Michigan Wolverines

2012 record: 8-5

2012 conference record: 6-2

Returning starters: Offense: 6; defense: 6; kicker/punter: 3

Top returners:

QB Devin Gardner, WR Jeremy Gallon, TE Devin Funchess, LT Taylor Lewan, RT Michael Schofield, DT Quinton Washington, LB Desmond Morgan, LB Jake Ryan, CB Raymon Taylor, S Thomas Gordon

Key losses

QB Denard Robinson, WR Roy Roundtree, OG Patrick Omameh, C Elliott Mealer, DE Craig Roh, DT William Campbell, LB Kenny Demens, CB J.T. Floyd, S Jordan Kovacs

2012 statistical leaders

Rushing: Denard Robinson (1,266 yards)

Passing: Denard Robinson (1,319 yards)

Receiving: Jeremy Gallon* (829 yards)

Tackles: Jake Ryan* (88)

Sacks: Jake Ryan* (4.0)

Interceptions: Thomas Gordon* and Raymon Taylor* (2)

Spring answers

1. Defensive line fine: Michigan had to replace a four-year starter in Craig Roh as well as defensive tackle Will Campbell up front. It doesn’t seem like it will be an issue. Michigan has a potential star in Frank Clark at rush end as well as depth at the position with Mario Ojemudia and Taco Charlton. Keith Heitzman, for now, seems to have locked up a spot at strong side end, but there is a lot of talent there, too. The Wolverines have depth at all four spots and while competitions will continue into the fall, Michigan should be able to rotate at defensive coordinator Greg Mattison’s leisure.

2. Devin Gardner’s progression: After the way he played toward the end of last season, there was not much doubt about Gardner as the starter, but Michigan’s coaches appear happy with his growth throughout the offseason. He has developed as a quarterback the way the coaching staff has liked, and this is even more critical because he is the only healthy scholarship quarterback until Shane Morris arrives next month. Gardner's teammates believe in him and he is setting up for a big year.

3. Tight end weapons: Michigan still doesn’t have great depth at tight end, but what the Wolverines do have is a young group of guys who will become big targets for Gardner as the position evolves into a more featured role. Devin Funchess could have a breakout sophomore season and Jake Butt has a similar skill set. A.J. Williams slimmed down as well, perhaps turning him into more than just an extra blocker.

Fall questions

1. Who runs the ball: Michigan was never going to be able to answer this question in the spring with Fitzgerald Toussaint coming off a broken leg and freshmen Derrick Green and Deveon Smith still not on campus. But none of the running backs who participated in spring made a lasting impression on the coaches, meaning if he is healthy, Toussaint will likely receive the first chance at winning the job in the fall.

2. Can Jake Ryan be replaced: Michigan seems confident with its grouping of Brennen Beyer and Cam Gordon at strongside linebacker, but part of what made Ryan Michigan’s best defender was his ability to instinctively be around the ball. Whether or not Beyer or Gordon can do that in games remains to be seen. If the combination of those two can approximate that, Michigan’s defense should be fine.

3. Can the interior of the line hold up: Michigan is replacing both of its guards and its center. While the combination of redshirt sophomore Jack Miller at center and redshirt freshmen Ben Braden and Kyle Kalis at guard has a ton of talent, none have taken a meaningful snap in a game before. How they mesh with returning tackles Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield, along with how they connect with each other on combination blocks on the inside, could determine not only Michigan’s running success this fall, but also how many games the Wolverines win in Brady Hoke’s third season.

Michigan has been very successful in recent years recruiting tight ends, and that success continued Tuesday with the No. 6 commitment of the 2014 class.

Tight end Ian Bunting (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) gave his pledge to the Wolverines only a few days after visiting Ann Arbor, Mich. He is the first tight end commitment for Michigan in the 2014 class and will give Michigan another weapon in the passing game once he joins the team.

"It felt like home, and where I fit. My parents were on the visit with me and they loved it, too," he said. "I just had a great time and it was a family feel. The coaches' wives and kids were all there. I felt that brotherhood, and that's one of the most important things to me in this game."

Bunting said he knew on the second day of his visit that Michigan was the place for him because of that bond he felt.

How he will be used at Michigan was another reason he chose the Wolverines. The success Michigan has shown so far with tight end Devin Funchess gave Bunting a look at what he could be doing soon in the Big House on game days. While he is excited to get on the field for Michigan he still plans on putting in work off the field to make his future team better.

"I plan on recruiting for Michigan, absolutely," he said. "Parrker Westphal is someone I know likes Michigan. He was there on the visit with me and I'm sure there will be other guys that come up, too. I want to help make us better in any way I can."

He also felt a bond with some of Michigan's commitments, despite living in different places. The commits played a part in his recruitment and ultimately helped lead him to Michigan.

"Wilton Speight helped me a lot. I asked him about what he liked and why he chose Michigan," he said. "He gave me some advice, and made me feel comfortable. I'm looking forward to getting back up there and meeting some of the other guys and talking with them, too."

At 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, Bunting can be used in various ways at the college level and should become a matchup nightmare for defenses. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon and USC, among others.

Ranked as the No. 114 overall prospect, Bunting continues a trend as all six Michigan's commitments for 2014 are within the ESPN 150. All six are four-star prospects.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The first real look at Michigan's kind of new return to its pro style run-the-ball roots on offense went about as expected Saturday during its controlled scrimmage.

Michigan didn’t give much away. It rotated fairly liberally. And any potential wrinkles or research put together by offensive coordinator Al Borges will remain a public secret until the fall.

The Wolverines’ scrimmage, which was going to be deemed controlled at the start, had more of a feel of a situational practice. No official, public statistics were taken. There was no score kept.

Almost everything Michigan ran was pretty rudimentary when it comes to its offensive plan.

(Read full post)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Mitch McGary played football growing up and the way he plays basketball, the freshman forward sometimes looks like he has transitioned his tight end skills to the hard court.

Michigan’s football coaches have noticed.

Wolverines defensive coordinator Greg Mattison gushed about McGary on Tuesday, laughing as he said he would put him at defensive end and he would “get a lot of sacks.” Michigan head coach Brady Hoke has brought it up with McGary in the past as well.

Right now, it seems like everyone is just joking around.

“I don’t know. He said, ‘We’ve got to get you out on the football field,’ “ McGary said. “Jokingly, but I think he’s serious down deep.”

McGary played football in eighth grade and his freshman year at Chesterton High School in northwest Indiana before he said he father made him quit because he was too tall at then 6-foot-6, 190 pounds.

Now at 6-foot-10, 255 pounds, his frame is a little better suited to it. But it doesn’t mean John Beilein would consider sharing his starting center and emerging post playmaker. Although after seeing a couple of screens Saturday against VCU, the thought crossed Beilein’s mind.

Much of this new football conversation with McGary came after he leveled VCU’s Briante Weber on a screen in the first half of Michigan’s Round of 32 win over the Rams on Saturday.

Beilein, though, doesn’t plan on sharing his prodigious center with Michigan’s usual marquee sport.

“No, not going to share him, but a couple of screens he set did scare me a little bit,” Beilein said. “You guys probably are too young to remember Ted Hendricks but I talked about that with Greg Mattison.

“He would be good at that defensive end, maybe, too.”

Would McGary, a starter on Michigan’s first Sweet 16 team since 1994, consider it? He laughed, but didn’t sound like he would completely rule it out. For now, though, he clearly has basketball as a first, most important, priority.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know,” McGary said. “I still like football, but I probably want to focus on basketball, though.”

Michigan assistant coach Bacari Alexander -- McGary’s position coach -- weighed in on Twitter late Tuesday, saying there was no way his guy was going to play football, but wondered if Devin Funchess, the Wolverines’ sophomore tight end, could play some power forward.

So on it all goes.