Blue By Ninety - Fall Camp Is Here

Episode Date: August 13, 2026

The Wolverines are back in Schem and Joel and Justin get worked up about Ohio St.

All right. Welcome back to Blue By 90, presented by Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. My name is Justin. I'm joined by Joel Honanford here with Blue By 90. It is August 12th. And I was on the beach all last week. It was like 88 and sunny. And now it's been rainy every day. And I feel like fall, like the calendar is his flipped as soon as the boys, you know, got to fall camp. So I'm Paul. Joel, how are you doing, man? I'm doing well. I'm in a new location. I spent the last two weeks moving, and it was a miserable experience. But we are here now. I moved a little bit further away from Columbus, actually. So distance myself.

I mean, that's good. That's always a good move. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But life is good. I can't complain. August is here, obviously. The pads are popping. You're seeing it all throughout your social media feed.

It's exciting time of year. You know, we're gearing up for the fall, getting ready for the leaves to change and fall. And so, I mean, this is really like we're headed into the best time of the year. It's still nice out, maybe sweatshirt weather. Yeah. I mean, we're sitting pretty. I'm just ready for some games to start rolling. 100%.

Yeah. As soon as I saw some guys going to the podium, you know, you see that and you start seeing a few clips coming out of camp. And our group chat was buzzing a little bit of just like, all right, I got to not get excited about one clip, you know, of a Bryce Underwood throw to JJ Bukin and back shoulder, perfect, right? Like, I'm sure that there were some incompletions in there, but that's the clip that goes out. And then it's like, dude, it could be the year, you know.

Yeah, we're getting a new buzz around the facility. Yeah, it's funny. I also think it's funny how they'll go through a single day of camp, like the first day, and then the coach was a step to the podium and comment on, you know, something they saw in practice. And people are like, oh, Jason Beck said that the run game is the best part of the office. It's like, we've had one day of camp. There's has been no pads on. They have a inspired pads.

Like, let's stop, jump to the conclusions here. I know Kyle stepped to the, Coach Whittingham stepped to the podium yesterday. and they were asking them. They were like, you know, after day one, they said the running game is pretty strong for the offense. What do you see now? And he was like, well, yeah, it's day one. Like, things will develop over time here and they are.

So, yeah, I know the exact clip you're talking about because I posted it on my story when I saw it. So it's not just as fans. Like even the players get excited about a clip coming out of practice. Yeah, no, it is. this week though I will say this is like the second week of camp which is probably the most difficult week of camp full paths are on now you're hitting maybe some live periods maybe not depends on who your coach is also the like the buzz has kind of worn off of

week one you're like pumped to get it's like week one I'm going back to school you're like all right I'm kind of excited to see all my friends again And I'm excited on new teachers, new whatever. And then you're like, wait, now this is where I'm at for the next six months. Yeah. I also think it's funny because they'll interview the players, you know, maybe the first few days of camp. And they're like excited about it. It's good to be back, you know, get the pads popping, playing some ball again.

And then they'll interview them, you know, this week and be like, so what is fall camp? And they essentially just find a way to beat her on the ball. Bush to say that it sucks. Like, it's just what it is. They're like, everything hurts and I'm dying. Yeah, they're like, I've, uh, Zach Marshall said something. He was like, um, something about suffering. And I was like, yeah, it is, it is suffering.

Like, that's what it is. It's a brutal period of time. You're like 14 hour days in the facility just to get to week one. And you can't really even see week one at that point. Um, but I will say, uh, listening to Coach Whittingham yesterday in the media, he was talking about how he styles it more after the NFL, where they'll have, you know, a couple hard hitting days and then they'll take, uh, essentially days off where the, you know, it's not quite as intense, let the body recover, which is something that, um, I wasn't able to appreciate in college. Coach Harlow was very old fashioned and he'd like to just go all the time and just really test the body out. Uh, he called it building the callus, you know, um, yep. And I'm, I will say, I'm, I'm, I will say, glad to hear that that phrase isn't used inside of Schembeckler Hall at this point in time. Well, it's interesting, too, because, you know, you've now had three head coaches in four years here, right?

And so that means three different styles of an approach to fall camp into the season. And, you know, I know even while you were there, like Coach Harbaugh changed his ways a little bit, too. You know, he got, I don't want to say soft in his later years, maybe smarter, you know, but a different approach and then, you know, Sharon had a little bit different approach as well, more probably player friendly. Now you have Whittingham, who's a very old school guy, but smart in the way that he approaches things. And so I'm interested to see, like, how this team comes out of camp, you know, because I know back in the early Harbaugh days, you know, we have friends that would talk about that that we're, you know, playing then that like, they'd be like, I, by the time we got to week one,

my body was destroyed because you're just like, you know, hitting every day, going balls to the wall. And so I'm very intrigued how, you know, a 60 plus year old man, old school guy that probably hates, like, how the world is trending of being soft and whatever else, how he adapts to, you know, all right, I want my guys to build up that callus. and be strong and be tough. But I also need them to be healthy come week 12 versus Ohio State too. Yeah. Like that was the harball that you would get in the media where the media is caught wind of someone going down.

And then he's just given the most arbitrary answer where you don't gain any information from. Like that was the fall camp harball where guys were going down, you know, probably more so than they should have been. Right. Just from the intensity of the training. But going back to Coach Whittingham's interview, he talked about monitoring the soft tissue injuries. And when he said that, I was like, this guy gets it. Like, he's dialed into it. He knows what he's looking at.

Which is impressive for an old school guy, right? Like, you've done this for 30, 40 years, right? And for you to be, you know, adapting. I think that is one of the most impressive things I think about Kyle Whittingham. because when you think about a guy in a 60s that's coached football for 40 years, you're like, that guy's not changing shit at this point. Yeah, no, certainly. And then Rod Moore steps to the podium.

And they ask him, they're like, you know, what do you think about this fall camp and not to put the wagon before the horse? But he was like, it feels like a couple of years back when everybody was buzzing inside a facility, feeling good. and everyone was healthy headed in, you know, at least into going into week three here. So I was encouraging to hear too because like you said, having that many head coaches and that many years and each fall camp is a completely different strategy. You don't know what to expect, but to hear that it's being received well by the players is huge

because you really can make or break your season depending on how you take care of the guys and then also how they receive it as well. 100%. Now, I will say this with that, too. I remember during camp of, I believe it was year one of Sharon talking to Max Bredesen, and he was telling me, he's like, dude, we're just like such a close-knit team right now. It's like, it's all about the boys and like, you know, all this stuff.

And there, I would just say, like, some of those things that come out of camp, it doesn't always mean you're going to be a good football team. Right. You know, I think that there's always. like, you know, again, we were just talking before we started recording. It's funny, you know, all the sound bites that come and the coaches that say one thing after, you know, one practice and then, you know, the media takes it and runs with, runs with it or the message boards or whatever.

But even the players, like, you know, the camp is so interesting because you're only going against each other, right? And so you only know what happens when you're lining up against the guy that is on your team. Right. And so, and, you know, things, culture might be good, things might be buzzing, you know, and stuff like that. Until you strap them up week one or week two against Oklahoma and you're like, you're going against somebody with a different color jersey. That's a nod to something we'll talk about with Bryce Underwood here soon, too. But you don't know. You don't know. And so I think that that's why, like, I laugh a lot when, you know, now looking at fall.

camp. I'm like, you just, you can get all the sound bites. I'm excited for it. You know, I'm, pumped to get on here and talk football. But at the end of the day, until you strap them up and even like, you know, until week three and four, you don't really know what you got in a team sometimes. Yeah. And let's really just water down what all these guys are saying, because these guys are stuck inside a facility for 14 hours a day. They're pretty much hallucinating at this point. So you can't really trust anything that they're saying. they know is that at 9.30 p.m., they got to hop on the bus to go back to the hotel, and at 6 a.m. the next day, they got to be there. So, yeah, you're right. Everybody finds,

like, something to grab onto, and they're, like, Max Bredeson, right, like close-knit team. And you can see that, right? Because Sharon was a player's coach, and he did bring, you know, the guys together, I guess you could say, to a fault at that point. But there's definitely bits and pieces of that. So speaking of sound bites, before we dive into Bryce, I want to ask you about Wittingham as a fan, as a Michigan fan for life, really, right? How do you receive the fact that he does not outwardly say that he hates Ohio State? Actually, he says that is there an advantage to hating them? I don't get it. I think it's interesting. As a guy, Like, you know, we always have talked about the Michigan man.

And, you know, it kind of needs to be ingrained in you and whatever else. And I think over the years, we have gone now back and forth on like, do you need to be a Michigan man? Or sometimes is it better to not be a Michigan man because you don't know it all the time? I mean, you just watch Dusty May, who is not a Michigan man his whole life. He's actually an Indiana man right down the road. And what came in and won an national. championship in Michigan basketball, right? And so I think it's, do I love the idea that our entire

team salivates around hating Ohio State because I hate Ohio State? Yes, I do. And I think that that, you know, is like, during the early hardball years, that was the whole thing. It was like, oh, we don't hate Ohio State enough. And, you know, they don't focus. Ohio State has the clock that they count down every day and they think about it every day. That's the problem, blah, blah, blah. I think I see two things. One, the reality is, and this was Coach Whittingham's like follow-up, I think, the next day to this or the next time he was at the podium, he's like, is that going to give me an advantage or, you know, whatever?

They're not preparing any differently than they would if he would say that they hated Ohio State. Right. Right. Like at the end of the day, you know, he is just saying, I want to go make us the best football team that we can. And then I'm sure, you know, down the road, you know, he's definitely going to say, all right, it's, we're getting close to Ohio State Week. You know, let's, you know, focus on them. But I do think for him being a brand new coach in this program and maybe he needs a little coaching on like, hey, dude, it'll help you. a little bit with the fan base to say you hate Ohio State. Yeah. Yeah, I think obviously him and Urban Meyer are great friends.

And I think his answer was very politically oriented in the fact that he did go on to say, do I want to beat them more than any other team on our schedule? Yes. So he's acknowledging the importance of the game, but he won't use the word hate towards it. Now, I can say from my perspective as a player that the, and I think we've talked about this before, but the Ohio State Michigan rivalry is a traditional historic rivalry that carries so much weight. And so in that aspect, like I guess that's where it's more of a fan hatred towards each other, right? It's not that we are out there and we love the players, obviously, because you see the fight on the field two seasons ago.

like we love, you know, the other players. But the Michigan-Michigan-State rivalry is a hate rivalry. Like that is, that's just... Like when you, when you're walking and you, even now that you've been out of the program for a few years, I feel like you still aren't going to be like dapping up somebody for Michigan State. Right. Yeah, no, I wouldn't.

And, yeah, certainly wouldn't. Funny enough, my brother-in-law plays for Ohio State. So it's kind of an interesting family dynamic. But yeah, it's, I respect his answer from, I guess, a political standpoint to try to appease, you know, Urban Meyer because they have such a great friendship and not disrespect him or anything like that. But you're right. Like in terms of the fan base, if you want to win the fan base over, you should. have said, hey, you know what, I hate Ohio State and I keep them as bad as anybody else. Also, on the Urban Meyer thing, like, Urban says outright that he hates Michigan.

And he won't say the word Michigan, you know, and like he put, he had, his whole persona is about going seven and oh against Michigan, right? And I remember him tweeting like, you know, things about beating Michigan and like, you know, countdown to the Michigan game back. when he was a coach. And so like, you know, listen, Urban can be your best friend, your mentor, whatever. Like, you have a job to do now. And, you know, I think that that learning, you know, whether you want to use the word hate or whatever, I don't really give a shit. But learning that they are the biggest up. They are, your whole season is based on that game. Whether you're

both 11 and 0 or one team is 5 and 5, you know, six and five, whatever, like, you can either make or break your season based on that game. And at the end of the day, like, you're going to have to beat them if you want to go win a national championship or win a big 10 title. You know, I always go back to Dan Antonio. Dude, Dan Antonio built his whole persona on beating Michigan. And his fan base literally will bow down to him for the rest of his life. because of it.

And they won a lot of games. They won Big Ten championships, but at the end of the day, he knew he had to beat Michigan to get to that point. And guess what? It was the same when you were there, Joel. Like, you guys had to beat Ohio State to reach that second and third goal that you want it.

Right. And so that's where, like, you know, it's a little bit like, you know, a song and dance of like, all right, I got to, you know, put on the, the show of, of hating Ohio State and whatever. But like, there is some truth to it of like, listen, I, I, you know, I, it has the sign of no red or green in this building. That can't just be like a, you know, a thing that you say. You do have to like live that in order to really be, you know, the, to be the Michigan head coach at this point. Yeah. Now, I completely agree with you on that. Like, Urban Meyer isn't paying your checks. The University of Michigan is putting money into your bank account. And so you should be abiding

by the University of Michigan, which historically has always hated Ohio State. Like, that's what it is. That's what makes the rivalry fun. So do I think that that waters down? I don't know. Like, do I think that it waters down the rivalry? I sure hope not. You you know, because it is such a great rivalry. Like, it is the greatest rivalry in all of sports. And so I hope that as the season progresses and we approach the end of November, he can then kind of develop that urgency and that sense of, you know, instead of, no, I don't hate Ohio State.

Does that get me an advantage? It's I despise the thought of losing to Ohio State, right? It's a same answer, but it's conveyed. completely differently. I think you tell me, all you got to do is lose to him one time, and I think you feel that. Yeah, but that's where we don't want to go to. Like, we don't know. We don't want him to lose to him to be like, oh, wow, like, yeah, I can't stand these guys. You know what I mean? It's just like, dude, I, I've never played in that game, never will. Just being in the stadium when they take last year being in, and last year was an

absolute shit show of season let's be honest with it and they're like during that game against ohio state we never stood a chance of beating them it was you know it was total domination well i'll be honest with what it was at the end of that right but it makes me like physically ill to sit there and watch red take over michigan stadium like it pisses me off when their freaking mascot is writing oh hio in our end zone right you know and they'll listen especially after four years of beating their ass they're going to stick it to you they are not going to sit there and be like oh that was a great great game you guys really came out and tried hard you know like no that is not what this rivalry is about and right um you know i again

i don't know if kyle whittingham is going to just like learn what that is um because i do think it's it's a rivalry that you you don't know you don't understand the gravity until you are a part of that game. You really don't. And like, the last thing I'll say on this is saying hate or whatever, I go back to Bo Schembechler and how he put it. He, again, he had a 10-year war with Woody Hayes. It was one of the greatest decades of a rivalry in any sport of all time, right? It was truly like haymaker after haymaker for 10 straight years of two teams being at the top. But he's still at the end of the day. I believe his quote was something like, listen, if you're in trouble down the road, 10 years down the road, 20 years down the road,

and you can't get a hold of your Michigan teammate, call a Buckeye. Yeah. Because they understood the respect of the rivalry. Right. Right. It was, that's where it's so much different than Michigan State and Michigan, in my opinion. Right. And that's where I think Kyle Whittingham's got to kind of go down that road and say, listen, it doesn't have to be nasty, you know, oh, punching guys at the bottom of the pile and, you know, whatever. Like, it's going to be foisty. Don't get me wrong. Like you got like it's, it's, but it's got to be, all right, listen, we're going to respect the shit out of them because they're a great program and they've got a good head coach and whatever. But at the end of the day, they're coming to take your lunch. They're coming and they're trying to take your take everything that you have.

You don't let them take it. Right. No, I agree with you. So on that note, let's bring in Mr. Underwood here because I didn't realize, sorry, before you say it, I didn't realize I was going to get so fired up on August 12th here about Michigan, Ohio State. No, I'm glad. I wanted your perspective from it.

So I guess you could kind of, you alluded to this earlier. Bryce Underwood, let's flash back to before he was even at Michigan, he's greet LeBron after a Lakers game. I think he said it's over for Ohio State. I think that would be the quote. Now, obviously, that aged like milk did not go well. But comes back into the media, the quote is, it's just another game, just with guys in a different color. That's how I see it. So he's essentially flipped his approach, let's say his approach to the game.

This is receiving some controversy. People might take this down the road of, oh, he lost to him in his first year, so he doesn't want to talk a big talk. I'll ask you, how do you view his comments regarding the game? Well, let me say this. that being combined very, you know, shortly after the Whittingham comments is like, if you're like a diehard Michigan guy, like it's a little bit concerning to be like, okay, wait a minute, what is being said in that building right now around that game?

And I think there's a couple different approaches that you can go about this game. And I do, like, we've heard over the years, not even just with this rivalry, but people just say like, oh, I just see it as the next game on the schedule, whatever. I think that you have to know the importance of the game, but you can't, like, there's, you got a really hard schedule prior to week 12, too. You know, you can't be sitting there, you know, prior to the Oklahoma game and then thinking about Ohio State the whole time. You got to beat Oklahoma in order to get to the,

the next game, right? So I think there's something to that. I think Bryce, who I know pretty well at this point, and I love Bryce, I think he's a really good kid. I think he's learning that, you know, you just can't say a lot of things all the time, right? You know, he was a 17-year-old when he said that to LeBron. And, you know, you're trying to probably be a really cool guy in front of LeBron, James, who's the goat, you know, like, I mean, like, I, I, I think that I said, I said a lot of dumbass things when I was 17, too, right? And, um, not all of my, my, uh, quotes were made public, thank God, um, you know, so I, I think that he's learning a little bit of like, all right, maybe I need to tone it down in the media a little bit and, and, and try to be that more

humble guy and not, you know, talk like I'm the greatest, you know, God's gift to earth type of thing. But again, our friend, Chris Wormley, texted in our group chat yesterday of like, I think, let me see what exactly he said. I'm sure he's going to talk about it on his show as well. But all he said, the only thing you needed to say was it's an important game to us. it's at the end of the season for a reason. And that's a really good media training coming from a former captain at Michigan of how to handle that. And so I think that, I don't know, they've got some things to figure out.

I also think that at this point, when you're a five-star quarterback that I would say underperformed in year one after having a ton of hype, whatever you say is going to be, it's going to be criticized. He could have said, you know, anything, and it's going to be scrutinized to the max. Right. And that's the general media of today is finding a headline out of anything. But I agree with what Bryce said because I know when I was there. So in 21, 22, and 23, the reason and even 24, the reason that we were able to beat Ohio State

is because we did not make them out to be this giant, right? We didn't treat them as this unbeatable team that was impossible to go up against, but rather we just kind of focused in more on what we could do. We didn't create a mountain out of a molehill, which I think is what Bryce is doing with his comment. And obviously, like, the game against Ohio State means a lot less if you've lost three games prior to, you know what I mean? and your goals are completely different.

So I get what he's saying, and I like that quote a lot better than his quote from over a year ago. Because, I mean, ultimately, if you're like, it's over for Ohio State, the only way that that can work out is you're either right or you're wrong and you're a complete idiot and people are going to clown on you for it. So, yeah, he's receiving a little bit of that media training and not trying to, to provide a big headline even though he kind of did but like you said that's what the media will do they'll just take something oh is he not taking oh wow state seriously weddingham said this

do they not care about the ohio state game anymore no i don't think that's what it is i think it's them realizing that um there's 11 games before ohio state that they have to win and and then the ohio state game ultimately will catapult them into the playoff so yeah obviously if you're Michigan fan, you want to hear about how much our head coach and our five-star, $10 million quarterback hate Ohio State. But I don't think we should question that because I would be willing to bet even like Bryce has had that taste in his mouth now of losing to Ohio state and really poor fashion. It was not a great game at all, like you said. And so I respect it. It's obviously it's not super enticing as a Michigan fan to be like, oh, man, that's our

fearless leader. And he's not, you know, he doesn't, he's not coming out and say that he hates Ohio State. That's the biggest game of year. Obviously, it's the biggest game of year. We all know that. That's not like if you, he, he's been in the state of Michigan, literally 15 minutes from Ann Arbor his entire life. Like, I'm sure he's been, you know, there's pictures of him in a Michigan jersey when he is six years old. Like, he, he doesn't. He, knows, you know, but I think to your point, he's trying to have a little bit of a different approach. And I think it's really interesting for you to say in 21, 22, 23 that you didn't make Ohio State this behemoth. Because I think the average fan that was not in that building would say,

oh, they focused more on Ohio State. They did the beat Ohio drill. They did, you know, all these things. and that was why everything shifted. But it's interesting for me to hear you say that because I think it's not a like, oh, we focused on them more. It's a just perspective shift. Right. And I think that's why Ryan Day struggled for so long to beat Michigan is because he made it this like make or break thing

where if he didn't beat Michigan, it was a horrible season. And they lost to us. win the national championship and people are still have the season in question and we're like dude this is ridiculous like is it even a legitimate national championship because you didn't beat michigan but like it is a big game and you would like to prepare the same for every game like ideally in the most ideal world the reality is when you get to that week there's going to be some differences that everything carries a little bit more weight but when you put this like mass amount of weight on that game, you will succumb to the adversities that you end up facing.

Like that is what happened with us. I experienced it. Whenever something went wrong, it was like our ship was sinking and there was no way to bail out any water. Like when we were able to take a step back and say, hey, listen, they are a logo. We want to beat this logo really, really bad, but we want to beat everybody really bad. There's obviously the fan base is colliding that gives it some more weight. But yeah, to be able to step back and say, all right, like, what do we just need to focus on that we know if we execute this at a high level, that we will end up on top.

And then after the game, we can play into all of the rivalry stuff. Like, I remember, because I'm from Ohio, and I received a lot of grief for going to Michigan. After we beat Ohio State in 21, I remember posting on social media like, what's up, Ohio? And it was just like this great thing. So I respect the level-headedness. And obviously, at the end of November, if we come out and we beat Ohio State, people will look back at that and say, oh, he's a genius, you know. He approached it the right way.

So time will tell. But I think just some mental maturity for Bryce Underwood has really progressed. We can see that. Whittingham's talked about it, even in his gameplay on the field with the X's and the O's. which is what we needed. Like, that's what we want to see. Hopefully we'll see that against Western on September 5th. But, yeah.

I think a couple things. One, I think that, I think Bryce, he, at the end of the day, he needs to go out there and do his job. Right. And I think that to your point, you know, think back to prior to 2021. To be honest with you, from an outside and inside perspective from Shambachler Hall, it felt like there was no chance we were ever going to beat Ohio State, like, ever. Like, I mean, you had been so close in 2016, right? And so, like, in 2018, you go there on the road

and, like, you know, we're favored for the first time. It's like, holy shit, are we going to actually do this? And then you get your ass kicked. And they put up 62 points on you. And then all of a sudden in 2020, it's like, all right, you got a two and four season. And it's like, oh, my God, they're still unbelievable, right? It's just now we're in year 10 of Harbaugh. How are we going to ever do this? You know, like it just always felt like they were just this, this gigantic thing. And there was no way that Michigan was going to conquer Beliath.

And then I think the way that you guys thought. thought about it was just like, all right, man, listen, they lace up their shoes just like we do, dude, right? Like, we're good. You know, we're like, I think you had to believe in yourself a little bit before you could try to believe that you were better than them. Like, I don't think that, you know, when you're just sitting there comparing to them, like, listen, at the end of the day, even now, like, on paper, they have a lot of five stars.

Right. You're not going to ever look like you're better than Ohio State. They've recruited at an unbelievable level for 20 straight years, you know. And so if you look at it like that, then and make it this giant thing, then it's going to be, all right, man, then all of a sudden, like, shit tightened up when that happens. And I agree with you. That's what, you could feel that from Ryan Day in 21 through 24. Right.

When, dude, they were 21 point favorites in 24, right? Like, I mean, and they had a national championship team. Like, they were stacked. They did everything to that roster to try to beat Michigan and go win a national title. And then he got to the game. He literally, you could watch him tighten up on the sideline. Right.

And so I think that that's where, like, at the end of the day, Kyle Wittingham is trying to use, he's trying to make an example for his young quarterback and say, listen, dude, that we, you're a good player. Let's just go strap them up and play ball and just be like, all right, listen, they're just another, they're no, they're no behemoth. They're no different than us. We're just as good. You know, so I think he's trying to instill that in this program right now rather than, you know,

I go back to Brady Hoke. And I, the one thing that Brady did was he played Ohio State tough every time. There's no doubt about that. But like, they made that game the entire identity of the season. And then you got to like week three. and you're playing shitty football against really bad teams. Right. You know, and so I think they're just trying to sit here and like make it one step at a time.

Yeah, and we can trust Coach Whittingham's experience too, right? He's been doing this for a long time. Yeah. He's been playing in the, is that the Holy War? Is that what they call that, BYU, Utah? Yeah. So he understands the importance of games like this. So if anything, we can fall back on his experience.

and trust that he knows what he's doing in preparation for ultimately the biggest game of the year. And yeah, so we can trust that at least and see how it plays out. Also, I'm sure he's had some conversations with Urban about what this game is like, even prior to him being the Michigan head coach. Oh, yeah, 100%. So I'm sure that they've chopped it up. And, you know, I don't think Urban, here's, you want to know my, only issue with Whittingham's comments. I think he said that Urban is welcome in the building

every week but one. In my mind, Urban's not welcome in the building. I agree. I don't, like, I don't care that he's your best friend or whatever, you know, your mentor, whatever. Listen, that guy hates us. Yeah. He hates everything about us. I, you know, like, you guys can go get coffee at, you know, Demos down the road, but he's not a lot. He shouldn't be allowed in Shandbeckler Hall. I don't care if it's August 12th or November 24. I mean, a guy that has actively hated Michigan in the media, like, if you watch him on Big Noon kickoff, you can see that he despises the University of Michigan. So why would you want that person in your facility?

I don't care how good of friends you are. Correct. You just, you don't want that around your, because your guys are going to see that, right? And if you guys are like, oh, well, he hates us, but you allow him in here, I don't get it. What is this? You know what I mean? They're not allowing you. in the building, Kyle.

They are definitely not allowing you in their building. And they, you know, they, they won't allow a lot of things. So you should, again, I think there's two sides to the coin. But there do have to be some lines drawn of like, you know, friendship versus, all right, I got a, I'm a Michigan man now. you know, I can't be, you know, going to hang out with the enemy. Right. So or letting the enemy in my, in my walls.

That's a, it's a fortress. Yeah. All right. We've spent 37 minutes now on Ohio State and it is August 12th. So, I mean, if that doesn't say that we're ready for football, I don't know what does. But let's go through some fall camp updates. I think beyond clips that we've seen, the one really outstanding thing was Jason Beck coming

and Coach Whittingham both talking about how they're going to continue to run the football. And I know you and I are in the same boat on. That's music to our ears. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, the Blue By 90 run the damn ball shirt. Print the shirt. It's going to come out of the closet. it but yeah there was also you know i know when winningham was hired he mentioned you know we're still

going to run the ball a lot it's going to be um a focal point of our game and there was questions around what does that actually look like because are are they going to still use their two and three tight-end sets where it's just smash mouth football i don't know we'll find out we have a really good tight end room uh and blocking tight ends at that so yeah it is nice to hear i mean we have two extreme talented running backs back there, which is nice for not only different styles of game for the other teams to see, but just for their longevity throughout the season. We saw that with Blake and Donovan, right? Thunder and Lightning.

I think that's what they call themselves. I think Donna wanted it to be lightning and lightning at some point. Oh, yeah, you're right. You're right. But it's helpful to take hits off of each one of them. And obviously if a guy's hot in the game, you keep them in a little bit longer. But the two-back system, I think, is really beneficial in the world of running backs, right? The two-quarterback system doesn't really work out that well.

But two-running-backed system certainly does. And that's exciting. I think a big question also moving through fall camp here is the wide receiver room. What's it going to look like? Is it only going to be Andrew Marsh this year? Clearly not, right? J.J. Buchanan is stepped up. He's sophomore, right?

He's a young lad. We actually have the opportunity to speak with him on a live podcast, but it's nice to see him in there. He's a playmaker. Two options is great. Now, where does it go from here? Got some young guys. Kyle Weddingham said that they have about five and a half receivers

that he believes will be key players, and he's looking to get that number to about seven here. We two at Fall Camp, a lot of time for development that way. But the wide receiver room will greatly affect a Bryce Underwood as well. And I think that this is probably one of, if not the most talented, like on-paper wide receiver rooms that we've had in a while. Even going back to the 2023 team, like you're not sitting and looking at that 20203 national championship team like yeah the wide receiver room was loaded you know roman wilson did

amazing things don't give me wrong um but it was the whole team that made that that happened and the run it started with the running game but just on paper you're looking at uh marsh who had an unbelievable freshman year uh last year j j buchanan who um utah people alike and people that are seeing him in fall camp are like this dude's a freak show of an athlete, just like unbelievable. You've got Jamie French coming in from Texas as well. So he's going to be, you know, a redshirt freshman, like young studs that we've got along the front of this.

And then you've got Jamar Browder as well, who I think is going. He's still physically very skinny, but I think he's going to make a step. and he's a very, very tall, big guy. Chaining Goodwin as well, he'll be back. We'll see where he ends up on the depth chart. And then you've got a couple freshmen. Travis Johnson, very highly touted guy. And then Celessi Moa, who was originally committed to Utah,

who now is with the program too. Like, they really like those guys. So on paper, the wide receiver room, I think is as talented and as deep as we've seen, in a long time at Michigan. Yeah, no, I completely agree. And it's going to be exciting to watch. And it's nice for Bryce to have the different options to go to, right?

Like, he doesn't have to focus solely on an Andrew Marsh, because Andrew Marsh was our big playmaker last year, and it felt like that was almost his only option at times. Right. but to have a truly diverse wide receiver room and a young wide receiver room is huge for us because I agree there hasn't been you know a year in recent history where you're like this wide receiver room is stacked like probably back to like the DPJ Tarig years but we we haven't seen what we have now headed into this season which

which is exciting, right? The passing game wasn't super explosive last year. It has the potential to be extremely explosive. Whittingham said that J.J.B. Cannon is the best that he's ever been around, which is quite the statement to make. Like, that is a huge thing to say to the media, which he did. And he's, I mean, think about it.

He's been around for 20 plus years as a head coach, let alone when he was an assistant coach. And they've, like, even just last. year his quarterback through for nearly 3,000 yards. Right. So like, I mean, yeah, that is that is quite the statement, especially after just a few weeks of fall camp. Right. So that's all super encouraging to see. Obviously, we won't know until we actually know. And I'll be interested to see the start of the season in, in Michigan fashion under the Harbaugh area. It was always typically a slow start where fans were a little

bit skeptical to the quality of the team. Will it be that way this year? Only time will tell. We will only be able to find out. And obviously, guys will develop throughout the season. I know Weddingham talked about Jamie French, how in Springball he wasn't much, but he seems to be stepping into his role now very well, which is encouraging. The one thing that I was really interested to hear about was special teams and the philosophy there as like, are they going to put starters on special teams are is that going to be you know a predominantly like second string third string guys to get other dudes in there um with carry combs at the helm of special teams former ohio state guy actually for for a while um but he had mentioned that the only special

team that he wants starters on is the punt team which i understand right there's there's no worse sound and football than a double thud, right? The punt and the block right after. But as far as everything else, he said it's fair game, and he'd like to have a core group of teamsers, is what they call them, just guys who are going to float around in special teams.

You're Kate and Colossars, your Joe Taylor's in there. I think, you know, maybe Nico Androgato might step into a role of a teams around, which those are core guys to have. Like Michigan one is important guys. Yeah, but, yeah. So important.

I can't emphasize how important those guys are because how many times, Joel, are games won and lost in teams? Yeah, it's unbelievable. It's probably way more than the average fan would think about, you know, until it's legitimately tallied up. But just the field advantage that you can give yourself, the points at the end of the half or the end of the game, to be able to execute at a high level there is going to be key for our success. Jay Harbaugh was adamant that special teams was just as important as offense and defense. It's the difference between, you know, like three free first downs or send somebody back deep and the same for yourself.

So I was excited to hear that he's emphasizing special teams. And it's not just something that's, you know, kind of there, like a, like a, third minor part of a game. Yeah, totally agree. I think that that is a very experienced coach that you know has probably lost some games because of special teams. It's like, listen, I'm not, you know, I'm not taking any chances. And so I think that that is going to be, those little things are going to be the biggest difference in my opinion from last year to this year where you just could tell under true more that those were not an emphasis. You know, those little things were just not an emphasis.

And I remember going back to 21, 22, 23 of how important those guys were to the program and how seriously they took it. I mean, I remember Colston Loveland, who was our number one option, you know, and still was like he wouldn't give up his spot on special teams to other guys. Right. And so I think that it was the reason for that was because of how much emphasis Jim and Jay Harbaugh put on teams, right? And so that's where I just, I think you got to get back to that.

And like those things, if you make those things important, then the offense and defense will become important, right? Because it just like, it trickles into all that if you say, hey, listen, we're not going to mess around with this. We don't accept mediocrity just because it's not our core offense and defense. But, I mean, I just think back to Brad Robbins and Jake Moody and how many times they won us games because Brad would pin their team deep and then we would go and kick a 50 yarder and get those extra points. You know, it was like automatic. So it was the, that was why Michigan football was so good, in my opinion, from 21 to 23 is because you took the little points.

You took the little advantages in those things rather than, like, we didn't throw 70-yard bombs. Right. We didn't win that way. We did the little things right. And that's why we won a lot of games. Yeah. And even, like, if you want to get into the nitty-gritty of it, just understanding what other teams are going to do and when they're going to fake and what are they changing that leads to a fake. Actually, funny enough, we played Ohio State in 22.

We knew what their key was for a fake punt. They would switch around their like cattle, the three guys defending the punter. And they did it and we missed it. And they were going to run the fake, but their long snapper snapped it to the punter instead. He messed up. But everybody else had run the fake,

except for the long snapper and the punter. And so we got off scot-free, even though we weren't out ready for it, and we should have been. Jay Harbaal was not happy about that. Oh, my God. I mean, that thing about that game, that was a back and forth game. That could have changed everything until, until Dono ran 85 yards twice. Yeah, right. I mean, that was such a back and, wow, that is insane.

I mean, those are the little things that you just don't know watching on TV or you would never have noticed it. But it could have been huge. So that alone emphasizes the importance. importance of special teams and what it can do to a game. So it's nice to see that he's focusing on that. Yeah. Well, another two guys that I think are going to be extremely important to this team are Rod Moore and John Henry Daley, who they both have come out to say that they're 100%, which we haven't seen 100% Rod Moore in quite some time.

It feels like, you know, I think he tried to play a couple games, but really just, you know, he's been shutting it down. So I think that from a leadership standpoint, having Rod Moore on the field, I mean, you played with them, it is, you know, it's key to have a guy like that, a fellow 60-year guy as well to you. So huge for him. And then just the talent of John Henry Daley. I think that we, I don't know that anybody assumed that he was going to be

healthy just because his injury was so recent, you know? It was mid-season last year. And so I think those two guys being healthy is gigantic for this defense. Yeah. And one, another thing that you can credit Whittingham for is I know some media members were like, well, if they're 100%, why aren't they practicing full? What's going on there? And Whittingham comes out to say, listen, like a lot of issues in the past, like re-injury

comes from guys getting cleared. They go back in full force. They get hurt again. So he said that they are on a pitch count, which I respect. Rod Moore has been there for six years. He is not the type of guy who needs every single rep in fall camp. Get him what he needs.

Allow him to get some mental reps and stay healthy. He's more productive for us on the field on Saturdays in the season than he is every day of fall camp. So I can respect Whittingham for that. the same with John Henry Daily, too. He said the same thing, both on a pitch count and just taking a day by day, making sure that they are available for the season. 100%.

And so, I mean, if you're looking at that, if you're looking at the secondary now, it's a different look with Rod Moore because you've got Jaira Hill coming back. I know he's had an off and on career so far, but extremely, talented, like going to be an NFL player someday if he can continue this trajectory. He's changing the number zero, by the way, which, you know, I just love the look of that, although I maybe retire it for Mikey Sainter still. Yeah, I was about to say Mikey. I mean, Mikey is one of the all-time greats and needs to be recognized as that.

But you've got Smith Snowden. He's a guy who, I haven't heard his name. hunt. But when we got him in the transfer portal, it was like, holy smokes. That is a really good football player. Right. So I'm excited for our secondary. And then you have Zeke Berry back too, right? So I think that, you know, you've got Chris Bracey coming in as a transfer. Jordan Young's is a sophomore that I know that they are very high on. Chamari Earls as well, rocking the number two. Also, I don't know that we should have a number two rocking, you know, in the in the back or in the defensive backfield.

But Mason Curtis too. So there's like it's just the defense has not been talked about a ton, you know, during this this off season and through fall camp. But you've got some studs on defense too that I think are going to be good. And, you know, some guys like a Smith Snowden that we just haven't seen yet. So I'm very excited like, dude, if Rod Moore can stay healthy, that just changes everything. because not only is he a good leader, but he's a really good football player, and it's a depth piece. You know, I think to your point, like, he doesn't have to play every snap in fall camp.

He also doesn't have to play every snap during the season, right? I think it's just like adding a piece to the puzzle here that can be really impactful, both on the field but also on the sidelines for some of these new guys coming in. Yeah. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right about that. I mean, I really haven't looked at the full death of this defense, but it is a very experienced defense.

Like, these are guys who have played a lot of ball, you know, and guys at Michigan would have done it being Zeke Berry and Rod Moore, who great ballplayers and also great leaders, right, can bring people along and understand how to handle the high pressure scenarios. So, yeah, it is important that they, stay healthy. And if that means Rod Moore doesn't play every snap of every game, hey, that's fine, right? Like, we need him to be able to be on the field.

We don't need to drive him into the ground. So, I mean, it's one of those things. Time will tell. I think the biggest question is probably the front seven right now. What's that going to look like? And we'll find out. We will. Speaking of experience, you know,

That's actually our most experienced group. I know. You're looking at Cam Brandt as a senior, Troy Pierce as a senior, NO Eta is a redshirt junior. John Henry Daly's played a lot of football, even though he hasn't been in Michigan. Troy Bowles, you know, junior,

Osoboteng did get a lot of reps last year, and they really like him. Right. You think that, you know, you don't, outside of John Henry Daily, I'm going to say that you don't have like superstar names in there. Like there's not like a Mason Graham or a Kenneth Grant like that, that type of name. But you do have really good football players. And so that is, I'm excited to see what they do.

And especially we didn't really talk about this, but like especially after an offseason under, I think, a much improved strength program. Yeah. You know, not trying to throw a bunch of shade at the last, the last tenure. But, like, you know, Coach Whittingham talked about they didn't bench press. You know, they had a bunch of shoulder injuries. You know, you just, and even judging by pictures and now, like, the numbers that these guys are throwing up in the weight room, like, it looks to be, you know, very different. And so that's an all-around thing.

But I think that that is something when we talk about up front, both on the defensive side and the offensive side, like last year you could just see we weren't pushing people around by any means. You know, it was the reason that we moved the ball was because, you know, Jordan Marshall and Justice Haynes just broke it free a lot of the times. Right. And so I'm excited to get back to that where, you know, back to, those Joe Moore award-winning offensive lines, you know, back when you were on the line,

you guys moved bodies. Right. You cleared the way a lot. Right. Yeah. And our offensive line is in a really good spot. Bryce Underwood, well, I guess Coach Whittingham mentioned how Bryce has been saying how much more comfortable he's felt in the pocket and just behind those front five, which is encouraging.

Right. We saw a lot of scrambling last year. And just not a Michigan offensive line that was something of the past, right? It wasn't something to hang our hat on, which historically it has been. We've always been tough up front, which this year, it seems like we are stepping into that being around Blake Frazier, like just the pride that he took in it. And just kind of how he handled himself. I was like, yeah, this is the type of guy we want there. We want him, you know, protecting our quarterback.

and guys that have played in the system and understand each other, because that's probably the biggest part of it all, is just the coercion between all of them understanding each other and playing as a unit, because there is no tighter unit on a football team than the offensive line. I mean, I went from the O line to the tight end room and completely different. Like, the offensive line is almost even a little bit weird. I'd go as far as to say in a good way.

It's like, you're part of it. They're kind of like the bullpen, like on a baseball. team. They just spent so much time together and like you, you know, it's, there may be some borderline things that are, are said and done. And like, I mean, I mean, I just go back to Trevor Keegan, just like, I, the reason I think that that you guys were so good is, A, having Trevor Keegan and Zach Zenter on your line is, you know, a huge piece of it because they're very talented. but Trevor just was like the craziest person alive and, you know, would go and kick ass and then like double fist pitchers at Skeeps at night. And like you need a little bit of that on the line.

And like I don't, you know, I have no idea what Blake Frazier is doing on a Friday or Saturday night. But he gives me those vibes a little bit of just like, all right, we're boys and this is the squad. Yeah, no, I completely agree. I mean, I was around him for a handful of hours, and he reminded me of Trevor quite a bit. Like said, we've never been out with Blake in an evening in Ann Arbor, but hopefully there's some glue going on there, bringing those guys together.

There's a lot of talent in that room. Just got to put together, a lot of big bodies. So we'll see. Hopefully they're creating some holes and keeping the pocket. it all in all, I think from looking at the roster, dare I say, dare I say that I think this team could be pretty good. I think there's a lot of potential behind this team. We got a lot of the right pieces in place. Guys are healthy. There's some new buzz going around the facility. I think that we have the potential to be pretty good. I agree. And so Bryce, Bryce did say it.

to John Fanta that he thinks that his team is being slept on. That is one comment that I do agree with him on. And I'm excited about that, actually. I love the fact that, you know, people really aren't talking about Michigan right now as a top dog. I'd love for us to kind of fly onto the radar for a little bit. And so, yeah, well, again, we're August 12th. We're 24 days from, you know, the first game.

There's a lot of football to be played still, a lot of things to be happened. So it is wait and see time right now. But, hey, it feels like football season. We're excited. I even poured myself a little wits and whiskey on vacation last week to, you know, just get the feeling of what a Saturday morning is going to, going to feel like here soon.

Sure. And I spent some time at Feldman Chevrolet of Highland as well with both Bryce Underwood and Savion Heider. We did a little commercial shoot. So, you know, I got to give it to them. They're pretty good actors. So we're excited for both those. But that's it for us. You can follow us on Blue By 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at Blue By 90 podcast on YouTube and Blueby90.com.

We appreciate you. Go Blue. Go Blue.