Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has said repeatedly that he sees the most growth in his players between their first and second years.

For one player in particular, there’s a giant spotlight tracking that first-to-second-year growth period — and everybody’s watching.

Tate Forcier, who started every game last season at quarterback for the Wolverines, has found himself in the middle of a quarterback race this spring — something that not many expected heading into his second year with the program.

But thanks to an improved Denard Robinson and electrifying early-enrollee Devin Gardner, Forcier has some competition at the position. And the Michigan coaching staff is making sure Forcier is aware that he can’t be complacent.

“Tate knows he can’t be average and expect to be the starting quarterback,” Rodriguez said on Tuesday’s Big Ten teleconference. “He has to get better. Some of that is maturity on the field, and some of it is off the field, as well. I think Tate is starting to get that. Competition is helping him in that regard, both with Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner.”

Maturity seems to be a buzzword around the Michigan football program this spring, and not just with Forcier. Rodriguez has spoken at length about the development of his freshmen and redshirt freshmen heading into the upcoming season.

“That’s a natural process for our younger guys,” Rodriguez told the media Tuesday afternoon. “We expect them to grow not only athletically, but certainly academically and socially as well during their time here. It takes some guys longer to do that than others.”

The coaching staff has met with Forcier about those areas of growth and what they expect to see out of him in his sophomore season.

“We’ve had a lot of talks with Tate about the expectations of what we have for him — the same that his family has for him, and I’m sure he has for himself,” Rodriguez said. “It’s sometimes a painful process for young people to go through and a painful process for coaches, because you want it all right now, the same as a parent would. You get disappointed as parents do when your children don’t do all the things that you want them to do.”

On the field, Forcier knows exactly what’s expected of him: to run the offense, and run it smoothly. With 12 starts and nearly two full spring seasons under his belt, Forcier has a great deal more game experience than Robinson and Gardner combined. But that doesn’t mean the two aren’t capable of jaw-dropping plays in practice or in scrimmage — plays that might make Forcier sweat a little bit.

Rodriguez has said that Gardner has “a great future” at Michigan, and that he has a chance to play this fall. Robinson, known mostly for his foot speed last season, has been impressing Rodriguez, too, with his increased knowledge of the passing game.

“I think last year he was kind of just learning what we were doing and just hoping to get that play right,” Rodriguez said. “Now, he’s getting to the point where he’s understanding why we’re running a certain play and how people are going to defend it. He’s still a ways away from being really, really comfortable with everything we’re doing, but that’s to be expected.”

When asked Tuesday about how many quarterbacks he feels he can win football games with this fall, Rodriguez said he was confident in two — Forcier and Robinson.

“We have two for sure,” Rodriguez said. “Devin is showing more and more each time he practices. Last Saturday (in the team scrimmage) was the best all three collectively looked as a group, and the best Devin has had. He’s slowly getting there.”

Rodriguez said he won’t have a definitive order for his quarterbacks until the end of camp, and maybe not even then. But for Forcier to retain the starting job, it seems it’s all about showing his maturity, on and off the field.