Michigan football's Hogan Hansen focused on details in 2025, says coach Casula

USA Today

3 days ago

Michigan football's Hogan Hansen focused on details in 2025, says coach Casula
Michigan football has one returning starter at tight end, but there's a big, glaring hole with Colston Loveland having departed for the NFL after his junior year. Expectations are high for Marlin Klein as he enters his senior year, but they're perhaps even higher for sophomore Hogan Hansen -- who showed similar glimpses to what Loveland had in his first year in college.
Despite having shown some flashes, tight ends coach Steve Casula doesn't want Hansen to rest on his laurels. The good news is, to some degree, he can't -- things have gotten more difficult simply by his promotion to the starting group.
Casula shared more about Hansen's progress and what they're working on together with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches Podcast.
"Refining the detail, applying detail, blended with his outstanding ability, playing with great technique," Casula said. "I think you can appreciate this as a guy who played pretty early in their career. Like when you first play everyone, you celebrate all the good that happens, and like anything that goes wrong, like, oh, well, he's a freshman, or oh, he's a sophomore. So I think one of the toughest parts for a guy's career that plays really early and has some success.
"Well, now this spring, all of Hogan's reps were with the first group or first or second group. So life's a little bit different when you got to deal with Derrick Moore all day, or life's a little bit different when you're running routes against Ernie Hausmann. Like it's just kind of like, it's different, right? Brandyn Hillman's covering you. And that's no discredit to any of our younger players, but when you go from being a part-time player to a full-time player, practice is harder. Blocking TJ Guy's not easy."
With that in mind, Casula likes what he's seen.
Hansen may have had seven catches for 78 yards and a touchdown in 10 game appearances as a reserve, but the staff is just drilling into him that he'll no longer be judged off inexperience. He's expected to be the star player Michigan recruited and brought to Ann Arbor from Bellevue, Washington. Anything less would be a disservice to himself.
"You're not a freshman anymore. So now you've got to be upheld to the same standard as the guys you're in the game with," Casula said. "So I think that's a challenge, but I think it's a challenge that Hogan handled well. He's really gifted, about the right stuff, physical, but now detail -- like playing with great detail. And not everything is like, oh, the ball just found him. Like, no, man, going out and winning every route, getting open, and continuing to get better through detail."
Fans will get the opportunity to see Hansen in action on August 30, when Michigan football hosts New Mexico for the 2025 season opener at The Big House.