Sherrone Moore says Babalola, Haywood 'as physically gifted as any freshmen' OL he's seen
The maize and blue brought in two five-stars at offensive tackle in the 2025 recruiting class in Kansas native Andrew Babalola and late-Alabama flip, Ty Haywood, from Texas.
Babalola was an early enrollee, meaning he arrived on campus in December and got to take part in both bowl prep as well as spring ball. Haywood arrived this summer, and it isn't a surprise, given their accolades, that head coach Sherrone Moore (a former offensive lineman who also coached the position from 2021-23) is swooning.
In a sitdown with The Michigan Insider's Sam Webb, Moore gushed about both true freshmen, noting that he has not seen anyone with the physical makeup as Babalola and Haywood since he arrived as an assistant coach in 2018.
"Those two are as physically gifted as any freshman lineman I've seen since I've been here," Moore said. "And we've had some really good ones, but I don't know if anybody are as ready to play as those two are. We've had some guys that that possibly could -- and I know when I got here, Mike Onwenu and Ben Bredeson were here. And those guys played earlier in their careers. Those guys are bigger than them, they're they're just taller than them -- obviously, not bigger than Mike. Mike's 350 pounds. But Ty Haywood is physically gifted, Andrew Babalola is physically gifted as anybody as we've seen since I've been here."
Haywood is only starting to get mentioned, but Babalola was firmly in the mix at left tackle in spring ball, battling with junior Evan Link. There has been some offseason scuttlebutt that he could supplant the veteran tackle, pushing Link potentially to right guard.
Even if that doesn't happen, what has allowed Babalola to get into the mix as he has? Especially so early?
"Two parts -- one, he's physically gifted," Moore said. "God blessed him with some gifts that most people don't get -- especially as young as he is. And then two, he's uber-smart. Not only book smart, but football smart. And sometimes those can be two different things. And he just understands the game, he doesn't make mistakes twice. If he makes mistakes, he corrects it.
"And like you meet him and he's like this guy -- from his voice and like how he carries himself then when he gets on the field he's a monster. So he's got a chance to be really special, whether it's this year or the next year or whatever it is, we'll see. But excited to watch him as we go through fall camp."
Per reports, fall camp is expected to start in just 13 days, on July 29, with eyes on the 2025 season opener on August 30 against New Mexico.
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