'Next step is to be the best': Michigan LB Junior Colson, an All-American hopeful, looking to make a leap
The Michigan Wolverines football defense ranked eighth in the country in scoring defense in 2021 and seventh in 2022 … and the players believe the unit will be even better this fall. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who interviewed for the same role with the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason, is back for his second season and has seven starters returning.
“It’s phenomenal, because being able to stay in the same defense for multiple years is awesome for us, our players,” Michigan junior linebacker Junior Colson said of Minter returning. “We can get more comfortable in the system, with the plays and being able to talk to him through it, understanding why he calls certain plays in certain situations makes it much easier.
“We’re all just excited to learn. We’re all excited to get better at everything. We’re all trying to learn the defense as if it’s brand new to us. You can just tell the excitement that everybody has, the drive and the passion that they’re playing with.”
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Colson is one of the stars in the middle of the defense. He was a freshman All-American in 2021, totaling 49 tackles, before starting every game last season and recording 101 stops, 6 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 1 pass breakup. He believes that, like the Michigan defense, he can make an individual jump this fall. He has the chance to become the first Michigan defender since Jarrett Irons (1994-96) to have multiple 100-plus tackle seasons.
“Next step is to be the best,” Colson said with a smile. “Next step is to be the best out there. The next step is to be an All-American. The next step is to take my game to a whole new level.
“Understanding our defense, playing MIKE now, I think it gets easier as you’ve been in the system for multiple years.”
He’s also loving his time with his new position coach, Chris Partridge, who was at Michigan previously from 2015-19, co-coordinated the Ole Miss defense the last three seasons and was re-hired by head man Jim Harbaugh this offseason.
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“He’s phenomenal,” Colson said of Partridge. “He’s a great guy. He really knows the game — he really knows football and really knows linebacker. The way he’s been able to dissect our film, the way he’s been able to coach us on the field, especially those quick corrections and all that, he’s been phenomenal.”
Michigan has talent all over the field, returning an unprecedented 81 percent of its overall production from a team that went 13-0 to win the Big Ten and appeared in the College Football Playoff last season.
Stars like senior running back Blake Corum, graduate left guard Trevor Keegan, senior right guard Zak Zinter, graduate wide receiver Cornelius Johnson, senior defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, graduate linebacker Michael Barrett and others decided to come back in pursuit of a national championship. Their presence and motivation lifts the rest of the Michigan team, Colson explained.
“It means a lot, especially those types of guys coming back,” Colson stated. “It means we’ve got unfinished business. We know where we could’ve been, what we could’ve done. We didn’t play to our standard, we didn’t perform to our standard [in the CFP semifinal against TCU, a 51-45 loss].
“Having them back, it just brings a certain mentality, because they’ve been there, they’re played on that type of stage. It allows the younger guys, some of the other guys to adapt to that mentality, adapt to that mode of being able to bringing it out of the younger guys that are going to step up this year.”
