Starting Lineup: Michael Glover knows ‘a lot of people didn’t think I was going to be that great’
To recognize the top players in Berks County football MikeDragoSports.com has selected the “Starting Lineup,” a preseason All-Berks team that includes the top linemen, backs, receivers, linebackers, and specialists.
Players are selected based on past performance, expected performance this season and college potential. Two-way players were given special consideration.
One player will be introduced each day throughout the preseason, in random order (the players are not ranked). This is the 11th installment of the series.
Michael Glover, Wilson
| 6-3 | 220 | Junior | TE/DE |
Michael Glover was dominant in his first season as Wilson’s tight end, leading the team with 40 receptions and earning All-State honors.
That wasn’t the case when he was coming up through the Bulldogs’ program. He wasn’t as fast or agile as many of the kids he was playing against.
“I was not the star,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t think I was going to be that great.”
Sometime around age 13 or 14 he flipped the switch. He knew he could do better and adopted a work ethic that transformed his body and his game.
“I was not always the best,” he recalls. “I was not the fastest, the strongest, the biggest, but I always had confidence in myself. I knew I could do it, I just had to put my mind to it and put in a lot of work.”
“He turned into a beast overnight,” recalls his father Dan, an All-State catcher in New York who earned a scholarship to play at Villanova. “He fell in love with working out and that translated onto the field.”
By the time Michael Glover reached eighth grade he was an overpowering tight end and defensive end.
“He was a mismatch for nearly everyone on the field,” recalls Joe Mays, who coached him at Wilson West. “You could tell immediately that he would play a key role for many years on the varsity team.”
Just getting a chance to play tight end last season was an accomplishment. The Bulldogs were loaded at that spot with seniors Cam Zullinger, Brady Kline, and Christo Hunsicker. Despite such heady competition for playing time Glover remained confident.
“I knew I was behind three great guys, and I had to learn a lot from them, and I did,” he said. “They were great teammates, great leaders and they taught me a lot.
“I knew I had it in me to start, and I knew what I could do on the field. I’m happy the coaches gave me a chance to prove myself because freshman year I didn’t play a lot of tight end, it was mostly defensive end and special teams.”
Glover was in the starting lineup when Wilson opened its season at Cheltenham. He made an immediate impression, leaping high in the end zone to grab a touchdown pass as time expired in the first half.
“That was an unreal moment,” he recalled. “Madyx (Gruber) threw a great ball, and I made a play.”
It was one of many. He ended the season leading the team in receptions, as well as with 670 receiving yards and seven TD catches. He had at least one catch in all but one game and shone the brightest against the toughest opponents: He had a season-high eight catches for 132 yards against Nazareth in Wilson’s only regular season loss and came up with a pair of scoring catches in the District 3 Class 6A championship game against Harrisburg.
“I’ve always had pretty good hands,” Glover said. “I love that offensive side of the ball, I love making big plays, I love catching touchdowns . . . the craft of running routes and getting open and catching the ball, I’ve always loved that.”
“He has terrific hands and runs great routes,” said Wilson coach Doug Dahms. “(He) was our ‘do-everything’ tight end. He ran bubbles, screens, went deep. And he’s as dominant (with his blocking) in the run game as he is in the passing game. He set the edge for a tough run game.”
Glover’s play led to all-league and All-Berks Big School honors. He joined a prestigious list of All-State tight ends at Wilson that includes John Gilmore, who went on to play at Penn State and in the NFL for 10 seasons; Andy Roland, who played for Duke; Tyler Beck, who played at Bowling Green; Kurt Kelly, who played at Lehigh; and Todd Bradburn, who played at IUP. None achieved that status as a sophomore, as Glover did.
Like those who came before him Glover has a high college upside. He received his first Division I offer, from Old Dominion, in the spring. He’s rated the No. 3 junior tight end in the state. He performed well at a Penn State camp earlier this year and is on the radar of dozens of college programs.
“Everybody likes him,” Dahms said. “He’s been to several camps. They all say he’s the best tight end in the camp but . . . he’s 6-3. He’s not 6-5. The big schools want (their tight ends to be) 6-5.”
Glover will enhance his credential this season by adding starting defensive end to his resume.
To prepare for going both ways full-time he spent the offseason working with a personal trainer, Nick Long, at Athlete’s Edge in Temple. He’s done plyometrics and speed work, dropped weight, and has adhered to a high-protein diet to add muscle and lower body fat.
“I want to be on the field as much as I can,” he said. “I love getting off blocks, making tackles, getting sacks and that’s what I want to do this year. I want to show that I’m not only a tight end, that I can play on the defensive side of the ball. I want to show my athleticism and help my team win whatever way I can.”
He’s not satisfied with excelling only on one way of the ball, or earning All-State recognition just once.
“I know I want to go for that again,” he said. “A lot of guys that got it the year before me, they didn’t get it last year. So I’ve got to keep working.”
| Logan Cammauf | Schuylkill Valley | RB/LB | Senior |
| Chase Eisenhower | Wyomissing | FB/ILB | Senior |
| Drew Engle | Twin Valley | RB/S/KR | Senior |
| Michael Glover | Wilson | TE/DE | Junior |
| Justice Hardy | Wyomissing | RB/WR/S/CB/KR | Junior |
| Chase Herb | Wilson | WR/S | Senior |
| Lebron Leaf | Governor Mifflin | QB/LB | Senior |
| Riley Martinez | Exeter | QB | Senior |
| Lucas Myers | Twin Valley | RB/LB | Junior |
| Cameron Small | Muhlenberg | RB/S | Senior |
| Joel Ummarino | Exeter | C/DT/DE | Senior |
