Raheem Anderson II, Ex-Wolverine

 

Raheem Anderson II

Rising fifth year senior Raheem Anderson II announced he would be entering the transfer portal. Anderson spent the past four seasons at Michigan, redshirting as a freshman in 2021 and playing in seventeen games altogether.

Anderson was a 4-star, the #15 interior offensive lineman, and #215 overall in the class of 2021. At the time, I remember Sam Webb saying he was a four-year starter and an obvious captain selection at Detroit (MI) Cass Tech, one of those high-character players who would be a program guy.

Anderson fought for the starting center position this past off-season and was supposedly neck-and-neck with Greg Crippen for a good chunk of practice before Dominick Giudice swooped in and took the spot, pushing Anderson back to #3 on the depth chart. How that position battled played out is curious to me, and I have to wonder if something just wasn't connecting between Anderson and the coaching staff.

Crippen has one year of eligibility remaining, and Michigan recruited 2024 signee Jake Guarnera and 2025 signee Kaden Strayhorn to play center down the road. The Wolverines may also be exploring transfer portal options to shore up the interior offensive line.

Anyway, Anderson entered the transfer portal with one season left. Incidentally, his brother Khamari Anderson, a 2023 high school graduate from Cass Tech who went to Kentucky, has also entered the portal. It will be interesting to see if they both end up playing together somewhere in 2025. Khamari played in eleven games this past season, making 5 catches for 29 yards in his backup tight end role.

Other 2021 signees to transfer out of the program include WR Andrel Anthony (Oklahoma), OT Tristan Bounds (destination TBD), WR Cristian Dixon (Central Missouri), RB Tavierre Dunlap (destination TBD), TE Louis Hansen (UConn), and DT George Rooks (Boston College). 

Kirk Campbell, Ex-Wolverine

 

Kirk Campbell (image via WILX)

Head coach Sherrone Moore announced on Tuesday that he relieved offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell from his duties. Campbell was in his first year as offensive coordinator after being co-offensive coordinator in 2023.

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2025 Defensive Recruiting Update: December 3, 2024

 

Oak Park (IL) Fenwick DE Nate Marshall

With National Signing Day looming in a couple days - and lots of recruiting movement - I wanted to catch up on some of the most recent happenings as Michigan tries to fill out its 2025 recruiting class. If you want a look at offensive recruiting, check it out HERE.

EDGE

COMMIT: Michigan gained the re-commitment of Oak Park (IL) Fenwick defensive end Nathaniel Marshall (LINK) earlier today. There has been some talk that Alpharetta (GA) Alpharetta edge Julius Holly might flip elsewhere, but as of this writing, he's still committed to the Wolverines.

KEEP AN EYE ON: Indianapolis (IN) Warren Central's Damien Shanklin was reportedly contacted once Bryce Underwood went public with his flip from LSU to Michigan, but Shanklin has since said he's solid with LSU. Michigan threw out an offer to Warner Robins (GA) Warner Robins edge Isaiah Gibson, a top-10 player and Georgia commit who surprisingly didn't have an offer from the Wolverines until the last couple weeks. Michigan has also stepped up its pursuit of Houston (TX) Mayde Creek edge Tobi Haastrup, a raw prospect who has taken official visits to Florida State, Michigan, Oregon, Texas Tech, and USC during the month of November. Ohio State decommit Zahir Mathis from Philadelphia (PA) Imhotep has also been contacted since he backed off his pledge to Ryan Day.

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Michigan 13, Ohio State 10

 

Kalel Mullings (image via Athlon Sports)

I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I underestimated Michigan again. I really should know better by now when it comes to the Ohio State game, but I just thought the #2 team that was 10-1 going into The Game would be good enough to beat the 6-5 team with no hope of a Big Ten Championship, no hope of a playoff, and a barely achieved realization of bowl eligibility. The 6-5 team was missing its best offensive player (Colston Loveland) and best defensive player (Will Johnson), not to mention a great senior safety (Rod Moore) who sealed a former iteration of The Game with an interception. By the day of the game, it was a 19.5-point spread and the only people picking Michigan were homer TV personalities like Charles Woodson and Desmond Howard.

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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 Northwestern and still ranks just #71 nationally (159.6 yards/game) and #62 in yards per carry (4.47). Kalel Mullings (12 carries, 92 yards, 3 touchdowns against Northwestern) is now up to 11 scores on the year, while Donovan Edwards (10 carries, 65 yards, 1 TD last week) had his second-highest rushing average of the year. Backup quarterback Alex Orji has 50 carries for 228 yards and 1 touchdown this year, but has two DNPs in the past five weeks, including against Northwestern. I would think Orji would get a few snaps just to give Davis Warren a breather from what will probably be a tough day of avoiding the pass rush, but maybe not. Meanwhile, Ohio State is #3 in rush defense (90 yards allowed/game) and yards allowed per carry (2.7). They have allowed more than 3.75 yards/carry to just two teams, Iowa and #1 Oregon. Junior LB Sonny Styles (6'4", 235) leads the team with 71 tackles, followed by senior LB Cody Simon (6'2", 235) with 65. Senior DT Tyleik Williams (6'3", 327) is a force in the middle of the defense with 25 tackles and 5 tackles for loss, and senior DE J.T. Tuimoloau (6'5", 269) leads the team with 11 TFL. Northwestern did a good job of stopping the run in the first half last week, but they ran out of steam in the second half and gave up. I don't think Ohio State is going to do that this year.
Advantage: Ohio State

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2025 Offensive Recruiting Update: November 27, 2024

 

Denton (TX) Ryan OT Ty Haywood (image via On3)

With National Signing Day looming in early December - and lots of recruiting movement - I wanted to catch up on some of the most recent happenings as Michigan tries to fill out its 2025 recruiting class.

QUARTERBACK

COMMIT: Belleville (MI) Belleville quarterback Bryce Underwood committed to Michigan (LINK). It seems as if Fort Myers (FL) Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith at least suspected that was going to happen, and he decommitted beforehand; Smith recently committed to Wisconsin and will be a Badger instead, perhaps with eyes on getting a bit of revenge against the Wolverines down the road.

KEEP AN EYE ON: Michigan will also be looking to add a quarterback through the transfer portal, and USC transfer Miller Moss has been rumored to be a possible candidate.

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2024 Ex-Wolverine Updates: Week 13

 

Matt Hibner (image via Instagram)

Here's a roundup of the former Michigan player, former commits, and former coaches (or players-turned-coaches). NOTE: I will not regularly post updates about offensive linemen since stats are minimal and just posting PFF grades is kind of boring, but I did this week just to show who's playing where and what their opening day role was.

FORMER PLAYERS

WR Andrel Anthony (Oklahoma): Anthony has not played since week one due to an injury.

LB Jeremiah Beasley (Missouri): Beasley made 2 tackles in a 39-20 win over Mississippi State.

QB Alan Bowman (Oklahoma State): Bowman did not play in a 56-48 loss to Texas Tech.

LB Semaj Bridgeman (Michigan State): Bridgeman has not recorded any stats yet this year for MSU.

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