The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547256
NOVEMBER 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 25 also blocked a kick and forced a fumble, establishing himself in Ann Arbor after spending two years as a backup linebacker at Georgia. This season, he's a central figure in a crew that has given Michigan a chance to win every single game thus far. It hasn't played out that way, but the younger Bowles has followed his father's advice, and productively so. Through six games, Bowles led the Wolverines in tackles with 50, 16 more than the nearest teammates. He'd re- corded 5 tackles for loss, a pair of quar- terback hurries, recovered a fumble, and received high praise from his coaches. The linebacker position got the short end of the stick when it came to preseason anticipation of success from outside sources, but Bowles and others went a long way in quieting those concerns in the first handful of games. "I think he's handling the scheme very well," Michigan defensive coordinator Jay Hill said on the "Inside Michigan Football" radio show. "I think he's very intelligent. He does a good job with film preparation. Right now, he's a little mis- sile out there. He makes a lot of plays. He plays extremely hard. I love his en- ergy and excitement that he brings to the game. He's just been a really, really good leader, and mostly by example on how he does things. "He plays with the right intensity. He plays with the right physicality. He's su- per smart. You can tell he's a coach's kid, but man, he's been a dream to coach so far. I think Coach Whittingham's done a phenomenal job with the whole line- backer group. They've all progressed so far. And we're really doing more in our package than I thought we could at this stage." "He's a really a tough, active, instinc- tive middle linebacker," Whittingham said of Bowles. "He's got really good quickness and speed. You can just see how he at times looks like he's play- ing at a different speed than everybody else when he's going to the ball. But that group, relative to their experience, or the lack thereof, has really been a sta- ple for us and done some good things. Now there's been some bumps along the road — they haven't been perfect — but I think they're a net positive for our foot- ball team." One of them, fellow transfer and grad linebacker Nathaniel Staehling, scored half of Michigan's points on a pick six at Minnesota. While that's obviously both good and bad news, Bowles saw it as an- other sign that the Wolverines' defense will keep doing all it can for team suc- cess. It also felt satisfying because of the offseason chatter about the position. "It definitely was, because we heard what they were saying about us the whole offseason," Bowles said. "To go out there and prove they were wrong about us — the critics — and really for Staeh- ling, coming off of the shoulder [injury], working his way back in, and catching the pick six in his home state? That was huge. I'm really happy for him." Bowles' happiness meter will continue to rise, based on results. His expectations for the defense are limitless. His hopes for a strong finish remain in place, based on what he believes the Wolverines can do in terms of improvement and getting over the top in close games. "I definitely think I'm doing a pretty decent job, I guess," he said. "The de- fense, and myself, aren't really scratch- ing the surface of what we can do, of things to get better at. In the times of need right now, I need to raise my play and try to bring the defense with me." He gets keen insight about the mental part of the game, from the highest level. Applying that to Michigan's situation remains a priority, and a driving force behind the senior's leadership. "We are staying pretty connected," Bowles said. "There's been a lot of our leaders preaching, 'Don't lose yourself, or the locker room, in this process.' We all came here for a common goal. Just because stuff doesn't go our way, doesn't mean we start aborting the mission and doing our own stuff. It's really just stay- ing together and trying to get better at the things we're good at, and the things we're bad at." Like the rest, he wants to win out. And he's not interested in hearing anything else right now. ❏ Bowles Brothers Keep It In The League Michigan senior linebacker Troy Bowles isn't the only son of Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles who battled in the Big Ten. His brother, Todd Bowles Jr., played defensive back at Rutgers in 2022-23. Todd Bowles Jr. went to the NFL early, but not in the traditional sense. He's in his first year on his father's staff, work- ing as a defensive assistant for the Buc- caneers. Where Troy Bowles winds up after this season remains to be seen. This much is certain — he won't stop looking to achieve and reach for higher levels, given his background. Bowles recalled last year, upon coming to Michigan, the advice his father gave him. "Something he always tells me is, 'Just cut loose,'" Bowles said. "'Don't think too much. Just go out there and play. Be- cause if you're thinking too much, you're thinking about messing up, you're going to mess up. So just go out there, be free, be loose and play.'" — John Borton