J.B. Brown, Ex-Wolverine

 

J.B. Brown

Michigan has relieved special teams coordinator J.B. Brown of his duties now that the season is complete.

If you're a regular reader, you know that I do not make a habit of calling for the jobs of Michigan coaches, but I mentioned this one halfway through the season.

Punter Tommy Doman went from averaging 44.3 yards/punt in 2023 (under Jay Harbaugh) to 42.6 in 2024 under Brown, and then Doman - who had a vise grip on Michigan's punting job - immediately ditched his home state program to head for Florida, where he averaged 44 yards/punt this year.

Michigan was #125 in kickoff return average (15.2 yards/return) in 2025.

Michigan was #126 in punt return average (3.8 yards/return) in 2025.

Placekicker Dominic Zvada was an All-American in 2024 and should have won the Groza Award after the team ranked #2 in field goal percentage, and by 2025 he constituted the #108 field goal percentage (68.2%).

Gone were the days when Michigan was scheming up kickoff return touchdowns by Giles Jackson and A.J. Henning and Jehu Chesson. Gone were the days when Michigan ran a fake punt from Michael Barrett to Dax Hill or blocked one or two punts per year.

For the past two seasons, the only excitement came from Zvada making almost all his field goals in 2024 . . . and then being jaw-droppingly inconsistent in 2025.

I have no idea who will replace Brown, but Michigan quite literally can't really do much worse with whomever they hire to coach special teams for 2026.

2026 National Signing Day Open Thread

 I will update this post throughout the day with players who have sent in their official paperwork, as well as commitments elsewhere:

SIGNED LETTERS OF INTENT

• QB Tommy Carr
• QB Brady Smigiel
• RB Jonathan Brown
• RB Savion Hiter
• WR Travis Johnson
• WR Jaylen Pile
• TE Mason Bonner
• TE Matt Ludwig
• OL Tommy Fraumann
• OL Adrian Hamilton
• OL Malakai Lee
• OL Bear McWhorter
• OL Marky Walbridge
• DE McHale Blade
• DE Tariq Boney
• DE Carter Meadows
• DT Titan Davis
• DT Alister Vallejo
• LB Kaden Catchings
• LB Markel Dabney
• LB Aden Reeder
• CB Andre Clarke
• CB Jamarion Vincent
• S Jordan Deck
• K Micah Drescher
• LS Colton Dermer

COMMITMENTS ELSEWHERE

• S Blake Stewart - Georgia
• OT Sam Utu - SMU

Preview: Michigan vs. Ohio State

 

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (image via Columbus Dispatch)

RUSH OFFENSE vs. OHIO STATE RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan had a solid rushing effort last week against Maryland despite being down the top two running backs and ranks #10 nationally (223.5 yards/game) and #10 in yards per carry (5.59). Running back Jordan Marshall (143 carries, 871 yards, 10 touchdowns) should be back from the injury he suffered two games ago, while Bryson Kuzdzal (20 carries, 100 yards, 3 TD last week) had a bit of a breakout game and showed some nice speed, patience, and vision in his first career start. One key aspect may be the health of fullback/tight end Max Bredeson, who was in a boot by the end of last week's game. The offensive line has improved somewhat in the running game, despite three redshirt freshmen starting. Meanwhile, Ohio State is #2 in rush defense (80 yards allowed/game) and #4 in yards allowed per carry (2.67). They have not allowed 100+ yards on the ground since week one against Texas. Senior LB Sonny Styles (6'4", 243) leads the team with 62 tackles, followed by junior LB Arvell Reese (6'5", 243) with 59. Junior DT Kayden McDonald (6'3", 326) is a force in the middle of the defense with 47 tackles and 8 tackles for loss, and he's been more productive than Detroit Lions 1st round pick Tyleik Williams was last season. Senior DE Kaden Curry (6'3", 260) leads the team with 13 tackles for loss, and junior safety Caleb Downs (6'0", 205) plays down in the box and has made 5 tackles for loss himself. This is going to be strength against strength.
Advantage: Ohio State

Hit the jump for more.

Visitors: Michigan vs. Ohio State

 

Salesi Moa (image via 247 Sports)

2026

Tariq Boney - DE - Washington (DC) St. John's: Boney is committed to Michigan (LINK).

Jonathan Brown - RB - Columbus (OH) St. Francis de Sales: Brown is committed to Michigan.

Tommy Carr - QB - Saline (MI) Saline: Carr is committed to Michigan.

Andre Clarke - CB - Richmond (VA) Hermitage: Clarke is committed to Michigan (LINK).

Titan Davis - DT - St. Louis (MO) De Smet: Davis is committed to Michigan.

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan's 10 Longest Plays vs. Maryland

 

Giles Jackson (image via Toledo Blade)

Michigan is 10-1 against the Terrapins after they started playing each other in 1985. The Terps eventually joined the Big Ten in 2014, winning that first game against the Brady Hoke-led Wolverines before losing five in a row.

1. Giles Jackson 97-yard kickoff return TD (2019)
2. A.J. Henning 81-yard kickoff return TD (2021)
3. David Long 80-yard interception return (2017)
4. Cade McNamara 77-yard TD pass to Donovan Edwards (2021)
5. Jehu Chesson 66-yard TD run (2015)
6. Tony Boles 64-yard TD run (1989)
7. Wilton Speight 56-yard pass to Chris Evans (2016)
8. Ty Isaac 53-yard TD run (2016)
9. Joe Kerridge 52-yard run (2014)
10. Shea Patterson 51-yard pass to Nico Collins (2018)
11. Shea Patterson 51-yard pass to Nico Collins (2019)

Hit the jump for some videos.

Michigan 24, Northwestern 22

 I was almost half right. My score prediction was 24-13 in favor of Michigan in my game preview, which I never posted because I only finished half of it. So I got Michigan's score correct, but Northwestern was able to put a few more points on the board than I expected.

It helps to get 5 turnovers. Michigan is apparently the first FBS team ever - ever!!! - to win a football game while giving up 5 turnovers and creating 0 turnovers. The offense was actually pretty productive on a down-to-down basis, but Bryce Underwood threw 2 interceptions, there was a fumbled exchange with the backup to the backup running back Bryson Kudzdal, and there was just a bad play on an end around exchange with Andrew Marsh. Three of those turnovers were bad plays by Underwood, who played pretty darn well otherwise. It was a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde game for him, because he completed 21/32 passes for 280 yards and ran 9 times for 30 yards and 1 touchdown. Those are season/career highs in attempts and yards, and it ties a career high in completions. The most inexcusable turnover was the handoff to Kudzdal, on which Underwood put the ball up at chest level, so Kudzdal never had a chance. That's just a basic play for a quarterback that really shouldn't ever happen. (That being said, the offensive line got its butt kicked on that play, and Kudzdal probably would have been stopped for a loss to end the drive, anyway.)

Hit the jump for more.

Snapshots: 11 Personnel Outside Zone

This is a pretty basic play, but I like looking at X's and O's, so I decided to draw up Jordan Marshall's 54-yard touchdown run against Purdue.

With a 1st and 10 on their own 46-yard line, Michigan put 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end) on the field. Wide receiver Andrew Marsh lines up wide left, WR Channing Goodwin lines up in the slot to the left, and TE Max Bredeson lines up as a wing to the left side. This is already a good look for Michigan to run the ball, because Purdue only has six guys in the box and Michigan has six guys to block them (5 linemen + Bredeson), not to mention QB Bryce Underwood and RB Jordan Marshall.

Michigan puts Goodwin in jet motion across the formation, which gets the two-high safeties to rotate. The weakside safety rocks down to be prepared for Goodwin coming across the formation, and the strongside safety drops back to the middle of the field. Michigan doesn't even need to block the defensive end to the offense's right since he's a) removed from the play by formation and b) needs to respect the bootleg from Underwood.

The key block here is Bredeson on the nickel. As long as the offensive line can get a hat on a hat, the play just requires the 250 lb. Bredeson to block the 6'0", 195 lb. nickel Smiley Bradford in space. With Bredeson making contact and blowing Bradford out of the way, now Marshall just has to beat the deep safety to the alley, which he does.

It's fight song time.