Mike Hart

A decorated and productive runner in the proud history of the Wolverines, Mike Hart might lack ideal size at tailback, but he's a very powerful, determined runner with a low center of gravity and some elusiveness. Schooled at a high school on an American Indian reservation south of Syracuse, New York, he still holds the national prep scoring record. He etched his name in the Michigan and Big Ten Conference record books during his stellar college career. One of his more remarkable statistics: He went 1,005 rushing attempts between fumbles and became just the fourth player in conference history to rush for over 5,000 yards in a career. The two-time Doak Walker Award finalist (2006 and '07) and two-time Bo Schembechler Award winner (team MVP in 2006 and '07), Hart immediately made his mark at Michigan. He earned All-Big Ten honors three times and was selected the league's Freshman of the Year in 2004. Hart attended Onondaga Central High School, where he was a three-time Class D and C Player of the Year selection, leading the team to three state titles in 2001-03. He was named first-team All-State as a senior, junior and sophomore and added first-team All-Division and Co-Player of the Year for Central New York as a junior. Hart was a first-team All-Division and All-Central New York choice as a freshman and sophomore. Rated the nation's sixth-best back by Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report and listed as the top player in New York and the 12th-best running back in the country by Super Prep. He was rated the second-best prospect in New York, and sixth-best all-purpose back in the nation by Rivals100.com. He also received a four-star prospect rating from MaxEmfingerRecruiting.com. The tailback holds the national high school records for touchdowns in a career (204), most consecutive 100-yard rushing games (47), career 100-yard rushing games (47) and career points (1,246), as he rushed for 11,232 yards on 935 carries in his prep career. He tallied 3,489 yards and 58 touchdowns on 239 carries and 67 total touchdowns as a senior. Hart scored a state-record 61 touchdowns as a junior along with 2,846 rushing yards on 223 carries (12.8 yards per carry). He rushed for 3,341 yards and 51 touchdowns as a sophomore and 1,314 yards and 26 touchdowns on 119 carries -- 11 yards per carry -- as a freshman. He also averaged 10 points and five steals for the varsity basketball team. Hart enrolled at Michigan in 2004, where he became only the third true freshman to lead the Big Ten in rushing with 1,455 yards and nine touchdowns on 282 carries (5.2-yard average) to earn league Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American first-team honors. He was selected All-American third-team by College Football News, as he added 237 yards and a score on 26 receptions (9.1 avg). His per-game rushing average of 121.2 yards ranked 10th in the nation. In 2005, Hart started all eight games in which he played. A hamstring strain sidelined him vs. Eastern Michigan and Wisconsin while an ankle sprain forced him to sit out the Indiana and Northwestern clashes. He still led the team with 662 yards on 150 attempts (4.4-yard average) and four touchdowns. He snared 16 passes for 154 yards (9.6 avg) and a score, as he also recorded one solo tackle. Fully recovered, Hart returned to the nation's elite in 2006. He ranked ninth in the country in rushing, totaling 1,562 yards with 14 touchdowns on 318 carries (4.9-yard average). He finished fifth on the team with 17 receptions for 125 yards (7.4 avg) and scored 86 points. For that performance, he garnered consensus All-American and All-Big Ten Conference first-team honors. He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting and shared the Bo Schembechler Most Valuable Player Award with linebacker David Harris. Despite missing four full games and parts of two others during the 2007 season, Hart was a second-team All-American and Doak Walker Award finalist. He led the Big Ten in rushing and ranked fourth in the league in all-purpose yards. He touched the ball 265 times for 1,361 yards (5.1-yard average) and 14 touchdowns. He scored 84 points and caught eight passes for 50 yards (6.2) to pile up 1,411 all-purpose yards. In 43 games at Michigan, Hart started 39 times. He became the fourth player in Big Ten Conference history to gain over 5,000 yards rushing in a career. He set the school all-time records with 1,015 carries for 5,040 yards (4.97-yard average) and finished third in UM history with 41 rushing touchdowns. He caught 67 passes for 566 yards (8.4 avg) and a pair of scores, finishing with 262 points. He touched the ball a school-record 1,082 times and ranks fifth at U-M with 5,606 all-purpose yards, an average of 130.37 yards per game.

positives

Might lack ideal height, but has good body structure to carry additional bulk without the added weight impacting his quickness...Has thick thighs and calves with large, soft hands to securely protect the ball...Had only three fumbles on 1,015 rushing attempts...Quiet, but respected team leader-by-example type, putting in the extra hours after practice and in the film room and weight room...Very physical taking on tacklers, squaring his shoulders and dropping his pads to drive through arm tackles...Type of athlete who will play through pain...Very smart and instinctive player with a keen knowledge of blocking assignments and shows excellent vision locating the cutback lane...Shows a sudden burst through the hole, running with quickness, agility, flexibility, mobility and balance...Is able to cut and change direction with ease, demonstrating the flexibility to instantly redirect...Shows solid awareness to locate the blitz and is very good at getting into position in pass protection...Has the body control and hip swivel to come out of his cuts with a sudden burst...Runs with natural instincts and there is no hesitation when he moves with the ball...Known for his outstanding physical toughness and is very competitive attacking the rush lane...Shows good urgency out of his stance and into the rush lane (gets solid jump and movement)...Able to get to top speed in an instant and is very effective at anticipating blocking schemes thanks to his incredible feel and vision...Does a good job of anticipating the hole before it develops...Physical inside runner who does not need much room to move and will break tackles with his lower-body strength...Does a nice job of uncoiling after initial contact, flashing a good pad level to slip under tackles...Has the feel for the cutback lane and the timed speed to bounce outside when the interior holes are clogged...Has enough change-of-direction agility and hip wiggle to cut and get into the open...Solid perimeter runner who is quick to pick a seam and run through it...Demonstrates good pattern running skills and while he is not asked to catch much, he will extend and secure the ball outside his frame...Seeks contact as a cut blocker and shows good aggression facing up when blocking in-line...Will not hesitate to step up and take on bigger defenders in pass protection...Has become a solid, physical blocker who displays toughness and, in pass protection, shows power and will hit with rise.

compares to

JOSEPH ADDAI-Indianapolis...While Hart has a lot more mileage on his tires coming out of college than Addai did leaving LSU, both players are quick, darting runners with the ability to pound out the tough yardage up the middle or hit the cutback lanes. Addai is a better receiver than Hart, but the Michigan product protects the ball and is a physical blocker who plays with lots of aggression. He's shorter than ideal, but runs at a low pad level and has the leg drive to immediately break arm tackles. Had some injury problems as a senior, thanks to over 1,000 carries during his career, but until then, Hart proved very durable.

negatives

Has a shorter-than-ideal frame, but compensates with good muscle structure and excellent strength...Has had a high amount of carries and it started to take an affect on his body, as he missed four games and parts of two others in 2007...Has good acceleration through the hole, but doesn't possess another gear when operating in space (more of a build-up type of runner)...Likes to initiate contact, as he knows he is not an overly elusive or nifty runner, but he is efficient enough to avoid much contact after the first hit...Not used much on deep routes and while he runs decent patterns, he will struggle trying to track the pass in a crowd due to his lack of height... Does not have the explosive leaping ability to compete for the thrown ball at its high point.

2005: Sat out the Eastern Michigan (9/17) and Wisconsin (9/24) games and missed most of the Notre Dame game (9/10) with a hamstring pull...Left the Iowa contest (10/22) with an ankle sprain that forced him to sit out vs. Northwestern (10/29) and Indiana (11/12)...Came back vs. Ohio State (11/19), but was still hobbled by a bum ankle and missed the second half of that game. 2007: Underwent minor shoulder surgery to clean out debris at the end of March...Missed most of the second half of the game vs. Appalachian State (9/01) with a thigh bruise and hip contusion...Re-injured his thigh in the Oregon game (9/08)...Left in the first half of the Purdue game (10/13) with a right ankle sprain that would force him to sit out vs. Illinois (10/20) and Minnesota (10/27)...Re-injured his right ankle midway through the fourth quarter vs. Michigan State (11/03), missing the rest of that game while also sitting out the following week vs. Wisconsin (11/10).

Attended Onondaga Central (Nedrow, N.Y.) High School, playing football for head coach Bill Spicer

Three-time Class D and C Player of the Year selection, leading the team to three state titles in 2001-03

Named first-team All-State as a senior, junior and sophomore and added first-team All-Division and Co-Player of the Year for Central New York as a junior

First-team All-Division and All-Central New York choice as a freshman and sophomore

Rated as the nation's sixth-best back by Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report and listed as the top player in New York and the 12th-best running back in the country by Super Prep

Rated the second-best prospect in New York, and sixth-best all-purpose back in the nation by Rivals100.com

Received a four-star prospect rating from MaxEmfingerRecruiting.com

The tailback still holds the national high school records for touchdowns in a career (204), most consecutive 100-yard rushing games (47), career 100-yard rushing games (47) and career points (1,246), as he rushed for 11,232 yards on 935 carries in his career

Tallied 3,489 yards and 58 touchdowns on 239 carries and 67 total touchdowns as a senior

Scored a state-record 61 touchdowns as a junior along with 2,846 rushing yards on 223 carries (12.8 yards per carry)

Rushed for 3,341 yards and 51 touchdowns as a sophomore and totaled 1,314 yards and 26 touchdowns on 119 carries for 11.0 yards per carry as a freshman

Averaged 10 points and five steals for his varsity basketball team.

General Studies major, enrolled in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts

Born on 4/09/86

Resides in Syracuse, New York.