Michigan offensive line coach Jim Harding is spending the early stretch of the season juggling more than just personnel. Between injuries, midyear freshmen, and the pressure of the transfer portal, he’s trying to keep a front five moving in the same direction long enough for chemistry to actually take hold.
Harding said the ideal setup is simple enough: find the five best linemen in fall camp and let them grow together. The problem, as Michigan has already learned, is that the season rarely stays that tidy.
Injuries have forced the Wolverines to shuffle combinations across the line through the first month. Harding said the last two weeks have at least given the group some continuity.
"You always try to find your five linemen as early as you can in camp so that those guys get used to working with one another," Harding said. "When you get a new lineup, there is some relearning, so to speak. But these last two weeks, it's been the same starting five, and so I think there's been some chemistry being developed, and that certainly helps."
That continuity has required flexibility from the players, too. True freshman Marky has bounced between left tackle and right tackle while also taking second-team snaps at right guard. Veteran Blake has shifted between tackle spots as the staff has tried to patch together the best available group.
"With the experience playing out at tackle, that seemed natural," Harding said of the adjustments. "Blake had gotten reps in fall camp at right tackle, and he was a swing guy last year as well, so it naturally fit well together. The longer those five can play together, the more chemistry is built."
The bigger backdrop is the modern roster game. Harding didn’t sugarcoat how hard it is now to keep young linemen in place and developing when immediate playing time is a constant lure elsewhere.
"In general, kids are looking at opportunities to go play right away," Harding said. "They're not as interested in sticking around and being developed in the hopes of playing their last couple of years at a particular place.
I think everybody is in that same boat. I don't think anybody's walking around saying they have 12 offensive linemen that they're fired up to play, because if there were, those kids probably are going somewhere else."
Even with that reality hanging over the position, Harding pointed to Michigan’s younger group as a bright spot, citing underclassmen like Sprague, Jake, and Blake after they picked up early starting experience.
"You're hoping to retain everybody you can when the portal opens," Harding said. "Those pieces you hope to continue to develop, and they see a way to get on the field. Hopefully people see the value at a place like this, that nobody gets wandering eyes."
Harding also made clear he isn’t interested in getting too far ahead of himself when it comes to a fully healthy lineup.
"I anticipated the question of who is the starting unit if you had everybody healthy," Harding said with a smile. "My answer was going to be: I don't even want to think about that because I haven't had everybody healthy, and the second I say this is what it's supposed to be, it's going to change."
For now, the emphasis stays on the basics: film study, combination blocks, discipline, and effort. Harding said the group can survive mistakes if it keeps playing with force.
"At the end of the day, it's guys watching film together, working combination blocks, and going back to basics," Harding said. "If you just play hard and fast, we'll clean up any sort of miscue. Playing hard will cover up a mistake here or there."
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