The Michigan football team won the national title last season, but it will be hard for them to replicate their success next season. The Wolverines have lost a lot of their team to the NFL, and not just from a player standpoint. Obviously, head coach Jim Harbaugh is gone. Sherrone Moore is the new head coach for Michigan, but a lot of that staff left for the NFL as well. The Wolverines are going to look completely different from a coaching standpoint as well. The area of the game that will have the most familiar faces will be their defense.
Michigan football had the best defense in college football last season, and they could have the best defense in college football again this year. Their defensive line is stout and they are returning a lot of production from last year, and they also have Will Johnson in the secondary who is a projected first-round pick for next season. The defense will be the strength of this team.
Fox analyst Joel Klatt is very familiar with the Wolverines as he calls a lot of their games on Big Noon Kickoff. Klatt has been ranking his top teams for next season recently on his podcast, and he ranked Michigan #8. The defense is a big reason why.
“Number eight, Michigan. The defense is going to be incredibly good again,” Joel Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show. “They are so good up front, it's the best defensive tackle core in America. Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, they've got good players on the outside. Will Johnson's probably the best corner in the country, arguably. That defense is going to be stout, there's no doubt.”
Michigan football does have some question marks on offense
The Michigan football offense is going to be interesting to watch next year. JJ McCarthy and Blake Corum have paved the way for success during the past two seasons, but they will both be gone next year. Can Donovan Edwards produce like Corum did? Who will be their starting quarterback? There are question marks, but there is talent.
“They've got Donovan Edwards back at running back,” Joel Klatt continued. “They've got to figure out what's going on at quarterback, but let's remember, and I said this a bunch when I talked about Michigan after their spring game, it doesn't feel all that different. Everything is the same, and yet everybody is different.”
One thing that will be hard for Michigan is their schedule. The Big Ten is adding some tough teams from the Pac-12, and the Wolverines have to play three of them this season, plus a non-conference battle with Texas and their usual season-ending clash against Ohio State. Gauntlet.
“That schedule, I've mentioned it a couple of times, doesn't do them any favors, there's no doubt,” Klatt added. “They've got Texas in week two, we will be there, Big Noon Saturday, Big Noon Kickoff is going to be live in Ann Arbor for that game. Texas week two, USC week four, then they've got to travel in a national championship rematch and face Washington in October. They've got Oregon in November in the Big House, and then they've got to face Ohio State in the shoe to finish the year.”
That schedule is certainly a big reason why it will be hard for Michigan football to replicate their success from 2023, but that defense should be good enough to keep them in any game.
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