an unsung leader: EXCLUSIVE nico andrighetto player spotlight

From Bay Area Underdog to Michigan Leader: The Andrighetto Story

On September 12, as Michigan prepared to face Oklahoma in one of its biggest games of the season, Nico Andrighetto emerged from the tunnel at the front of the team. The defensive back is undersized, comes off the bench and has made his name primarily on special teams. But when the Wolverines needed someone to lead them onto the field, they chose No. 31. A reflection not of his statistics, but of the trust he had earned from his teammates as an unsung captain on a team full of superstars and millionares. To understand why Andrighetto was leading Michigan that night, it helps to understand how often he has had to prove he belongs.

Built by Family and Toughness

Andrighetto is the youngest of four brothers, each at least four years older than him. Growing up, he played backyard football against boys who always had a physical advantage. He and his brother Lucas, who played running back at Michigan from 2018 to 2021, spent years competing in one-on-one tackle football in their yard.

That environment did not make Nico bigger. It made him tougher.

“It’s kind of just been ingrained always to be tough, to be able to compete,” Andrighetto said.

At 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, Andrighetto understands that his size does not immediately stand out on a college football field.

“I’m a small guy,” he said.

For Andrighetto, toughness became the way to overcome that disadvantage. His high school coach, Greg Calcagno, believes that mentality is also what draws people to him.

“I think that’s why people really gravitate toward him,” Calcagno said.

Andrighetto’s toughness has been tested by more than backyard football. He has played through a broken thumb suffered in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, a stress fracture in his back that lingered for two years and multiple stingers that caused nerve damage in his trapezius muscles. None of those injuries kept him from contributing on special teams.

From Recruiting Setback to Michigan Scholarship

Before Andrighetto could earn his place at Michigan, he first had to watch the future he expected disappear. For most of his senior year at St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California, he was committed to Columbia. Then, in January, the Ivy League program backed away, leaving him without a clear destination late in the recruiting process.

His brother Lucas sent his film to Jay Harbaugh, then Michigan’s special teams coordinator. Within a day, Michigan responded.

“Within 24 hours, I ended up having 15 preferred walk-on offers,” Andrighetto said.

After he publicly announced Michigan’s interest, other programs quickly followed. Andrighetto narrowed his options to Michigan, UCLA and Washington, but Michigan’s willingness to move first separated it from the others.

“I ended up choosing Michigan because they’re kind of the ones that took the first chance on me,” Andrighetto said.

Even now, he recognizes how unlikely that opportunity once appeared.

“I’m a 5-foot-9 kid from the Bay Area, California, with like 190 pounds,” Andrighetto said. “I really shouldn’t be here.”

Arriving in Ann Arbor was only the beginning. Andrighetto joined the program as a walk-on and spent years proving his value on special teams before receiving a scholarship at the end of his junior year. Then-head coach Sherrone Moore was the one who delivered the news.

“He was the one person that actually pulled the trigger and gave me my scholarship,” Andrighetto said.

That moment helps explain why Andrighetto remains grateful to Moore, even after the difficult circumstances surrounding the end of his tenure.

“I’d never talk bad about Coach Moore,” Andrighetto said.

Moore was one of three Michigan head coaches Andrighetto played for during a college career marked by constant change. Instead of transferring, he continued finding a place under each staff.

Jim Harbaugh, Andrighetto said, brought humor and an old-school approach to the program.

“Might be the funniest person I’ve ever met,” Andrighetto said.

He remembers Harbaugh demanding a positive attitude each day and immediately challenging players who complained about practice. He also remembers Harbaugh making sure the entire roster traveled to postseason games, including the Big Ten Championship, Rose Bowl and national championship.

Moore gave Andrighetto his scholarship. But Kyle Whittingham gave him a reason to return for another season.“Coach Witt is actually my favorite coach by far,” Andrighetto said. “It’s not even close.”

What impressed Andrighetto was not a particular scheme. It was Whittingham’s emphasis on merit. Under Whittingham, Andrighetto said, practice performance, work ethic and academics determine a player’s standing more than recruiting rankings or past reputation.

For a former walk-on who spent his career earning every opportunity, that philosophy resonated.

“Everybody hangs out with everybody,” Andrighetto said, describing a culture in which many of the divisions between position groups and recruiting classes have disappeared.

Coming Back to Lead

Before meeting Whittingham, Andrighetto believed the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl against Texas might be his final game for Michigan. With uncertainty surrounding the program after Moore’s departure, he did not know what he would be returning to.

With his family in attendance, Andrighetto approached the bowl as a farewell and played what he described as “free.” Then, during bowl week in Florida, he met Whittingham.

“I made my decision that I was coming back pretty much in the first 10 seconds of meeting him,” Andrighetto said.

He returned with a specific purpose. Punt block and kickoff are the two units he now considers his responsibility, and his goal is not simply to contribute to them.“Those two units are my units, and I want to make those units the best units in the country,” Andrighetto said.

His influence, however, extends beyond special teams. Andrighetto’s teammates voted him onto Michigan’s Leadership Council, an acknowledgment he called “one of the best honors” he has ever received.

The position requires him to mentor younger players, including freshmen born in 2008 and 2009, as they adjust to college football. It also means holding teammates accountable when they are not meeting the program’s expectations.

“I want to have a relationship with everybody,” Andrighetto said.

That approach is particularly important to a player whose career has crossed coaching staffs, position rooms and recruiting classes. While coaches and circumstances changed around him, Andrighetto remained, earning greater responsibility through his consistency.

What It Means to Be a Michigan Man

Andrighetto is completing a master’s degree in management at Michigan’s Ross School of Business after earning an undergraduate degree focused on communication, sales and marketing. Medical device sales appears to be his most likely next step, and relationships within the Michigan football alumni network have connected him with opportunities in the field.

Still, football has not completely released its hold on him. As Andrighetto approaches the end of his playing career, coaching has become increasingly appealing.

His experience has also shaped how he defines the often-used phrase “Michigan Man.” During his time in Ann Arbor, the football program has endured coaching changes, suspensions and other controversies. For Andrighetto, representing Michigan is not about avoiding those difficult moments. It is about continuing through them.

“Being able to go through the good, the bad and the ugly,” Andrighetto said. “We will be able to just press on with no excuses.”

Despite all the turnover around him, some of Andrighetto’s answers have remained unchanged. Winning the Rose Bowl remains the highlight of his Michigan career, while this season has brought what he considers the best team chemistry he has experienced in Ann Arbor.

His approach traces back to his parents, Dominic and Sherry Andrighetto, who raised four sons around the same expectations of humility and hard work.

“Can’t say enough about him or his family,” Calcagno said. “Love the kid. They obviously raised not only Nico, but all four of the boys were very humble, very hard workers.”

Those qualities were on display September 12, when Andrighetto led Michigan out of the tunnel against Oklahoma. He did not receive that responsibility because of his statistics or position on the depth chart. He received it because his teammates trusted him to represent them.

The moment captured the path of an undersized player from the Bay Area who once lost his expected opportunity at an Ivy League school, arrived at Michigan without a scholarship and stayed through three coaching tenures. Years later, he was the first Wolverine onto the field for one of the program’s biggest games — not because of what appeared beside his name on a stat sheet, but because of what he had shown his teammates every day in between.