Sep 1, 2014 3 min read

Ken Wilkins thought his football career was over.

Three seasons at the University of Michigan produced a degree but little playing time for the Wolverines. A special teams assignment was as good as it got.

The funny thing about being a football player is that it’s hard to shake the desire to play, especially when friends and family members prodded him to give it another try.

So Wilkins, a 2010 graduate of Trinity High School, decided they might be right. He took his degree, left Ann Arbor and enrolled at California University last January.

Wilkins takes the next step in the resurgence of his career Saturday, when the Vulcans open the season with a home game against Virginia State.

Kickoff is 1 p.m.

“I wasn’t going to play anymore,” said Wilkins, who picked Michigan from a narrow-downed handful of major Division I offers. “At first, I didn’t miss it. I was really good at it, and a lot of people told me to give it a second chance. So I decided to do it.”

Wilkins had an unusual ride with Michigan. He was recruited by then-coach Rich Rodriguez, who red-shirted Wilkins. Rodriguez was replaced by Brady Hoke the following year and Wilkins had his position changed.

“I was told when I was a freshman that I would be an outside linebacker,” he said. “Then, the whole staff was fired. They moved me to nose guard. I tried to do my best, be a team player.”

But it wasn’t the best fit for Wilkins, who was 6-3 and 290 pounds at the time, about 40 pounds more than he is now.

When Wilkins decided to come back to football, California seemed the perfect place. It was near his hometown and the program has a long string of winning seasons and playoff appearances.

“He contacted us at the end of the season,” head coach Kellar said in January. “He knew of our success. It was a good fit for him. We had a need at that position, and we got a D-1 player in our backyard. It was a win-win situation.”

Wilkins’ bloodlines are good. His cousin Travis Thomas, a Washington High School graduate, played at Notre Dame. But there would be some differences now. Instead of games being held in front of more than 100,000 fans at Michigan, he will play in front of about 5,000 at Adamson Stadium.

“That doesn’t affect me,” said Wilkins. “I just consider playing a blessing.”

Wilkins will start for the Vulcans and play either defensive end or outside linebacker, depending on the down and distance. Wilkins seems a perfect fit for its 3-3-5 defense because of his versatility. Joining Spencer Lynn and Jeff Knox, two seniors, at linebacker should strengthen a defense that lost seven starters from last year.

Virginia State ranked third behind Tuskegee and Winston Salem State in a preseason poll in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association but returns its leading rusher in Jordan Anderson (1,142 yards, 20 TDs) and receiver Gene Holloman (48, 446, 2). But quarterback Justin Thorpe graduated.

James Harris makes his season debut at quarterback for the Vulcans. Harris took over the starting spot at midseason last year and secured it in the spring, prompting the transfer of Cody Schroeder to Urbana University.