With video: 'Butch's Son' finally making a name for himself on Michigan football team

He forbade Troy from playing football until the eighth grade, and when he finally relented he did so on the condition Troy couldn’t play offense.

Even after coaches at Dulles High in Sugar Land, Texas, used Troy at running back for a snap his sophomore season - he turned a simple screen pass into a 64-yard touchdown - father warned son, “Hit people, don’t let them hit you.”

So it’s ironic that Troy spent most of his first two seasons at Michigan living in his father’s long, familiar shadow.

“When I came up here I received a new name, which was ‘Butch’s Son,’” Woolfolk said. “Troy was thrown out the window.

“At first it was all funny and stuff, but I got tired of not having a name any more and being in the shadow of my dad. But I think I’m finally starting to overcome that shadow and make a name for myself.”

Like his All-American tailback father who left school in 1981 as Michigan’s all-time leading rusher, Troy is turning heads with his play on the field.

The junior safety made a team-high eight tackles in last week’s upset of Notre Dame, and after switching positions from cornerback last spring seems at home in Michigan's young secondary.

“I think we got him at the right spot, so I think his confidence is going to continue to grow,” Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. “Again, it’s just two games at that new position, but really we like what he’s doing at safety.”

At safety, Woolfolk, a sprinter on Michigan’s outdoor track team, can make better use of his world-class speed.

“At corner … it was more opening hips,” Woolfolk said. “I feel like I can help the defense out more by getting from hash to hash faster versus just focusing on one person.”

Last week, Notre Dame rarely challenged Woolfolk down the middle of the field with its vertical passing game. Instead, the Irish ran deep routes down the sidelines, outside the numbers, at cornerbacks Boubacar Cissoko and Donovan Warren.

“He’s going to be a pretty decent safety in a month or so once he gets more comfortable with it,” Butch Woolfolk said. “Like coaches always say, you can't play full speed until you know where you're going. The speed of the game will pick up for him."

For his part, Troy said he’s happy with his play so far. He’s learning not to bite on underneath routes and taking a more active role in the run game, and he’s finally getting his name back, too.

“It actually just happened recently,” Woolfolk said. “Once I started becoming a starter people started calling me Troy again. I guess I had to earn my name back because I didn’t really earn it my freshman and sophomore year.”

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.