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Mike McCray

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Mike McCray II
UMass Minutemen
Position:Outside linebackers coach
Personal information
Born: (1994-08-03) August 3, 1994 (age 30)
Dayton, Ohio
Career information
High school:Trotwood-Madison (Trotwood, OH)
College:Michigan
Undrafted:2018
Career history
As a coach:
  • Michigan (2016)
    Recruiting coordinator
  • Michigan (2018)
    Intern
  • Michigan (2019–2020)
    Defensive analyst
  • Notre Dame (2021)
    Graduate assistant
  • UMass (2022–present)
    Outside linebackers coach

Michael Juey McCray II (born August 3, 1994) is an American college football coach and former professional linebacker. He is the outside linebackers coach for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a position he has held since 2022.[1]

Early life

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When McCray was young, he played basketball and baseball. He first played organized football in sixth grade. After two years of football, he went back to basketball and baseball before resuming football in high school.[2] Dubbed "Big Play McCray",[3] he played football at Trotwood-Madison High School for coach Maurice Douglass. As a junior in 2011, he gained 460 yards on 28 catches and nine touchdowns and totaled 86 tackles with five interceptions and three defensive touchdowns. As a senior in 2012, he caught 19 passes for 369 yards and four scores and made a total of 121 tackles with 2.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions. He was recognized as an Associated Press (AP) Division II All-Ohio first-team and AP Division II Ohio Defensive Player of the Year selection in 2012.[4] Although he was expected by some to follow his father to Ohio State, he attended the first night game at Michigan Stadium on September 10, 2011 wearing a Michigan hat.[2] McCray was part of a team that included several highly touted recruits.[5] McCray became a news subject when he committed to Michigan in March 2012 and was the subject of a tweet by then-current Michigan football player Roy Roundtree (a Trotwood alum) prior to signing, which was a minor NCAA violation.[6][7] Toward the end of his 2011–12 junior year, he was rumored to have an offer from Ohio State.[8] Ohio State never did offer McCray.[9] McCray was a selection for the January 4, 2013 Under Armour All-American Game, but was unable to participate in the game while he was recovering from surgery on his left labrum.[10] After leading Trotwood to a 15–0 Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II championship 2011 season, he committed to Michigan on March 6, 2012 over offers that included Oklahoma, Tennessee, Illinois, and Purdue.[11]

College career

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At Michigan, he saw no gametime action for either the 2013 or 2015 Wolverines. He played in 11 games for the 2014 team, accumulating two tackles (one for a loss) and one blocked punt.[12] As a redshirt freshman, he blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown in his first game on opening day against Appalachian State.[13] That season he played under defensive coordinator Greg Mattison and head coach Brady Hoke. Following his redshirt season for the 2014 Wolverines, he endured a shoulder injury that led to surgery before the 2015 spring game.[14] McCray had to have a second surgery before the 2015 season and was considering transferring. That season Jim Harbaugh became coach and brought in D. J. Durkin as defensive coordinator.[14] He missed the entire 2015 season due to assorted injuries, including shoulder issues.[15] He was a standout in the 2016 Spring game.[3][16]

Following the 2015 season, Michigan lost all three of its starting linebackers to graduation.[17] The team hired Don Brown as its defensive coordinator.[14] In his first career start for the 2016 Wolverines, McCray tackled Diocemy Saint Juste for a loss during the first series of the game against Hawaii.[15] He ended up totaling 9 tackles (including 3.5 for a loss and 2 sacks), earning Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Week in his first start.[18][19] That season, he and Jourdan Lewis raised their fists during the national anthem to help raise social consciousness.[20] Following the season, McCray was an honorable mention All-Big Ten defensive selection by both the coaches and the media for the 2016 Michigan Wolverines football team.[21][22] McCray completed his undergraduate studies and pursued graduate studies the following year.[23][better source needed]

The next year, as a fifth-year senior, he was named co-captain (along with Mason Cole) for the 2017 Wolverines, following in his father's footsteps (McCray Sr. was a fifth-year senior co-captain for the 1988 Ohio State Buckeyes football team).[24][25] He did not start in the season opener against Florida, but did play although he appeared to be dealing with an injury.[26] Following the season McCray, earned 2017 All-Big Ten team honorable mention recognition from the coaches and the media.[27][28]

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 1+1⁄8 in
(1.86 m) 		243 lb
(110 kg) 		32+5⁄8 in
(0.83 m) 		9+1⁄8 in
(0.23 m)		 4.76 s 4.25 s 7.09 s 31.5 in
(0.80 m)		 9 ft 11 in
(3.02 m)		 16 reps
All values from NFL Combine[29]

McCray signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2018.[30] On July 24, 2018, McCray announced his retirement from the NFL just two days before the start of training camp.[31]

Coaching career

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It was announced that McCray has been promoted to a Defensive Analyst for the Michigan Wolverines for the 2019 season, while McCray was an intern during the 2018 season after retiring from football.[32] He was hired by Notre Dame Fighting as graduate assistant for the 2020 season.[33] In 2021 season, UMass Minutemen football hired McCray as outside linebackers coach along Don Brown who was coaching for Michigan Wolverines while McCray was playing for Michigan Wolverines.[34]

References

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  1. ^ "Mike McCray - Football Coach". University of Massachusetts Athletics.
  2. ^ a b Shanker, Jared (October 4, 2011). "Mike McCray II just like his dad – sort of". ESPN. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Kornacki, Steve (April 5, 2016). "Kornacki: 'Big Play' McCray Raring To Go". MGoBlue.com. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  4. ^ "Bios for 2013 Michigan Football Signee". MGoBlue.com. February 6, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Znidar, Mark (November 23, 2012). "Tonight's high-school football playoff games". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  6. ^ Taylor, John (March 6, 2012). "Michigan player latest to commit NCAA no-no on Twitter?". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  7. ^ Meinke, Kyle (March 6, 2012). "Michigan football team alerts compliance department after receiver Roy Roundtree commits possible minor NCAA violation". The Ann Arbor News. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  8. ^ Meinke, Kyle (May 25, 2012). "Michigan football commit Mike McCray, son of former Ohio State captain, receives offer from Buckeyes". The Ann Arbor News. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  9. ^ Rabinowitz, Bill (November 29, 2013). "Ohio State, Michigan tangle over Ohio talent". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved September 10, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Sherman, Mitch (December 31, 2012). "Shoulder injury sidelines U-M commit". ESPN. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Spiewak, Stephen (March 6, 2012). "Trotwood-Madison (Ohio) linebacker Mike McCray commits to Michigan". MaxPreps. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  12. ^ "Mike McCray 9". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  13. ^ "Michigan Takes On Notre Dame In Road Opener". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  14. ^ a b c VanHaaren, Tom (August 29, 2017). "Mike McCray's Michigan career comes full circle". ESPN. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Snyder, Mark (September 5, 2016). "Michigan football: Linebacker Mike McCray has big return after injuries". NCAA. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  16. ^ Broome, Anthony (April 4, 2016). "Maize-N-Brew: Identifying possible standouts after U-M's spring game". USA Today. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  17. ^ Snyder, Mark (March 10, 2016). "Prized 2013 Michigan recruit LB Mike McCray back in the running". USA Today. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  18. ^ "Big Ten Football Players of the Week: Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin standouts claim honors". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. September 5, 2016. Archived from the original on September 8, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  19. ^ "Awards and Honors: McCray Top B1G Defender of the Week". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. September 5, 2014. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  20. ^ Snyder, Mark (September 27, 2016). "Michigan LB Mike McCray explains his raised fist during anthem". USA Today. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  21. ^ "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners" (PDF). CSTV.com. November 30, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  22. ^ "Peppers, Lewis Lead All 11 Defenders Honored by B1G". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. November 29, 2016. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  23. ^ "@B1Gfootball statis i[date". Twitter. September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  24. ^ Sipple, George (August 30, 2017). "Michigan football: Mike McCray's dad also was a captain - for Ohio State". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  25. ^ Zuke, Ryan (August 29, 2017). "For Mason Cole, Mike McCray, Michigan captain is a big deal". MLive.com. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  26. ^ Baumgardner, Nick (September 2, 2017). "Wilton Speight starts at QB for Michigan football vs. Florida Gators". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  27. ^ "Thirteen Wolverines Named All-Big Ten on Defense, Special Teams". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. November 28, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  28. ^ "Big Ten Announces Football All-Conference Teams for Defense and Special Teams: The Big Ten Conference announced the 2017 All-Big Ten football honorees on defense and special teams on Tuesday. A total of 63 students were selected to either of the All-Big Ten teams selected by the coaches and media, while another 63 students were awarded honorable mention status". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. November 28, 2017. Archived from the original on November 30, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  29. ^ "Michael McCray Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  30. ^ Williams, Charean (May 10, 2018). "Dolphins sign 13 undrafted college free agents". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com.
  31. ^ "Dolphins undrafted rookie Mike McCray decides to retire". ESPN.com. July 24, 2018.
  32. ^ Mulholland, Mike (February 28, 2019). "Michigan promotes former LB Mike McCray to analyst". MLive.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  33. ^ "Former Michigan LB, grad assistant headed to Notre Dame". WolverinesWire. March 18, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  34. ^ Brice, John. "UMass, Don Brown add former Michigan star, Notre Dame analyst to Minutemen staff". Footballscoop. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
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