If you’re like most Michiganders, you’ll spend at least part of New Year’s Day with your eyes glued to the television, watching the University of Michigan Wolverines go for a national college football championship at this year’s Rose Bowl. Just make sure to keep your eyes peeled for Michigan’s defensive number 40, Christian Boivin, a junior linebacker and special teams player who hails from right here in Traverse City.

If you’ve been paying attention to the Wolverines’ whirlwind undefeated season, you’ve probably already seen Boivin make a few big plays – even if you didn’t realize it. On two occasions this fall, Boivin shared “Special Teams Player of the Week” honors in the Big Ten conference – first for making a big solo tackle against a punt returner in Michigan’s September 30 game against Nebraska, and second for blocking a punt against Maryland on November 18 (pictured, right).

The former play got U of M star quarterback JJ McCarthy so excited that he went galloping down the sideline with joy, while the latter was highlighted as a key play by ESPN in its recap of the Maryland game. Boivin’s Maryland punt block created a safety that added two points to the Wolverines’ score. It was an important moment in a down-to-the-wire, every-point-counts game that U of M only won 31-24, one of their smallest margins of victory this season. (That game also marked the thousandth program victory for Michigan football, an unprecedented accomplishment in college football history.)

You might also recognize Boivin’s name from a few years ago, when he had a standout football career at Traverse City West Senior High School. A 2021 graduate, Boivin was a two-time Associated Press first-team all-state selection and a genuine football renaissance man, playing linebacker, running back, safety and kick returner over the course of his high school years. In his senior season alone – which was abbreviated slightly due to the COVID-19 pandemic – Boivin notched impressive stats on both defense (72 tackles, three interceptions, two blocked kicks, and one sack) and offense (940 rushing yards, seven catches for 41 yards, and 11 touchdowns). And in his junior season, he set a state of Michigan single-season record for blocked kicks, managing a block in seven of the Titans’ 10 games.

So, what’s it like to be a part of the No. 1 ranked college football team in the country? Speaking to The Ticker in mid-December, Boivin calls the 2023 run an “amazing experience.”

“I’m always grateful to be a part of it,” Boivin says. “Year by year, I’ve gotten to see this program really grow. My first year [2021], we kind of reset the foundation of the program. The second year, we were still building it up. This year, I think we’re really seeing the culmination of Coach [Jim] Harbaugh’s tenure. So, it’s been a great experience to see this program and the people in it grow.”

Certainly, the Wolverines have improved bit by bit in each of the three seasons that Boivin has been along for the ride. Coming off a disappointing 2-4 record in 2020, the program rallied to post an 12-2 record in 2021 – including the first win in a decade against archrivals Ohio State. U of M followed that season up with a 13-1 campaign last year, including yet another win over the Buckeyes. And this year, the Wolverines have their first No. 1 ranking since 1997 – and their first Rose Bowl berth since the 2006 season.

Needless to say, Boivin is excited for the opportunity to compete on college football’s biggest stage –though he notes that a big part of the team’s preparation for today’s game has been about minimizing the mental stakes.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to be in the Rose Bowl,” Boivin says, “It’s one of those historical pieces in college football. But ultimately, it’s just going to be another game for us. Obviously, the stakes are higher. But we just have to play the football we’ve been playing all year, and we just have to keep getting better. And ultimately, that doesn't add too much pressure. We know we just have to be us.”

Getting to count himself among the “us” of U of M’s best football team in a quarter century is a “pinch me” moment for Boivin, especially since the journey to get to this point wasn’t always an easy one. Boivin says it’s extremely difficult to attract college recruiter attention in a place as far north as Traverse City – especially in the middle of a global pandemic. Amidst the chaos of 2020, the former TC West star wasn’t sure whether he’d get a chance to play for a marquee college program like Michigan’s.

As Boivin explains it, college recruiters scouting high school sports talent in Michigan don’t often make it to smaller towns like Traverse City, simply because they can see more prospects in a single trip to Detroit than they can traveling between 5-10 more rural school districts. Attending college evaluation camps can be an equalizer for rural football standouts, but those engagements were all cancelled during the peak of COVID-19. That left Boivin with limited options – beyond, as he says, putting in the work, getting his games on tape, and sending dozens of videos out to college coaches.

The extra work paid off: U of M came calling in December 2020, with a preferred walk-on offer, and the rest is history.

Despite the challenges of the recruitment cycle, though – and the other similar hurdles that come from playing in a hometown that’s a little off the beaten path – Boivin is mighty proud of where he came from and the Traverse City coaches who helped build him into the player he is today.

“I think back to working with Coach Kelly Smith and Coach Jason Morrow at Traverse City West, who handled the special teams,” Boivin says. “They put an emphasis on how special teams really matters, and that’s usually something that’s ignored in high school. Even in college, there are a lot of programs that don’t spend a lot of time on it. Michigan is the exception; we spend more time on special team than anybody in the country. So, to go from West, where special teams was so important, to Michigan, where it’s one of the core parts of our program, that was an easy transition. We did drills for blocking punts all the time in high school. To get the opportunity to come in and do that here, on the biggest stage? That’s just been really special.”