Meet Michigan long snapper William Wagner

It’s Senior Bowl week and I’m headed to Mobile, Alabama to take part in the fun. This week is something I look forward to each year. There’s great food, better people and plenty of football to indulge in at South Alabama.

One of the highlights of the week at the Senior Bowl is getting to talk with the players. Seeing how the next generation of NFL stars tick is always fun each year. On my flight down to Mobile, I sat next to Michigan long snapper, William Wagner.

Obviously, I knew who he was from the College Football Playoff bag that he had strapped around his shoulder. From there, we initiated on some small talk but I didn’t want to take up too much of his time. After all, he’s going to be plenty busy this week with practice, interviews, team meetings and much more.

That said, William was kind enough to give me time to interview him about the way he approaches the game, how he became a long snapper and so much more. Here’s my interview with Michigan long snapper William Wagner!

Russ: You mentioned that a lot of your family is from Mobile, Alabama. How important is it for you to have your college journey come full circle to the Senior Bowl? 

William: It’s very important for me. Especially, my mother. She’s been to a bunch of Senior Bowls and just to have my family there will be so cool. A lot of fun moments with the parade down there with my family. In fact, my uncle still lives down there so this will be a special week. 

Russ: Talking before our flight, you had mentioned that you played multiple positions in high school football. What were some of those but also, how did you settle on being a long snapper and know that it’s what you wanted to do? 

William: I played OL and DL, a little bit of LB. Then was on special teams. My brother played at Mercer and I knew that I wanted to play college football. From there, I wanted a scholarship to a Power-5 school. I started taking long snapping more serious in 8th grade, and kept at it. An opportunity opened up at Michigan and with me wanting to be an engineer, it all worked out.

Russ: Oh, that’s pretty cool. What type of degree do you have?

William: I’ve got a degree in Mechanical Engineering and my Master Degree is in Manufacturing. 

Russ: How did your long snapping process improve, and how did you get better at it?

William: Technically, I started long snapping in 5th grade and decided in 8th grade that I wanted to get better at it. So I started doing it 3 or 4 times per…