EXCLUSIVE: What Separates Elite MSU Football Target From the Rest
DAVISON, Mich. -- Davison High School has become one of the Division 1 football powers in Michigan during head coach Jake Weingartz's tenure. The Cardinals broke through and won a state championship in 2019. The next year they fell short of repeating in the title game.
Ever since, Davison has always been near the top. They currently have one of the state's best players, too, in 2026 offensive lineman Ben Nichols. Nichols is a four-star talent and a Top 20 interior offensive lineman in the class.
I spoke with Weingartz. Nichols has all of the tools and traits. But what stands out the most to the coach is Nichols' work ethic.
"He's just a hard worker, man," Weingartz said. "He's really transformed his body, when he was younger he was kind of a chubbier kid per say, but now if you look at him when he walks in here, he doesn't look 315 pounds. Really, really committed himself to the weight room , committed himself to all of our speed training, you know, never missed a single day in the offseason or in the summer. So he takes it very seriously and he's obviously had some good success."
Nichols stands 6-foot-5 and this reporter would have to agree with Weingartz that he doesn't look his weight. One can see similarities between Nichols and the offensive linemen that Michigan State offensive line coach Jim Michalczik likes to maintain.
Michalczik likes his linemen on the more athletic side -- he likes mean and he likes his linemen to be fast and able to get to the second level. At the first day of fall camp this year, I was surprised with how in-shape and lean all of Michalczik's linemen were.
As a respected football mind succinctly put it afterward, they didn't look sloppy. That is how one could describe Nichols.
In his own words, Nichols said he does best in run-blocking.
"Physical, I mean just running people," Nichols said. "You know, that's all you can do when when it comes to run-blocking is being physical."
Nichols is the No. 222-overall player in the 2026 class and the No. 3 player in Michigan.
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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