Wolverine TV: Q&A with top Michigan DL target Kole Briehler

The Wolverine’s EJ Holland recently sat down with three-star Princeton (N.J.) Hun School defensive lineman Kole Briehler to get his thoughts on Michigan and more.

Watch the full Q&A in the video above.

Briehler Recruitment

Briehler notched an offer from Michigan in the summer of last year and made his first visit for Sherrone Moore’s first weekend as head coach.

Briehler enjoyed his time on campus and remains high on the Wolverines.

“It was really great,” Briehler said. “I had a great time. There were only like seven or eight guys there. It was really personal. I got to have a lot of 1-on-1 conversations with everyone. I got to see a lot of things. Something that really stuck with me was the strength program and how great it was. Also, how technical everything is, especially working with the nutritionist (Abigail O’Connor). They know exactly what you need to do in order to be successful.

Both Michigan defensive line coach Greg Scruggs and area recruiter Grant Newsome are involved in his recruitment and are making strong impressions early on.

Briehler is a high school teammate of three-star 2024 Michigan defensive line signee Owen Wafle, who is already recruiting him to U-M.

“Since I came to Hun, the growth has been exponential, and Owen is definitely a huge part of that,” Briehler said. “I never really had someone that was like my mentor or someone who could teach me a lot of stuff. He’s gotten a lot of stuff from his father, who was a defensive lineman at Duke. He’s taught me a lot about how to cause destruction, how to read offensive linemen on their pass sets and just little stuff.”  

Along with Michigan, Briehler holds offers from Boston College, Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Penn State, Rutgers, USC and others.

Oklahoma currently has the lead for Briehler on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine with a 29.4 percent chance of landing him. Rutgers is in second place with a 13.5 percent chance of landing him.

At 6-foot-2, 263 pounds, Briehler is ranked as the No. 46 defensive lineman and No. 537 overall prospect nationally, per the On3 Industry Ranking. Briehler is also ranked as the No. 18 overall recruit in the state of New Jersey for next cycle.

Michigan has three verbal commitments in its 2025 recruiting class in On300 Fort Myers (Fla.) Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith, On300 Howell (Mich.) High defensive lineman Bobby Kanka and three-star Alcoa (Tenn.) High tight end Eli Owens. The class is ranked No. 16 nationally, per the On3 Industry team recruiting rankings.