Meet Michigan's newest potential X-factor: 'Marlin Klein's damn good at football'

The Michigan Wolverines face a bit of an uncertain week in terms of tight end Colston Loveland‘s playing time. One of the best at his position in college football, his status seems directly tied with U-M’s chances of pulling off an upset win over USC (3:30 p.m., CBS) on Saturday.

Whether or not Loveland plays, there seems to be room for junior classmate Marlin Klein – who had a career-high 3 catches for 43 yards last week – to operate in tandem with him in the Michigan offense. They’ll need contributions from everyone, and Klein’s journey from German learning the game to a potential X-factor in Ann Arbor could be critical.

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“I remember when we were recruiting Mar,” position coach Steve Casula said. “But I never met Marlin until I returned here. I was always very aware of who he was. But upon my return here, like any other player that really hasn’t played a ton, there have been not necessarily growing pains, but I think the more you play real-life competitive snaps, the more you learn. So of course there’s been maturation in that respect. But from what I’ve understood and what he was asked to do in high school, I’m sure there were some tough moments.

“Our other two young tight ends right now are going through it. Brady Prieskorn didn’t play tight end. Shout out to Rochester Adams. I mean, he played outside receiver in the flex bone. If I were Coach Petrito, I would have done the same thing. So there’s been a learning curve for Brady Prieskorn. He’s another one that’s going to be an outstanding player here and is about the best guy ever. But Hogan Hansen, he played some tight end, but not in this style of system. So I think that’s one of those things where if we’re recruiting a guy to come play tight end here, odds are they’re probably the best athlete wherever they are. That’s the truth. So most high school programs, there’s a good chance of not playing that guy tight end full time. So I’m sure there’s been some of that.

“But really happy for Mar. Proud of him. His mom was here. I think his mom got here last Thursday or Friday. So his mom’s here for a couple of weeks. So his mom was able to watch him play. Coach Moore’s been saying it. Grant’s been saying it for a year. Cole and Brady have been saying it. I’ve been saying it. Coach Campbell’s been saying it. Marlin Klein’s damn good at football. So he’s just going to keep getting better.”

Coming out of high school, Klein had much more to do than just learn how to play tight end. He was learning a new country, a new sport and then his arrival on a college campus made it necessary to learn how to block to find his way on the field.

Klein has always been a raw talent, but Casula saw the potential early on at Michigan.

“When I was first introduced or encountered Marlin, and you saw some of his best and brightest moment on practice tape…I’m an optimist,” Casula said. “I think if you see something really good one or two times on a football field, that eventually could be somebody’s new normal and standard, and I give Marlin a lot of credit. He is a great living, breathing example of not everyone’s journey is the same. I think we live in a world today [where] we’re searching for instant gratification or a guy playing right away.

“It’s taken Marlin some time, and he redshirted, and then he didn’t really play as a redshirt freshman, and I’ve used the comparison before to Luke Schoonmaker. My first year was Schooney’s redshirt freshman year, where he got to play some due to injury and stuff like that, but really he took off in his redshirt sophomore year in 2021, and I really give Marlin a lot of credit for just continuing to work, continuing to develop, being probably frustrated at times about his opportunities, but at the same time not being discouraged.

“So I give him a lot of credit. Not everybody’s journey is the same. Not everybody’s going to play as a true freshman. College football is not a movie. So I give him a ton of credit for hanging in there. He’s great. So, Mar, he’s a pleasure to be around. He really is.”

Could Michigan lean on Klein a bit more this weekend? They might have to if Loveland is out. And the staff is confident if it comes to that.

“To play tight end here, you’ve got to be able to do all the different things we ask them to do,” Casula said. “With any game plan, with any game week, it’s our responsibility as coaches to put our players in the best positions to succeed, but we feel that we’ve got quite a number of guys in the room that Col can do what Marlin’s asked to do, Mar can do what Col’s asked to do. I don’t know if anybody can do what [Max Bredson] is asked to do. Jalen Hoffman’s on his way, for sure. Zack Marshall, Hogan Hansen. It’s a long list of guys that can kind of like mimic one another. So it goes both ways. Not just Marlin doing what Colston can do, but Colston being able to do what Marlin’s asked to do, too.”