three commands she shared from her deathbed: go to church, get a good education and keep the kids involved in athletics. He pursued a Master's Degree at Cambridge University in the summer, moving to Boston as his in-laws watched over Donovan and his brother, Keith Jr.. He returned home and then pursued another degree as an educational specialist at Wayne State.
"The goal was for my kids to see me finish up school," he said. "They saw me studying at night and I helped them study. Those were very trying times, because it was a lot of work."
Donovan is set to graduate from Michigan this fall.
Tragedy leaves wounds, but it also opens doors. Donna was the nurturer, and Kevin knew he could not replicate that for his kids
"I definitely tried to do some nurturing," he chuckled, "but it was more nature: football, basketball, soccer, track."
"It wasn't easy for him, I know that for a fact.," Donovan said, sighing and drawing a deep breath Thursday. "I know it was tough for him because he was still trying to go to school working two jobs and at the same time raising two kids on his own, winging it. He did a hell of a job and I respect and admire my dad very much. My heart right now is very compassionate because I know the struggles that he went through — emotional damage and uplifting now. ... My dad is my hero."
"He's a very, very humble kid," his father said. "He cares about others, a lot more than he really cares about himself."
It wasn't always that way. Arrogant, cocky and sure of himself early on, Edwards cried as a freshman when he received only one carry for 4 yards in a win against Washington. "I wanted it. I was so hungry, and I've always been hungry and I've always been in a backup role my whole career here at Michigan," he said. "I had always been the No. 1 guy (in high school). ... I had to take a backseat to that."
Edwards is a bit more careful with his words these days. "I'm always confident, but I may have been a little bit arrogant, especially coming off a great sophomore year," he said.
If you don't recall, Edwards performed well that year when he replaced an injured Corum late in the 2022 season. As the All-Big Ten star nursed an injured knee, Edwards finished the season as the starter with 991 yards. He bludgeoned Ohio State with touchdown runs of 75 and 85 yards at Ohio Stadium onward to 216 yards. He added 185 in the Big Ten Championship Game a week later and had another 119 in a loss to TCU in the CFP semifinal. This after playing most of the 2022 season with a partially torn patellar tendon that required surgery in February 2023.
Edwards believed he would be ready for the NFL after his junior season. He was so confident that he told Pro Football Focus he would "revolutionize" the position in the NFL and "be up there with Walton Payton, Barry Sanders."
Turns out, he wasn't ready. And Michigan had other plans. His carries dwindled with a healthy Corum on the field, and he averaged only 28.1 yards per game before the breakthrough in the national championship.
"He went to Michigan because he loves Michigan, regardless," his father said. "He didn't think about transferring, he didn't think about the transfer portal. None of that. Nope, he said, 'I'm [at] Michigan, that's it, period. We didn't even talk about it."
As Edwards' star has grown brighter, he has pursued new business interests through name, image and likeness deals. His father raised him to always be curious.
"I'm a big believer in always learning anything and everything," he said. "I don't know anything about automobiles, but I'll learn something. We're not supposed to just be a master at one craft, but with many crafts. It's not all about school books, you have to be worldly educated as well."
Moore has been the constant undercurrent for Edwards and the program after Harbaugh left. Moore recruited Edwards of out of nearby West Bloomfield Township, a 50-mile drive from Ann Arbor. Edwards was Mr. Michigan in 2020, and 247Sports rated him as the nation's No. 2 running back as a five-star prospect in the Class of 2021.
"He's the same energetic person he's been since I saw him in high school, walking the hallways, dapping everybody up, smiling and laughing and on the field making the plays," Moore said. "He's just become more mature, really grown into his spirituality and his faith. That's probably the biggest thing. He's always been a leader, but now he's a leader of men in college and has really done a good job of that."
Moore is intent on carrying the "Harbaugh Way" into the new era, but he will do so with many new faces. Is Edwards the new face of the program?
"If you ask him, he's going to say 'no,'" safety Makari Paige said.
But Edwards' dreads and wide smile make him stand out: the video game poster boy with a Michigan upbringing.
"I think through all the adversity, the emotional and mental struggles that I've had the past three years and being able to overcome it, I believe that I'm ready," he said. "I've been able to show glimpses of being a lead guy."
