Mike Sainristil has proven to be one versatile football player for the Michigan Wolverines

CEDAR RAPIDS — There’s not much about Mike Sainristil’s story that isn’t intriguing. Sorry about the double negative there.

He’s a two-time captain for the Michigan football team, as voted by his teammates. He was selected a first-team all-Big Ten Conference defensive back by league media and a second-teamer by league coaches.

He had one interception in his career before this season but has four in 2023, including a pair of pick-6s. The reason he didn’t have many interceptions is because he was a wide receiver for the Wolverines until switching from offense to defense prior to last season.

Sainristil has worn three different jersey numbers in his Wolverines career: 0, 5 and 19. He is a graduate student who plays piano, violin and drums.

And speaks Creole. That last thing might be the most intriguing of all.

He came to the United States from Haiti with his mother, father and brother when he was less than a year old. His dad, Carlot, worked at a radio station in the country, which is one of the most poor, unstable and dangerous in the world.

The family relocated to the Boston area.

“I am glad we left, because in America, you have more chances to have a better life,” Carlot Sainristil said in an Associated Press story. “If (Mike) was in Haiti, he would not be able to do this. We don’t have football in Haiti. We have soccer, real football.”

Sainristil has turned out to be pretty good at this “other” football.

He played in all 13 Michigan games as a true freshman in 2019, including starting one game at wide receiver. He caught eight passes that season, also playing some special teams.

Sainristil started three games in the truncated 2020 COVID season and caught 22 passes, including a pair for touchdowns, in 2021. He started five games at receiver and also returned kicks that year.

But Michigan needed help in the secondary going into last season, and he was moved to defense, becoming the team’s nickel back right away. That Sainistril was able to convert so quickly is quite amazing.

Michigan isn’t just some ordinary football program.

“Guys ask me, ‘How’d you do that? How’d you learn (the defense) so quick?’” Sainristil told Michigan media earlier this season. “Part of it is because I’m older. I don’t have enough time to waste not knowing the playbook. I want to play, I want to get out there. I want to go to the NFL, of course. So I put myself in a position to where I had to learn. I tell guys the second half of the battle is wanting to do it.”

Second-ranked Michigan (12-0) and No. 16 Iowa (10-2) play Saturday night in the Big Ten Conference Championship Game in Indianapolis (7:15, Fox).

"Mike is an influencer," Michigan cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale said earlier this year. "I think Mike has changed the mindset of everybody on our team, not just the defensive backs. If I was a player I would be right there next to him. He's a great guy to be around. I love that kid. I love all our players, but he's a special young man.

"We watched film last week, and watched the guy play man defense and make a great play. Guess who it was? Number ‘0.’ We watched him destroy a block. Guess who it was? Number ‘0.’ He never stops. He's always going and going and going, and if he makes a mistake, the great ones, they correct it."

Pro Football Focus said Sainristil has graded out tops in the country in lowest passer rating allowed to a slot receiver. You can guess Iowa’s Nico Ragaini probably is aware of him.

“He’s so easy to talk to,” Michigan safety Keon Sabb told Michigan media recently. “When he comes in a room, there’s kind of a different feel. Especially when we get any player-led anything, time where the coaches aren’t there, Mike just calls the group up. You just gravitate toward him. He’s one of those guys.”

“You say what you mean and you mean what you say,” Sainristil said. “And then after that, you have to live up to what you say. But leaders aren’t perfect. Leaders need people around them that will also help them move up.”

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