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The consensus among family and friends is that Trevor Keegan made the best decision of his life when he picked Michigan.
The 2019 Crystal Lake South graduate has been to the College Football Playoffs three times. Twice, he has played on a Wolverines’ offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award as the Outstanding Offensive Line Unit in College Football. The 6-foot-6, 320-pound left guard has started for three seasons and likely will be selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.
And on Monday, Keegan will play in the National Championship game with the Wolverines (14-0) against Washington (14-0) at NRG Stadium in Houston. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
“If we had this conversation four years ago when he committed, how this would turn into something like this, it wouldn’t have seemed possible,” said Mike Keegan, Trevor’s father. “And here we are a couple years later and it turned into this.
“That was his dream going back to when he was 5 or 6 years old. He wanted to play college football and he wanted to play in the NFL. That’s the ride he’s on and it’s been a great year.”
South football coach Rob Fontana grew up as a hard-core Michigan fan and was thrilled when Keegan picked coach Jim Harbaugh’s team. Michigan, Georgia and Penn State were his final three schools.
“You look at how things have shaken out, he couldn’t have made a better decision,” Fontana said. “You watch the interviews, watch some of the goofy stuff he posts, but he speaks so well in public. The maturing process he’s had and the coaching he’s gotten, he’s just an awesome kid.
“I might not ever see a player like Trevor come through our doors again. I could see he was a special player here, but I didn’t know how that was going to translate, and how fast it did, once he got there.”
Keegan has started 39 games in his career, 35 at left guard, and is projected as a player who will be picked on the third day of the draft (fourth through seventh rounds).
After last year’s 51-45 loss to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, a CFP semifinal, Keegan and others who were projected to be drafted decided to return. The Wolverines had unfinished business.
“We didn’t really talk about (the draft) that much (last year),” said Amanda Keegan, Trevor’s mother. “Goals weren’t accomplished last year, so I think the deciding factor was he wasn’t done yet. That 100% played into it.”
The Keegans will have a group of about 12 people, family and former high school teammates, in Houston, although they were still looking for four more tickets late in the week.
Michigan won a 27-20 overtime thriller over Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 to reach the championship game. Mike Keegan could not believe the surroundings and the moment.
“You sat there as a kid and it’s 5 degrees outside and there’s 2 feet of snow and you see Pasadena and Keith Jackson, the Grandaddy of them All and ‘Whoa, Nellie!’ " Mike Keegan said. “And then to be walking into that stadium, it was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ It was an unbelievable experience.”
Amanda Keegan was taking in the pregame atmosphere when she heard something on the Jumbotron that surprised her.
“At one point, I hear the name ‘Chuck Ahsmann’ over the loudspeaker at the Rose Bowl,” Amanda Keegan said. “I look up and it’s Trevor on the big screen talking about a coach or teacher who inspired him. We recorded it, but it was loud in the stadiuim. It was so amazing. I texted Chuck and sent him the recording.”
Chuck Ahsmann is South’s former football coach who brought Trevor Keegan to the varsity team as a freshman, a first in Gators’ history. Fontana, who was on Ahsmann’s staff, took over in Keegan’s sophomore season.
“I remember hearing about him, a kid that big, in the (Crystal Lake) Raiders’ program,” Ahsmann said. “He came to South and we basically told his dad and his mom that I hadn’t seen him play, so we were going to start him on the freshman level and if he proved he was capable, we’d move him to sophomore and so on.
“He spent a day at the freshman level and a day at the sophomore level and we were like, ‘Oh, yeah, this kid’s ready.’ It was pretty obvious early on. He was different than any of the kids we had before him. Trevor really stood out as a big kid at that age. He was big, he was strong. Not many kids are ready as a freshman to play offensive line at the varsity level.”
Ahsmann was on the golf course with his wife Ruth and sons Will and Joey after Keegan’s freshman season when he received a phone call. It was a Northwestern assistant coach with whom Ahsmann had developed a relationship, calling to tell him to act surprised when Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald offered him a scholarship.
“I was like, ‘As a freshman?’ " Ahsmann said. “I hadn’t heard of that around here before. He’s just amazing. He has great footwork, great hands. Pat Fitzgerald gets on the phone and said ‘We’re going to offer Trevor a full ride at Northwestern.
“He’s a great kid, keep working with him and get him better. And get ready for the tidal wave.’ I asked, ‘What’s the tidal wave?’ He said, ‘We’re the first school to offer him. You are going to have everybody in the country calling you sooner or later.’ Boy, he was right. The number of schools he had recruiting him was unbelievable.”
Keegan wound up with more than 30 offers and had offers from Clemson, Georgia and Oklahoma, all semifinalists in 2018. Keegan chose Michigan because he had relatives near Ann Arbor, and because he liked Harbaugh and then-offensive line coach Ed Warinner.
Mike and Amanda Keegan appreciate that closeness Keegan has with his teammates, as well as what they have with families of other players.
“The best part of it is he is playing football with friends who will be lifelong friends,” Amanda Keegan said. “He’s made such good relationships. This whole team is just a unit. That offensive line room, they are deep.”
Mike Keegan concurs.
“It’s not the offense, it’s not the defense, it’s the team,” he said. “How well they get along, and coach Harbaugh talks about the culture there, it’s more than just the players, it’s the parents’ culture. We travel with these parents every week. It’s a fantastic journey every week.”
There should be more journeys next year, to NFL cities and stadiums, although the relationships may not be as close. So the Keegans will cherish one last trip with the Wolverines.
And Fontana will embrace one final time watching his former player competing for his favorite college team as it plays for the national title. He marvels at how far Keegan has progressed.
“The work ethic, the strength, the little things that you don’t really think are important with football, his flexibility, his quickness off the ball and lateral movements,” Fontana said. “Those were always really special, but it’s incredible what he’s done there and it’s been awesome for me and my whole family.
“Our Saturdays consist of a lot of phone calls and text messages. It’s been an awesome experience for all of us to kind of live it on the outside through him. It’s been incredible for me to see that.”