Blue By Ninety - Michigan LB Cole Sullivan Joins | Next Man Up Mentality, Seizing His Opportunity, and more

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

Chris Wormley and Jordan Strack recap the Purdue game and are joined by Michigan LB Cole Sullivan.

All right. Welcome into Stadium in Maine with Big Worm and Strack. I am Jordan Strach. That is Chris Wormley adjusting his camera. He had all this time to sit and get that thing figured. But yeah, no, I like that. Yeah, you had to show off all the pod gear. That's good. Yeah. You know what? I think I can switch mine so that it doesn't look there. Is that better? No, you can actually see it. Yeah. Okay. I did that on the fly. How about that? I'm learning about technology. It's great. Welcome in. This is episode 10 of the podcast. We have new episodes every Tuesday, partnered up with Blue by 90. As you can tell, we are both wearing some new swag from BSN sports. We do have a podcast store, which is live now. People can go and buy podcast gear. Worm, you tweeted out that link the other day. People can find it there on our socials. When it comes to sports, every team deserves the best.

That's where BSN sports comes in. The nation's leading distributor of team sports apparel and equipment from jerseys to gear and everything in between. BSN sports helps coaches and athletes look good, feel good, and play even better. Reach out to your local sales pro today and take your team to the next level. BSD Sports, the heart of the game. And that went much better than I did last week when I apparently passed out while I was trying to read it. Worm, how are you? How was your weekend?

First up, did you go trick-or-treating this weekend for the kids? Of course. There's a spot in Ann Arbor. It's called Burns Park, and it's a neighborhood, and they shut down one of the streets. There's probably, I don't know, 100 houses on this one street, you know, four or five blocks. and they go all out they got candy shoots they have uh the crazy decorations i mean at one point there's probably i'd say 3,000 people on the street getting candy and uh my head's on the swivel looking for the kids you know they're running everyone's got the same bluey costume same cheerleader

costume like my daughter's had so yeah i had to make sure that they were they were good but you know we made it home kids got their candy uh and it was fun it was a good time um do you have like a is there like a tax like what is the one candy that you're stealing you know i was i was really hoping for like some i'm a i feel like i'm an old soul old soul so i like the i like the i like the caramel creams with like the the the chewy caramel with like the little white cream in the middle like a cow yeah yeah yeah yeah no you're talking about um they're calling bull's eyes no that's not what they're called hold on i'm gonna google it keep talking go ahead it's called bulls i anyways all right so those i like the caramel worthers i i i none of that none of that in the kids baskets there is the dad tax though

and that's just me getting whatever and anytime any anytime i want a piece of candy i just go and get it um so yeah and i'm saving the kids from cavities right like i'm i'm taking i'm taking one for the team i'd rather get the cavities than them so talking about those yeah bull's eyes who calls i've never heard them called bull i've never heard them called bullsyes caramel creams yeah i love those things i'm with you on those um were there did you say were there Yeah. Time out. Like I was Google, you said Wurthers? So are you 80? I told you I'm an old soul. So my one grandma, my one grandma would always bring over the caramel creams. And then I go to my other grandparents' house and they'd have the Wurthers. And I don't know if it's like a nostalgic thing to keep my grandparents close to the heart. But those are the things that I, you know, I get a Twix whenever. You know, I get a. Yeah. No, okay. My one daughter is allergic to peanuts so we don't have many Reese's in the Reese's in the. in the house so it's you know that's a balancing act yeah so i got you all right some skittles today it was good yeah i'm almost running out of the trick or treating age you know mine's a freshman

in high school like and i you know so people are always like oh don't let the high school kids go like you know people say that stuff i'm like no man let let let let high school kids go and and as long as they're being respectful and they're you know not pushing kids down and whatever we're doing a lot way worse things you know we're doing way worse be kids man like you only get so many years to do this stuff so uh she dressed up like you know as long as she's got a costume on and i will say the one thing i don't like like these older kids that go around and they don't wear a costume and they're like cool for it but then they want the candy yeah i get you yeah no no like throw throw a costume on and you get the candy my parents are always have a huge like they have a huge Halloween like

giveaway like that's it's if you seen the picture that i've tweeted out like they do full size everything every year it's crazy so like kids in the neighbors kids around salito like literally will get dropped off. They run up there. Go to the Stratz house. Go to the Stratz house. Literally, that's what it's kind of like. So South Toledo is always going to the Strack house.

And we've seen kids that will like go and they've done the Jim Harbaugh thing where they'll get their candy, go switch costumes, come back. We've seen that. Like I'm like, and I appreciate the hustle. I'm like, all right, that's cool. You want to do it. They're smart. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. So anyway, we're talking about Halloween because it feels much better than talking about whatever that football game was on Saturday. You and I were both there. Let's first talk about, though, the Blue by 90 tailgate. It was awesome. I mean, it was great. I don't even, I don't know if I have what the address was.

We can ask, Justin's going to join us here in a little bit where it was. But I loved it. I thought it was great. It was really cool. There was a ton of woods and whiskey around. And there was a good amount of people there. It was great. Man, they do it right.

I know that was your first time. I think that was my third time this season. And Justin. and Tanner and Caleb and, I mean, the real boss, Jacqueline. Jacqueline runs it. Yeah. They do it right, man. They have fun.

The DJ's got great music. They got good food. I'm excited for the Ohio State game because that's a, I'll be posted up there as well. Yeah, 1006 South Maine is where it was. It's just, just past the stadium north side. So it's awesome. We had a blast. I know it was good to see you over there with your wife.

It was, yeah, we had, we had fun. We had a good day. And then we went into the game. And, yeah, the game wasn't great. Michigan survives. They beat Purdue. You know, the passing game struggled once again, which is frustrating. So let's get into it.

You get saved basically by Jordan Marshall and the offensive line having an unbelievable day. Jordan Marshall, 25 carries 185 yards, three touchdowns. When I started thinking about, you know, Justice Haynes being out and this could have been a disaster if you don't have Jordan Marshall. Um, you know, Custle came in it, had a couple nice carries. It was great. But Jordan Marshall was the story. He's a difference maker right now. Yeah.

I mean, when I, obviously the bowl game last year, you kind of bounced onto the scene a little bit and we're like, okay. Yeah. This guy's a player. Um, and then the first couple weeks this year, not a whole lot of action. It was, you know, Haynes. Haynes was, you know, 100 yards every game plus. And now, I mean, back to back games with, with, with,

I mean, Haynes played last week. Now he's, you know, maybe having surgery, whatever the case may be on that. So thank God for Jordan Marshall because it looks like he's, it's not even like running back one and two anymore. It looks like it's, you know, either running back can go out there and give you 150 yards plus. And he balled out. There were some unreal runs, not just him being able to get your first downs, but pushing the pile, moving the pile, breaking tackles. His will to gain extra yards, the will to not go down. I think really saved us or saved the Wolverines this week

because not much else was going for the boys in the big house this weekend. No, it was frustrating because it just never felt like Bryce was able to, it never felt like Bryce was able to get into a rhythm. And let's just call it, it is what it is, Bryce struggle. It was not, it was probably, in my mind it was probably his worst game. of his freshman year. I thought there were some throws that he missed, but the interception in the red zone,

the fumble in the red zone, you're taking points off the board there. The interception in the red zone was a stunning one of me because he has McCauley probably open in the end zone. I thought there were three things he could do on that play. One, throw the ball to Donovan McCully. Two, run the football and pick up a couple yards, live to see another down.

or three, just throw it away. You've got three points down there. And he chose the fourth one, which was the only thing you couldn't do, was throwing that ball into traffic there, trying to shove that one in. Those are freshman mistakes, man. Those are things that are going to happen,

but you're hoping that in game eight, nine, game nine, you're hoping those start to come off the page, and they're not yet. Yeah, like you said, probably the worst performance. And I'm glad that it happened against a team like Purdue, where you can make those mistakes and still win the game still come out on top because watching the film, you know, whether they watched it yesterday or today, like they, watching that and knowing that you won the game feels a whole lot better than losing the game and then having to go back and watching the fumbles and the missed throws and missed opportunities.

And you're hoping that Bryce is not a freshman anymore. As a football team, you need him to play like an upperclassman. been there before and only it's it's only been his ninth game but you need him to continue to continue to take those steps and i talked about this all year like just bryce to continue to take those steps move forward and be a productive quarterback and it felt like he took a step back this game from the from the missed opportunities in the passing game and the two costly turnovers that that really took off at least six points off the board maybe 14 um it was it was frustrating to watch is there such thing as a freshman wall like can you get to a point where you can only get

so far as a freshman is that a real thing or or do you think like listen and and the thing is Bryce Bryce has put the big expectations on himself he's the one that said you've never seen a freshman like me um he's the one that that that he likes that attention he and I love that I love that about him I I would much rather have my quarterback be a guy who's like listen put it on me I want to go I'm going to go do it um but is there such thing as a freshman wall you think that he's kind of hitting right now i don't know about right now but there's definitely a wall there's a rookie wall in the NFL they talk about that a lot um there's definitely i mean i can remember back in my time even when i was going

through my ACL rehab my freshman year like i there was times i'm like damn like this this is tough like whether it was going to class and having to go to go to practice and then watch the film and go to treatment and go to study hall it was like all this is kind of accumulating but I think there's still more. There's still more in Bryce that, like, people know. Bryce knows that there's more in the tank for him. He's not living up to the expectations that he set for himself. And I know, I know that is weighing on him a little bit.

But there's still, you know, three games to go. There's still a lot to play for. And I know that if he continues to ascend, they're going to be in a great position to take what they want and to be in a position where they can make a run in the postseason. I think people, I've come to the realization that this is a run-first team. And when you have guys like Haynes and now Marshall coming on the scene in a big, big way, it doesn't matter what Bryce is, how much he's getting paid.

It doesn't matter what his ranking was. It doesn't matter. You know, they're a run-first team. They know that that's what they're going to do to be successful. and the coaches don't care. They don't give a damn what I think or what you think or what the fans are tweeting about or saying as long as they win the football game,

that's all that matters. And that's all that matters at the end of the season is the wins and losses. So they're going to continue to run the ball. They're going to continue to do what's been successful for them. They don't care about the spread. The spread was 21 points, I think, at one point. They won't buy five.

Who cares? Screw your parlayes. You know, it's like, you got to do what you have to do. and Sharon has found their success this season in running the ball and running it at a high, high level, and they're gashing guys. It's fun to watch, but also, you know, I want Bryce to shine as well, too. Do you think that there's part of them right now that they're holding some stuff back for that Ohio State game? I mean, the short answer is yes, because you always have to.

have to surprise your biggest rival, the biggest game of the season. You have to surprise them with something. Did you guys do that? Did you guys hold stuff back? Yeah. Oh yeah. You have to, especially on the defense side of the ball. You have to discuss, especially when it's Don Brown. I had Don Brown my last year. And we would have 10 new blitzes a week. You know, we would have new schemes a week. So yeah, there was new stuff for Ohio State because you want to give them something that they haven't seen on film, you know, disguise here, blitz over there, you know, rotate down of safety somewhere else and surprise them, you know, in a different way. But yeah, they're probably holding a few things back.

And I think the schedule has allowed them to do that. They haven't had to, you know, obviously they have two losses, but these next three games, they should win. They shouldn't have to pull on anything new, but also you want to maybe test those new wrinkles out a little bit on these next three opponents or the next two until the Buckeyes come to town. But, you know, it's going to take something more than just what they're doing right now to beat the Buckeyes and, you know, I have faith because of what happened last year.

Like we talked about, isn't it crazy how that, isn't it crazy how that happens? Yeah, it is crazy. It's crazy. I mean, absolutely crazy. We're going to get to that in just a second. But like, I mean, the last couple years have kind of totally changed the perspective. They've totally changed the way that I view the game. and I think it has for Ohio State fans.

I actually saw there was a Buckeye fan who had tweeted something along the lines of what worries you the most the rest of the season. And almost every single person replying said the Michigan game. So they sit, they will sit and tell you like they're not like, come on,

Michigan can't throw the ball, blah, blah, blah. They're worried about that game. They're cryptic. The last four seasons has been the Wolverines, you know? Yeah. they can say whatever they want to feel good. Yeah, they rolled in the playoffs, basically, you know. They absolutely rolled in the playoffs.

Yeah. And for them, that blemish last year was the Michigan game. So I know they're looking at that. I know Ryan Day's, you know, staying up late, scheming up, even when they're playing. I don't know who they're playing this week, but maybe they have a buy as well. But I know, I know he's trying to find ways to win. He's trying to find ways to put up more than 13 points, like they did last year. But the Buckeye schedule, they've basically had buys since that Texas game, to be fair.

I mean, honestly, like, I'm not one to bash schedules like it is what is. They play Purdue this week, by the way. I'm not like, like, got a basher schedule like it is what it is. I mean, like, the schedule's been soft, like, it just is. But that's not their fault that Texas ended up not being great. They're still, Texas kind of rallying back now, whatever. Penn State, you know, Penn State, that's supposed to be a massive game last week. They thought, we thought Penn State could be one.

versus two. Like, it's not Ohio State's fault that Penn State all of a sudden stinks. So the big news we've kind of touched on it. Justice Haynes having surgery. We don't have really a timeline. When you look at this thing, though, from a depth perspective, how much does that kind of change the way that this looks going forward? Because when Jordan Marshall's your second guy that you're running out there, that's different. different. Like, that's a change of pace, punch you in the mouth. Um, no offense to Bryson Custall, but like he's not Jordan Marshall. And when, so it changes the depth. That's, you know, having Jordan Marshall is one. Cool. He's not Justice Haynes and Cousdell is not

Jordan Marshall. So the depth on this thing really changes going forward now. Yes, it's not just the running back room that are, that are experiencing, you know, depth chart issues. It's, You know, the linebacker room, they, they, they're three, one of the, you know, the top five best players, you know, Rolder, Sullivan, and then Barham went out, you know, pretty early in the game. They, they, they were all hurt the whole game. And then they, they bounced back. They, I thought the defense played a great game, you know, without some of their top players. Um, yeah, that running back room is different now. When you, when you, when you don't have that one two punch like you've had all season, um, it changes. It changes the narrative. You know, you know, You want guys to be peeking at the right time when it comes to towards the end of the season. Everybody's hurt, but you want to be able to, you know, get through those injuries, get through the bumps and bruises and peak at the right time because you're going to need those guys to beat Ohio State. You're going to need those guys to make a run, you know, if it's the Big Ten championship or the playoffs. So the more guys you have healthy, it's not just who has the best players.

It's who has the best players and whose best players are healthy at the right time. and right now Michigan's banged up a little bit and we'd love for those guys to get healthy over the next few weeks. The bi-week, I think, is coming out of perfect time, especially for those younger, or not the younger guys, but some of the guys who are hurt that aren't, you know, maybe it's just a little tweak here and there. You know, Rod Moore, getting another week of being healthy,

coming back. I think if he can come back in a week and a half, this is going to be huge. But, yeah, you want all your best players and all your players, really, to be healthy and peeking at the right time. Yeah, I mean, You look at it. So Barham leaves early in that game.

I watched him walk off because he, like, had walked basically right in front of us, and we're like, the hell happen. Yeah. And then you're already without Sullivan. You're already without Rolder. That's, I mean, you're talking, they had moved Barham back to linebacker in that game.

So, I mean, you've got Nathaniel Ousupotang, Troy Bowles, Chase Taylor. That's two freshmen. and a guy that's new to the system coming in and having to play big minutes. And, you know, we've talked about that. Like, guys are having to step up and guys are having to do things that maybe you didn't expect them to have to do. But they're doing it.

I think that's, that's so, that speaks so highly to what they've recruited, what they've brought in, guys are able to come in and still make plays, especially some of the young guys. And getting this experience now is just invaluable. Yeah. I mean, you know, there's a lot of younger guys that stepped up all throughout the season, you know, especially in the DB room, those young, those young, the young offensive line, the young receiver in Marsh, you look at the linebackers. Nine freshmen playing, I think, on one side of the ball the other day. Yeah, it's huge, man.

It's huge when they can do that. You can step up and play big time minutes and get the reps in because if some of these guys are hurt, you know, longer than expected, they, they, the coaches feel a little better that they can. going there and perform at a high level and not really skip a beat. Yeah. You mentioned it, but this by week, it feels like it feels like it's coming at a really good time. You're going to have to rest up and then go play, you know, a big showcase game at Wrigley, which, you know, those are different kinds of games. And then you've got sandwiched in before the Ohio State game.

You've got a sneaky Maryland team where if you don't, show up maryland can beat you um i think this i think this by week comes at a really good time honestly um i think that would be i think it's a it's challenging but i think it's a really good time for this team to get healthy yeah yeah this is you know i wish the NFL had two bye weeks because it was perfect you know when you have the in the NFL you get that you get a bye week in like week you're like okay now we have 12 more weeks to try and stay healthy it's crazy so if you can get two by weeks like college has kind of shifted to that's huge for guys to get healthy uh guys to just take a little break you know it's it's so demanding it's so high high tempo high you know

the expectations are so high so if you get one or two days to maybe fly back home see family unwind a little bit enjoy a saturday um i think it's huge for the for the mentals especially for the body but you know if if michigan can can get healthy over this next week and a half and come back for these next three you know the last three weeks of the regular season that's that's huge that gives them a big advantage to go in uh i know we keep talking about this last game of the regular season but it's you know that that that's what that's what people are playing for that that's what the wolverines and and the buck guys are looking forward to i i mean listen like it's it's the game like they yeah we're going to look at it we're going to talk about it here in just a second i want to touch

on one final thing um wrapping up the Purdue game first you go back and look at the pff grades for the receivers jimbar broader who got in and i thought had a shot uh Bryce missed him Samaj Morgan Donovan McCulley Andrew Marsh the pf grades were bad really bad for all four of them. I don't put everything into the PFF grades because I just don't. I mean, sometimes they're a good reference and I think, you know, there's a lot of good that comes there. I do. I just don't put everything into it. But you're not getting separation right now. Bryce is having to make, having to make like real tight throws to get to some of these guys. The throw to Browder that he missed was a tight window. The throw to McCulley that he missed in

the end zone, really tight window. And that, I think that's why Bryce is having to try to force a throw in the red zone. When he's throwing, you know, he's running to the sideline, throwing that, that tight, the interception, he's the tight fit into Marsh because he feels like he has to. Guys just aren't getting open. And maybe that's, maybe that plays into why, you know, things are going the way they're going offensively. Is, could you think that could be part of it?

Yeah. I think, I mean, even like the interceptionary through when you said McCulley was open, it's like, you know the one time that they do get open and they do get some separation whether it was a scramble and they're kind of you know uh running around trying to get open he's open but they don't see him so it's like you know it's kind of a double-edged sword like when he does throw it to him they're not getting separation when they doesn't throw it to him they're open so it's it's one of those things where especially if you know the game isn't going how they thought it was going to go bryce is maybe forcing things here and there uh he's like you know if i can just make this play

because you know i i know he knows that he can he thinks he can make every throw in the book you know it seems like he can at times and so when he's he's you know he's running around doing his thing he's trying to make these throws it's like okay let's see if this this gets in there and we can you know get a rhythm going get some confidence back you know get some chemistry back between these receivers and embrice because it's it's the the athleticism's there the talent is there it's just a matter of putting it all together and and it's just it just didn't happen Saturday. Yeah.

All right. So let's look big picture here. We know what's coming up a couple days after Thanksgiving. We're at that point of the year where, like, I know the team has to focus on two more games before that, whatever. We don't have to focus on anything. We can go ahead and look at the end of the season. Everybody's got it circled.

Everybody knows that Ohio State's coming. This Buckeye team is really good. They weren't supposed to be this good. you lose what eight guys to the draft or night whatever what eight guys on the one side of the ball of the draft you lose a quarterback you lose your two running backs they lose all these guys to the NFL draft and they just keep rolling yeah is this michigan team good enough can they beat ohio state of course of course they can um they're they're gonna have to play their best game on both sides of the ball uh i think when when ryan day looked at that game from last year He's going to do everything he can to put up points to to make sure that they score more than 13 points. And that Ohio State defense is good, man. They got some ballers on that side of the ball. And I think that when it comes down to it, Michigan matches up well with them when they're playing their best.

Because you saw it against Purdue. And in the game before that against Michigan State, they just wore them down with the run game. And like I said, Michigan's a running team. They're going to run the ball and they don't care. And listen, if Michigan pulls off the win and they win, you know, another 13 to seven game or something crazy like that, there's nobody on as a Michigan fan or inside that that locker room that's going to be mad. They're going to be, it's just the greatest team ever.

Like we knew you could do it, like all this stuff. We love Sharon, like all this stuff. So it's, you know, fans have their opinions. but I just, I'm excited for that. I'm excited for the next, you know, this next month of football because it's, you know, this is November football in college where you can just lay it all on the line. You know, you know what's at stake. You know the implications.

And you let the cards fall where they fall because this is what you do the spring ball for and the summer workouts and the fall camp that's absolutely grueling. And you have setbacks when you lose two games to, you know, good opponents. but it all comes down to, you know, these next four weeks, and it's really, really exciting. So here's why I think Michigan can win the game. And listen, I don't get this twisted. Everything kind of has to fall into place perfectly for Michigan to win that football game.

If, A, get another bad weather day, it's a little windy, it's a little cold. Oh, yeah. and Julian saying can't sling that thing all over the place. Ohio State cannot run the football right now. Like, outside of one run against Penn State for Bo Jackson, they can't run the football. It's been an absolute struggle and that's just a fact. So part of it is they have a really good passing game.

They don't need to run it. But they can't run it right now. So if you do get a bad weather day or if Michigan can slow them down a little bit, They can't run it. That's one thing. They also don't really stop the run great. Penn State ran it a little bit on them. I don't want to say they can't stop it.

They can't stop the run game. Their defense is exceptional. It's the best in America. They're the best team in the country. Penn State. Show, you can run it a little bit on them. Yeah, I think. So I think there are some things.

I'm not saying Michigan's going to beat them. I think there's some things that Michigan could do to, to expose them, though. Yeah, Michigan can control the clock with their run game and their defense can force them in three and outs, you know, with with the past game. It makes it interesting, you know. You get to get to the fourth quarter. You get to, you know, the last two, three possessions of the game and you're right there.

A lot could happen. And like you said, you're not saying that they're going to win, but if they have to put themselves in a position to win and that's where you just let it go and you and and you play football you play November Big Ten football and it's it's the game so like you said anything can happen I mean listen I don't I get it it's not it's not likely but there's a chance there's a chance and I put you some money on them or what every week that we get closer I start to feel a little bit better. And that's, that's scary thought that I start to feel good. All right, let's bring on Justin Rowe. Hi, Justin. How are you? I'm great. How are you guys? What's our boss?

Good. Yeah, this is the, the Blue by 90 boss. He's the man in charge. Well, Jacqueline's in charge. We don't let. Yeah, Jacqueline's in charge. Like, let's not, let's not get it twisted here. You got it right. Yeah, she was, she was running around the tailgate. We mentioned that the tailgate was great and Jacqueline she's fun you you weren't as much fun uh she was fun though she i mean she's my better half for a reason that's for sure um i'm trying to change the world one dream at a time you know out here somebody's got to do it um but uh no i appreciate you guys coming through it's uh you know the woods woods and whiskey was flowing uh camp vodka water was flowing. So, um, had a great time. Shout out to Feldman Chevrolet of Highland as well. Um,

you know, having the, the truck there and everything. So, um, got to get all my sponsor shout out to. Yeah, no, go ahead. Anything else? Anybody else you want to shout out. Shout out BSN sports. I got to get myself a polo or quarter zip as well. Um, but, uh, no, I mean, I'll say this. For a November night game against a not great opponent, we had a great showing at the tailgate. and I want to give it up to the fans just in general. The Big House was hacked and was like pretty rowdy other than like with not a whole lot to cheer for in terms of, you know, excitement all the time.

And so I think, you know, sometimes I am not thrilled with Michigan fans and how quickly they can jump off a bandwagon or not be, you know, into a game. So I got to give them props when, you know, when they're into it. I thought it was a really good atmosphere, from what I remember. It was a really good atmosphere. And I thought, I thought, you know, the game was not great. But good atmosphere and all those things.

We wanted to bring you on because Blue by 90, Blue by 90 has some really cool things coming up at Wrigley. And I wanted to give you a chance to give people an idea, what can they expect at Wrigley coming up here in, what, two weeks? Yeah, we've got it. We've got a fun event. We're teaming up with Champion Circle, Michigan's NIL collective with our friends over there.

I believe fam will be somewhat involved too, but we're going to be at Sluggers, which is in Wrigleyville. It's one of the more fun bars in Wrigleyville right outside the stadium. Friday night from 6 to 10. You can go check out. Go to Champion Circle's Instagram and check it out.

They got the tickets all there and everything. but you can go and it's like an all-inclusive type thing you buy your ticket you get food and drinking everything we're going to be doing a live podcast there as well worm myself tanner um i think jared wangler's going to join us ian bunting's going to join us a few other uh former michigan players and some friends there so um it's going to be fun man we're just going to i honestly think like this is going to be so much fun really not even because of the game itself, but just Michigan playing in Chicago, I mean, obviously Wrigley's iconic, but there are so many Michigan fans and alum in Chicago that it's like, it's like a home away from home type of

thing. So, you know, obviously Michigan fans travel well to anywhere, but this will be a special one. So come check us out. Come hang. We'll be sipping on some woodson whiskey there, I believe, as well, probably some other stuff too. So come have a drink with us. us and hang and listen to us, shoot the ship for a little bit. I love it. I think it's awesome. How did you pull that off getting a prime spot by Wrigley? Who do you know?

We got some donors in the Michigan fan base that are influential in the Chicago area. So, I mean, it's never a bad thing to be a part of this Michigan fan base because you can go anywhere and there's somebody influential that is a Michigan alum fan, you know, whatever. Yeah, no, that's awesome. Let's go on the Ohio State thing real quick while we have you on here. It's the next home game. What do you got planned that final week? Have you already started planning that one?

Well, I mean, I think that we should and we will have a little live podcast. Maybe the trio here and some other guys that we get would love to, you know, maybe an 8 a.m., a little broadcast on stage with the big house scoreboard in the background there with my parka on a little chilly maybe we do a little whiskey and hot cider or something talk some stuff you know we'll have the the DJ ripping again and and I'm trying listen that's a day like I'm very focused on the game so you know there are some days like like this past Saturday where I'm I might be focused on the tailgate a little bit more than the game actually. But, you know, this one, come to Ohio State Day. It is, you know, you're focused on the game. But from about 8 to 11, we're going to have

some fun and get people ready for that game. So, I mean, you guys were just talking about it. Listen, I was in the building at practice on Friday. And every single person that I talked to was just saying like listen we went out we're we're in you know so they're focused on that in terms of just like that is it is you know I know there probably are a lot of fans out there after they watch that performance on Saturday night that are like no shot no chance whatever this is going to be you know it's over but those guys are focused on that they have their goals in front of them and also to your point about Ryan day and what happened last year there's something to him about when he's going to get

out of that field and look across the sideline, see Mays and Blue and he tightens up a little bit. Their whole team tights up. Those old butts get tight, dude. I mean, that's what happens. You know, I was talking to Ian and Jared about this

and Worm, I hate to put you in this, but like, you guys kind of had that same thing back then of like, you never knew that you really could beat them. So then you're just like, ah, shit, everything I do is a little bit tighter. And I think until they do it, that's them. Yeah, I know the pain.

I know what it's like to never beat them. So I have zero empathy for those boys over in Columbus. And you know what? I know the pain. The Buckeye fans in your Twitter mentions, they don't mind reminding you of that too. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I say it all time. I never beat Ohio State. I would love for, this is an open invite for any one of those Buckeyes. If you're going to come to Ann Arbor, come to the tailgate and say it to Chris Wormley's face. And we, I would love to film that interaction as soon as you shake his hand and it swallows your entire forum. It's so funny. So I had my buddies with me Saturday. And my one friend, he had, he's met Wormley before.

But the other one was like, damn, like he's actually bigger than I anticipated. I'm like, this guy? Like, he's, he's a big teddy bear. No, but that's what everyone, everybody thinks that when he come, when they come up and see them, they're like,

holy shit. And at first, for people that like don't recognize you, you being you right away, they're like, that's got to be like somebody, right? And they come up to me and they're like,

who is that? I'm like, that's Chris Marba. So, yeah, you're big dude. I'm not, all right,

we're done like, you know, uh, guess me up, man. No, no, we're done with it. People always look at me and they're like, wow, you're even shorter and fatter than I thought in person. And I'm like, yeah, no, actually, that's very fair.

Yeah, it is what it is. It is what it is. All right, Justin. So you've got some good stuff coming up at Wrigley. Looking forward to that. It should be a lot of fun. And then final home game of the year in Ann Arbor. What's the address again so people can come find us that game against Ohio State?

Yeah, 1-006 South Main Street. Come hang out with us. We'll be ripping it. We'll have a ton of stuff going on there. So it's a great spot. Even if you park somewhere else, come stop in right before you go to the stadium because you can hit a pitching wedge

into the stadium from where we're at. So it's a great spot. I do have, you know, if you've got time for me, I've got a couple of takes. I was listening to you guys to what you guys had saying, you know, talking about Michigan, you know, talking about the passing. game talking about whatever um i you know i agree with you that uh that was probably unfortunately

brice's worst performance that he's had as a michigan uh you know a football player um i will say this i am still impressed that it was i'm impressed that it was up until week whatever nine that he made those mistakes that he did right because i think that coming into it i thought that he was going to, you know, be all of, all of everything or nothing, you know, or make those mistakes. And so I was really, I was surprised that it took this long and I've impressed that it took this long for him to get to that point. So I'm going to say just go, if you're, if you're worried about my man, Bryce, go look at the history of college football. I know you guys aren't. I'm saying, I'm talking to the fans now. Go look at the history of college football and go see

how many true freshman quarterbacks have, like, played their asses off, you know, and balled out. I said last, yeah, that's what I said last week. It's not that many. And so, listen, listen, in the 23 season, J.J. McCarthy averaged, I think, 203 yards passing. Bryce right now through nine games is averaging 185 yards passing. So Jordan, I like JJ, great quarterback, top 10 pick. Jordan has them on his Mount Rushmore, you know. Yep.

And if, you know, Bryce is 20,000. yards away from that on average that's that's two extra completions a game so people who are complaining go go back and look at some stats not just from jj but other quarterbacks uh Bryce is I think he's going to be fine I know he I know he everybody wants more I want a thousand yards he wants more he he wants more everybody wants more yeah I mean I'd love for us to win 55 to nothing every game I just not how life works unfortunately um and so And then, you know, this team is just young all around, right? And so you got, I think that, like, I say this a lot to, you cannot exchange anything for experience, right?

Experience to me is, like, the biggest thing, especially in college athletics, but just in sports in general. You watch, go watch the NCAA tournament every single year. There's somebody in the elite eight that shouldn't be there because they're not as talented, but they've got like five senior guards that are on their team that just control the game perfectly, you know? And so I'm excited for the future of this team because of that. I'm excited for the offense. I think they're going to work it out, you know.

And you know what? If they don't, we'll run the damn ball because that's what Michigan does. And we've done it for a long time. We'll continue to do it. And I, so there's my take for you, Jordan. All right. Justin, we appreciate you. We have a guest waiting. I'm going to knock you out real quick and bring him in. Is that cool? Go for it. I appreciate you guys. Thanks, Justin. All right. Let's bring in a surprise guest tonight. There we go. There we go. Cole Sullivan, one of the stars of this Michigan football team that people have begun to love so far.

And one half of what worm has deemed the exciting whites. Col, how are you? Welcome. Appreciate you coming in. Yeah, thank you for having me on here. I'm excited. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, man. First off, how about the job that the guys did? Listen, there's injuries right now. And some guys filled in and did one heck of a job. How impressed were you with the guys the way everybody stepped up the other night on the defensive side? Yeah, it was amazing to see. You know, obviously, Purdue is no push. over, especially on the offensive side of the ball. I think the average are like 22 or 21 points a game.

We held them to only 16. So it was great to see some younger guys get in there and hold that standard up high where we've always said it, seeing guys, you know, Troy Bowles, who's been playing, but he had a bigger role. And Nato Wusu and Chase Taylor, the two freshmen stepping up too big for us. So that was just in a linebacker.

I was just in a linebacker room. There are plenty of other guys, too, that stepped up as well. But, yeah, it was amazing to see, you know, those young guys come in and do it at a high level. It feels like that's kind of becoming the story of this team. I mean, guys stepping up when guys go down, like the offensive line right now, dudes are just stepping up and playing. It feels like that's kind of become an identity of this team right now. How do you guys keep that mindset in that locker room?

Yeah, I think an old saying that Coach Harbaugh had and Coach Moore used now is you want to emulate, and eventually you want to surpass. So that's something that holds true in all football, especially coming in as a freshman, you know, seeing older guys, how they do it, the standard that's set here and just trying to emulate that as best you can and, you know, trying to eventually. be better. But, you know, I think it just shows the kind of leadership that we have on this team. Guys are older guys are bringing younger guys along and the coaching staff is as well. So there's always a strength in numbers. And the more guys you can play, the fresher everybody can be. And, you know, when we have these type of injuries that there's not going to be any type of drop off. And hopefully with this bi-week, we can get a few guys healthy. So I think it's great timing for the by league for us.

Great to get this win this past weekend heading into this by league. Yeah, absolutely. Cool. Talk about your ascension this season. Beginning of the season, it was Barham and Ernest, and Barham gets moved to the kind of outside linebacker role now. Talk about, obviously, you and Roald or both, have kind of come on the scene in a big way

and have made some incredible plays throughout this season. What was your mindset going into the end of the season, and now that you're, you know, one of the top guys on the defensive side of the ball, how has that allowed you to continue to play at a high level? Because, I mean, there's a lot of dogs on that defense. So how do you see yourself continuing to get better and be one of those guys that the team can count on? Yeah, I mean, I have to give credit to all my teammates, you know, for pushing me to be better and helping me out, learning this defense, showing me the way.

but yeah this off-season i really just made it my my goal to just learn the defense as much as i could and get as better as as good as i could get better and you know if i if i i didn't even know if i if i would get an opportunity right i mean i played special teams a lot last year um like you said we had both of our starters returning uh but a bunch of older guys in a linebacker room but i knew that um you know if i ever did get a chance that that um you know if i ever did get a chance that I was going to make the most of it. And so with J. Sean getting moved over to Edge, you know, it opened up a role for me. And I, you know, that was just my opportunity.

And I took it and ran with it. So, yeah, it was just a lot of preparation this offseason. And a lot of coaches and teammates around me believing in me to put me in the game. And, you know, those guys just rallying around my success. Like we always, it's great to have a team that, you know, we all rally around each other's success. And it's awesome to see that kind of stuff happening with me and Jimmy's success. Yeah, I think when guys step into the season not knowing what their role is going to be, maybe a backup or just special teams and then they get kind of tossed into that situation,

you always have to be able to take advantage of those situations when you get thrown in there because you don't know how many reps you're going to get. You don't know how many more opportunities you're going to get. And now that you have that, you've had those opportunities and you've capitalized in major ways throughout this season, I don't see you really giving that back. So it's been fun to watch you kind of grab that and take it and have a lot of success playing linebacker this season. It's been fun to watch. Yeah. And I mean, you know, with me and Jimmy being out this past week, we saw some of the even younger linebackers to grabbing their opportunity and taking it as well.

And they, you know, they played good games and helped us in this win. So, you know, maybe we'll be seeing even more of them as well in the future. Okay, a couple more. We'll get you out of here. First off, where are you that you have the industrial piping above your head? I'm actually just sitting in my dorm room right now. That's just the air conditioning unit. But, yeah, it's just in my apartment.

Are you in a dorm room or are you in an apartment? Because I used to live in South Quad and North Quad in my first two years. years. And now I know that you guys are living in some nice high rises. The NIL's treating you nicely. Yeah. So I had to live in a dorm my first semester. So I didn't even have to live there a whole year. But I lived in East Quad, my first semester. And I know the freshmen this year, they didn't even have to live in the dorms at all. So they went straight to the apartment. Yeah, they're living good. Yeah. But no, I think the dorms definitely build character. I'm kind of I got to experience it, but I'm also happy.

I didn't have to stay there a whole two years like you did. I think that was Coach Harbaugh's rule and Coach Moore kind of changed that around. But, yeah, I'm definitely living right up here. That's awesome. I want to ask you, coming out of high school, were you a three-star? Yeah. Okay. So how does a three-star guy ascend this quickly?

And when you look back on it, did you pay attention to? your recruiting rankings a lot more than you probably should have um no um so i think i was i forget which one but i was a three star on one of the sites and four on the other i believe okay i could be i think 24 seven had you as a three star i believe okay yeah but as far as paying attention to my rankings i i couldn't have cared less about that if i'm being completely honest like really all i cared about was, you know, I mean, I cared about getting offers, but there were, yeah, obviously getting Michigan was an offer I wanted. But, yeah, especially once I was committed, I didn't, I didn't care about the rankings. I mean, I knew once you get to college, all your stars,

all your rankings, that all disappears. That all goes away. Like, everybody starts fresh. And so I, I knew that once I was going to get here, I was just going to go back to work. And, uh, If anything, my low rankings kind of motivated me even more. So help me not enough to get complacent and stay humble and just keep that drive to me. Worm, where were you ranked? I think I was similar to Cole. I think I was like three on some and four on another. And it's like.

And played eight years in the NFL? Yeah. So, you know, I think it's a lot like the PFF in the NFL where like J.J. Watt was talking about it on Pat McAfee. were like, he had an Uber driver tell him that he was grading J.J. Watt. Like, he was a PFF grader. So it's like, who's, who's going to tell me that I'm a four star or a three star or a five star? When I was at Michigan, we had a lot of five stars that didn't play a down, that never made it,

never, never really contributed at a high level. And then one of my good friends, Ryan Glasgow, a walk-on along with Graham and Jordan, Glasgow, all three walk-ons, all played in the league for a long time. and so like kind of what Cole's talking about doesn't really matter what the rankings are as long as you get the offers as long as you take advantage of those opportunities that you get once you get on campus anything can happen anything can happen yeah exactly I mean we it's not like they declare the national champion over who has the best recruiting class yeah yeah absolutely I love it Cole listen man we appreciate you hopping on with us good luck the rest of the way getting stuff back healthy and hope to see you. Oh, you got one more worm? Go ahead. Cole, Cole, after, I think it was the, I think it was after the Washington game.

You and Rolder both had an interception, right? Yes, sir. Yeah. And the exciting whites over at the Philadelphia Eagles, Blankenship and Dejan, and Dejohn, Cooper Dejohn. I coined you, Dejean. I coined you guys the exciting whites of Michigan football. Can you react to that nickname for me?

I just, I want, I want you to tell me that you like that nickname because I've been saying it a lot because you got even bawling your ass off. Yeah, that was pretty cool seeing that on social media. We've been having a lot of fun with it in the locker room. There we go. Okay. Beautiful. Some jokes about maybe getting T-shirts made or something, but maybe, maybe, I don't know how we can make that happen, but I don't know, I think it's pretty funny.

Okay, cool. I love it. Listen, let us see if we can. We got to figure out a way to somehow make that happen. I don't know how we're going to do it. We'll be in touch. We'll let you know. All right.

We'll love to talk about that later. I love it. I love it. Cole, thanks, man. Good luck the rest of the way. All right. I appreciate you guys. Yes, sir.

Thank you, man. Take care. Cole Sullivan, Michigan linebacker, a late ad to the program tonight. We appreciate the heck out of him hopping on here. I mean, listen, man, we talk about, you know, a three-star guys. four star low four star guy it didn't take him long it wasn't long ago he was playing high school football and but you know you get those offers he gets in um i am a star guy i do believe in you know ranking getting as many five star guys as you possibly can like that's just kind of how i i mean

generally speaking like but like there are exceptions to the rule and he's been awesome and jimmie roller have been great they've they've been since the moment they got their chance this season, they've been able to, to make big plays, contribute at a high level. And like I said, to Cole, like, once you have that opportunity and once you have, you know, that role solidified, like, don't give it back. Like, look for more, look for more reps, look for more opportunities. Because those guys behind them that got a chance to play this week or this past week, they showed that they can play at a high level.

So I know Cole's excited to get back when he's healthy. this is going to be a big week for him and especially the biweek to get back healthy but it was great talking to him for a few minutes no for sure looking forward to uh heading over to rigley for you i know that's exciting uh yeah that that's going to be awesome um big business trip for you though big business trip that's what i told the wife that's what i told the wife i hope i hope she's not watching this she got she's going to she's going to fight one of us yeah make sure she's not listening She said, she did tell me the other day at the tailgate.

She said, yeah, she said she's paying attention. She's listening. She likes and subscribes. She listens. She watches the clips on, on Instagram. But I don't, I don't think she's watching the full hour alone. The whole thing. The whole thing.

So that's okay. Good. Good. All right, Worm. You ready to get out of here? Yeah. Yeah. We covered a lot. I'm excited for, for Wrigley, like you said.

It's going to be fun. Get to watch a game in a baseball stadium, an iconic baseball stadium. Yeah. There's definitely going to be more. There's definitely going to be more, Michigan fans there than Northwestern, which is, which is awesome. Chicago is my favorite, one of my favorite cities. It's a big city, but it still has that Midwestern feel.

So I'm excited to spend a few, a quick 36 hours there. Yeah, absolutely. All right. We appreciate it. Good stuff. Make sure you like and subscribe and share all of our stuff on social media. Go find us on Instagram and do all those things. So we can keep this thing rolling.

We appreciate it and looking forward to keeping this thing rolling. in Michigan 7 and 2 get a week off and we will come back next week just like we do every single week here on Stadium in Maine. Thanks so much for watching and we will see you next time. Man, go blue.