Even after the U-M clobbered OSU in 2021, few felt optimistic about the chances for a repeat at the Horseshoe. National stories were more likely to be about the soap opera of Jim Harbaugh’s continuing dalliance with the NFL than Michigan’s return to football’s top tier. 

But then came an even more compelling win in Columbus last year, one where Michigan just seemed better coached than the Buckeyes. Ohio State tried “cover zero” (pure man-to-man pass defense) too often and tried to jam the line of scrimmage too much. That let Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy throw three long touchdown passes, and running back Donovan Edwards gallop for two long TD runs. Even the daunting Buckeye offense did not have enough steam to balance the scales. Michigan won, 42–23.

The annual Harbaugh NFL drama aside, there is every reason to believe that Michigan’s football renaissance is not going away. At quarterback, J.J. McCarthy is only going to get better, and he has solid backups in the wings. | Photo: Bryan Fuller

The Wolverines had no trouble in the Big Ten Championship game, and they finished the season undefeated. This time they dodged powerful Georgia, instead drawing a once-defeated and seemingly more beatable TCU team in the national semis. Again, Harbaugh’s offense moved the ball (537 yards) but three key turnovers and two blown opportunities inside the five-yard line cost the Wolverines dearly, and a suddenly porous Michigan defense allowed TCU to control the game once it got a lead. U-M succumbed, 51–46. Georgia barely sneaked by OSU and then pummeled TCU to win the national championship again.

The off-season continued the NFL soap opera, and in the end, Michigan renegotiated Harbaugh’s salary to $8.34 million per year—more than double the reduced base pay he’d accepted after the Covid-shortened 2–4 season in 2020–2021. But the drama continued as U-M president Santa Ono announced the new contract, tweeting, “I just got off the phone with Coach Harbaugh and Jim shared with me the great news that he is going to remain as the Head Coach of the Michigan Wolverines. That is fantastic news that I have communicated to our Athletic Director Warde Manuel.”

Aaron McMann at MLive asked a legitimate question: “Where is Warde? And how strained is his relationship with the head football coach that the new president, still with very little knowledge of the inner dynamics of Michigan athletics, has to step in and seemingly play middleman?”

The annual drama aside, there is every reason to believe that Michigan’s football renaissance is not going away. At quarterback, McCarthy is only going to get better, and he has solid backups in the wings. Superstar running backs Edwards and Blake Corum also return, along with experienced receivers and Harbaugh’s ordinary cadre of future NFL tight ends. The offensive line, once again, is poised to be one of the best two or three in the country.

The defense might be better, too. Last year, even with a lack of depth at linebacker and no elite pass rusher, Michigan was second in the Big Ten in sacks. The edge rushers return, and with experience (and now depth) at linebacker, outcomes might even be better this year. And, in a true rarity, Michigan may have the ability to generate pressure from the interior defensive line, as last year’s super-kinder, Kenneth Grant, Reyshaun Benny, and Mason Graham, grow up. Kris Jenkins will be an All-American and might be the best player on an estimable defense.

In the secondary, slot corner Mike Sainristil, who moved from wide receiver to fill in a weak spot, proved his value as a player and team leader. Will Johnson, maybe the best corner in the Big Ten, will be a first-round pick in 2025. NFL-quality safeties Makari Paige and Rod Moore also return.

That leaves the problems: the corner opposite Johnson and kickers, since kicker Jake Moody graduated, and the experienced corners opted for the NFL. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has tapped another former wide receiver, Amorian Walker, in an attempt to recreate Sainristil’s success. Talented but historically injured Ja’den McBurrows will also get a shot, as will highly regarded frosh Jyaire Hill. But during the summer the Wolverines made sure the floor at the position was high with grad-transfer Josh Hill from U Mass, a highly coveted player in the transfer portal. 

Punter Tommy Doman might be a step up, and Harbaugh landed the number one placekicker in the portal, James Turner, a Saline native and Louisville grad. 

When a college team is worried only about one corner and a placekicker, it is in a pretty singular place. After the spring game, Harbaugh said, “I think this team is the best version that we’ve had of ourselves.” The mid-term realities for Michigan football have to be a bit more tempered. While the Wolverines are recruiting well, the most elite players are responding better to programs willing to hand out large pay-for-play money, as opposed to Michigan’s less immediate name, image and likeness (NIL) licensing opportunities. Over the past three cycles Michigan has recruited one just five-star player (Will Johnson) and he was both a local kid and a legacy. OSU had seven in the same period; Georgia had thirteen. That’s somewhat balanced by Michigan’s ability under Harbaugh to evaluate and develop guys who well exceed the projections of high school recruiting gurus.

The transfer portal is a new wrinkle. The Wolverines lost fourteen players in the portal after last season, but only a couple of the guys were mainstays, and Michigan responded by bringing in nine players who should fill in the gaps on the roster. On balance, this year, Michigan seems to have gained a lot more than it lost.

While major pay-for-play dollars do not seem to be on Michigan’s table, the AD has begun to encourage and embrace collectives that will facilitate NIL dollars for players succeeding in the program and keeping them out of the transfer portal or (maybe) the NFL for a year. Blake Corum, for example, would have been drafted this year, but he returned to school and the opportunities for NIL money (though he seems to give away quite a bit to charity) was likely a factor in his decision to stay.

Michigan still has to play the games, of course, and injuries, randomness, and just plain weird stuff often happens. But the Wolverines should have a reasonable chance to run the table again, and maybe three will be the charm in the playoffs. At least on paper, this is the best team the Wolverines have assembled in many years.