ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - NOVEMBER 30: The Michigan Wolverines football team takes the field before a college football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Ann Arbor, MI. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
A few key players will be joining the Wolverines through the transfer portal.
The Michigan football team completed a perfect 15-0 season last month by defeating Washington in the national championship game to end their 2023 campaign. Wolverine fans had been anticipating a season like this for a while, and this year they were able to make it happen.
In order to reach the national championship game, Michigan had many highs and lows, and many of the important players that returned this season might have chosen to play in the NFL. They all returned with the same objective in mind: to take home a national title. The Wolverines achieved their objective, and now they want to build on that success in the future. With the momentum they’ve already gained, it should be possible.
Let’s examine the journey this squad underwent to reach their current state. The importance of this to the program’s future cannot be emphasized.
First, head coach Jim Harbaugh faced a self-imposed three-game ban due to a few little recruiting infractions, thus he opened the season at home for the Wolverines. That didn’t matter too much, though, because Michigan had home openers against UNLV, Bowling Green, and East Carolina to begin the season. The Wolverines fared well in those games, but Harbaugh would see more suspensions over the season.
Approximately midway through the football season, rumors circulated that the Michigan football team was under investigation for allegedly stealing illegal signs. Connor Stalions, a low-level staff member, was ultimately found to be the offender.
Stallions purchased tickets so that friends and others might attend upcoming rival games and use their cellphones to record the sidelines on camera. A few weeks into the probe, Stalions announced his resignation.
After the investigation began, Jim Harbaugh was allowed to continue coaching Michigan for a few weeks. However, with three weeks left in the regular season, the Big Ten suspended him, forcing offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore to assume head coaching responsibilities for the team’s most difficult three games: against #10 Penn State, @Maryland, and #2 Ohio State. Additionally, they suspended him as the Michigan team jet was traveling to Happy Valley, less than twenty-four hours before the Penn State game.
Although the Michigan football team initially saw the sign-stealing probe as a terrible thing, it ended up giving the Wolverines more motivation. This squad was already driven beyond belief to win a national championship, but then they began to hear from everyone on the outside that their past two seasons’ victories were the result of cheating.
After that, Michigan defeated Ohio State and Penn State without Harbaugh, captured their third consecutive Big Ten championship, defeated Alabama in the Rose Bowl, and defeated Washington to win the national championship. It was an incredibly significant football season in Ann Arbor.
Right now, Michigan football is atop the NCAA football mountain, but will they be able to stay there? It might not be easy for them in their first year back after taking home the national championship.
The fact that Michigan lost Jim Harbaugh to the NFL is one problem. Though there have been whispers about Harbaugh being the head coach of the Wolverines almost every offseason, he felt it was time to move on and return to the NFL after winning the national championship.
Not only is Harbaugh leaving, but a large number of the employees are also leaving. The next season, Mike Elston, the defensive line coach, Jesse Minter, the strength coach, and Jay Harbaugh, the special teams coordinator, won’t be returning. The Wolverines’ new head coach, Sherrone Moore, will have his hands full in his first season. He has a lot of excellent coaches to replace in addition to losing a lot of talented players from the 2023 team.
The good news for the Wolverines is that they should have a strong defense in the upcoming season, since it was a key component of their success this year. They are losing their whole offensive line, as well as their starting running back and quarterback. Those players were vital to the attack, and their replacements will be exceedingly challenging.
With so much skill being lost in the offseason, Michigan will need to add more players through the transfer portal in order to be competitive. That’s the reason it exists, and the Wolverines are a squad that really ought to make use of it. Although they haven’t really benefited from it thus far, let’s look at the transfer who will have the most to prove for Michigan in the upcoming campaign.
OL Josh Priebe, Northwestern
The Michigan football team only recruited two transfer players thus far because they had a lot going on during the first window of the transfer portal. Josh Priebe, an offensive lineman from Northwestern, and linebacker Jaishawn Barham from Maryland are the two. To their new comrades, each will need to prove themselves, but Priebe has a greater burden.
Because he is an offensive lineman, Josh Priebe is the transfer with the greatest work ahead of him. Although Barham will need to prove himself, he won’t be under as much pressure because he is joining a defense that is expected to be very strong the following season. But Priebe will be under pressure.
For the previous three seasons, the Wolverines have possessed one of the top offensive lines in college football; however, nearly the whole squad from last season is leaving. Next season, the entire offensive line will have a lot to prove, but there will be great expectations for a transfer with a ton of experience. For Michigan, Priebe will be that come next season.
The Michigan offense needs to maintain its dominance at the line of scrimmage if it is to succeed. Although Priebe still has a lot to show, he can definitely contribute to the Wolverines’ offensive line next season.
