Michigan Wolverine Football History
Today is a great day to wish a BIG BLUE Happy Birthday to a Wolverine named Keith Mitchell. According to the 1987 Michigan Football Media Guide, Keith Mitchell was born on this date at Southgate, Michigan. Keith grew up in Southgate and became an outstanding football player at Southgate Anderson High School. Mitchell played tight end and linebacker and earned All-State honors as a senior. He was also a pretty good baseball player since he earned all-league and all-area honors. However, football was the sport that Bo Schembechler and Michigan wanted him to play in college. So, Keith accepted a scholarship to play football for the Michigan Wolverines in 1985.
Keith Mitchell played Tight End and Linebacker for Michigan from 1985 to 1988. Photo courtesy of the Michigan Athletic Department.
Keith Mitchell arrived in Ann Arbor in 1985. His first two years had some good news and some bad news. The good news was that Keith made the varsity football team. In fact, he made the Michigan travel squad in 1986 and saw his first game action against Illinois. However, the bad news was that he was playing behind some outstanding tight ends. So, he did not play much in his first two seasons and did not letter in 1985 or 1986.
Keith hung in there and worked at linebacker and tight end since he did both in high school. He played enough to letter in 1987 and did he same in 1988. Keith Mitchell caught one pass at tight end in 1988 against Illinois. He also made 9 tackles on defense in four games.
Although he didn’t play as much as he probably would have liked, Keith Mitchell played some good football for Michigan. He finished with two varsity letters and played on two conference championships teams in 1986 and 1988.
Keith Mitchell (#90) is in position to make a tackle against Indiana in 1988. Photo courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library.
So, today is a good day to remember the contributions of Keith Mitchell to Michigan Football. He is one more reason why the Michigan football program is the winningest program in college football. According to his Linkedin profile, Keith is working in the software industry. Happy Birthday Keith Mitchell and Go Blue!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Michigan_Wolverines_football_team
https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithmitchell3000
