'Doesn't get the credit he deserves': Michigan TE/FB Max Bredeson an 'elite' blocker, 'special' on and off the field

Michigan Wolverines football graduate tight end/fullback Max Bredeson has played a key role on some of the most important offensive plays in program history, and the captain is back for a fifth season.

When the 6-foot-2, 240-pound menace told tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Steve Casula that he was returning for his last year of eligibility, the news was met with an abundance of excitement.

“I jumped out of my chair, punched him in the chest, hugged him, screamed ‘Let’s go!’” Casula said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host Jon Jansen.

The Hartland, Wisc., native is the complete package at his position, a coach’s dream.

“Max and I are super tight, man,” the Michigan coach said. “I was involved in the recruiting process of him coming here, was here with him while he was a true freshman and we’re very much on the same wavelength, see a lot of stuff the same way. Super close.

“He’s so important to our on- and off-the-field performance as a team. He’s a real one, man. I think sometimes — and not to beat a dead horse — he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He’s every bit as good at what he does as what Cole [Colston Loveland] was at what he did. I get it, he didn’t touch the ball as much, but Max is special, man.

“He’s a guy that you love being around in the meeting room, sitting in your office, on the field. He goes about his business the right way. He’s the best.”

It’s easy to coach a player with that much drive and talent, but it’s also a challenge. Bredeson is taking 400 and 500 level football classes, so to speak, Casula explained.

“He’s played and practiced so much football,” Casula said of Michigan’s returning offensive captain. “And one of the beauties of coaching here is we do football, and when we practice, we practice, and we take a ton of reps. He’s taken a ton of reps, and he’s always taken great care of his body, so he’s always been available for that kinda stuff.

“He does have the capacity to just make things right. He is challenging to coach. When you’ve done something at a high level for now this will be going on his fourth year really being the guy as our fullback, there’s not some stubbornness, but he’s had a set way of doing things for a long time, and it’s been successful. So — and this is my favorite thing about him — he’ll want to have these high-level almost like back and forth scrimmages about, well, I want your hat here. Right, but my hat was there and it worked. It’s in a very healthy way. He wants to know the ‘why,’ man. 

“Very, very cerebral. He’s analytical, wants to know the ‘why.’ He’s fun to coach. So we have a good back and forth. It’s good.”

Bredeson loged 356 offensive snaps last season — 12th on the team and third among tight ends behind senior Marlin Klein (418) and Loveland (372). A whopping 270 of those involved him run blocking, while he went out for routes on 48 and pass blocked on 38.

Michigan has to be careful about not creating too big of a tendency when Bredeson is in the game while also playing to his strengths. There’s more to unlock with his receiving ability — he only has 10 career catches — but he’s also such an elite blocker that using him that way is more ideal.

“He’s got good ball skills. He’s got good hands,” Casula pointed out. “But in the same vein, and I use this comparison a lot, as good as we think [sophomore] Hogan Hansen is as a route runner and pass-catcher, so that’s why we utilize him. Or how we used Cole. Well, Cole was a great route runner and such a mismatch issue. That’s how we feel about Breddy as a blocker. 

“So often, we want him involved in blocking someone because he’s so darn good at it. But yeah, he’s good with the ball in his hands. He handled the ball in high school all the time as a quarterback. He certainly is capable and able. He’s just so elite at the other stuff, that you’re only gonna gonna play a guy 40, 50 snaps a game, well golly, I want 35 of them him hitting someone. 

“But no, we have to be mindful about tendencies, about different ways to throw the football while he’s in the game so people can’t get a beat like, ‘Oh, 44’s in the game.’ So, we have to make sure we do enough of both when he’s in there. But he’s more than capable.”