LOS ANGELES — Far away from this world, from this Earth-616 where Mason Graham is a happily cemented Michigan Wolverine coming off a national championship, there exists a Marvel Cinematic Universe-style alternate timeline where the Servite High product looked instead to his own backyard.
When Lincoln Riley and his regime first arrived at USC in November 2021, they set about blitzing a targeted set of prized high school recruits. Graham, a three-star defensive tackle blossoming as a senior at Servite, was on that list; so, too, was teammate and now-Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan. Graham, though, was firmly entrenched in his commitment to Michigan and fielded calls and visits from Riley and staff mostly out of politeness.
“It was one of those things that – had things been earlier, maybe it would have been different,” Riley reflected on Tuesday. “Maybe it wouldn’t have.”
It almost was different, if Graham was a slightly different person, a decision that could’ve given USC a future All-American defensive tackle and a massive shift to the program’s defensive outlook the last couple seasons.
On Jan. 3, 2022, Graham began classes at Michigan, enrolling early his freshman year out of Servite. That same day – as Graham’s father Allen tells it – Michigan’s defensive line coach Shaun Nua called him. Let me walk you to class tomorrow, Nua told Graham. They met outside the freshman’s apartment the next day.
“Hey,” Nua told Graham, in the words of father Allen, “I got some bad news for you.”
“What, Coach Harbaugh’s leaving?” Graham responded, a couple years before Jim Harbaugh did indeed leave for the Chargers.
“Worse,” Nua replied. “I’m leaving.”
As Graham was committed, for a time, to Boise State, Nua was the first coach of a major Power 5 program who’d come out Graham’s senior year to see him. Oh my gosh, Nua remarked to Servite’s defensive line coach Kelly Talavou, then, where has this kid been at? He was the first one, that senior year, to offer him, and Graham remained fiercely loyal to Michigan since.
But Nua was leaving. For USC, specifically. The same program that had pushed hard for Graham.
“It was hard for him to not go with Shaun Nua, too,” Talavou reflected.
Nua, though, made it clear he wouldn’t go about trying to poach any of Harbaugh’s class to USC, still upholding a respect for his former staff. And Graham was already enrolled and had already had a whale of a time even deciding to flip from Boise State to Michigan. And simply, he wasn’t the type of kid to back away from such a hard commitment.
“He’s loyal to his brothers at Michigan,” former Servite coach Troy Thomas told the Southern California News Group. “He was loyal to his brothers at Servite. And whoever gets the opportunity to draft him, he’s going to be loyal to that team, too.”
Timelines will collide Saturday at the Big House, through-and-through local kid Graham lining up across from a sideline he could’ve well joined. Now a junior who will in all likelihood be a top Day 1 selection in April’s NFL Draft, the havoc-wreaking lynchpin in the trenches of Michigan’s defense has helped stabilize the post-Harbaugh transition – and poses a massive test for a young USC offensive line.
A kid who once was a 210-pound linebacker his freshman year at Servite is now a 320-pound force from the middle, collapsing pockets across the nation in Michigan’s 2023 championship run. Any snaps across from USC stalwart center Jonah Monheim will be a point of interest. Even more crucial, though, is how well right guard Alani Noa holds up against Graham and Michigan’s interior defensive line in carving out rushing lanes, as the Trojans sophomore had his ups and downs through a couple games thus far.
“We’ve been pleased with Alani, and he’s just gotta keep pushing and keep getting better,” Riley said Tuesday. “But everything he’s shown us, I believe he will.”
The ties to Graham at USC extend beyond that recruiting past and relationship with now-defensive ends coach Nua. Graham, his father said, grew up playing youth baseball with USC backup center Kilian O’Connor. He went to the same training facility in Lake Forest as stepbrothers Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and Akili Arnold.
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And Graham always hoped to stay home, too, Talavou said, his dream school growing up actually UCLA.
But Michigan snagged him, and now USC will have to chase a wrecking ball as they chase a crucial win, three years later.
No. 11 USC at No. 18 Michigan
When: 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday
Where: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich.
TV/radio: CBS Ch. 2/710 AM