Andrew Gentry’s path to Michigan, outlook for 2023

Offensive lineman Andrew Gentry’s path to Michigan was a long and unique one and makes for a good story.

The story so far

Gentry was a four-star prospect (No. 88 player nationally, No. 8 offensive tackle) out of Littleton, Colorado in the 2020 class.

Gentry took time away from football after high school to serve as a full-time Spanish-speaking missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Utah. Gentry committed to Virginia, but by the time he was nearing his missionary work Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall was fired.

Gentry got in touch with BYU and Michigan, but Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh got on a plane and talked to church elders at Gentry’s mission — the elders granted Gentry a 90-minute visit with Harbaugh. By the time Gentry and Harbaugh’s lunch was over Gentry committed to Michigan.

Gentry appeared in three games as a freshman and was named Special Teams Freshman of the Game versus Rutgers.

Outlook moving forward

Gentry is a big dude, standing 6-foot-7 and 312 pounds, and he’s a player Harbaugh’s very excited to have in Ann Arbor.

“There are some guys that could be 320 pounds and look like a bowl of jello,” Harbaugh said in 2021. “This guy is 300 pounds and looks like is carved out of marble. So he’s a tremendous player.”

While Gentry will likely wind up having a promising career at Michigan, his path to playing time is complicated due to the Wolverines having great depth along the o-line. Gentry had snaps at right guard and right tackle last season, and his versatility could help him see the field but not as a starter out of the gate.

Transfer players such as Myles Hinton and LaDarius Henderson will be above Gentry on the depth chart. And then there are others such as right guard Zak Zinter and tackles Karsen Barnhart and Trente Jones above him on depth chart as well.