The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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12 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW NUMBERS AND QUOTES MICHIGAN FOOTBALL BY CLAYTON SAYFIE I think they can win the conference. It's not a group with a lot of house- hold names, but there's a lot of depth with really good players." — An anonymous Big Ten coach on Michigan to Athlon Sports The decision to come to Michigan was not hard at all. Coach Whitt called me and said, 'Hey, I think I have this op- portunity. What do you think?' I said, 'Coach, I'm in, because it's Michigan.' I believe we can win national championships here. I believe we can win consis- tent Big Ten championships here. With the way Coach Whitt coaches, his discipline and toughness, I just think it's a perfect match for Michigan. I was in." — Defensive coordinator Jay Hill Listen, you guys know how I feel about Kyle Whittingham. This is one of the best coaches in America. He really is. And Michigan is in good hands. Now, could they win the Big Ten? I don't know. There are some loaded teams at the top, and they're going to be at the very top of these rankings. But this could be a good football team, and I think it's going to come down to those most important games, the home games, Oklahoma and Indiana, and then obviously that big one at the end, Ohio State." — FOX analyst Joel Klatt 18 Incoming scholarship transfers for Michigan football in 2026, top- ping last season's total of 17 for the most in program history. The Wolverines added linebacker Max Alford (BYU), defensive back Chris Bracy (Memphis), punter Cam Brown (UNLV), wide receiver JJ Buchanan (Utah), kicker Trey Butkowski (Pittsburgh), long snapper Nico Crawford (Pittsburgh), defensive end John Henry Daley (Utah), wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (Texas), quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (Colorado State), offensive lineman Houston Ka'aha'aina-Torres (Nebraska), defensive tackle Jonah Lea'ea (Utah), long snapper Gavin Mago- rien (Marshall), linebacker Aisea Moa (Michigan State), wide receiver Salesi Moa (Utah), line- backer Christian Pierce (Western Illinois), de- fensive back Smith Snowden (Utah), linebacker Nathaniel Staehling (North Dakota State) and defensive back Taylor Tatum (Oklahoma). 18-38 For Big Ten teams when traveling across mul- tiple time zones the last two seasons, since the conference expanded to 18 teams in adding West Coast members Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. Michigan is 0-2, with losses at Washington in 2024 and USC in 2025. This sea- son, the Wolverines will travel to Oregon Nov. 14 and host UCLA Nov. 21. 4th Nationally in total offense for Utah under coordinator Jason Beck last season. Beck, who joined Kyle Whittingham at Michigan, saw his unit fin- ish second in rushing (266.3 yards per game) and 82nd in passing (216.6). 2nd Is where wide receiver ANDREW MARSH ranked among FBS true freshmen. His 651 receiving yards in 2025 fell behind only Miami's Malachi Toney (1,211). That total set the Wolverines' true freshman record. 11.5 Sacks for senior defensive end JOHN HENRY DALEY in 11 games at Utah last year, tied as the seventh most in the nation. The 6-foot-4, 255-pounder was tabbed as a first-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. Daley also was one of two Michigan defensive players to be named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch list, joining former Utah teammate Smith Snowden. 8 Home games for Michigan in 2026 for the eighth time this century, joining the 2024 (7-5 regular-season record), 2022 (12-0), 2016 (10-2), 2011 (10-2), 2009 (5-7), 2007 (8-4) and 2005 (7-5) campaigns. We're really looking forward to com- ing out this year and showing every- body what we can do. Obviously, last year wasn't the best. It wasn't really Michigan's standard. So, this year we really want to make sure that we accomplish that." — Sophomore wide receiver Andrew Marsh 1 , 021 Wins for Michigan since the program began in 1879, the most in college football history. The Wolverines have more victories than any foot- ball team at any level — high school, college or professional. PHOTO BY TY KORNBLUE PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN FOOTBALL