While much of the talk about Michigan football entering 2026 has centered on the quarterback and the skill positions, the likelihood of success relies more heavily upon the trenches. New head coach Kyle Whittingham has raved about the defensive front, but what about the offensive line?
With grizzled veteran Jim Harding taking over the offensive line coaching duties, there’s optimism that the group could emerge as a strength for the 2026 Wolverines. But Harding isn’t the only new face with a lot of experience who is helping develop the position group.
Kyle Whittingham brought in Mike Lynch as an assistant offensive line coach, and he’s about as experienced as a second-level coach can be. Just this past year, he was Nevada’s O-line coach, but he also was a multi-year offensive coordinator at Syracuse, and has been the OL coach there, Bowling Green, while also having coached tight ends, running backs, and wide receivers at other stops. However, most of his experience was at Syracuse, as he had various roles there from 2016-23, ranging from running backs to offensive line to the full-blown offensive coordinator.
Lynch made his Michigan football media debut by appearing on the In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen last week, and he shed some light on some of the offensive line battles going on at the moment. First, he delved into the guard position, noting several names who are working things out in the middle.
“Those guys have been battling it out,” Lynch said. “Between Brady and Efobi, both those guys did a really good job this spring. They battled through some injuries, and I thought they did a nice job. Now Link, he came back and he played a little tackle, and he played guard, so he was kind of a swing guy for us the last two weeks. And he’s a pretty good football player. We didn’t get to see him the first few weeks, and then when he got out there, you could see why he played as many snaps as he’s played the last two seasons.”
At tackle, there are two likely starters (though there could be a caveat there) in Blake Frazier and Andrew Sprague. Sprague started at right tackle from the season opener last year, but it took half the year before Frazier got his opportunity.
Lynch shared where both are in their development at the moment, and what they have to do in order to take that next step in their second years as starters.
“I think with Blake, he had a good spring,” Lynch said. “I think he made strides in his pass pro. He’s a little bit lighter than some of the tackles that are in the conference. He’s continued to gain weight. He’s been really passionate about putting weight on it, getting stronger. His pass pro got better. Not as much vertical setting, a little more setting on the angle to distort the pocket. I think that’s the thing, he just needs to keep working on that. He’s a super talented and really, really athletic kid. Just keep getting stronger.
“(Andrew Sprague’s) another guy, the pass pro, having watched the film from ’25 to where he’s got in the spring. He’s a guy that’s came in, and he’s wanted to watch more film, him and Blake. His pass pro’s gotten better. He’s more physical, I think, than he was in the fall. He’s just a guy that’s (it’s) really important to him. He just keeps working and keeps getting better. I’m excited about him.”
As noted, there is a caveat: Andrew Babalola.
The former five-star tore his ACL in the preseason last year and still hasn’t returned to full strength. But there’s a strong possibility that he could by fall camp, which could be a wrench thrown into the cogs. Even if that’s the case, that could be a net positive for the maize and blue, assuming Babalola can hit the ground running. And if he does, it will be because he spent a lot of his time this offseason preparing for the moment.
“He actually set up a lot of meetings with Coach Harding,” Lynch said. “At least the mental part of it, he’s nailing. Coaching him to watch film, he’s making the calls. At least the mental part of it is something that he’s continuing to grow. He’s going to know what to do. He knows what the plays are. He knows the calls. Then, coach was getting work with him post-practice most days, working on his footwork. The things that he can do right now as he works through getting back to healthy.”
Michigan will return on Monday, with summer conditioning paving the way for fall camp in two months.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Can the Michigan football offensive line be elite in 2026?
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
