The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OCTOBER 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 31 against New Mexico, his career-high 7 tackles in the loss at Oklahoma and his sack in Michigan's bowl-game victory over Alabama at the end of the 2024 sea- son. He's mindful, though, that in a rela- tively young secondary, he's got some responsibilities. He's fixed his focus on helping bring others along, for the good of the group as a whole. "We're kind of young, so I'm taking on the older-guy role, making sure every- body is on the same page," Hillman said. "Also, just making sure everybody plays to a standard. I kind of want to be a tone- setter for the room and the team. I'm try- ing to make sure everybody's on the same level." Hillman likes a lot of what he's seeing out of some of those younger performers, he insisted. "[Sophomore safety] Mason Curtis has been a little banged up," Hillman said. "I still consider him a young guy. Freshman [cornerback] Shamari Earls I'm excited about, when- ever he gets back ready to get back in. [Freshman] Jayden Sanders is another young cornerback starting to step up in the games. That's somebody I'm excited about, just the way he carries himself, his poise. He doesn't really act like a fresh- man. He gets about his work and earned his spot. [Freshman] Elijah Dotson, too. They showed they're ready for it, and that they've matured to it." Dotson made his first career intercep- tion against CMU and enjoyed the full turnover celebration with his teammates. "Everybody gets pumped up," Hillman said. "We're a family. We're a team over here. We've got a motto, 'Team Over Me,' that we live by. When Elijah got his pick, it was more of a celebration for Elijah. Ev- erybody knows how much work he put in to get to this point." Hillman likes the start he's personally experienced thus far. The one blip on the radar probably goes for all on the roster — the setback at Oklahoma. "It's going good," he said. "I criticize myself a lot, so I know in certain games, like the Oklahoma game, I miss a couple of tackles. I watched film. Just going back and looking at things like that is helping me get better. Just taking time in prac- tice, slowing it down, doing the reps right. Little things like that help me." At the same time, he refuses to con- sider that loss as any sort of harbinger of what's ahead in 2025. "One game doesn't define us," Hillman said. "Of course, there are little things we want to get back from that game, but you can't always go back and go get things. It's looking forward as a group, moving forward as a defense and as a team as a whole." When it comes to the overall vocal leadership of the defense, Hillman makes it clear that one voice stands out. "Our verbal person that gets us turned up is [senior linebacker] Ernest Haus- mann," Hillman said. "That's our captain on the defense, our linebacker, that's the quarterback of the defense. He gets us turned. Any time Ernest Hausmann gets to talking, all eyes are on him. Sometimes I'll talk, whenever somebody wants to bring me up, but I'm more of a go out and do it kind of guy, to get everybody turned when I go play. Go punch somebody in the mouth, put them in the turf. Every- body knows, I'm good after that." Michigan's defense stands particu- larly mindful of making things easier for the Wolverines' offense and freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood. The best thing defenders can do to put Under- wood in a good position is give him the ball in advantageous spots on the field, the veteran safety stressed. "I try to tell the defense, just keep get- ting the ball back in his hands," Hillman offered. "Bryce is a playmaker. He can play football. It's all about the game reps for him. He's young. Getting him a lot of game reps, getting him the football as many times as we can. Little things like that help us by helping him get ready for games. "In the defensive backs' room, our goal is two to three turnovers a game. If we do that, we should win the game. Turn- overs, taking the ball away, that's some- thing our defense consistently should do." Prior to the season, plenty of talk cen- tered on a solid returning Michi- gan defense, with an emphasis placed on a strong front seven. The secondary? Well, that's where the biggest questions re- mained, common wisdom held. Hillman and his position room comrades don't care about the talk. They do care about proving they'll hold up their end of the bargain over the course of the 2025 season. "To be honest, the challenge is always here," he said. "Regardless, people are going to talk. We just have to come out and play football. The DBs? If you ask me, we play hard. We play football. We make plays for our team. We don't really look out to any outside noise or anything like that. No criticism really gets to us. It's really well knit in the defensive back room. We've got a real close bond. "If you turn on the tape, it's 11 hungry dudes out on the field. Eleven hungry dogs. We're just out there playing foot- ball." ❏ Virginia Talent Has Been Good To Michigan Junior safety Brandyn Hillman hails from Portsmouth, Va. Here's a look at other standouts from the Commonwealth of Virginia on recent Michigan rosters: • Shamari Earls, freshman cornerback, Richmond — One of the top rookies on the cur- rent U-M roster. • Evan Link, junior offensive tackle, Burke — A starter on Michigan's front wall. • Blake Corum, running back, Marshall — One of the best running backs ever for the Wolverines, a senior captain and national champion in 2023. • Andrew Vastardis, center, Stone Bridge — Rose up to become a starter and two-time captain late in his career (2020-21). • Grant Newsome, offensive lineman, McLean — A very promising player whose career was cut short by an injury as a sophomore in 2016. He's now Michigan's offensive line coach. — John Borton ❱ Hillman "I kind of want to be a tone-setter for the room and the team. I'm trying to make sure everybody's on the same level."