Michigan’s defense is starting to take shape in fall camp, and the picture is a little clearer now than it was a few weeks ago. There are still questions, sure, but there are also some real anchors on a unit that could end up carrying a lot of weight for the Wolverines this season.
The biggest uncertainty sits right in the middle of the defense. Michigan’s linebacker room lost a lot of production and experience, and that leaves a gap the staff has spent the offseason trying to solve.
Jimmy Rolder is off to the NFL after going in the fourth round, Ernest Hausmann is gone after serving as a team captain, and Cole Sullivan transferred to Oklahoma after showing signs of becoming a playmaker. That kind of turnover leaves Michigan leaning on newer faces.
Troy Bowles is one of the names pushing to step in. After two seasons at Georgia, he looks like a real candidate to grab a starting role.
Michigan also attacked the position through the portal, bringing in four linebackers, and Nathaniel Staehling has made noise in camp after missing spring with a shoulder injury. Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng is also expected to get reps.
The competition is wide open, and Michigan knows it needs answers there because getting gashed on the ground is not survivable in the Big Ten.
Up front, the pass rush has a different feel now that the old core is gone. Last season, Jaishawn Barham and Derrick Moore carried most of the load.
Barham brought the edge violence Wink Martindale wanted, while Moore looked for a stretch like he might threaten Aidan Hutchinson’s single-season sack record before fading late. That leaves Michigan looking for a fresh wave of pressure.
Dominic Nichols has been one of the names making the strongest impression. Right tackle Andrew Sprague didn’t hesitate when talking about him: "I'd say pass rush, Dom Nichols is, in my opinion, the best pass rusher," Sprague said.
"Not too many people talk about him, but he's gonna be one of the best in the country, in my opinion. I haven't got to go against John Henry too much yet.
He's been working on the other side a lot, but he seems like he's a pretty good rusher.”
Nichols played mostly as a reserve last season and still finished with 5.5 TFLs, so the expectation now is that his role grows significantly. John Henry Daley is another major piece in that mix.
Michigan landed him out of the portal from Utah, where he was the team’s best pass rusher last season. He’s working back from a torn Achilles, but he is healthy and on a snap count in camp, with the idea being to unleash him once the regular season begins.
Carter Meadows is another player drawing attention as a five-star talent the staff wants to see translate onto the field.
The other major returner is Rod Moore, and his comeback gives the secondary a different kind of energy. Moore missed all of 2024 after tearing his ACL, and even after trying to come back last year, he was ultimately shut down when he couldn’t get fully past the injury.
Now he’s back as a sixth-year senior and one of the veterans in the room. For a defense that wants stability, that matters.
The staff also feels good about the interior of the line, even if the outside view is less certain. Jay Hill was blunt about it: “For sure.
I think that they should be a strength of our team right now. I've seen a lot of groups continue to get better and better,” defensive coordinator Jay Hill said.
Enow Etta and Trey Pierce are positioned to start inside for a defense that faded late last season, and the staff believes there’s enough there for the group to grow into a real strength. There are still players who need to emerge, but Michigan’s confidence in that area is notable.
If the front is still sorting itself out, the secondary looks like the more settled part of the defense. Jyaire Hill, Zeke Berry, and Smith Snowden all bring experience, and Snowden’s time at Utah gives him familiarity with what Kyle Whittingham’s style asks of its defensive backs.
He’s expected to rotate with Berry at nickel, while Hill returns to the boundary. Chris Bracy, the Memphis transfer, is also pushing into a starting role opposite Moore.
Behind them, Shamari Earls is making his case for more time and could force his way into the lineup as the season develops. At the very least, he gives Michigan another strong option if injuries hit.
That depth could give Jay Hill room to be more aggressive and more varied with coverage, in the mold of what Jesse Minter was able to do in 2023. That would be a clear shift from the Wink Martindale years, when the pressure came fast and often. Whether the new approach is better is still to be determined, but Michigan has more talent in the secondary right now than it did a year ago.
The Wolverines will get a real test of all this on September 12 in Ann Arbor against No. 10 Oklahoma.
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