Michigan LB Cole Sullivan has 'eye-popping' athleticism, will be 'major contributor on defense'

Michigan Wolverines football has two returning starters at linebacker in seniors Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham, but some room for others to play snaps. Sophomore Cole Sullivan is in that group, impressing this spring and flashing his high upside.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Pittsburgh, Pa., native was too good to keep off the field as a freshman, appearing in 12 games to burn his redshirt. He ranked sixth on the team with 154 special teams snaps, playing on kick return, kick coverage, punt return and field goal. He logged 14 defensive snaps, but that number is expected to be much higher this fall.

“What I saw from him last year was just a raw, athletic kid,” Michigan linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary said of Sullivan. “The previous place I was at [Tennessee], we even looked at him as a tight end, because he was that athletic in space and was such a big, athletic kid.

“Last year, he had to kinda learn the position, but you saw some of what the future will look like for him once he got it. And you knew once that happened, you had a chance to have a really good football player. But you never know how quick that’s gonna happen.”

It’s starting to click during Michigan’s spring practices.

“What we’ve seen this spring: That page has really turned,” Jean-Mary explained. “He’s turned into one of the guys that we’re going to be counting on to be a major contributor on defense. He’s had some practices where I would say he’s one of the better guys on the field.

“He’s really transformed his body, if you guys see him now, as far as just the physical part of it. You can’t teach the length that he has, and the athleticism that he has is really, really eye-popping sometimes.”

Jean-Mary loves Sullivan’s versatility, too, and plans to use him in different ways on the Michigan defense.

“The thing that you see with him is, because of his size, he can be that hybrid guy that can play stack and line up on the edge and rush the passer, which he’s done a little bit this spring,” Jean-Mary said. “You can see that growth with such a young kid and the potential he has to do that.

“We’re thrilled to have him here. He’s gonna be a really good football player in the maize and blue.”

Sullivan projects as a two-deep player behind Hausmann and Barham and alongside senior Jimmy Rolder, who’s had his fair share of injuries throughout his career but is healthy this spring.

Rolder recorded 200 defensive snaps last season, racking up 26 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, in 12 outings. He was in the rotation as a true freshman in 2022, played significant time when healthy in 2023 and was the third linebacker up in 2024.

“Man, we’re so excited about him,” Jean-Mary said of Rolder. “We’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it: We look at Jimmy as a third starter.

“He’s a guy that’s been here and, knock on wood, I think this is the healthiest he’s been. The injuries have slowed him down the last two years, but this spring he’s been healthy, he’s had some unbelievable practices and he’s a guy we view as a third starter.

“He’s gonna be a major part of the rotation, possibly starting a couple games. But we’re thrilled to have him. In today’s football, it’s hard to have three guys that we feel like are on that caliber, that they’re starters, and Jimmy is definitely one of those guys. We think the world of him and think he’s got a chance to help us play big-time football this year.”

Jean-Mary is pleased with the depth Michigan possesses at linebacker but is hesitant to slap too many labels on the group.

“I don’t want to say ‘loaded’ yet,” he said. “I’d like to say that at the end of the year. At the beginning of the year, everybody feels good about their room.

“I think we have so many veteran guys coming back — Ernest, Jaishawn and Jimmy — and we do like some of the young talent we have. Cole Sullivan has taken that leap to where we could feel as good with him in the game as we would with the other guys.”