Rashan Gary

Early life

Gary has dyslexia and said it had a positive effect on his life. "It gave me the push to go above and beyond all my life". Gary first played high school football at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, until he transferred to Paramus Catholic High School for his junior and senior seasons, after moving from Scotch Plains, where he lived with his father, to Plainfield with his mother. His first high school claimed that Paramus had recruited Gary, but the NJSIAA unanimously ruled that Scotch-Plains Fanwood had not proven its allegation. During his senior season, he had 13.5 sacks, 55 tackles, including 29 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in nine games. Following the season, Gary was named USA Today Defensive Player of the Year and High School All-American.

Gary participated in the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game, where he recorded six tackles and three sacks, and was named MVP.

Recruiting

He became the third player to be named the top player in the country unanimously by all four major recruiting networks, 247Sports.com, ESPN.com, Rivals.com, and Scout.com. In June 2015, Michigan hired Chris Partridge, Gary's former high school head coach, as their director of player personnel and recruiting. In January 2016, he was promoted to linebackers and special teams coach. After visits to Auburn, Clemson, Michigan, Ole Miss, and USC, Gary committed to play college football for the Michigan Wolverines on February 3, 2016.

2016 season

As a freshman, Gary played in all thirteen games at defensive end, totaling 23 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, and 1 sack. He was named to the Pro Football Focus College Big Ten Conference Defensive Team of the Week following his performance against UCF on September 10, 2016, in which he had 6 tackles and 2 tackles for loss, including 1 sack.

2017 season

During the 2017 season, Gary set career highs in tackles (58), tackles for loss (11.5) and sacks (5.5). Following the 2017 season, Gary was named to the All-Big Ten defensive first team by the coaches, and second team by the media as well as the Associated Press. He made his first career start against Florida in the Advocare Classic on September 2, 2017. After Michigan's game against Indiana on October 14, 2017, Gary was named Defensive Lineman of the Game. Against Maryland on November 11, 2017, Gary had five total tackles including half a tackle for loss earning him co-Defensive Lineman of the Game with Chase Winovich and Maurice Hurst as well as Pro Football Focus College Big Ten Defensive Team of the Week. Following his 2017 season, he was awarded the Richard Katcher Award for the most outstanding defensive lineman or outside linebacker on the 2017 Michigan Wolverines football team.

2018 season

Prior to the 2018 season, Gary was named an AP second-team preseason All-American. He was also placed on preseason watchlists for several national awards, including the Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Walter Camp Award, and Ted Hendricks Award.

Gary recorded 38 total tackles during the 2018 season, including 6.5 tackles for a loss, and 3.5 sacks. Gary struggled with a shoulder injury throughout the season, which caused him to see limited playing time in late September and miss the entirety of October games for the Wolverines. Regardless, following the season, he was named to the All-Big Ten defensive first-team by the coaches, and second-team by the media.

On November 26, 2018, after the conclusion of Michigan's regular season, Gary announced he would forgo his senior season to enter the 2019 NFL draft. He decided to sit out the Wolverines' bowl game, the Peach Bowl against Florida, to prepare for the draft.