Latest news with #Michigan football
Yahoo
2 days ago
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Fox Sports' Joel Klatt predicts strong Michigan football rebound in 2025
There are some who are giving Michigan football some preseason accolades, but generally speaking, the Wolverines are flying under the radar. However, perhaps the most notable pundit in college football thinks this could be a big bounce-back year for the maize and blue. Fox Sports' premier color commentator, Joel Klatt, revealed his top 25 teams in the preseason on his podcast last week, and he has a fair amount of optimism on the Wolverines. So much so, he has Michigan at No. 10 in his preseason top 25. "Here's the Michigan Wolverines at No. 10," Klatt said. "This team figured things out at the end of the year. They beat Ohio State. They beat Alabama basically without an offense. And they did it with an offense that threw the ball better than only what three teams in the country -- and all three of those teams were service academies. There's no way they can be that bad throwing the ball again. "Wink Martindale, their defensive coordinator, he figured out what worked with his players as the season went along, and they became, in the back half of the year and in particular over the last four games, the best defense in the country. That should continue. They bring in new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey. I'm interested to see how that works out. I'm not totally sure. Will we see Bryce Underwood at quarterback? Is it going to be Mikey Keene, the Fresno transfer? He missed all of spring practice with an injury. So Underwood got all of those reps. Keene does have experience, by the way. 34 career starts. He played in Lindsey's offense at UCF. I know they're going to have to replace some really talented players, in particular on the defensive front seven. But remember, without those players on the defensive front seven, without Will Johnson on the edge, they handled Alabama just fine. And that was an Alabama offense that still had Milroe, that still had Ryan Williams, and was playing at full capacity. "Michigan should be better. Their schedule is not that bad. And if you look at that, the Oklahoma game is really the barometer. They're going to go travel to Norman, Oklahoma. And if they win that game, then watch out. This is a CFP team. If not, we'll see. Then the big question mark becomes Sherrone Moore suspension. Right now, he is going to be on a self-imposed suspension for the third and fourth game of the season. Will it be more? Will the NCAA suspend him even further? Possibly, possibly, as the time at the time that we're recording this, that has not happened yet. But even if they do, even if it is for like, let's say three games. And it's got to be the first three. Like this is a program that has shown that they can get over that. I don't think that is a game-ender for them, to be quite honest with you. "So Michigan is going to be in the top 10." That Oklahoma game should tell a lot, even if the Sooners are coming off a 6-7 season. With a night game on the road in a tough environment, the first-ever regular-season road SEC game for the Wolverines will be a tough test, even if OU isn't quite at the same standard as they were when they were in the Big 12. If Michigan gets the win in Norman, that would be a similar boost to getting past Washington in Week 2 in 2021, with the Nebraska game playing a similar role to Wisconsin from that same year. This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Joel Klatt sees big rebound for Michigan football in 2025
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Michigan OL Giovanni El-Hadi opens up about 2024 struggles, body transformation: ‘Never again'
ANN ARBOR – graduate offensive lineman is one of the de facto leaders of his position group. Part of being a leader is taking a look at yourself in the mirror, and he did that Monday when praising one of his younger teammates. In response to a question about sophomore offensive tackle Andrew Sprague and how he has changed his body, El-Hadi admitted that taking his physique seriously is an adjustment he has also had to make. This allowed him to enter camp at a much higher playing weight than last season. 'Last year, I played very lightly,' El-Hadi said on Monday. 'I had a bad camp. I didn't take good care of myself. I was playing around 300 or 305 [pounds]. Right now I'm about 325-330.' El-Hadi's transformation is emblematic of Michigan's roster-wide adjustment this year. The staff challenged them to improve their physicality to prepare for a year with higher expectations. The left guard says that discipline has been key for him this offseason.'Eating a lot just in general,' El-Hadi said. 'The way I was drinking water, I drink about a gallon, two gallons a day, because I sweat a lot. Big guys, you guys know how it is. We sweat a lot and it's kind of like a job trying to eat that much and drink that much. And it took me a long time to learn that. And now I have it pretty good. I've got a good little rhythm and it is going [well]. 'Every practice, I was losing about like 10 to 15 pounds of water weight. The first week, I was doing a pretty good job [of rehydrating]. But over time, when you are losing that type of weight, just drinking that much water and eating that much, you kind of get tired of it. And this year I said, 'Hey. I don't care how tired you are, you better eat or drink as much as you can until you feel like a balloon.' El-Hadi started every game at right guard last season and did not have the season he hoped for. He's hoping his weight game helps him as a blocker with a stronger base. 'Last year I was a little light,' El-Hadi said. 'I still felt very powerful, but kind of light in the butt, so I was getting kind of moved back a little more than I like to. Now when I get my hands on you, it's a lot more weight trying to push through. That's the biggest difference. Far stronger.' Michigan's offensive line took a big step down last year, even considering the expectations were not as high given the departures from the national title team in 2023. Ultimately, El-Hadi thinks that too much newness and confusion played a role. Now, he hopes they have experience with overcoming obstacles. 'The line was iffy and there's a lot of new guys,' El-Hadi said of last season. 'A lot of guys switching, and we didn't really know how to handle that because the last three years previous to that, it was the same guys. The same guys for the last four years, three years, five years. And that was the biggest difference last year when you had five new guys. 'But now we kind of understand how to work through that. And we have that mindset, like no matter who's in there, better have that urgency to get better and kick some butt. Michigan brought in famed offensive line coach Juan Castillo as a staffer this offseason to work with Grant Newsome in shaping the position group. Both have been positives, but El-Hadi says the addition of Castillo has been massive. 'Coach Newsome is doing a really good job this year,' El-Hadi said. 'Last year was a lot of our first times, especially for him too, and it was a little stressful. Now, we kind of just chill, lean back and look at the bigger picture. 'And Juan is the best. We're with him every day since January. Whenever we want to do any work or wherever it is, we'll go up to him. It's like he lives here. It's actually scary. He's here all day and he always wants to just help us get better, and we love him so much. We wish we had him sooner.' Pressed on if this fall camp feels different than last year, El-Hadi admitted it does, and that Michigan vows not to slip as it did five times last season. ' It feels really good this year,' El-Hadi said. 'I'm really excited and everybody's excited. We are not gonna have a year like we had last year. Never again.'
