Birmingham Groves' 4-star tackle Avery Gach chooses Michigan

Beverly Hills — Birmingham Groves four-star offensive tackle Avery Gach announced Friday afternoon at the school’s auditorium that he plans to play his college ball at Michigan.

Gach started receiving multiple Power Five offers during his sophomore season and the list continued to grow. His final four also included Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Gach, 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, was a member of The Detroit News' All-State Dream Team last fall. He received at least 40 offers, including national powers Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Penn State.

In the end, Gach said, “Michigan was home.”

After all, Michigan was one of those schools that had recruited him since his freshman year, and the relationship continued to grow, as new Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was then the lead recruiter and offensive line coach.

Of course, Moore stayed in touch with Gach after Jim Harbaugh departed to take the head-coaching job with the Los Angeles Chargers after the Wolverines won the national championship.

So, when did Gach know that Michigan was the place for him, over such schools as Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State — which, by the way, was where his parents, David and Amy graduated?

“I probably knew three weeks ago. I felt like actually I might have known this whole entire time, but it just didn’t come to my head, but it’s home and I love it,” Gach said.

And, why?

“Just how well they treated me the whole entire time,” Gach said. “I felt like no other school has shown me this level of respect, and just grateful for me coming up on visits. It’s just a great atmosphere to be in.”

It helps that Michigan won the national championship and helps some more that the Wolverines own three straight wins over Ohio State.

“It just put in perspective how reasonable it is to win a national championship at the University of Michigan and I was talking to a bunch of coaches up there and I just told them I’m going to do it again,” Gach said.

Moore did an excellent job as the O-line coach with Michigan in helping the Wolverines earn the Joe Moore Award for the nation's best offensive line — recognized as the toughest and most physical — in 2021 and '22.

Gach wants to be part of another Michigan offensive line to win that Joe Moore Award in the near future. He feels he can play any one of the five positions on the line, including center.

“The Joe Moore Award, it’s such a cool award, the best offensive line group in the nation, and they won it and that was under Coach Moore, so he’s proven to do that,” Gach said.

Gach feels his versatility, the ability to play anywhere on the offensive line will possibly find him in the NFL one day.

“They’ve produced so much NFL talent the past couple of years, so many guys in the draft and get drafted, and it means something to do that because that’s what I want to do,” Gach said.

Gach is projected to be The News' No. 2 player in the state heading into his senior season, just behind LSU-bound five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood of Belleville.

Gach said he never went to a Michigan game growing up, instead being an MSU fan because of his parents.

His parents were proudly wearing Michigan gear on Friday.

“I’m happy for Avery; he found home on his own, so we’re really supportive of him and really happy, love the coaching staff there, so we’re really comfortable with him going to U of M,” David Gach said.

“Coach Moore was his position recruiter and probably met him freshman year and then offered him early sophomore year and then my wife and I and the rest of the family got to know him over the last two years. Then, he met Coach (current offensive line coach Grant) Newsome probably a year ago-plus, and they introduced him to Avery while he was still the tight ends coach, and they developed a great relationship and bond as well.”

Groves coach Brendan Flaherty said Gach’s work ethic is unmatched, always trying to get better every day or feeling someone else will catch up and take his job.

Gach called Flaherty after his freshman season to get in the weight room to get bigger and stronger, resulting in him going from 230 to 270 pounds for his sophomore season.

Gach hasn’t looked back, and the result has him finding a home at Michigan.