New hire Juan Castillo playing big role in Michigan offensive line room: 'He's with us all the time'

It’s all hands on deck in the Michigan Wolverines football offensive line room, coming off a disappointing 2024 season that saw the program go 8-5 but, most alarming for those in the trenches, saw the position group take a major step back.

Michigan had lost its top six offensive lineman to the NFL Draft, so drop-off was expected, even if the lofty standards weren’t lowered. The position coach and offensive coordinator — Sherrone Moore — was promoted to head coach, and Grant Newsome was in his first season mentoring the group and third as an assistant coach, too. There were a lot of factors at play.

“Last year was unacceptable,” graduate offensive guard Giovanni El-Hadi said. “Toward the end of the season, we jelled together. We played the way that we were supposed to. But there’s no more of that. We gotta play to our absolute best, and show the country that we’re one of the best offensive lines.”

This offseason, Moore hired Juan Castillo as a senior assistant offensive line coach to work with Newsome and the men in the trenches. The 65-year-old has decades of experience as a coach, including leading offensive line rooms with the Philadelphia Eagles (1998-2010), Baltimore Ravens (2014-16), Buffalo Bills (2017-18), Chicago Bears (2020-21) and UCLA Bruins (2024). Castillo was an offensive analyst at Michigan under former head man Jim Harbaugh, working on a staff with Moore, then the tight ends coach, in 2019.

A rule passed last season allowing support staffers — including analysts — to coach on the field in practice. Moore and other head coaches across the country have moved closer to an NFL model with not just the traditional position coach but also an “assistant” position coach.

According to El-Hadi, Castillo has been hands-on with the Michigan offensive linemen this offseason, including workouts and spring practices.

“Juan is the best,” El-Hadi said. “He’s here all day. Any time he gets, he’s training us, we’re watching film with him. He’s always with us all the time, and he’s the best.”

El-Hadi knew Castillo when the former was a recruit, but Castillo moved on to the Chicago Bears in 2020, one year before the lineman joined the Michigan program.

“I remember Juan during my recruitment, so I always kinda had a relationship with him, and then when he came back, I was so happy,” El-Hadi explained. “I remember how he was and all the stories I heard of him. It was just like I heard.

“When he first got here, we got straight to working, and I love that because he’s helping me get better.”

He’s been involved with all of the offensive linemen.

“The years, plus his confidence and willingness to make you better,” El-Hadi said of what makes him a great coach. “He cares for you and wants you to be great, no matter who you are — walk-on, starter, fifth year, freshman. He gives everybody the same attention, and I feel like that’s what a great coach does.”

Newsome is the man in charge of Michigan’s offensive line, even though he has what he called “all the help I can possibly need.” The 28-year-old is getting increasingly comfortable entering his second season in the pressure-packed job, which could help set the Wolverines up for more success.

“More confident,” El-Hadi said of what he’s noticed about Newsome. “Trusting in us and believing in us, like he always did. But I just feel like last year was a lot more pressure, and now we kinda know what we need to do and what it takes.”

Newsome said there’s been an emphasis on having more “fun,” and El-Hadi revealed the line — coaches and players — has bonded more off the field.

“We joke around a lot more,” El-Hadi said. “We go out a lot as a group, as teammates with the coach. Not just us going out with our coaches, but all going out like we’re boys. Going out doing fun things like arcades, go carting. All of us embracing each other for who we are.”

In the end, El-Hadi said, it’s up to the Michigan players to get the job done on the field, and he’s motivated to turn the fortunes around in 2025.

“No matter how much pressure is on us or the coaches or whatever the situation is, we still gotta come up to the plate,” El-Hadi said. “We can’t let the outside noise get to us; the only thing that matters is what’s going on in the inside.

“No matter what was going on last year, we know, or we’re still getting to that point, where all that matters is what’s inside here. Us vs. everybody.”

That “us” just now includes Castillo, a veteran in the profession.