Chicago — It isn’t any secret a successful offense is often dictated by the strength of the offensive line. While discussing the flashier skill positions is always out front, getting the starting five on the line — with adequate depth — squared away is most important heading into any season.
Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham, hired in December after 21 seasons as Utah head coach, spoke on the final day of Big Ten media days on Thursday at the Chicago Hilton and heaped praise on offensive line coach Jim Harding. Harding spent the last 12 seasons at Utah and followed Whittingham to Ann Arbor. They both know stepping up the Wolverines’ pass protection is absolutely vital heading into the season.
The Wolverines report for preseason camp on Tuesday and open practice on Wednesday.
Whittingham and Harding watched film of Michigan last season and noted that then-freshman starting quarterback Bryce Underwood frequently was “running for his life.”
“But I feel that there’s nobody better than Jim Harding in the country,” Whittingham said. “He produced year after year outstanding players up front at each level. This past year, two first-round draft choices, both tackles (from Utah) were taken in the first round, so I have no doubt that Jim will get that shored up, and Bryce will have a lot more confidence in his own line this year, and a lot more time to operate and do the things he needs to do. We’ll count on that.”
The objective through camp is to develop the starters and have a set five, but it’s also imperative to have a second group at a nearly equal, if not equal, level.
“Somebody asked me the other day what’s ideal in the offensive line,” Whittingham said. “If we’ve got 10 guys that we really have confidence in, then we feel like we’ve got a situation that will be really good for the season. Eight is probably minimum, and I think we’re at eight or nine right now, and we should be at 10 by the end of fall camp.”
The starting line will operate through 6-fot-4, 320-pound center Jake Guarnera. He started 10 games last season playing at right guard, but moved took significant snaps at center in the bowl game against Texas.
“We feel he is an all-Big Ten-caliber player,” Whittingham said. “Jim Harding is very high on Jake, and if Jim Harding is high on a player, you know he’s a good player. Looking forward to not only what he does physically but his leadership. He’s an outstanding leader, which is what you need out of your center. So he is definitely the quarterback, the centerpiece of the offensive line.”
Right now, it appears Blake Frazier is at left tackle and Andrew Sprague at right tackle, with Evan Link at left guard and Nathan Efobi or Brady Norton at right guard. Whittingham praised Frazier and Sprague for their performance in spring practice.
Tackle Andrew Babalola, returning from an ACL tear early in camp last year, is 6-6, 320, and Whittingham is high on his prospects. He said Babalola is similar to the Utah tackles, Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, who were first-round picks in the most recent NFL Draft.
“Just has great feet, great balance,” Whittingham said of Babaloa. “He was not there in spring, but Jim’s excited about him. Looks like he’s going to be in the hunt for that left tackle spot.”
Freshmen to watch
Whittingham was on Big Ten Network during media days and encouraged the BTN panel to remember Savion Hiter’s name. The freshman running back in the spring established himself as the second back behind starter Jordan Marshall.
“Savion physically is dynamite,” Whttingham told reporters Thursday. “I mean he’s 6-feet, 220, not an ounce of fat on the young man. He looks like he’s in the NFL right now.”
But while Hiter is a known commodity, the other freshman Whittingham singled out was five-star recruit Carter Meadows, a 6-6, 255-pound edge.
“I think he’s going to be a special player,” Whittingham said. “He’s 6-foot-6 plus, maybe 6-7, has put on 15 pounds since he’s been there. You talk about an athlete and a guy that looks the part — he looks the part. We haven’t had him in pads yet, but excited to see what he can do.”
Encouraged at linebacker
Michigan lost a tremendous amount of output at linebacker after last season, but Whittingham seemed upbeat about the prospects, singling out Chase Taylor and Nathaniel Staehling, a North Dakota State transfer he said appears “chiseled out of granite.” Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng also will factor in the linebacker mix.
“I think the linebacker group is going to turn out to be pretty good,” Whittingham said. “We’ve got some guys that a lot of people don’t know about.” He added the Wolverines have five to six linebackers he is confident can play at the Big Ten level.
Playing it safe
Camp hasn’t begun, but Whittingham said the starting safeties right now are Rod Moore, returning from a knee injury and surgeries that have held him out of the 2024 season and much of 2025, and Chris Bracy, a transfer from Memphis.
“He’s athletic,” Whittingham said of Bracy. “He’s got great ball skills up the field. He’s got great angles to the football, (and) that’s so key. A free safety that runs 4.4 that has poor angles is not as valuable as a 4.6 guy that takes great angles. So he’s very instinctive and takes great angles.”
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan football works on strengthening depth of offensive line
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
