The dust has just begun to settle around the Michigan football program, but even with the hiring of head coach Kyle Whittingham, the scramble to prepare for the 2026 season has only just begun.
It was an eventful December for the Wolverines, no doubt, with the surprise firing of former head coach Sherrone Moore due to an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and then the ensuing expedited coaching search. But there is little time to relax in Ann Arbor, because the transfer portal opens on Jan. 2, and Michigan will undoubtedly be heavily involved.
Whittingham has already placed an emphasis on player retention, but regardless of his efforts, a handful of players will certainly want out. It’s standard with coaching changes — players commit to a school under the assumption that they will be playing for a specific coach, and when that changes, sometimes a swift exit is the best bet.
Thus, Whittingham will likely need to be chest-deep in the transfer portal in order to build the type of roster that can compete in the Big Ten and for national championships. Luckily for him, he’s got plenty of resources at his disposal.
“We’ve got excellent resources here,” Whittingham said in his introductory press conference Dec. 28. “The NIL, the rev share, all of what college football is today, is right among the top tier of universities in the country.”
Like it or not, recruiting in college football is just as much about money as it is about anything on the field. Certainly, the culture and brand exposure that Michigan and the block ‘M’ brings is a strong enough recruiting pitch to start with, but money talks in this new era, and the Wolverines have it.
With Whittingham’s pedigree as a coach saddled with the resources he’ll have available, it wouldn’t be surprising if he was able to land some top names in the portal. Still, he emphasizes that the resources are not infinite and are a constant work in progress, so he’ll always have his hands full trying to replenish the pot.
When it comes to high school recruiting, Whittingham highlighted the importance of in-state recruiting. There have been times in recent memory when the Wolverines have had trouble retaining top-end talent from Michigan, and freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood was nearly another case. Luckily, the Wolverines were able to nab him from LSU in the end. For Whittingham, however, he wants to start in Michigan then move outward from there.
“You always want to take care of your own backyard, no doubt about that. ” Whittingham said. “We’ll put a priority and an emphasis on in-state recruiting in Michigan. … The key is to make sure that we don’t miss anybody in the state of Michigan. We take care of that, job one, and then branch out from there.”
Whittingham isn’t necessarily an ‘elite’ recruiter, meaning he didn’t pull in droves of five-star players at Utah, but he consistently got his players to play at a high level regardless of their recruiting rank.
Perhaps that was due to his former program’s limitations, or maybe it’s just how he operates, but the Michigan faithful will get a good look at his recruiting chops in the coming months as the transfer portal gets hot.
Eli Trese
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