The name “Kolesar” might jump off the Michigan roster for Alabama football fans of a certain age.

Caden Kolesar is a senior defensive back and special teams’ player for the No. 1 Wolverines, who face the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide in Monday’s Rose Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal. Thirty-six years ago, his father, John, had a career-defining moment against Alabama in a different bowl game.

John Kolesar scored the game-winning touchdown in the 1988 Hall of Fame Bowl, catching a 20-yard pass from Demetrius Brown with 48 seconds left to lift Michigan past Alabama 28-24 in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 2, 1988. It’s a story the younger Kolesar heard many times growing up, he said at Saturday’s Rose Bowl Media Day.

“I feel like this game’s got a whole lot of legacy,” Kolesar said. “It’s gonna be really fun. I grew up watching his highlights against Alabama in that Hall of Fame Bowl and then he played twice here at the Rose Bowl also. It’s just a lot of history and it just means a lot to be able to play in this iconic game against an iconic team. It’s gonna be a great matchup.”

Kolesar is actually a third-generation Wolverine, as his grandfather, Bill, played tackle at Michigan from 1953-55. John Kolesar followed him to Ann Arbor, averaging more than 23 yards a reception in his four years (1985-88), during part of which he was a teammate of current head coach Jim Harbaugh.

John Kolesar played twice in the Rose Bowl, ending his college career as part of a Michigan team that beat USC 22-14 in the 1988 game. Caden Kolesar plays on both the kickoff and kickoff return teams for the Wolverines, which means he’ll be on the field for the opening kickoff on Monday regardless of which team wins the coin toss.

“It’s a good honor,” Kolesar said. “Especially if you’re not a starter on offense or defense, you don’t really get much glory, but you do get to be out there for the first play of every single game. And that’s always fun, especially in the Rose Bowl. It’s gonna be electric.”

Michigan is in the Rose Bowl for the first time since the end of the 2006 season, when it lost to USC 32-18 to end an 11-2 season. The Wolverines have not won the Rose Bowl since 1998, when they capped an undefeated national championship season by beating Washington State 21-16 in Pasadena.

Michigan is in the College Football Playoff for the third straight season, having lost to Georgia in the Orange Bowl in 2021 and to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl last year. But the Rose Bowl always has special meaning for Michigan, and no one knows that more than Kolesar.

“I remember before the season, you’re looking at what the two playoff games are, and you see Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl,” Kolesar said. “And I’m like, ‘dude, if we get the chance to play in the Rose Bowl, we have to go.’ As a kid, just being a Michigan fan growing up because my dad played, it was one of my dreams to play in the Rose Bowl. And so it just means everything.”

Kickoff for the Rose Bowl game is set for 4 p.m. Central on Monday, with television coverage on ESPN.