Interior offensive line, headlined by Greg Crippen, standing out in spring practice
The Michigan Wolverines are in the process of setting a foundation for the 2024 season during spring practices, and the team’s identity again will be made or broken by its play in the trenches. Familiar face and new offensive line coach Grant Newsome has helped the development thus far, and it seems everything is in a relatively stable place.
After two years of elite center play from transfers into the program, Michigan is ready to let senior Greg Crippen (6-4, 309) have a crack at the starting job. He has big shoes to fill stepping into roles that Olu Oluwatimi and Drake Nugent excelled at a nationally-recognized level, and Newsome sees the progress being made.
“Crippen has done a great job of learning and maturing,” Newsome said on Monday. “He’s one of those guys who is really a technician of his craft. He’s in here sometimes as much as us coaches watching film, studying, trying to be mentally as sharp as he can possibly be, which is obviously huge at that center positon. I also think it’s awesome that he was patient and took his time. In this day and age, it’s not common, especially if you’re bringing back-to-back transfers at his position for a guy who is talented as he is to stick around. We’re very happy he did that and excited to see what he does with this opportunity to go out and try to win that starting center job.”
The interior of the offensive line was a strength the last few years with the star centers flanked on each side by Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter. Michigan augmented the group via the transfer portal in the form of Northwestern’s Josh Priebe. Priebe has spent much of his career at left guard, but U-M likes his versatility.
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“I think any time you get a guy in who has starting experience at a position, there’s a possibility of keeping him there,” Newsome said. “We want to make sure we cross-train him in different areas and make sure that regardless of what the offensive line looks like, he’s in a position where he can help us at multiple spots.”
On any other team, senior Giovanni El-Hadi may be returning to school as a multi-year starter. With Keegan and Zinter as stalwarts at the position, playing time has been sparse, but that does not mean he will not be ready. In fact, it likely means the opposite.
“He started games for us at both left guard and right guard, he’ll be in the mix to compete at those spots,” Newsome said. “Excited to see how he’s handled his business this spring. Taking that next step in, not necessarily maturity, but leadership role. You’re an older guy but you’re behind six NFL offensive linemen to now, like I said, you still have experience in the room now, all of a sudden, you’re one of the elder statesmen so to speak. It will be awesome to see him use his voice even more and become a leader amongst the offensive line.”
