How a lacrosse goalie ended up on the Michigan Football team

Crandall Quinn’s football career was supposed to end after high school.

He had played football his entire life, though he came to Ann Arbor as a lacrosse commit. A three-star goalie, he joined head coach Kevin Conry’s program in 2024, and that was that.

Until everything changed this summer.

An old high school coach reached out asking if he would ever want to be on the Michigan football team. The Wolverines needed walk-ons, and who better than someone already familiar with the university’s academic and athletic rigors?

“Obviously, I was ecstatic about it. I was like, ‘Who wouldn’t want to be on the team?’” Quinn told Maize n Brew. “Honestly, I wasn’t thinking much of it. A few weeks passed, ‘Alright, nothing’s gonna happen. No worries.’”

But something did happen.

Quinn received a text from Director of Player Personnel Albert Karschnia about coming in for some testing and physicals. After witnessing football games from the Big House bleachers for years, the Grand Rapids native would finally have the opportunity to join the field.

As excited as Quinn was, he still had his lacrosse priorities. He could not simply pack up and leave Conry’s program that had so willingly embraced him years earlier. He called Conry to alert him of the news. But Conry was a step ahead, and was “‘fired up’” for this new adventure that Quinn “had to do.”

“I really (appreciated it),” Quinn said. “(Conry has) been super supportive of me the whole time, and I’m super grateful for that.”

Lacrosse, being a spring sport, has made the schedule a little easier. There are still fall ball sessions and team activities that Quinn is missing out on, but his new dual-athlete life has not changed any of those relationships.

There was the question of how he would integrate with the football players and staff. It’s not every day a lacrosse goalie starts playing tight end for the football team. Fortunately for Quinn, it was seamless.

“Everyone on the football team was so nice to me; everyone treated me like family. I was beyond, beyond happy with how everyone was being to me,” Quinn said. “…Everyone, especially the tight ends, were just unbelievable to me. I thank them every day for that.

“(Tight ends) coach (Steve) Casula treats me like one of his sons. It’s honestly a community. I think that we treat everyone like that. That’s one of the reasons why Michigan Football is so dominant.”

As cool as it is to play both sports, particularly at a school like Michigan, Quinn does not want to limit his joy or knowledge to himself. There are tangible benefits to this role that can impact those around him.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot … There are so many things that coaches and teams do differently. Whether one’s better or the other, it’s just different,” Quinn said. “I feel like bringing a new experience to both lacrosse and football is super important to having us both grow as teams and as people.”

There is also the physical element. It takes a special breed of lacrosse player to hop in between the pipes, and Quinn has done that all the way to the Division I level. It takes another to play one of the most physically straining positions in football during the first sport’s offseason.

Quinn does both, and it may not be all about the contact, but that certainly plays a role.

“One of the things that most drove me to football is waking up sore,” Quinn said. “I know that sounds crazy, but something about just running around and hitting people and having fun while you’re doing it.”

Perhaps this helps explain why the football team was so welcoming. That sort of attitude plays in any locker room, especially with two hard-hitting sports.

Quinn is still taking it day by day, trying to contribute as much as possible to football while keeping active with lacrosse. A school workload makes life no easier, and it is almost unfathomable how he pulls this off.

The Wolverines’ goalie-tight end does not know what his future holds, as there are few case studies for this path. But what Quinn does know is his appreciation for the opportunity.

“I love both experiences so much. I don’t know if I can go back to just one now,” Quinn said.