Why Giovanni El-Hadi switched back to left guard and believes Michigan will have a 'scary O-line'
Michigan Wolverines football graduate lineman Giovanni El-Hadi spent there full seasons — practices, games, training sessions — as a left guard. He moved to right guard last season, though, with U-M bringing in a transfer in Josh Priebe from Northwestern to start on the left side.
El-Hadi loged 473 snaps at left guard from 2021-23, including making three starts in 2022. He never earned a full-time starting job, stuck on the depth chart behind future NFL players, before becoming the team’s right guard in 2024.
Michigan’s offensive line didn’t meet its lofty standards a year ago and will look to make major improvements in 2025. El-Hadi, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Sterling Heights, Mich., native, sliding to the left side could help those efforts.
“It’s going good,” El-Hadi said. “It’s going really good. I feel a little bit more natural on the left. I played my first [three] years on the left side, and then Priebe came, and I moved to the right to change positions. And then I asked to go back to left, and it’s going good.
“To be good at something, you gotta be consistent. And I was pretty consistent on the left side, did it for a lot of years. Before that, I only ever played right, and then I came here and played left, and you kinda get used to it. It’s like second nature. That’s why I feel better on the left side.”
The center playing alongside him — graduate Greg Crippen — is slated to be the same. And with junior Evan Link also moving from the right side to the left, he might actually play alongside the same tackle this season (though it’s very early and Link is viewed as a player with versatility). Junior Brady Norton, a Cal Poly transfer who joined the team this semester, is also working in at left tackle.
“It’s really good,” El-Hadi said of the chemistry between he and the left tackles. “We got Evan, the transfer, Brady. He’s really good, too.
“You can feel the natural jelling, kind of like the end of last year, how we started jelling really well together. I think it’s gonna be really good. It’s gonna be a scary left side — scary O-line.”
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“Scary” is a high bar to reach, but El-Hadi has been part of lines that would qualify, with Michigan having won back-to-back Joe Moore Awards in 2021 and 2022 and been crowned the national champions in 2023.
“We’re gonna be nasty,” El-Hadi said. “We’re gonna impose our will like we know we can. We’re not gonna take no — I can’t cuss — but we’re not gonna take no anything from any team. We’re not gonna worry about anything but doing our jobs and doing it until the whistle blows.
“You finish plays — that’s how you become a nasty O-line. You finish until the whistle blows. You push the pile, and you don’t stop until the referee pushes you off. That’s how I feel.”
El-Hadi, Crippen and Link are the three returning starters on Michigan’s offensive line, and the other spots will have to be determined. Junior Nathan Efobi has stepped up and is in contention for the right guard job, and El-Hadi has been impressed.
“He looks really good,” the Michigan lineman said of his teammate. “He’s understanding the game more. I think that’s the most important thing for all young players is to understand the game before you truly try to get better at the game. Yeah, you could be the strongest, you could have good feet, but if you don’t understand what you’re doing, you’re not gonna do it well.
“Yeah, he’s understanding it. He’s a strong kid, and he’s getting it.”
