Effort, energy lead to big news for Charlevoix’s Landon Swanson with CMU football – Petoskey News-Review

MOUNT PLEASANT — From the wrestling mat as a state champion in high school, to the Charlevoix football field taking on blockers or beating defenders to the end zone, Landon Swanson has always given everything he has. 
It eventually landed him a spot on the Central Michigan University football team as a preferred walk-on out of high school. 
“That’s what I’ve been good at throughout high school and throughout college, winning the on-on-one battles and being tougher than the guy across from me,” Swanson said. 
At CMU, that mindset is what got Swanson onto the field as a redshirt freshman last season. That effort and energy brought him snaps on defense, where he even recorded a sack, and turned him into an ace on special teams. 
“All special teams are is hard work and how bad you want it,” Swanson said. “Just beating the man across from you in a one on one battle. That’s really gotten me to where I am now.”
Where Swanson is now is a far cry from his 2024 redshirt season. 
He’s switched positions three times, moving from linebacker then defensive end, to now offense as a tight end and H-back. 
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He’s grown from 6-foot-2 and just over 200 pounds as a freshman, to just under 250 entering year three. 
He’s also now dropped his walk-on status, which CMU head coach Matt Drinkall recently informed Swanson of. When he takes the field in the fall, he’ll do so as a scholarship player.
“He brought me into his office a week after spring ball ended,” Swanson said. “He asked me how I like tight end and all of that and then said come fall, when a position opens up, he’s going to put me on full scholarship.”
Hearing the news between a team meeting and a lifting session, Swanson hit the weights with a little extra juice that day.
“I was pretty ecstatic,” Swanson said. “I was just pumped up that entire lift. I didn’t tell anyone on the team yet. I just kind of kept it to myself, but I was pumped up.”
In a modern era where guys hit the transfer portal months after stepping onto campuses, it might have been easy for Swanson to get bogged down, while paying his own way, switching positions all three seasons and seeing little field time. 
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Instead, Swanson hit the grind harder. And now he’s rewarded for it. 
A two-way player at Charlevoix, Swanson has had some familiarity on offense, though taking on a collegiate playbook has been far different. 
“After I switched over, got to memorize it, it’s actually a lot of fun,” he said 
He also feels like he sees things a little different than most, having an understanding of what defenses might be doing pre and post snap.
“After being on the defensive side of the ball, linebacker and then moving to defensive end, it helps so much on offense,” he said. “Knowing what the defense is doing, what the scheme is supposed to be doing, who the D-ends are reading, it just helps me mentally before the snap playing everything out in my head.”
While Swanson isn’t expecting to be the same kind of player former Petoskey and CMU tight end Joe Wilson was as a pass catcher, he’s looking forward to filling a need and whatever role he has on the offensive side of the ball. 
Since spring ball ended and classes let out, Swanson has been back in Charlevoix with family, friends and current Rayder football players, inspiring the next generation behind him.
“I’m already back and working in the weight room with the team in the morning,” he said. “That’s been a lot of fun.”
He’ll report back to CMU the first week of June, ready to take on summer workouts, classes and a new positon in fall camp, all head on and full speed. 
Swanson knows no other way.
Reach Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com and follow him on X @DrewKochanny and Instagram @drewkochanny

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