Michigan football: Jaishawn Barham is an 'intimidating figure,' Jimmy Rolder is a 'third starter' at linebacker

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator Brian Jean-Mary recruited junior Jaishawn Barham when he was a four-star product in the 2022 class out of Baltimore St. Frances. Barham, though, chose to stay home at Maryland.

When Barham entered the transfer portal last December, Jean-Mary was coaching at Tennessee and once again spurned him, opting to go to Michigan. But Jean-Mary was hired back to U-M over the winter.

“I came right behind him, so I told him I was 0-for-2 in recruiting him. So happy we’re together right now,” Jean-Mary said.

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Barham is a 6-foot-3, 248-pound linebacker who was impressive in his U-M debut, a 30-10 win over Fresno State, notching 2 tackles and 1 quarterback hurry. His effort went beyond the box score, though, adding 2 pressures on 13 pass-rush snaps and showing up around the ball on numerous more occasions.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” Jean-Mary said. “I think he’s got a skill set that could be one of the best I’ve been around.

“Obviously, he’s still a work in progress, still young. He’s still learning. He has a great skill set as a pass rusher. He doesn’t know how strong he is.

“Physically gifted, but it’s gonna be the little things that are gonna take him to the level that I think we all expect him to get to — how he studies film, how he is able to break down the opponent in his mind and use some of the natural skills that he has as a blitzer, pass rusher and as a run defender. The last part, obviously, is being above adequate in pass coverage to make sure he can affect the game in that way.

“As far as his physical talent, he’s probably one of the best I’ve been around.”

Michigan brought more than four pass rushers on 59 percent of passing snaps in defensive coordinator Wink Martindale‘s debut. Barham blitzed 13 times, while fellow starting inside linebacker Ernest Hausmann came on 5 pass plays. Jean-Mary was asked how Barham’s skill set suits how the Wolverines want to play defensively.

“Obviously, the one thing that we always want to be is aggressive,” the Michigan coach said. “Even when we’re not blitzing, we want to kind of exert our will on people, per se, and he does that.

“He’s an intimidating figure, just walking around. He doesn’t say much, but sometimes that’s the best intimidation you can have is just walking into a room with a stone face — and I think he’s got that down.

“But as far as what we ask him to do, obviously just play physical against the run. That’s always No. 1. And he has a unique skill set there that when he hits people, they go backwards. As simple as that sounds, not everybody has that. And we just have to keep building from there.

“He’s got a toughness to him that he brings and that I think the defense feeds off of. He’s a playmaker. When we do things with him — whether it be in the run game or the pass game — he seems to always be around the football.”

Jimmy Rolder breaks out against Fresno State

Another Michigan linebacker who burst onto the scene was junior Jimmy Rolder, 21 defensive snaps, the third-most in a game in his caeer. Rolder has battled injuries throughout his time, including one that forced him to redshirt in 2023.

Now, the Chicago native has earned a much bigger role, and he showed up with 2 tackles, including 1 behind the line of scrimmage. He, too, was asked to blitz, coming 4 times on pass plays.

Jean-Mary was asked if the key for Rolder is staying healthy.

“Yeah,” the Michigan assistant replied. “That’s a skill in itself, is health. You can’t really become the player that you want to be if you’re not able to practice, as with playing. I think he’s done a great job taking care of himself. A lot of his injuries in the past have been unfortunate.

“Knock on wood, he’s been healthy for the most part this fall camp and has really played his way into being that third starter that most groups hope to have. We have a lot of confidence for him, and I think he’s just going to get better and better as the year goes on.”