From Marshall, Virginia to Michigan: An All American Story

From Marshall, Virginia to Michigan: An All American Story

By Adam Rittenberg ESPN Senior Writer

Michigan running back Blake Corum, a Fauquier County native, in action against the University of Maryland.

Courtesy of U-M Photography

When Michigan running back Blake Corum went outside as a kid, he never wore shoes.

Barefoot Blake would grab charcoal briquettes from the family grill, mix them in a bowl of water and then paint on trees in and around Marshall, Virginia, his one stoplight hometown. He loved building things, mostly forts and teepees. His parents, James and Christina, didn’t worry about their son’s screen time.

“I was never inside,” Corum said. “There’s nothing much there but to use your imagination. It’s quiet. There’s trees and woods and the air is fresh. I liked growing up there, just because I felt like I was by myself. No one’s going to bother you. You can just sit out there and dream.”

Corum has always been a dreamer. He dreams about buying the Middleburg farm once owned by Washington NFL owner Jack Kent Cooke that his grandfather once managed. He also dreams about ways to impact others, a lifelong instinct he continued over this past Thanksgiving, delivering meals to families in need.

Up until he had a season-ending knee injury late in the 2022 season, Corum had a dream year for Michigan. The week he was hurt, he was tied for the national lead in touchdowns (18), led the nation in first downs (81) and ranked third in rushing yards (1,349) despite logging only four total carries in the second halves of Michigan’s first three games. The 5-foot-8, 210-pound Corum became the top non-quarterback candidate in a crowded Heisman Trophy field.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh recently called Corum the best college running back he ever coached. Others around the program describe a uniquely impactful player with an unabated will to work.

“A generational back,” said Michigan associate head coach Biff Poggi, who coached Corum at Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy. “You coach your whole life and probably will never have a guy like this.”

Corum plays in the nation’s largest stadium at Michigan, and his football journey took him to the urban epicenter of Baltimore. But his roots are firmly in Marshall where, “Everyone knows everyone,” Corum said.

His parents both grew up there. The family lived in several spots, including farms managed by Christina’s father, David Pierce. In 2005, while the Corums waited for their home to be built, they stayed with Pierce on the farm owned by Cooke.

Blake Corum stopped by Warrenton Middle School on a recent visit back home and made a wonderful memory for Christian Maloney.

Photo by Derek Maloney

James noticed his son’s physical gifts early. He walked before age one and rode a bike without training wheels at three. He started playing football at five and began working out before school in fifth grade. James took him to train with local high school players and their strength coach. Blake also had several private coaches.

When Blake reached high school, the family faced a decision. Fauquier High, where James played running back and cornerback, was no longer the county’s only high school. The team had slipped (Fauquier went winless this past season). Neighboring Maryland offered better competition and visibility for colleges. Schools had scouted Corum and wanted him. He chose St. Vincent Pallotti in Laurel, about 75 miles from Marshall.

“We didn’t even think twice about it,” Christina said. “We didn’t doubt his ability to work hard. If that’s where he felt he needed to be, then we’re going to support that. Now I’m not going to lie: It was taxing on the family.”

The drive took two hours each way. Christina usually did drop-offs, returning home in time to take her daughters to school. James handled pickups but sometimes would do both legs. He owns a landscaping business, which allowed him to work flexible hours and pick up his kids.

Blake woke up between 3 to 4 a.m. on school days. Twice a week, he stopped for workouts in Manassas. He arrived at Pallotti around 6 a.m. He would crash on a couch until the school bell rang.

After practice, he’d head home.

The work resulted in several college scholarship offers, including one from thenIndiana assistant Mike Hart, the all-time leading rusher at Michigan. But before making a college choice, Corum wanted to upgrade his high school competition.

Poggi, who had built St. Frances into a national power, initially wasn’t interested. He liked bigger backs. When Ian Thomas, a former Illinois linebacker who coached Pallotti High and had joined Poggi’s staff, brought Corum over, Poggi saw a more filled-out player than he expected.

Still, he told Corum that St. Frances had plenty of running backs who fit better than he did.

“I said, ‘What do you think about that?’” Poggi said. “He said, ‘I’ll beat everybody out, and I’m coming to win the national championship.’ I said, ‘OK, you’ve got a scholarship.’ The rest was history.”

Corum’s first high school was two hours from home. St. Frances, located in the heart of Baltimore, was a world away from tiny Marshall.

“My first day there, I saw someone get shot,” Corum said. “I’m going from peaceful living, y’all don’t get bothered in Marshall. It was a big change, but one of the best experiences I had.”

Corum quickly became a team leader. St. Frances had a roster filled with elite players, but none trained quite like he did. He became a top-125 recruit and his college decision came down to Michigan and Ohio State. Corum visited each school on back-to-back June weekends in 2019. The Ohio State visit went well, and Christina and James expected their son to become a Buckeye.

But on the last day at Michigan, Blake came to his parents’ hotel at 7 a.m. He said he had called Ohio State to tell them he was committing ... to the Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan saw the complete, best version of Corum in 2022 until that knee injury ended his season before the January playoffs. Corum has already announced he will bypass the upcoming NFL draft and return for his senior season.

Harbaugh has compared Corum to a chess player always thinking several moves ahead. Corum relies on small, seemingly subtle moves to find room.

“You can work on cuts all day, you can work on new moves all day, but if you can’t do it in the blink of an eye, it doesn’t matter,” Corum said. “Before the play, I’m not thinking, ‘I’m going to hit him with the spin move, or I’m going to ‘jurdle’ him.’”

“Jurdle?”

“A jump-hurdle,” Corum explained. “It’s a sudden light jump stiff-arm hurdle, trying to just get your leg out the way. I do the jurdle quite often.”

Off the field, he’s special in another way. He’s often out and about in the Ann Arbor Community working with youngsters, and not just on football.

“Right away, [Corum] starts reading books with the kids, building these connections,” said Bilal Saeed, who helps organize community events in and around Ann Arbor. “Then, he kept showing up. He was hooping with the kids, kicking the soccer ball around.”

Saeed tries not to text Corum often. He’s respectful of Corum’s time, especially during the season.

There’s only one issue: Corum keeps blowing up Saeed’s phone.

“Blake is hitting me up: ‘What about this idea for the turkey giveaway? I want to do this.’ Let’s do a backpack giveaway,’” said Saeed. “He’s come in with all these ideas, based on what he sees.”

Corum has always been a giver. As a kid, he’d bring his own money to church and deposit bills in the offering plate. At St. Frances, he took on a job and gave some of his wages to people on the street.

But the arrival of name, image and likeness opportunities provided the platform for Corum to truly give back. Corum has used his NIL earnings to fund several initiatives, including school supplies, meals and holiday gifts.

Corum wants to be remembered more for how he impacted people on campus and in the community. Seeing Halloween pictures of kids dressed in his jersey “meant a lot.”

So many of the dreams he once had, in the peaceful stillness of Marshall, have come true at Michigan. And more will come.

“I try to remind myself how blessed I am,” Corum said. “So I dream every day. I don’t stop dreaming.”

This story is re-printed with permission from ESPN. “Blake Corum’s journey from small-town Virginia to Michigan’s Big House,” by Adam Rittenberg, ©ESPN was published on Nov. 16, 2022.