Michigan Monday/Tuesday: What is Michigan Selling?

Being a Michigan Football fan we believe all recruits should want to play in the Maize and Blue.  Michigan is the winnest program in college football history, Ann Arbor is rated the best college town by many publications, and has real academics where a degree from U of M means something.  

Yes, throw is the other stuff like great coaches,NFL draft picks, great staff, great facilities and its the total package.  Still, Michigan has always done well in recruiting, like averaging the #10 class every year.   Why not top 5?  Or more 5 stars?  Most folks believed its was because Michigan was a little late to the NIL game or even prior to that, some would say the Bama rules, where they have been doing NIL for 20+ years.

When a new staff comes in, usually that first class suffers.  They might throw up a 20th ranked class for example.  They have not had a chance to create relationships at this new school and build a recruiting foundation.  In fact, this new staff did start off slowly as they had other priorities like saving the roster and the portal.   Now they are focusing on recruiting the 2027 class and are seeing great success.   Lately with so many guys committing its hard to even keep up.

Last Wednesday: Instate Athlete Lundon Hampton commits

Last Friday: 4-star Safety Tavares Harrington commits on Rivals You Tube 

Last Saturday: 4-star TE Colt Lumpris flips from Alabama 

I would say that is a positive recruiting outcome for a holiday weekend! 

Michigan currently has the:

•  #9 class on 24/7
• #11 on Rivals 
• #10 ESPN

I guess we have that 9-11 range covered!  Michigan's class a few weeks ago was ranked around 40th. 

• Michigan commit Lou Esposito from Saline, MI earned Offensive Line MVP honors at the Under Armour Next Camp in Chicago this weekend.  He also had a little something for the services as he posted on social media he was excelling with his 3-star ranking. 

Michigan Monday: No Lip Service

With Basketball bringing home the Natty and Football in between Spring Ball and Fall Camp, there isn't much to report on around these parts, until the Athletic Department investigation completes with the expectation that it either econerates Warde or walks him out.  

Both Basketball and Football are still recruiting.  Basketball in the portal and Football across the US.  Looks like Juke is either going Pro or to Rocky Top.  So he is out of the mix.  

Still Coach Whitt and his staff are doing work to catch up on the 2027 class.  They landed a local big fish this weekend in Jakari Lipsey a 4-star OT from KZoo.  Jakari is a pure athlete and a bit raw for OT right now but has a huge upside.  He is 6'5 290 and a 3 sport athlete in high school (Football, Basketball, and Track).  

His upside is clear as he is closer to his cellar then his ceiling at this point.  Many programs agreed and he had offers from the likes of LSU, UCLA, BC, Auburn, UNC, Tenn, Minnesota, MSU and many more. 

With Jim Harding in the Maize and Blue and considered the top OL coach in the country, I think its a perfect fit!  Welcome Big Man! 

• The Big Ten carved up $1.37B in revenue and sent it to the schools.  I don't think they need any outside funding/investing.

• No sponsorship of any kind but Dicks Sporting Goods has Basketball NC gear on sale now! 

• Coach Whitt calls for a Salary Cap, I'm sure that is in the works.

• I've been a fan of Duncan Robinson for a long time, I did not know about his brother's struggles until an ESPN report this weekend.  Duncan had a very poor National Championship game and now I know why, his brother went missing on that Final 4 trip.  Its a sad story and one that reminds us how important mental health is. 

• Cadeau and Trey Donaldson were not invited to the NBA Combine but the G-League Combine.  With a good performance they can get into the NBA combine, but probably a sign that Cadeau has a high percentage chance of returning to A2.

Michigan Monday: Spring Game Not So Deep Thoughts

I recorded the Spring Game and got to fast forward the commercials.  It was nice being able to watch a game in a short amount of time.   That is if you could call Saturday's afternoon scrimmage a game.  The first quarter highlighted Bryce and Marshall but no tackling.  The rest of the game was full contact unless you are a QB. 

Many Michigan fans thought Bryce had a poor to bad freshman year leading the team at the QB position.  I was a little more warm about his first year as Michigan's QB.  Going from High School to playing on the road at Oklahoma, is a Grand Canyon jump in competition.  No, he didn't light the world on fire, but all that experience goes into his memory bank.  If you remember, JJ was not really even allowed to throw the ball his Freshman year. 

Now Bryce has a new staff, a QB coach, and his even hired his own QB coach.  On Saturday we expected to see a guy that is better with his fundamentals to match his immense talent.  What we saw, was some of the same troubles he had last year.  Bad footwork, bad decisions, and inaccurate throws.  As many of you know, guys with incredible arm talent, sometimes lack the proper QB fundamentals as they can just rely on their powerful arm.  This is what I see with Bryce, his fundamentals go out the door when he gets pressure. 

Now the offense line looked terrible in the first quarter as Bryce had zero time to pass the ball.  The protection seemed to get better as the game went on.  

To make the pressure even worse on the former 5 star, his true freshman backup Carr had a very nice day and looked like the more competent QB.  If Bryce is going to become a better QB, he has to do it when no one is watching.  The time is now and the time is this summer.  I watched Justin Fields at Ohio State's first Spring Game, he was awful and couldn't complete a pass.  He got a ton better in that summer.  It's time for Bryce to do the same. 

• I was very concerned about the offense line in the first quarter.  They still have a ton of work to do and getting guys back from injury. 

• The defense line looked pretty good but was that them stepping up or the offensive line being bad?

• Hiter is going to be special, he did not look like a true freshman.  Brown also looked very good.  The RB room is in great shape! 

• Carr was incredible and like I said above, was the best QB on the field.  He threw accurately and even has some speed to get outside and first downs.  MVP of the Day. 

• In a 7-6 game, the defense is way ahead of the offense, which is not uncommon at this stage.  Nothing to worry about. 

• There was a couple drops at WR, but I do like the talent in that room and Michigan looks like they are good shape with all the transfer coming in.  Moa could be special but needs the summer in the weight room and the nutrition program.

• Bobby Kanka local kid, made a huge hit on 4th down on the goal line.  

• It was hard trying to watch the secondary on BTN, but they looked like they were fundamentally in the right places and were breaking up passes.

• Didn't love the Pitt kicker missing a makeable field goal.  There was no punting or kick returns. 

The Spring Game is meant to show like 10% of the offense and defense.  Bryce has a lot of work to do and Michigan needs to take many more steps forward to be playoff worthy next season.  I'm going to trust Coach Whitt that the team is together and got better during this period.  That is all you can ask for.  During the summer, they need to take another big step forward.

Wolverine Wednesday: One Less QB

Michigan's former head coach after Harbaugh really miss managed a ton of things in his life.  In his role as head football coach, he really miss managed the QB room.  For two years straight he had little to no depth and even fewer folks that could actually do the job.  

This new staff came in with a different plan.  The first was to have a QB Coach for Michigan's highest investment ever at QB.  Second was to recruit and sign 2 QB's in the transfer portal.  As we discussed yesterday, Carr has impressed and CSU transfer BFN is expected to arrive this Summer. 

Many of us thought that there was a hand shake agreement between the Michigan Staff and incoming LSU transfer QB Colin Hurley that he would take a medical redshirt this season as he recovers and learns the system.  Well that didn't happen and Colin decided to leave the program yesterday, in what we are hearing was a mutual parting of ways. 

This loss doesn't hurt Michigan in the slightest, as he would of been the "break glass in case of an emergency" QB but it does put more pressure to keep Carr and BFN healthy during summer and fall camps. 

With the portal closed, not sure what options Colin has, but we wish him good luck in finding his next program. 

• 3-star OL Tristan Dare decommitted from Michigan yesterday.   Michigan will be fine in OL recruiting with one of the best OL coaches in the country.  

• Tiger Woods is "stepping away" to work on recovery and his health.   That seems like a smart long overdue move.   I know he has charity work and a course architecture company, but I'm not sure what he is stepping away from.  He hasn't played a PGA Tour round since the 2024 British Open.   I hope the thing he steps away from is driving any of his automobiles. 

Michigan Monday: Is There an April Roddy?

On Friday in my post, I asked for a few things to go right for the Wolverines this weekend in Chicago.  Michigan needed to defend the 3, not be sleepy in the 1st half, have a senior step up, shoot the 3, and Yax needed to be Yax.  The Chicago Mission has been completed with a successful outcome.  Final 4 stage achieved! 

Michigan did all that and more.  Yax is a special player and we are blessed to have him for only a short time in Ann Arbor.  March Roddy is real and it can be spectacular, they really needed him in the 1st half of the Alabama game, when Bama had the Wolverines playing their style of basketball. 

On a side note, I thought it was interesting that AT&T kept showing that commercial on the Knicks hiking a mountain and the game they showed was Michigan playing Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament.  That was some nice foreshadowing by the advertising agency.

There really isn't much to say about Sunday's game except it looked like the Wolverines were back playing in Vegas late last year. When Michigan defends and hits 3, the Wolverines are very hard to beat.  Best part of the game was when Charlie May hits the 3, the bench and the arena went nuts! 

Final 4 bound in a town and stadium that has been good to the Wolverines! 

I prefer not to think about Arizona right now and enjoy this win for a few more days.  On a side note, they really need to consider re-seeding the Final 4.  

• Congrats to the hockey team on making it to the Frozen 4! 

• Michigan Football also got a nice commit on Sunday from 4 star OT Sidney Rouleau who is originally from Quebec,Canada but now playing ball in Texas.  Sidney is 6'7 and 270 pounds and just completed a 3 day visit to Ann Arbor.  Sid has a long list of offers including Miami, Texas, Duke, Florida, Wisconsin, and many more! Bienvenue à Ann Arbor!

• Let's hope the Michigan's Women's Basketball team can make this a 3 Wolverine Teams in Final Four's today! 

• That Duke - UConn game was bonkers! Tarris Reed has turned himself into a really good player. 

• For those on the Blog that follow golf, Gary Woodland's win this weekend after coming back from a brain tumor is just plain out special.  

• Tiger Woods still continues to be the most special and the most disappointing athlete of my lifetime. 

Michigan Tuesday: Golden Gophers Tonight

Michigan played its worst 2nd half against the best team they have faced this year on Saturday evening. Tonight they can win a share of the regular season Big Ten Championship by beating the Minnesota Golden Gophers.  The game is at Crisler, its an 8:30 tip on BTN, and Michigan is favored by 22 points.   Dusty's biggest job is to not let the Duke game beat them twice as a trip to Illinois on Friday night is up next.  Then Iowa on the road and MSU at home to wrap up conference play. 

When Michigan completely changes coaching staffs, I always wonder where and if the guys will show up at other programs.  Wonder no more! (ht: wolverine wire)

• Offensive coordinator - Chip Lindsey (Missouri)
• Offensive line - Grant Newsome (New York Giants - asst. OL coach)
• Tight Ends - Steve Casula (Texas - analyst)
• Defensive line - Lou Esposito (Baltimore Ravens)
• Linebackers - Brian Jean-Mary (Notre Dame)
• Defensive backs - LaMar Morgan (Oklahoma - cornerbacks)
• Special teams - JB Brown (Texas - analyst)

I'm shocked that nobody hired Wink, as I've been suggesting he was not hireable by any other programs or NFL teams for the last two years.   Ron Bellamy is also looking for his next opportunity.  

• Lou's son who just committed to Michigan before he took the Ravens job, is blowing up on the recruiting trail with offers from Penn State and USC the last two days.  Louis Esposito is a 2027 OL commit for the Wolverines.

• Very sad news about Rondale Moore, who was a standout WR at Purdue and was a current teammate of JJ's on the Vikings. RIP. Another reminder that mental health is very important. Check on your friends and family members!

Wolverine Wednesday: Mid-Week News and Notes

• Kuzdzal has left the portal and back to Ann Arbor, welcome back! 

• The rumor is Taylor Tatum will play Safety and not RB in Ann Arbor, he is also a baseball player. 

• Former Miami HC McDaniel is going to be Jim's OC for the Chargers.  That is going to be interesting. 

• Former CAL commit S Ernest Nunley has committed to Michigan! 

• Former Ferris State OT Lawrence Hatter is out of the portal and back to Michigan, which is good for depth and he probably needed a year to play at this level. 

• Trey Burke will have his jersey retired on Friday Night at the half of the OSU game

Michigan Tuesday: Portal News and Notes

• Former Michigan CB Jayden Sanders to ND 👎

• Portal Wolverine S Jordan Young back to Ann Arbor 👍

• Tevis Metcalf joins his brother in the portal 👎

• Michigan secures a commitment from Nebraska IOL Houston Ka'aha'aina -Torres 👍

• BYU LB Max Alford Nephew of Tony is also joining the Wolverines! 👍

• Michigan lands Memphis CB Christopher Bracy from the portal! 👍

• 2026 Utah 5-star athlete Salesi Moa who has been on campus for a week has jumped into the portal 👀

More thumps ups then down is a good day!  Seems the CAL LB had some issues with admissions, which is hard to believe.  We need more LB's and secondary depth please.   I like how this staff works quietly in recruiting the portal.  

Michigan Friday: This Carnival Ride Never Ends

The Michigan fan base has been on a carnival ride ever since early December.  It started with National Signing Day, quickly to the Sherrone firing, to a impromptu coaching search, Michigan played a football exhibition/bowl game, and now the transfer portal.  

This is not a Disney ride, it feels more like that traveling amusement park that sits down in your city for  a week and the entire ride collapses in a few minutes to become highway ready for travel to the next town. 

The Transfer Portal folks is a complete cluster and I believe this is the last year we are going to see this level of nonsense.   Some governing body has to take control of this situation.  Case in point:

• Michigan's entire secondary is now in the transfer portal. It can't be about playing time, it has to be about money.  It could be about losing their coach LaMar Morgan but I'm guessing its the money.   Wink giving all these young guys playing time last year, gave them the right to check their value in the portal.  

• Michigan had a big win from the portal in a place kicker from Pitt and one of the top players in the portal DE John Henry Daley from Utah.   That is the good news.  

• The surprising news is that Michigan also signed OK RB Taylor Tatum who was the 2024 #1 ranked RB and was very close to picking Michigan over OK back then.   Taylor is a decent indication that Justice might look to be playing football in the NFL or at another school next year.  Tatum has an issue with fumbling and had a year long hamstring issue this past season, he could be a depth guy. 

• Still no news on Marsh, which even though the reports are positive, it worries me as everyday goes on without a new deal. 

• Freshman 5 star OT Ty Haywood is now in the portal, he redshirted last season. 

• 23 Michigan Football Players are in the portal

• Michigan does seems to be hosting a ton of good talent from the portal but can they replace the entire secondary?

CFP National Championship will be a Big Ten Team vs. Miami at home in an NFL Stadium that is owned by a Wolverine with his name on the Business School.  Who maybe is in the market for a Harbaugh.

• That was a pretty good game last night.  Quick question, does Bill Lemonade the ESPN hired official to explain calls, actually understand the rules?  He has as much success at predicting calls as ESPN booth announcer Andre Ware does.  They try to hide Andre on Friday nights but we are on to them! 

Wolverine Wednesday: Life Is All About Timing

Michigan's Football last 4 weeks has been all about good or bad timing.  Let's take a quick review:

12/10: Michigan fires Sherrone Moore 

12/12: Kyle Whittingham announces he is leaving Utah

12/19: Kalen DeBoer's Alabama Team upsets Oklahoma in the CFP 

12/20: Kenny Dillingham signs a new deal with ASU, rumor is he wants the Cardinals job 

12/20 - 12/25: John Harbaugh is vetted by the search committee, he declines and recommends his OC and former Georgia OC Todd Monken. 

12/26: Michigan hires Kyle Whittingham as its new head coach

1/1: Alabama gets embarrassed by The Big Ten's best team Indiana in the Rose Bowl

1/5: The Arizona Cardinals job opens up 

1/6: John Harbaugh is fired from the Ravens, insiders say in part due to his unwillingness to fire Todd Moken. 

My late mother always thought everything happened for a reason.  Kyle surprisingly becoming available 2 days after Michigan's job became available was a huge bat sign for all of us.

Kalen the reported top candidate won the game many thought he would lose and then gets embarrassed in the grand daddy of them all to a Big Ten team.   Kenny acts like a kid in the transfer portal.  John my first choice for the job was never going to leave the NFL (probably due to what his brother went through with the NCAA) and was clearly trying to give Todd a soft landing.  Reports are that all the NFL openings want John to interview. 

This has been a crazy month with either Michigan's top candidates becoming available or not becoming available at the right or wrong times.  

• Well we got a glimpse of how Michigan Basketball will lose their first game last night to a pesky Penn State team without their best player. Michigan sneaks out of Happy Valley with a 2 point win. 

• Michigan gets good news from offensive lineman Link and Guarnera who both are staying in Ann Arbor.

• Zeke Berry is also back!

• Fingers crossed for Justice and Marsh!

• Michigan signs its first portal player in Long Snapper Nico Crawford from Pitt. Nico do you know any good punters?

• Michigan Freshman S Jordan Young is also now in the portal.

Wisconsin Post Game: Paging Jason Avant

Finn Gomez, Detroit Free Press

Michigan passed for 270 yards and ran for 175 yards against the #1 rush defense in college football.  The Wolverines won the game in the 2nd half by a comfortable score of 24-10.   What's the problem?  The drops are the problem.  Drops happen to everyone, even our former star TE Colston Loveland had some drops, but this continues to be an issue for the young Wolverine offense. 

Michigan has a clear #1 in Donaven McCulley who is the transfer from IU.  He is a walking mismatch has great hands and was the best WR on the field for either team. He finished with 112 yards receiving.  Andrew Marsh also had a solid game.  The true freshman caught 4 balls for 80 yards.  

With all that good news, Michigan probably dropped 4 passes that were very catchable.  Semaj dropped one, Ronnie's brother had a drop (it was a high throw), and full back Bredeson had a bad drop.   I know Bryce throws fast balls but the WR's have to CATCH THE BALL!

Cheers

• Why isn't Justice Hayes on any Heisman lists? Another 100 yard game! 
• Bryce with 270 yards in the air! 
• McCulley with his best game as a Wolverine
• Marsh had his best game! 
• Defense gave up 175 yards in the air and only 75 on the ground 
• Jimmy Rolder led the team with 7 tackles 
• Derrick Moore had the only sack 
• Zeke Berry had some nice pass break ups 
• Rod Moore had a pick and is just a smart football player 
• Hudson had a 57 yard punt 

Jeers

• 2 fumbles that weren't lost 
• Z missed a chip shot 
• Andrew Sprague was getting beat often 
• Only 1 sack 
• The Tight Ends need more targets
• That first drive by Wisconsin was ugly and fooled Wink 
• The previously mentioned drops 
• The new injury report had a new designation named, out for the year, Michigan has 6 players on it.

Wisconsin is clearly a better team after the bye week. They are getting back to playing physical Wisconsin Football.  Still they are lacking in that area, they don't have a good run game and even though he played well they are down to their 3rd string QB.  They are still in for a long year with a very difficult schedule and will have to rebuild next season. 

Michigan will now have to focus on another west coast trip to USC.  We all saw what happened to James Franklin and Penn State, as the UCLA win was the biggest upset in Big Ten play ever.  I wonder how long Penn State is going to allow James Franklin (a great recruiter who can't coach) to continue to stifle their program. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Bye Week Random Thoughts

There isn't much Michigan content this week as the players get some time off to rest and heal and the coaches get to evaluate the team at the quarter pole of the season.  So I thought I would clear out my head and share some random thoughts with you. 

• Michigan's OLine has gotten better with more outside zone plays 

• Michigan's pass rush got much better with Barham at DE and leveraging the depth at LB with Rolder and Sullivan. 

• Rod Moore will make the secondary much better coming back 

• The secondary needs to heal these next two weeks 

• Has Justice hit all those long runs on the same play?

• Michigan really needs a #2 WR to step up.  The #2 WR could be the #1 TE.

• Michigan not playing Penn State or IU this season is very beneficial to our win loss record.

• IU vs Illinois felt like Ohio State vs. a Don Brown defense.  Can the Iowa defense slow down the IU offense this weekend?

• John Mateer needing hand surgery is going to hurt Oklahoma's record and Michigan's quality loss. 

• Michigan's punter worries me 

• Morgan seems to be more comfortable catching punts now, but still............

• Michigan Basketball could be pretty good this year. 

• I love the Ryder Cup, I wish it wasn't during football season.  Here is my recommendation, make it during Labor Day weekend and finish on that Monday.  That weekend needs something to fill Sunday and Monday. 

• Gundy getting fired was predictable, that program has really struggled lately

• Does UCLA have the money to hire a real head coach?

• Do you know that Chevy Chase is on tour this holiday season, where you can watch Christmas Vacation with him and then discuss it?

Wolverine Wednesday: Two Wrong Assumptions So Far

I had two strong assumptions coming into the season.  

1. Michigan's offensive line would be a strength 

2. Michigan's defensive line would be dominating 

Through two games, I really haven't seen much of either.  

Michigan's offensive line struggled against Oklahoma.  I can't think of one area they performed well in last week.  Many are even questioning the techniques of the lineman.  Hard to imagine a Sherrone Moore offensive line performing so poorly against his former team. 

The defensive line has not been as bad as its offensive counter parts but still the tackling and QB pressure was not good last week.  I have enjoyed how the defensive line has stopped the run from the RB position but they let the OK QB run all over them last weekend.  I have let to see an effective pass rush outside a LB blitz. 

Now, it's still early in the year and both areas will improve.  But we all had hoped for a better start from both units. 

• Dominick Giudice a former Michigan transfer OL who now plays for Mizzu was named Co-SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.   That is great timing.

• As predicated Pep was signed by the Steelers.  Hello, Lions?

• As sadly predicated, Moody was cut by the San Fran. 

• Brad Robbins was also cut by the Bills, tough week for former Michigan special teams specialists.

Michigan Tuesday: Injuries, Head Coach, QB2, JJ, and More!

Always plenty to discuss after a Michigan loss but usually one of the concerns is not, who will coach the team the next two weeks?  Thus, this is Michigan Football 2025.  

Let's just get to the news shall we:

• Biff is the Michigan head coach for the next two weeks.  My guess is this was the plan all along and one of the reasons he came back to Ann Arbor.  This allows Biff to coach the game and the Coordinators to coach their groups.  Great decision! 

• Rod Moore has a very good chance of playing this weekend.  Yes, Please 

• Klein is getting better

• El-Hadi is day to day and it doesn't sound like a serious injury 

• Same with Berry

• Sherrone also confirms he doesn't have a solid QB2.  When asked if he would like to see Bryce run more, his answer consisted of: Yes, but you better have a second QB ready if your going to do that.  A moment of honesty from a head coach in a press conference is refreshing. 

• I have been disappointed we have not seen the true freshman CB Earls.  He showed up on the injury report this week.  Some rumors are he got injured warming up for the New Mexico game.

• Orji is out for the season at UNLV, he tore his hamstring on his only carry last weekend. 

• JJ started his NFL career rough last night, including a bad pick 6 to start the 2nd half.  Then rallies like the gamer he is and wins the game in the 4th.  

• Loveland also made his first NFL start and had 2 catches for 12 total yards for the Bears. 

• Nebraska game will be a 3:30 kick.  MSU - USC will be a 11:00 PM kick that weekend. 

• Bonus stat from the NFL:  J.J. McCarthy is the first starting QB with a 10+ point 4th quarter comeback in his NFL debut since Steve Young in 1985. He is the only such QB since 1950 to do so on the road

Oklahoma Post Game: Don't Confuse The Start of The Journey to The End

College Football is now professional football.  Both Oklahoma and Michigan were not great last year.  Neither one had a good QB.  Oklahoma went out and got a transfer QB that has been playing college football since 2022, Michigan got one that had never taken a college football snap.  

Both teams today are very similar, but the better QB and better team won last night.  In Week 2, Oklahoma is the better team with the experienced QB.  They are closer to their ceiling where Michigan is closer to their floor.  Even a good team struggles in that environment last night.  I thought for a team just starting their journey, Michigan played pretty damn good. 

Compare this game to the Washington trip last season.  I felt Michigan after the Washington game last season was one of the worst teams in college football.   After lasts night game, I feel Michigan is close just not ready.  They will get there and I think they might be pretty good at years end. 

Bob, I get your a homer, but why do you feel this way?

Outside of a few penalties, Michigan played a clean game.  No turnovers.  Oklahoma had two major turnovers and two really bad special teams mistakes.  Michigan couldn't protect their QB in the pocket, couldn't tackle Mateer, and kicked 3 fields goals (2-3) when Oklahoma scored touchdowns.  That is the story of the game, it went exactly how I thought it would. 

I agree the play calling was not aggressive enough but the coaches were trying to keep Michigan in the game.  If Michigan's blitzing Safety is able to sack Mateer, Michigan has a decent shot of winning that game.  He didn't and Michigan didn't.  

Cheers

• To a learning experience.  Michigan could have easily stayed home and played Ball State. 
• To our QB who couldn't vote two weeks ago to playing decent in his first hostile environment. 
• Justice Hayes long run to start the 2nd half
• To a well played 2nd half by the Wolverines 
• Zero turnovers 
• Michigan caught all the punts

Jeers

• The injuries are starting to be a problem.  Klein was really missed.  I think the coaches need to consider the amount of contact they are having in practice.  
• The offensive line was terrible, run game, blitz pickup, pass pro, awful. 
• I disagree with Herbie's take on Michigan's WR's.  I saw guys running butt naked open, Bryce just didn't have the time to see them. 
• The tackling on Mateer was really bad.  I'm sorry but they needed to spy on him the entire game.  That is on Wink 
• The pass rush was also bad.  Michigan had to pressure and hit him on passing downs and rarely did either. 

To me the difference in the game for the Wolverines were two major things.  Tackling the OK QB and bad pass protection from Michigan's offensive line.  Both can be fixed and I expect both will.   

Remember this is professional football now, one loss doesn't kill your season.  Michigan needs to focus on the Big Ten.  Even that team down South didn't win the Big Ten last year.  ND lost to NIU at home and made the National Championship. 

Let's get better this week! 

Michigan Tuesday: Some Surprises for Starters and Back ups

The Bryce news wasn't a surprise when it was released early by CBS on Sunday.  Some of the other things that Sherrone said was.   For example, it seems Brady Norton the new transfer from Cal-Poly has been playing really well the last couple of weeks of camp and took over the right guard position beating out Efobi. 

Your Offensive Line is: Link, EL-Hadi Crippen, Norton, and Sprague. I think inserting Brady is great for depth and hopefully a very good offensive line. 

The other two surprises are: back-up QB is Jadyn "don't call me Daniels" Davis and legacy WR Channing Goodwin is the #3 WR.

Let's talk QB first: Davis's throwing motion looks "not great".  Which means Mikey Keene is heading towards the Jack Tuttle Award this year.  Garcia is still the break glass if there is an emergency and hasn't been here long enough to learn the offense.   This is a concern.  

My question on Goodwin is, where is Freddie Moore? O'Leary? Bell? Marsh? and Browder?  Let's hope they all are playing well and Goodwin just earned the start.  

On a side note: True Freshman Jasper Parker might be getting #3 RB snaps over the likes of Micah Ka’apana and that guy that transferred from Princeton. 

• Fun Trivia from Augusta J:  Name the 4 Michigan true freshmen quarterbacks that started their first game? (including Bryce)

• Dave Portnoy has been banned from Ohio Stadium as he starts his Fox career.  OSU please continue this type of activity as its funny and so soft.  Update: The Big Ten says this was Fox decision not Ohio State's.

• Speaking of Fox, it seems they are negotiating with YouTube TV and the Texas - OSU game is at risk.  I have YouTube TV.  Yikes!

• Michigan Football is now doing a Michigan Monday on Twitter.  Should I sue them for stealing my IP? 😀

• Answers to the above trivia question: Bryce, Rick Leach, Chad Henne, and of course Tate Forcier.  

Michigan Tuesday: A Injury and Announcement

I hate camp injuries.  They are going to happen because you have to go live to get ready for the season.  I still hate them.   I somehow can rationalize injuries in a game but in camp, is just a gut punch. 

Andrew Babalola is a 5-star true freshman OT that was making waves in camp.  There was a ton of buzz he could start or be the 1st back-up.   Being a true freshman and being ready to play at this level is a pretty rare thing and Andrew might have been one of those rare birds. 

Reports are now that Andrew has a knee injury and is out for the season.  We don't have anymore details, but some insiders are speculating it does not seem to be terribly serious.   We will see and lets hope the big man is fully ready and healed for next season. 

Next is a fingers crossed moment.  5-star RB Savion Hiter is expected to announce this morning and Michigan is one of his strong finalist.  Many believe its a Michigan vs. Tennessee battle for the talented RB.  This is a close one and many insiders don't even have a prediction.  

I will post his decision as soon as it hits.

Update:  Enough said! 

• Happy Birthday Bryce!  He is 18 today. 

Michigan Monday Continued: I Dare You To Commit before my Flight

Michigan Football added a 2027 commitment this morning from Texas Football Powerhouse Southlake Carroll, Tristan Dare.  Tristan is a 3-star guard or center prospect but has a 4-star offer list from the likes of: Penn State, OSU, Stanford, Florida, Oklahoma, and Washington.   In total, Dare had over 30 offers from some of the largest programs in the country.  It's clear that with a good fall, Dare could be rising up the rankings.  He is young and still has plenty of time to develop. 

Dare is 6'4 and 290 pounds and is ranked by 24/7 as the #33 interior offensive lineman nationally.  Welcome Big Man! 

• Michigan is #14 in the Coaches Preseason Poll

Michigan Monday: Recruiting is on a Heater!

Sherrone might have started the 2026 recruiting class slowly but that seems to be changing by the hour.  As even more 👀 came out this morning!

First commitment of the weekend, came from 3-star LB Markel Dabney who was a flip from SMU.  LB is a need for this class and Dabney was a player the coaches targeted.  Nice win!

Next came 4-star OT Malakai Lee from Hawaii, who every major program wanted.  He is 6'7 and 300 pounds and picked the Wolverines over Georgia, Texas, and Alabama.   Yes, Please!  

Then it was 5-star time, when Carter Meadows committed to Michigan over Ohio State, Penn State, and South Carolina.  

Carter is the 36th player on On3 and the top of the list prospect for the Wolverines.  He is 6'6 and 235 pounds hailing from Washington DC (or as Wolverine fans like to call it, BIF Country for his time dominating high school football there). The kid loves school as much as he loves football and sounds like a perfect fit in A2.  Michigan beat the Buckeyes for his commitment. I will go on and say it now, Michigan has the best defensive line class in the country right now! 

Who is next? 

• Duncan Robinson opts out of his contract with the Miami Heat.  I assume he is working with the team on another contract. 

Michigan Thursday: Time For The Offensive Line To Get Better

For about a 10 year period Michigan had a poor to average offensive line.  Jim Harbaugh changed that and solidified both the offensive and defensive through recruiting, development, coaching, and the transfer portal.   The gains the offensive line made got Sherrone the head coaching job at Michigan.   That is the highest of honors.  

Last year, the offensive line took a step back, maybe two steps back.  They struggled with the run game and struggled in Pass Pro (outside their last two games).   Yes, it was nice to see the line improve but they were below average to start the year.   So changes had to be made this spring. 

What we are hearing:

• El-Hadi who last year moved from Left Guard to Right Guard, is moving back to Left where he feels more comfortable. "Yeah, I'm playing left guard. Moving back to the left," El-Hadi said. "It's going good. Yeah, it's going really good. I feel a little bit more natural on the left. I played my first two years on the left side. Last year, (Josh Priebe) came back. When the Priebe came, they moved me to the right to change positions. Then I asked to go back to the left. It's going good."

• Transfer Brady Norton is making some noise for a starting position in Spring Ball.  He is now up to close to 300 pounds and impressing the coaches.  Norton has been practicing at Guard and Tackle.  He has 3 years of eligibility left!  

• Junior Nathan Efobi is one of those guys that has been in the program and is ready to take the next step.  There were plenty of transfer rumors about him leaving, but the coaches got him to stay and could be the starter at Right Guard. Efobi has played 2 game snaps his entire career. 

• Don't forget Larry Hatter the transfer from Big Rapids is not due to join the team until this summer.  He goes by Lawrence but I like Larry. 

News and Notes:

• Bills signed former Michigan punter Brad Robbins 

• MSU Football is now under NCAA Investigation for it's time under Mel Tucker.  The NCAA does not comment on current investigations unless its against Michigan and Jim Harbaugh. 

• Here is something I didn't remember, current Michigan WR Donaven McCulley who just transferred from IU. Started at QB for IU against Michigan in the Big House is 2021. To repeat started at QB. That is just crazy.

• Chip Lindsey new offensive is expected to be fast paced. Harbaugh loved ball control and running the clock, but I also believe there were times Michigan could have moved much faster on offense.