It’s always challenging to assess something like leadership and culture from the outside looking in, but those are two of the most important traits of a great college football team. The teams that manage to win big games play for each other, and the leaders on the team help their teammates play their best.
With veteran leaders like Josaiah Stewart, Makari Paige, Josh Priebe and others now off to the pros, do the Michigan Wolverines have the culture and leadership to make a run at the College Football Playoff in 2025?
Offense
One player on offense has a unique ability to fire up the guys around him — Max Bredeson. If there’s someone to get in a huddle and hype his teammates up, it’s Bredeson. There isn’t another guy like Bredeson on this team, and head coach Sherrone Moore said as much on a recent podcast.
“You talk about a guy, specifically Max, that sets your culture of who you are and what you do on a daily basis, not just on the football field but out in life. Those are the type of guys you want,” Moore said.
The offense, however, did not have a leader at the quarterback position last year, and that’s the most important position to have a leader at. Hopefully Mikey Keene considered the competition with true freshman Bryce Underwood when he decided to transfer to Michigan, and same goes for Underwood when he decided to flip from LSU to Michigan.
While leadership is slightly concerning for Michigan’s offense as of today — considering we haven’t seen what the team dynamic is like with Underwood and Keene — Moore showed he can keep guys together while managing a quarterback carousel last fall.
Defense
If Bredeson is the vocal leader on offense, Rod Moore is that guy on defense. He’s got the talent to play every snap, but his understanding of the game and willingness to help others is invaluable to the defense. There are questions about how he’ll look after his injury last year — he’s had a decent amount of time to recover, but there’s still uncertainty with how that’ll impact his game.
Other than Moore, we’ve seen strides from Ernest Hausmann and Derrick Moore, and I think there’s a chance we could see TJ Guy step into more of a leadership role this season as well. The defense should be one of the best in the country again, but if they want to have a shot at a CFP run, it feels like they need another guy to step up alongside Moore.
Coaching
Sherrone Moore is working to keep Michigan’s championship culture in place, and with the way the team finished last season, there is momentum heading into the spring. He hired a new offensive coordinator in Chip Lindsey, promoted Pernell McPhee to outside linebackers coach, got associate head coach Biff Poggi to return to Ann Arbor, and hired a few notable analysts like Juan Castillo to help the assistant coaches.
But it’s not just about having the best talent and the best coaches — the team is focusing on the right mindset. Like great Michigan teams of recent memory, the program is putting the team over any individual.
One of Michigan’s strengths this fall will be its culture and leadership. Sherrone Moore is working hard to improve where he needs to, and he will certainly be asking the players and other coaches to do the same. Bredeson and Rod Moore will undoubtedly answer that call and relay the message to their teammates, as should the coaching staff he has in place.
With the leadership and culture the Wolverines have in place, they can 100 percent make a run at the College Football Playoff.
What do you think about Michigan’s leadership and culture? Do they have what it takes to make a playoff run? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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