How Enow Etta and Michigan football plan to restore championship mentality in 2025

The Michigan Wolverines are heading into the second year under head coach Sherrone Moore, working to get some of their title contender mojo back after an 8-5 season in 2024. Junior defensive tackle Enow Etta knows what it will take to get back to that.

Speaking to Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast, the third-year defensive trenchman cites the strong culture from the College Football Playoff title team in 2023 as something the group is trying to recreate.

 ”I think the biggest thing is just having everybody bought in,” Etta said on the show. “In 2023, everyone knew what they wanted. And me coming in as a freshman who’s never been part of a big program…seeing guys Mike Sainristil, Blake [Corum], J.J. [McCarthy], Trevor Keegan, all those guys setting the standard. You could tell we were gonna do something that year with the mindset those guys were kind of instilling in us, especially as younger guys.

“And I think building off of last year, that’s something we need to bring back. I wouldn’t say it’s it’s completely gone, but I think we need more guys to step up into that leadership role. And that’s something I’m trying to really force myself into doing because it is hard, definitely being the guy that has to speak up. Sometimes you don’t wanna hurt people’s feelings, and I think I’ve gotten past that stage. But that’s what we need, just that cohesion, everyone being together and everyone having that one-track mind.

“Because we saw that in the natty ear behind the scenes. The lifts, there wasn’t any BS going on. There wasn’t any of that. It was just a straight one-track mind. Guys would call out guys who weren’t doing what they were supposed to do. And I think we have that this year, but we need to keep building on if we really want to go where we need to go.”

Etta, who is now in his second year playing defensive tackle after entering the program as an EDGE, cites defensive line coach Lou Esposito as a major reason he could be poised for a jump in year three at Michigan. Esposito’s grace and encouragement in improving on-field performance has helped his transition to the interior and the position group at large.

 ”Coach Espo is a great coach,” Etta said. “He’s one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever had. Because he’s more of a mentor to me. Just the way he talks to me, he’ll correct me. But it’s because you can tell it’s because he wants to see you do better. And he’ll always be encouraging guys even in the meetings. He’ll break you down, he’ll build you up when he’s critiquing you. He’ll say if you mess up on a block, he’s like, ‘Bro, you’re so big and strong, you just get your hands right.’

“Sometimes you need that hard coaching, but sometimes you need that encouragement because everybody’s different. Some guys take that hard coaching well, and some guys need that encouragement to really build that confidence in themselves. And they’ll perform better because they feel their coach believes in them.”

Michigan was one of the only schools that recruited the former four-star prospect as an EDGE defender, thanks to the pitch from former defensive line coach Mike Elston. Once Elston left with Jim Harbaugh foer the Los Angeles Chargers, Esposito and company moved him inside.

Etta was looking to avoid that fate, but said it wound up being th best move he could have possibly made.

“ I was always a bigger edge, but my athleticism made up for it,” Etta said. “Even being my freshman year at Michigan, I was 280, but I could move. So the coaches said you could lose a little weight, but it’s it wasn’t a big deal, because I was good on power rush and good holding the point of attack. Me being the biggest guy when we needed more bodies at d-tackle, it was obviously gonna be me. So I just had the feeling of dang, I couldn’t escape it. Michigan’s one of the only schools that. wanted me as an EDGE. Other schools said, ‘We want you to come and play three tech, you got, you got a big body, we’re gonna put some weight on you.’

“I came here because Coach Elston wanted me as an edge. So after those guys left, the new guys put me at D Tackle and I was like man,  this is what I was trying to avoid. I was in denial at first. And I wasn’t the guy that was about to hop in the portal. I knew I had to stick it out because I knew God has a reason for everything. And I believed that this was a path that He had for me. So I wasn’t gonna try to run away, I was just gonna try to make the most of it.

“So at first it was definitely challenging. But Coach Espo made that made the transition easier… It was definitely some growing pains, but I know it was around this time last year, so looking back a year later,  it was probably one of the best things to happen to my career. That was just something I had to find out for myself. No one could have told me that.”

Etta will compete for time in Michigan’s fall camp with Rayshaun Benny, Damon Payne, Tre Williams, Trey Pierce and others for reps at defensive tackle. He has appeared in 13 career games in Ann Arbor, making 5 total tackles, 0.5 sacks and one pass defended.