How Michigan football is dealing with an overflow of talent

Michigan football has a problem.

There's a lot of talent on the roster and only so many positions on the field.

U-M offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter each spoke with reporters for more than 20 minutes Thursday afternoon — their first time addressing the 2023 roster since the start of fall camp earlier this month — and called their units the deepest they've had with the Wolverines.

Although their experience doesn't cover a plethora of seasons — Minter is entering only his second season in Ann Arbor and Moore is entering his sixth (and his third as OC) — coach Jim Harbaugh, who's entering his ninth season with the Wolverines, agreed with that assessment at July's Big Ten media days in Indianapolis.

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From Minter's vantage point, the competition is great. But, he said, perhaps even better than the battles themselves is the way the players have approached them; Minter cited the relationship between linebackers Michael Barrett, who passed on entering the NFL draft this offseason, and Ernest Hausmann, who transferred from Nebraska after his freshman season.

"Some places I've been, two guys are in a competition and they're not even sitting next to each other in the cafeteria because they're in a heated competition," Minter said. "Here, these guys are great in the meeting room, always trying to give each other tips and advice. I mean, Mike Barrett has probably helped Ernest Hausmann more than any player here — and that's the guy he's trying to hold off to be a starter.

"That's what I respect most about the culture at this place and how these guys operate; it's special to see every day."

That's a change stemming from the cultural flip that happened after the woeful 2020 season. Coaches and players around then and now say that's when the program became less about me and more about us.

That was reflected further last season, when Minter's unit became known as the "no-star" defense, following a comment by Harbaugh. It's a mindset Minter wants to encourage again this season.

"The 'no-star' deal is just a mentality we want to create, a mentality we want to have where we want to put a lot of people in position to make plays," Minter said. "Last year, in the first half of the first game, we played 22 players (on defense). Our goal this year is to have that upwards of 26 players to be able to be ready to play in the first half of the first game."

Not every position battle is the same, however. Take the edge rushers, for instance; that room features a four-player fight — between Jaylen Harrell, Braiden McGregor, Derrick Moore and Coastal Carolina transfer Josaiah Stewart —for the two starting spots.

"They all accept and all vibe with the rotation, but they all want to be the starter," Minter said. "Braiden (McGregor) and Derrick (Moore) are both having great camps, you know, so it's a blessing to have both of them.

"Same on the other side. Jaylen and Josaiah have a little bit of a different skill set, where you can kind of role play those guys a little bit, but certainly excited about the depth."

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The secondary, meanwhile, features a less-populated battle in the search for a cornerback to start opposite Will Johnson.

Amorion Walker, a wide reciever turned defensive back, and Josh Wallace, a transfer from UMass, are the top contenders, though, in recent weeks, the possibility of mixing and matching for matchups has been floated by players and staffers.

Mike Sainristil, who moved from wide receiver to defensive back and made the All-Big Ten honorable mention squad in his first season at nickel last year, has flexed to the second corner spot at times, while safeties such as Rod Moore, Makari Paige and Keon Sabb have rotated in at nickel.

It's all with one goal in mind.

"We're trying to find our best-five combination," Minter said. "I think that battle will continue, I would imagine, into the season. Maybe one guy one game, one guy the next. ... The best players will show themselves as the season goes on."

The offense has faced similar battles — with the exception of one position: Quarterback, the domain of J.J. McCarty. As Moore said, "Everyone knows J.J. is the guy."

In front of McCarthy, however, is perhaps the stiffest competition — along Moore's offensive line, coming off back-to-back nods as the nation's top O-line. He said Thursday he could see "11-12" guys who could play in a game. The clearest battle, though, is a four-man fight for the two tackle spots.

The Wolverines return a pair of tackles with experience — Karsen Barnhart (nine starts in 2022) and Trente Jones (six starts in 2022) — and added two transfers — LaDarius Henderson (Arizona State) and Myles Hinton (Stanford) — who were captains at Power Five programs.

Moore isn't sure who's going to win the jobs, but he knows he's comfortable with whoever does.

"Competition only makes you better, so the more guys that are playing at a high level, the better," Moore said. "It just keeps breeding high energy, keeps breeding the preparation, keeps breeding the preparation and physicality we want at every position.

"So I want those guys to just keep striving to be the starter."

It's not just the coaches delivering praise for Wolverines: As of Thursday, more than a dozen players had appeared onto various national award watchlists — including some players who might not even start.

At least five watchlists feature multiple Wolverines: the Doak Walker Award (top running back) listed Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards; the Mackey Award (top tight end) listed A.J. Barner (a transfer from Indiana) and Colston Loveland; the Nagurski Trophy (best defensive player) listed Junior Colson, Kris Jenkins and Rod Moore; the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) highlighted Jenkins, Drake Nugent (another Stanford transfer), Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter; and the Maxwell Award (national player of the year) is eyeing Corum and McCarthy.

Some of those players, by definition, won't be able to start. That's exactly why the U-M staff is so excited.

"Some physical battles," Moore said of practice. "It's just physical, not combative, just competitive. Really awesome to see; one guy will win one, one guy will win another, then one guy will win one and another will with the other.

"They're always just battling each other, working, so it's awesome to watch."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's position battles sharpening skills all over