Michigan Football: How Tate Forcier Went From the Suite to Wolverines' Basement

Tate Forcier appeared to be destined for greatness at Michigan after he threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns in only his second game as a true freshman leading the Wolverines to a 38-34 win over rival Notre Dame.

Yes, Forcier’s late-game heroics made him the toast of the town in Ann Arbor and then-head coach Rich Rodriguez had nothing but great things to say about the quarterback that he envisioned would lead Michigan back to greatness.

"Sometimes you recruit a guy and he worries about who else you're recruiting," Rodriguez said. "Tate didn't really care…When he came to camp here, he threw for four hours straight, then he was asking, 'What else do you want me to do?' I told [quarterbacks coach Rod Smith], 'That's the guy we want.'"

Unfortunately for Tate, the comeback victory against the Fighting Irish would prove to be the high point of his short-lived tenure as starting quarterback of the Maize and Blue. Forcier would go on to throw eight touchdowns and nine interceptions throughout the remainder of his freshman season and Michigan would stumble to a 5-7 record.

Little did Forcier know that his freshman finale against rival Ohio State, a game in which he threw four interceptions, would be his last game as starting quarterback at Michigan.

Rich Rodriguez who was coming under increasing fire from fans and alumni decided to shuffle up the deck so to speak and bring in some fresh blood to run the his spread attack in 2010. RichRod opted to start sophomore dual-threat quarterback Denard Robinson in Michigan’s regular season opener against UConn and the man that would later come to be known as “shoelace” never gave the job back.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the straw that broke the camel’s back came late in the third quarterback when Robinson got banged up and Rodriguez called in true freshman Devin Gardner to replace him, keeping his former field general on the bench.

After the UConn game, rumors about Forcier transferring from Michigan began spreading like wildfire.

Still Tate’s father Michael Forcier envisioned his son returning to his starting spot sooner than later after insinuating that Denard Robinson wouldn’t be able to remain healthy.

"Tate was upset he didn't play, then he felt like a caged animal getting prodded by the media," his father said. "There's no way I'm going to be any part of him leaving Michigan. He's going to play this season because there's no way Robinson can keep taking a pounding like that."

While Tate did relieve Denard Robinson when he went down with an injury it was ultimately Denard Robinson who returned as starting quarterback and not Tate Forcier.

The situation got even messier when athletic director Dave Brandon announced that Tate Forcier was no longer with the program as he was introducing new head coach Brady Hoke.

Brandon’s comments didn’t sit well with the aforementioned Michael Forcier at all.

"He could've used different words, but the new sheriff sent the media into a frenzy," Michael Forcier said last week.

Dave Brandon and Michael Forcier had spoken on the issue, but the controversy wasn’t officially put to bed until late Wednesday night when Tate Forcier via twitter simply said, "Its time for me to go."

With that tweet Tate Forcier’s 18-month roller coaster ride with Michigan came to its end.

The fact that Forcier played during one of the most unstable moments in the program’s history didn’t do anything to lessen the drama. Ultimately Forcier followed behind the coach that once said “that’s the guy we want” as Rich Rodriguez and Tate Forcier both ended up leaving Ann Arbor before they would have wanted to.

Early reports are that Tate Forcier is considering transferring to Montana, though that is just early speculation and nothing definite has been said yet. Wherever the quarterback goes I wish him the best and his separation from Michigan is probably for the best. Brady Hoke is moving in a new direction with Michigan and now Forcier will have a chance to reclaim the magic he showed in early September of last season with another school.