Grant Newsome talks potential starters on Michigan offensive line, including incoming transfer Josh Priebe

Michigan Wolverines football lost quite a bit on the offensive line from last season, with its top six players at the position moving on to the NFL (and all of them receiving invites to the combine). New offensive line coach Grant Newsome, who was promoted after two years leading the tight ends, has his work cut out for him in finding the replacements.

“It’s gonna be different, there’s no way around it,” Newsome said of Michigan’s offensive line while appearing on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host and former Michigan All-American left tackle Jon Jansen. “You’re going from losing really an incredible group of players, of people, who had hundreds of games started between them across the last three years.

“It’s gonna be a challenge, but I also think it’s a great opportunity for myself, for the guys in the room, most importantly, to kind of have a clean slate. And that’s gonna be the challenge that I’m gonna make to those guys, is that, ‘Hey, the guys who left, those top six guys who left, they set an incredible standard for us to try to uphold,’ and it’s gonna be a great opportunity for the guys in that room to go do that.”

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Two Michigan veterans have starting experience in Big Ten

Newsome said his job will start with finding the “best five” linemen and placing them in the starting lineup.

Graduate tackle Myles Hinton, who opened five games last season (four on the right side of the line and one on the left), is expected to be among that group, as is graduate guard Josh Priebe, who appeared in 38 games with 28 starts at Northwestern, before enrolling early this winter as an incoming transfer.

“Obviously, Myles coming back has some experience starting at tackle and Josh coming in will be a huge, huge addition,” Newsome pointed out. “But it’s really a clean slate, and that’ll be a good job as coaches to find the best five and develop those guys — and obviously well beyond those five, because more than five are going to have to be ready. So, find the best five to start and then make sure that we have 10 or 12 developed and we feel comfortable playing.”

Hinton played through injury at times last season. The next step for the 6-foot-6, 340-pounder is to put it all together on the field, with coaches and teammates all having pointed to his potential since he joined the Michigan program as a Stanford transfer last year.

“I think the challenge for Myles will be to go be that premier tackle that he has the talent to be,” Newsome said. “And that’s not a knock on him, because he was battling injuries a lot last year, even when he was out there playing.

“Making sure that we get him fully healthy, he can stay fully healthy and then go out there and perform at the level that he’s capable of, because he’s got an unbelievable amount of talent. I mean, you look at him, and he’s a big dude; they don’t make that many dudes who are that big and move that well and look that good. So, the challenge for him will be to go out and put it on tape for an entire year, because he has that ability.”

Newsome pointed to the experience with Priebe, who played 1,785 offensive snaps at Northwestern (1,739 at left guard).

“The first thing is just experience, having a guy who’s started a lot of games, especially in this conference,” the Michigan coach said. “I think that was a huge appeal to us, especially the fact that we’re going to be a younger room this year. So, being able to have a guy who can come in and compete to start but then also provide some of that experience — albeit at a different school, but experience in this conference and understand what it takes to succeed at this level.”

Greg Crippen, Giovanni El-Hadi ready to seize the moment

The Wolverines will have a younger offensive line than last season and in recent years, but there are two players widely expected to become starters who actually aren’t young at all. Seniors Greg Crippen and Giovanni El-Hadi have been patiently waiting their turn at center and right guard, respectively, behind veteran linemen the last three seasons.

“Greg is a great example, especially in today’s day and age, of a guy who’s kinda put his head down and worked,” Newsome said of the Michigan senior. “The reality is, we brought in two All-American-level centers the last two years, and instead of being upset or transferring or going in the tank, he put his head down and just worked.

“And the reality is, he starts for 95 to 98, 99 percent of teams across college football last year. And we felt like that in this building, that there would be no drop-off if we needed him to play, and obviously you guys saw that in the Iowa game. He more than handled himself.

“It’s gonna be a huge, huge asset for us, even though he’s going to potentially be a new starter, quote-unquote. He’s prepared like a starter, he’s played in games for us and it’s been awesome to see, and you saw it last year. I’m not sure there was a single player who was in the building more, watching film. He was here until 11, midnight at times, times that you’re kicking him out of the building. He’s prepared himself for this opportunity, and I’m excited to see what he does with it.”

El-Hadi became a better leader in the Michigan offensive line room, Newsome revealed, which will benefit the group this fall.

“It’s one thing that was encouraging for us to see from Gio last year was to really see him start to find his voice, and the maturity and the other pieces that come with that,” Newsome explained. “The exciting opportunity for a guy like Gio will be to step into that leadership role. Hey, you got to learn from five, six really, really good players the last three years. Hey, it’s your time to go step up, not only on the field but also in the room, in terms of having your voice and being one of the leaders of the offensive line.”

There are others in a similar boat to Crippen and El-Hadi at both tackle and on the interior of the line.

Newsome broke down what he has at tackle.

“We’ll have a good mix of guys this spring,” the Michigan assistant remarked. “We’ll have some guys like [graduate] Jeff Persi, [junior] Andrew Gentry, guys who have played in games for us. Persi started against Rutgers back in ‘22.

“We’re fortunate that we’ve had a whole bunch of guys who, even though they weren’t tasked into starting over the last couple years because we had so much older experience on the offensive line, that we feel like are very, very good players — and I’m excited to see them compete. That’s the awesome part of this opportunity for those guys is that we’re going to have essentially five new starters. There are going to be plenty of competitions, and I’m excited for spring ball for that.”

There’s less experience among Michigan’s other contenders at center and guard, but Newsome is excited about the promise.

“You’ve got guys like [sophomore] Amir [Herring], [senior] Raheem [Anderson], [sophomore] Nate [Efobi],” Newsome said. “There are a lot of guys on the interior of that offensive line who are going to have a great opportunity to come in and step up, along with the early enrollees.

“I’m a firm believer that competition brings out the best in everyone. I think back to my playing experience and competing with Ben Bredeson and all those older guys in the offensive line, as well. It really pushed me to be the best player I possibly could be, so I’m excited for that opportunity this spring.”