Tony Alford breaks down Michigan's 'hungry' stable of running backs, discusses working with new offensive line

Michigan Wolverines football running backs coach and run game coordinator Tony Alford turned in his scarlet and gray for maize and blue this offseason, joining the U-M staff this spring after nine seasons at Ohio State. The Wolverines will hold their first fall camp practice Wednesday, and Alford is “extremely excited.”

“I will say I’m not emotional, but I have great emotion about [how I’m] genuinely excited to be here,” Alford said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host Jon Jansen. “We had a month off, three-and-a-half weeks off. Most of that time was spent down in Columbus with my family and whatnot. But I’m genuinely excited to be here, man.

“It’s kinda like new energy, if you will. This is a new journey, a different chapter for me, too. Just as it is for the players as it is for me. So I’m excited to be here and ready to go.”

Graduate Kalel Mullings and senior Donovan Edwards are far along their journeys at Michigan, in their fifth and fourth years in Ann Arbor, respectively. However, they’re entering new roles this year. Both leaders are expected to be featured toting the rock this season, after the Wolverines lost their leading rusher from the last two seasons, Blake Corum, to the NFL.

“The first thing I see is a great brotherhood, a great camaraderie, and I see a bunch of guys in the room that truly care about each other,” Alford said of what he’s inherited. “There’s not a selfish bone in there that I’ve detected. 

“There are some talented guys —  obviously Donovan, Kalel, you got [sophomore] Ben[jamin] Hall, who hasn’t played a lot, you got [senior] Tavierre Dunlap. Still waiting to see [sophomore] Cole Cabana. I know a lot of people are excited to see him. He’s a local kid. And then you have [freshmen] Jordan Marshall, Micah Ka’apana, so we got a bunch of guys in the room.”

Edwards was the primary backup for Corum the last two seasons. Last year, he racked up 497 rushing yards and 249 receiving yards with 5 total touchdowns, with 2 of those scores coming in the national championship game victory over Washington. However, to Alford’s point, Edwards has only been Michigan’s featured back for three games — against Ohio State, Purdue and TCU in 2022 when Corum was hurt. Mullings, a converted linebacker, meanwhile, has 50 career carries to his name, though he’s been productive with 6.2 yards per rush in 2023.

“Really only two of them have played extensively, and even with that, they’re going to be thrust into different roles than they’ve been in,” Alford continued. “Donovan is a household name, but Donovan has never really had to carry the entire load, either. He was fortunate to have Blake there. So that’s going to be a different dynamic for him. And then you have Kalel, who I think is an excellent player, a phenomenal player that just hasn’t played a lot.

“So we’re going to be depending on a lot of guys that really haven’t been in those roles before, but also that is college football, as we know. I’m really anxious to coach them, anxious to watch them play.

“The one thing I will say is they’re eager to learn and they’re hungry. They’re hungry to learn and get better and improve, and thus far I’ve loved the work ethic that they’ve shown and the work that they’re putting in.”

Michigan lost its top six players along the offensive line from last season, but Alford is confident that new position coach Grant Newsome and Co. will get the group playing at a high level, even if there are some growing pains. He also knows his running backs have work to do themselves with Corum gone.

“There might be some times where guys are going to be frustrated, where all of the sudden maybe this guy missed a block or that didn’t materialize,” Alford said when asked about the new-look offensive line attempting to come together. “But I think that comes back to understanding, hey, we’re all works in progress. 

“Every running back is in a different position and place in their career, in their journey. So worry about what you’re doing. You do your job, and you perfect your trade and don’t worry about what they’re doing. They have theirs, you have yours. And before we can cast stones, you better make sure that your house is real clean.

“But I don’t see that as a problem. I think our guys are bought into helping each other. I’ll use Donovan as an example: He’s in a different role, but he’s still played a lot of football. And as a leader, he’s one of the leaders of the football team. I talk about leaders knowing who their personnel are and getting to know their guys. I think it’s important for him that he gets to know each one of those guys, as well, and how to motivate and how to push, when to push, when to hug.”

Continued the Michigan assistant: “But I think when the guys start getting frustrated and going at each other, those are selfish behaviors. But I think we can just continue to help one another and push one another along in a positive manner. Those guys are going to jell, too, just as our guys are going to improve in their skill sets.

“Grant Newsome, I think, is a phenomenal, phenomenal young coach. He’s going to be one of those guys where you look up years from now and go, ‘My God, that is one of the best offensive line coaches ever.’ So he’ll definitely get that right.”