The 2025 college football season is fast approaching and with it comes thoughts on how teams may or may not be. And perhaps the most prescient is that of the coaches around the conference.
Every year, Athlon Sports taps several Big Ten coaches to discuss each team within the league and gets their anonymous thoughts about each program. Though many in the media (and in Vegas) might not be particularly keen on Michigan football, coaches seem to have a different opinion.
The anonymous opinions given paint a picture quite oppositional to the narrative that’s pervaded since the Wolverines’ 8-5 2024 campaign — one where the maize and blue started by faltering before finishing strong with wins over Ohio State and Alabama. Here is what the coaches had to say about Michigan.
Michigan just reloads talent
“It’s tempting to look at these rosters after the national title and define them by what they lose to the draft every year, but we don’t do that with [Kirby] Smart or [Nick] Saban or those programs. Michigan is an elite-level recruiting program. So yeah, they lost a Mason Graham, but they’re ready to plug in that next guy. It’s not plug and play, but it’s close.”
We often hear the media discuss the defense and wonder how the Wolverines will overcome the losses of defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, cornerback Will Johnson, and edge rusher Josaiah Stewart. However, if you watched the spring game or have paid attention to the roster, Michigan has six deep at defensive tackle, four at edge rusher, and while cornerback doesn’t have a Johnson-caliber player, it does have four who will likely rotate at the position.
The media narrative was the same following the 2021 season after the Wolverines lost Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo. And that 2022 defense ended up being just fine. We expect the same this year.
