Who is Davis Warren? Michigan's new QB has a bigger story than Texas

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Think about the quarterbacks who hold the College Football Playoff hopes of Michigan and Texas in their hands.

Texas has Quinn Ewers, the most promising prospect in the class of 2021 and a potential first-round pick in the NFL Draft. Behind Ewers is Arch Manning of the First Family of Quarterbacks, the most promising prospect in the class of 2023 and possibly the most famous backup in football.

And then there's Michigan's Davis Warren, a former walk-on who failed to recruit stars and had no notable accomplishments as a high school talent. Warren appeared in four games as a high school junior and eight as a backup at Michigan in 2019 before being named the starter for the Wolverines' season opener against Fresno State.

He also survived cancer.

Now Warren is set to start for the defending national champions against Ewers, Manning and Texas in the biggest non-conference matchup in decades at Michigan Stadium. When you look at these quarterbacks, it's easy to see that one of them isn't like the others. But Warren doesn't let that bother him, as he's faced elite quarterbacks most of his life.

At Loyola High School in Los Angeles, Warren played with Miller Moss, now USC's starting quarterback. In his final three years at Michigan, he played behind a top-10 pick in JJ McCarthy. He worked with quarterback experts at 3DQB, a training program in Huntington Beach, California, where CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, Jared Goff and other stars honed their technique.

“I'm used to being surrounded by top quarterbacks all the time, both in our building and outside of it, having trained with all the top guys,” Warren said. “I've experienced it all. I know I'm 100 percent capable of playing at that level.”

Other quarterbacks are more popular, but none have a story like Warren.

Davis Warren threw 14 passes in his first three years as a backup. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

Warren came home from a workout one morning in the spring of 2019 and told his father that he was feeling sick. He had recently had his wisdom teeth removed and his parents thought he might have an infection.

They went to an emergency room, where the doctor asked Warren to take off his shirt, examined his swollen lymph nodes, and checked his white blood cell count. Pack a bagthe doctor told them. You have to go to the hospital.

Warren's father, Jeff, drove him to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where Warren underwent further tests. Warren's mother, Terri, was with his younger brother at Odyssey of the Mind, a problem-solving competition. She sat on the phone in their hotel room while Jeff and Davis waited for the test results.

“Those were the longest three hours of my life,” said Jeff.

Sometime after 1 a.m., doctors told Warren he had leukemia. They didn't know what type, but Warren was eventually diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. The five-year survival rate for adolescents under 19 is 66 percent.

Days earlier, Warren had been preparing to leave Los Angeles to play at the Peddie School, a private school in New Jersey, and was now told to prepare to begin chemotherapy the following Tuesday.

“In the blink of an eye, you go from a 6 a.m. workout where you can't even lift the warm-up weights to a children's hospital and someone tells you you have cancer,” Warren said.

Warren lost 40 pounds, his appetite, his hair and any chance of a typical recruiting experience. He spent the next five months in and out of the hospital – most of the time in the hospital – undergoing four rounds of chemotherapy. Between treatments, he was able to go home for a few days, but then he was right back in the hospital for another round. He watched every episode of Game of Thrones, read tons of books, binge-watched movies, rode his bike and threw a football in the hospital yard while hooked up to an IV pole.

Warren's parents brought food from various restaurants in LA and tried to satisfy his small appetite, but most meals remained uneaten.

“He lost a lot of weight and his appetite,” Jeff said. “Every day he just felt awful.”

The family thanks Chris Malleo, Warren's coach at the Peddie School, for helping him get through the treatments. When Warren called and said he had cancer, Malleo told him he would get a spot on the team once his treatments were complete. “See you in the fall,” Malleo said.

While in the hospital, Warren received messages from Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Kirk Cousins ​​and other famous quarterbacks. Malleo and others worked behind the scenes to make sure Warren got the encouragement he needed. After having a timeline for his treatments, Warren marked a date on the calendar: October 4, 2019, the day he planned to return to the field.

“All the doctors said, 'OK, sure,'” Terri said. “They had never seen an athlete like him perform at such a high level, withstanding the treatment he had to endure.”

Not everyone thought it was a good idea for Warren to play football so soon after his cancer treatment, but he needed that goal to get him through the toughest parts of the summer. After the last round of chemotherapy was completed and doctors declared him cancer-free, Warren's parents found a way to put him on a plane to New Jersey.

Warren was weakened by cancer treatments, and the Peddie School had another quarterback who had fought his way into the starting spot in his absence. Malleo kept his word and found a way to get Warren into the game on his first night with the team. Warren's parents held their breath, hoping he wouldn't suffer a major blow.

“Davis got completely beat up on the first play,” Jeff said. “He got right back up and threw two great passes.”

Warren appeared in four games that fall. A few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and the sports world came to a halt. Warren transferred to Suffield Academy in Connecticut, hoping for another chance to prove he was a Division I quarterback, but the entire season was canceled.

Warren hadn't made many films in high school, and the major college football programs didn't offer him scholarships.

But he had connections with some college programs. He had caught the eye of Steve Casula, who was an analyst at Michigan at the time. He also had connections with Michigan through the 3DQB program and Cam Cameron, a former NFL and college coach.

In the fall of his senior year, Jim Harbaugh called and offered him a preferred walk-on spot at Michigan. Warren's family was thrilled that he would be able to play college football at a high level at such a prestigious program. The idea that he would one day become Michigan's starting quarterback barely crossed his mind.

“I think we just thought, 'Wow, it's so great that he has this opportunity,'” Terri said.

For three years, Warren was the player who took notes at every meeting, helped Michigan's other quarterbacks prepare and led the scout team in practice. He played some cleanup and completed 5 of 14 passes with one interception. A shoulder injury prevented him from getting more playing time last season, but he recovered in time to play the role of Michael Penix Jr. in practice before the national championship game against Washington.

From the outside, it was easy to write Warren off as a career backup, even after he played better than the other quarterbacks in Michigan's spring game. When Michigan opened preseason training camp, much of the focus was on Alex Orji's potential and the experience of Jack Tuttle, a seventh-year player who started at Indiana. With Tuttle out again with an injury, Warren's consistency as a passer gave him the edge over Orji in the week leading up to Michigan's first game.

The decision to make Warren the starter came as a surprise to the outside world, but it was no shock to his teammates.

“What he's done to get here is unbelievable,” said tight end Max Bredeson, Warren's roommate and another former walk-on. “The hours he spent at our house watching film on his iPad, the hours he spent watching film from his freshman year in the dorm. None of us are going to play, and he's still in it. You'd think he's the starting quarterback.”

Michigan defeated Fresno State 30-10 in Davis Warren's first start. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

Now he is. Warren's first start was nothing special: 15 of 25 passing, 118 yards, a touchdown and an interception in a 30-10 victory that had just one possession in the fourth quarter. With No. 3 Texas coming to Ann Arbor on Saturday, fans have feared the moment might be too big for a quarterback with very little experience in big games.

On the outside, Warren exudes composure. On Monday, he met with reporters after taping a segment for “College GameDay,” a show he watched as a child. His story, previously known only to diehard Michigan fans, is about to go national. Warren finds purpose in showing people that a cancer diagnosis doesn't have to mean giving up on a dream.

After his cancer treatment, Warren didn't want to be in hospital for a long time. He couldn't wait for his hair to grow back and dreaded check-ups that only brought back bad memories.

“I'd say, 'Man, I don't want to be part of this,'” Warren said. “Bad vibes everywhere. Keep me out of this.”

As Michigan fans learned about his story, Warren heard from other people. A grandfather on LinkedIn whose grandson was going through leukemia treatment. Parents with children at Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. Warren realized he was in a unique position to help these people, and it would be a shame not to make the most of it.

“I've been through that,” Warren said. “I have the scar on my arm. I know how to hit the mute button on the medicine stick that everyone gets. That's a very special connection.”

Viewers of Saturday's game might look at Warren, the 6-foot-2 former walk-on, and wonder how he ended up on the same field as the best quarterbacks. It's easy to see this game as a chance for Warren to prove he has what it takes to be Michigan's starting quarterback, but for Warren, that question has already been answered.

“I don't see it that way,” he said. “I know I belong here.”

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(Top photo: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images)