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football's Chuck Filiaga ready to battle battle for starting spot

ORLANDO, Fla. — Chuck Filiaga has been through bowl prep before. But Michigan football 's practices over the past month, leading up to the Citrus Bowl against Alabama on Jan. 1, have been significant for Filiaga, a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman. For the past couple years, he has waited behind left guard Ben Bredeson and right guard Mike Onwenu, both of whom are multi-year starters and getting set for their final college game. That means Filiaga, the second-string left guard and a former four-star recruit, is in prime position to earn a starting job next season. Filiaga recognizes the opportunity in front of him. "Yeah," he said with a smile. And making a good impression in bowl practices could be the first step in securing a starting position at guard. “It’s very important," Filiaga said Sunday night at Main Event Entertainment. "Fixing up stuff that I have to work on and then improving in every little detail that I have.” Filiaga — listed at 6-foot-6, 341 pounds — played offensive tackle in high school. But it didn't take long before he bumped inside at Michigan. He didn't see game action in 2017 before appearing in nine games in 2018, playing left guard in four of those games and also seeing time on special teams. This fall, he played on special teams in 11 games and appeared in two games at left guard and one game at right guard. Filiaga has backed up Bredeson at left guard throughout the season. Michigan's expectation is that he'll "be ready to go in the spring and fight for the starting left guard position," offensive line coach Ed Warinner said. "Chuck played well when he got in there," Warinner said Oct. 30. "He controls his future. He has a lot of ability. ... Very likable kid. He has some gifts and then there are some things he needs to work on as well. But that’s the thing about Chuck — he’s not afraid to work, and he comes out there every day and he practices in those Monday practices to get better every week, too. "Chuck will determine whether he becomes the starter here or not, because we're going to coach him like we want him to be the starter, and God gave him enough gifts where if it all comes together for him, he could be. But time will tell on that." Filiaga rotates between both guard positions and doesn't prefer one side over the other. "You’ve got to open up your positions and show that you’re versatile at both," he said. He believes he's gotten stronger and faster as he has progressed in his career and has improved "in a lot of areas" on the field. He spent time learning from those ahead of him, crediting Bredeson and Onwenu in particular. "There's nothing holding him back," Warinner said. "It's not like he's not quite big enough, he's not quite strong enough, he's not quite this or that, he doesn't lack anything that it takes to play successfully. And when he goes in there in the game, he did a nice job there Saturday." Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang . Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter .