Anonymous coach breaks down Wolverines: 'Michigan was still mostly a tough out, and this year's no different'

Last season began a new era for Michigan Wolverines football with head coach Sherrone Moore in charge. The Maize and Blue had a disappointing season but still won eight games and notched their second victory over Ohio State in Columbus since 2000. Now, Moore is entering his second season, and there are still a lot of changes, after the program produced five top-100 NFL Draft picks this spring.

An anonymous coach discussed Michigan with Lindy’s in the publication’s college football preview magazine, breaking down how last year unfolded and looking ahead to the 2025 campaign.

The coach insisted that Michigan was challenging to play against last season, even though Moore’s crew lost five regular-season tilts. The Wolverines didn’t just beat Ohio State in its own building as nearly 20-point favorites, but it also had a chance to win late in games at Washington and Indiana, and the defense did enough to win at Illinois but didn’t get enough help. Michigan was blown out once — by Texas in the second game of the year — but hung tough every other time out, even in a 38-17 setback to Oregon that was close in the second half.

“Yeah, Michigan was still mostly a tough out, and this year’s no different,” the anonymous coach said.

“Look, last year was kind of a weird season for them. Sherrone Moore was thrown into the fire. That was a tough spot. Now, there’s the self-imposed suspension thing. But honestly, he did a pretty solid job, all things considered. They were a little beat up, depth was tested.”

Michigan has brought in 17 transfers so far this offseason — the most for the program in the portal era. The Wolverines will have a different look this year between that and adding five-star+ quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class who’s widely projected to start right away.

The transfer that the anonymous coach highlighted was junior running back Justice Haynes from Alabama. A 5-foot-11, 205-pounder, Haynes split carries in the Crimson Tide backfield last season and rushed for 448 yards and 7 touchdowns on 79 carries. He averaged 5.7 yards per attempt, ranking sixth in the SEC.

“Bringing in Justice Haynes from ‘Bama — I gotta say, that kid can go,” the coach said. “Perfect fit for what Michigan wants to do on offense. He’s got that one-cut-and-go style. Sherrone has already said he sees some [former Michigan running back] Blake Corum comparison. Gotta get him 250 touches.”

Haynes added 17 receptions for 99 yards last season, and Michigan plans to use its running backs in the receiving game more. That will allow him to see the ball in different ways.

Plus, while he only had 96 touches last year — way lower than the 250 that the coach says he should see this season — consider this: Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe had a team-high 168 rushes, the focal point of that offense. Underwood is mobile and will run the ball, too, but nowhere near the amount that Milroe did, opening up opportunities for the Michigan running backs.

A breakout candidate on defense is junior cornerback Jyaire Hill. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder appeared in 12 games with nine starts last season, registering 35 tackles with 5.5 for loss and 1 sack and a team-high 9 pass breakups with 1 interception. He was targeted a whopping 57 times — perhaps a product of playing on the other side of the field to Will Johnson, a second-round NFL Draft pick to the Arizona Cardinals — for part of the season. That kind of experience under his belt could lead to him making a big jump as a redshirt sophomore.

“Jyaire Hill — he’s a name to know,” the coach said. “Long, physical, tracks the ball well. He could declare early with a big year.”

Lindy’s breaks down Michigan’s strengths and weaknesses

The Michigan page in Lindy’s broke down the Wolverines’ strengths and potential problems:

Primary strengths: The front seven defensively is the primary strength of this team, but the defense will need much more from a rebuilding offense so it doesn’t get worn out. Both the run game and the pass game look like they’ll improve over last year.

Primary problems: In what U-M fans hope will be the end of the Connor Stalions debacle, Moore will be suspended for two games (Central Michigan and Nebraska). The sanction [could reportedly be] self-imposed by the school [but isn’t official at this time]. Though the offense can’t go anywhere but up (129th in the country!?), there are still some questions about the passing game, pass protection and the receiving corps.