Kyle Whittingham hasn’t even been Michigan football’s head coach for four full months.
In that time he had to hire a staff, retain key players, add talent in the transfer portal, tweak the recruiting class, install schemes, make his expectations clear, orchestrate winter conditioning and put the Wolverines through 15 practices.
That whirlwind came to an end Saturday, April 18, when the Maize team defeated the Blue team, 7-6, in the spring game at Michigan Stadium. It wasn’t full of highlights − just one offensive play went more than 20 yards, there were no turnovers generated by the defense and the lone touchdown came from a fourth string running back against the three-deep defenders in the final 20 seconds.
Despite a mundane finale, U-M’s new head coach left spring ball feeling good about the direction of his program.
“Felt like we got accomplished this spring as a whole, exactly what we needed to,” Whittingham said. “Football team got better, fundamentally, technique wise, got complete schemes installed on both sides of the ball.
“We had a lot of lot of work to do this spring − I think we made a lot of progress.”
Progress is important. Whatever comes next is even more so.
The Wolverines will be off the next six weeks, through the month of May, until they reconvene on June 1 for the summer conditioning portion of the schedule. Fall camp starts just more than two months later, approximately Aug. 5, which is exactly one month before the season opener on September 5 against Western Michigan.
It’s over that time the Wolverines hope to make the next leap, which starts with coming together as a team.
“The team’s got to come together,” Whittingham said. “In this day and age, you have half a new football team pretty much every year, and so the bonding and the just coming together as a team is going to be critical. This summer, we’ve got a few team activities in line to help that take place − the leaders got to lead and continue to set the pace.”
The pieces are there
Even on an uneventful afternoon, one where starters played just one quarter without full tackling, there were plenty of moments where important players exhibited flashes of the hype they’ve received throughout the spring.
Salesi Moa opened the second half with a pair of back-to-back catches on swing passes that picked up 13 yards and at one point made a one-handed grab on apass well behind him from Tommy Carr and picked up 11 for a first down. Jaime Ffrench Jr. caught four passes for 26 yards, 19 of which came after the grab, including a highlight when he got the ball in space and used a spin move to blow by defensive back Shamari Earls and pick up 11 yards.
Savion Hiter ran 10 times for 44 yards. None went more than 8 yards, but on one he appeared stuffed at the line when he kept his balance, broke a tackle and picked up five yards.
The freshman got after it in the weight room this spring, arriving in Ann Arbor at 197 pounds and leaving at 218 pound, all without losing a step, he says.
“I feel the same speed,” Hiter said. “But, I mean, everybody’s going to feel the weight on me.”
On defense, Nate Marshall got a pair of sacks. Lugard Edokpayi had a pass breakup at the line of scrimmage. Bobby Kanka, who hasn’t been mentioned frequently, blew up a fourth-and-goal play at the 1-yard line and stoned Thomas O’Meara just short of the goal line to temporarily preserve a 6-0 lead for the Blue team.
Whittingham truly believes the defensive line will be the strength of this group. That should feel familiar for U-M fans, a team built through the defensive trenches, which has boded well for long-term success.
“That [unit] appears to be our strongest suit right now, as far as depth goes,” Whittingham said. “Ten bodies ready to play and if you can be two and a half deep on the front on defense here, that’s a real luxury for you.”
Putting it all together
There’s no true overall assessment that can be made overall from what was on display Saturday.
Jay Hill’s defense was watered down to even fronts and two-high safeties almost exclusively. Jason Beck’s offense, which features designed quarterback runs, did not on this day. That’s why the concern over Bryce Underwood going 3-for-9 for 22 yards should be taken with a grain of salt.
Any takeaways from the afternoon are about individuals, not overall scheme, and one that popped was Tommy Carr.
The early enrollee true freshman and grandson of national championship coach Lloyd Carr completed 21 of 30 passes for 143 yards and ran another 10 times for 67 yards as one of U-M’s standout players on the afternoon.
Whittingham said he has been the “most pleasant surprise” of the entire spring and demonstrated why he’s seen as the No. 2 on the depth chart. Still, Whittingham made it clear, Underwood is the team’s starter.
“I just got to come in here do what I can, you know, nothing changes,” Carr said of his mentality. “I’m gonna prepare just the way I always do, and I’m gonna play the best football I can.”
Overall, the team has learned how to operate under a new coaching staff that has just one holdover (running backs coach Tony Alford) from a season ago. Players like Lugard Edokpayi have taken on a more vocal role, not only as an upperclassmen, but as someone who has worn the “Block M” prior to this season.
So much had to happen to get to this point, but the work is just starting, even with the upcoming time off.
“[Got to] hit the ground running in fall camp, when that starts … [we] think we’re in a good spot, but plenty of work to do,” Whittingham said.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football got a lot of work done in a little time this spring
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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