Blake Frazier has spent the offseason chasing a simpler way to play left tackle for Michigan: stop tightening up, start letting it rip.
As the Wolverines get ready for Saturday night’s season opener, Frazier is back in the same spot he finished last year - starting at left tackle - but he says the biggest change is between his ears.
“I’m going to be playing free,” Frazier said. “That’s been my goal since last season ended.”
That mindset didn’t come easily. Frazier said he spent too much of last season worrying about avoiding mistakes instead of leaning into the physical side of the position.
“Towards the end of the year, I was playing to not make mistakes rather than to put people on the ground,” he said.
Now, he wants to flip that script. The goal is to play with confidence, have fun and still perform at a high level - the kind of presence teammates can notice and feed off.
The body has changed, too. Frazier said Michigan strength coach Doug Elisaia helped him make real gains over the offseason, and he believes the offensive line as a unit has gotten bigger and stronger. He felt he needed that kind of work in particular.
“I think last year I was not as big as I needed to be to compete the way I wanted to,” Frazier said.
He said he’s now over 300 pounds, but he’s not treating the number like some magic fix. For him, tackle is still about strength paired with movement, and he wants to keep the athleticism that he sees as one of his best traits. Against bigger defensive linemen, he plans to lean on that quickness.
“I’m not a guy that’s going to get overpowered anymore,” Frazier said.
That confidence extends to the way Michigan wants to run its offense. Frazier made it clear the line takes pride in the ground game.
“When you think Michigan, you think run the ball,” Frazier said.
He mentioned Jordan Marshall, Savion Hiter and Bryson Kuzdzal as backs he expects to see behind the line, and he said the offensive linemen celebrate those rushing scores just like the ball carriers do.
“To the line, that’s our touchdown, too,” Frazier said.
He also expects Bryce Underwood to be part of that run game. Frazier called the quarterback elusive and said his legs can add another layer to Michigan’s offense.
The chemistry up front, Frazier said, has been building in a real way. His bond with Evan Link has helped, both on and off the field.
They’ve spent time together away from football, sat next to each other in meetings and watched film side by side. Since both have played tackle, each can recognize what the other is seeing on a given snap.
Frazier said the rest of the line has come together, too. Michigan has six players with starting experience and more depth behind them, and he believes the competition has sharpened the group rather than weakened it. He said all three of the Wolverines’ guard candidates can play and expects all three to get significant snaps Saturday.
That familiarity should matter most in pass protection. Frazier said offensive line coach Jim Harding has shown the group a wide range of pass-pro looks, and the players have spent plenty of time on film discussing how to handle different pressures.
“We’re closer,” Frazier said. “We’ve got the time to have played together now.”
For Frazier, that’s where confidence comes from: knowing the answers, trusting the reps and not getting stuck on the last snap. He said Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham has pushed a clearer standard and more discipline since taking over, and he called it a reset for the program.
“Guys knowing what’s expected of them and living up to those expectations has been the biggest change in the past seven months, eight months,” Frazier said.
Harding has helped him, too, especially when things go wrong. Frazier said the lesson is simple: move on. He used to let mistakes linger, but now he’s trying to accept that they’re part of the game.
“Bad plays are going to happen. It’s football,” Frazier said. “There’s no such thing as a perfect play.”
Fall camp also gave him a long look at Michigan’s defensive ends, and he came away impressed by John Henry Daley and Dominic Nichols. Frazier had plenty to say about Nichols in particular.
“Dom’s a psycho,” Frazier said. “That dude’s going to terrorize people.”
He described Daley as one of the more polished players at the position and said going against both has made him better. Still, he’s eager to see how they look against another team.
“I can’t wait to watch them play against somebody else,” Frazier said.
For now, though, the focus is on his own side of the ball and the same mission he’s had since last season ended.
“Play free, be a guy that guys can look at and say he’s having fun,” Frazier said.
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Michigan May Have Found The Edge Threat Fans Have Been Waiting For
Michigans narrow 13-12 win over Western Michigan did not offer much room for comfort, but it did give the defense a fresh name to watch. Dominic Nichols flashed in a way that stood out even in a game defined by tight margins, piling up nine tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks while emerging as the highest graded defender on the team, according to Pro Football Focus.
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For Michigan fans, it was the kind of ending that turns a routine nonconference game into a wider argument about how college football is governed and who gets the benefit of the doubt when the stakes get messy. The dispute also feeds into the sports larger fairness conversation, especially with resource gaps across the game and the College Football Playoff controlled by the Big Ten and SEC, two conferences already at the center of so many decisions shaping the sports future. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Made Its Season Opener Count With Priority Recruits
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The early returns were encouraging for Michigan, with some recruits leaving with offers in hand and others talking up the atmosphere, the coaching staff and the facilities. For a program that has made game-day visits part of its recruiting pitch, the opener gave the Wolverines a chance to sell the full experience, and it sounds like the staff made the kind of impression that can matter as these decisions start to narrow. [Read more 🡒]