The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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30 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2024 BY CLAYTON SAYFIE M ichigan's top six offensive linemen from last season have moved on to the NFL. The group combined to start 147 career games while at Michigan. In comparison, there are only three U-M of- fensive linemen with starting experience in Ann Arbor — senior guard Giovanni El-Hadi (3 games), graduate tackle Myles Hinton (5) and graduate tackle Jeffrey Persi (1). Position coach Grant Newsome, who worked with Michigan's tight ends the previous two seasons, is excited for the challenge ahead. "It's going to be different, there's no way around it," Newsome said of Michi- gan's offensive line while appearing on the "In The Trenches" podcast. "It's going to be a challenge, but I also think it's a great opportunity for me and, most importantly, for the guys in the room to have a clean slate. The challenge that I'm going to make to those guys is: 'Those top six guys who left set an in- credible standard for us to try to uphold.' It's going to be a great opportunity for the guys in that room to go do that." Replacing all of that experience is where the transfer portal came in, too. After finding success with importing of- fensive linemen from other programs the prior two seasons with centers Olusegun Oluwatimi (Virginia) and Drake Nugent (Stanford), tackle LaDarius Henderson (Arizona State) and Hinton, the Wol- verines brought in graduate guard Josh Priebe, who appeared in 36 games with 29 starts over four seasons at Northwestern. "The first thing is just experience, hav- ing a guy who's started a lot of games, especially in this conference," Newsome said of what stands out about Priebe. "I think that was a huge appeal to us, es- pecially the fact that we're going to be a younger room this year." There are also talented upperclassmen who, by nature of being behind multi- year starters, are ready to step in. Seniors Greg Crippen and Giovanni El-Hadi highlight that group, at center and guard, respectively. Newsome believes Crippen would've started at nearly any other program in the sport last season, but instead waited his turn behind Nugent. "I'm not sure there was a single player who was in the building more, watching film," Newsome said of Crippen. El-Hadi, too, had All-Big Ten talent ahead of him at guard. "The exciting opportunity for a guy like Gio will be to step into that leadership role. He got to learn from six really good players the last three years. It's his time to go step up, not only on the field but also in the room, in terms of having a voice and being one of the leaders of the offensive line." Between Crippen, El-Hadi and Priebe, the interior of the line is more settled than the situation at tackle. Hinton, a 6-foot- 6, 340-pounder who transferred in from Stanford last season, began the 2023 cam- paign as the starting right tackle before being replaced. He's a prime candidate to earn a prominent role this coming year, as are graduate Jeffrey Persi and junior Andrew Gentry. "We're fortunate that we've had a whole bunch of guys, even though they weren't tasked with starting over the last couple years because we had so much older experience on the offensive line, that we feel are very, very good players. I'm excited to see them compete," New- some said. ❑ OFFENSIVE LINE Finding A Fresh Five Up Front ❱ AT A GLANCE Position Coach: Grant Newsome (first season; third as U-M position coach) Returning Starters: None Departing Starters: T/G Karsen Barnhart (31 career starts), G Trevor Keegan (37), T LaDarius Henderson (10), T Trente Jones (12), C Drake Nugent (15), G Zak Zinter (42) Contenders To Start: C Greg Crippen (Sr.), G Giovanni El-Hadi (Sr.; 3), T/G Andrew Gentry (Jr.), T Myles Hinton (Gr.; 16 at Stanford; 5 at U-M), T Jeffrey Persi (Gr.; 1), G Josh Priebe (Gr.; 29 starts at Northwestern) Top Reserves: C Raheem Anderson (Sr.), T Tristan Bounds (Sr.), G Nathan Efobi (So.), G Amir Herring (So.), G Dominick Giudice (Sr.), G Connor Jones (Jr.), T Evan Link (So.) Newcomers: T Blake Frazier (Fr.), C Jake Guarnera (Fr.), Priebe Myles Hinton (left), shown celebrating with Donovan Edwards in the national championship game, is the most experienced returning offensive lineman for the Wolverines, with 21 career starts, including five games at tackle for Michigan last season. PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF