{"id":76626,"date":"2025-08-24T13:30:42","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T17:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=76626"},"modified":"2025-08-24T13:44:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T17:44:45","slug":"michigan-football-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/08\/24\/michigan-football-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Football 2025: Captains and Season Outlook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michigan football 2025<\/a> begins with six new captains and a home opener against New Mexico. Built on leadership and chemistry, the Wolverines enter the season chasing another Big Ten crown.<\/p>\n

Michigan Football 2025: Season Outlook<\/h2>\n

Camp Ends, Spotlight Ahead<\/h3>\n

A handful of schools got their start in Week Zero, but August 30 is the real beginning. New Mexico comes to the Big House for a primetime slot on NBC and Peacock. Nobody is pretending it\u2019s a playoff preview, but fans will still pack the place. Think of it as a live tune-up before Penn State<\/a>\u2019s whiteout, Oregon\u2019s speed, and, of course, The Game.<\/p>\n

Backfield Built on Trust<\/h3>\n

The Wolverines’ 2025 season will lean on something familiar: the run game. Jordan Marshall<\/strong><\/a> looks ready for more carries, while Justice Haynes<\/strong><\/a> arrives from Alabama with fresh energy and speed.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Max Bredeson<\/strong><\/a>. He doesn\u2019t get the headlines as a tight end that serves as a Fullback, but he might set the tone more than anyone. His blocking, his leadership \u2014 teammates notice. Coaches say the backs operate more like a brotherhood than a position group. That matters when you\u2019re trying to grind out wins in November.<\/p>\n

Wolverines Preview: Six Captains, One Standard<\/h3>\n

Michigan named six captains this year: Max Bredeson, Rod Moore, Giovanni El-Hadi, Ernest Hausmann, Marlin Klein, and Derrick Moore<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Bredeson and Rod Moore join rare company as two-time captains. Moore, coming back from a knee injury, earned that respect by staying engaged when he couldn\u2019t play. Hausmann, the Nebraska transfer, is just the second outsider ever to earn a Michigan \u201cC.\u201d That tells you plenty.<\/p>\n

Add in El-Hadi on the line, Klein in the tight end room, and Derrick Moore off the edge, and you\u2019ve got every corner of the roster covered. Honestly, it feels like the most balanced captain group since 2021.<\/p>\n

Receivers Have Something to Prove<\/h3>\n

The Michigan season outlook depends on whether the wideouts can finally catch up to the run game. Tyler Morris<\/a> and Darrius Clemons<\/a> have had moments, but moments aren\u2019t enough. Coaches are drilling the same thing: win contested catches, play fast, demand the ball.<\/p>\n

This is also year one with new play-callers. Chip Lindsey (Offensive Coordinator\/Quarterbacks) brings tempo and creativity. Steve Casula (Co-Offensive Coordinator\/Tight Ends) provides continuity. Together, they want defenses to guess more often.<\/p>\n

If it works, the Wolverines\u2019 offense won\u2019t just bludgeon opponents on the ground. It\u2019ll stretch them. That\u2019s the kind of balance Michigan hasn\u2019t consistently shown in years.<\/p>\n

Wolverines 2025 Campaign<\/h3>\n

The opener against New Mexico isn\u2019t about the scoreboard. It\u2019s about the details. Are there false starts? Missed assignments? Bad tackling? If so, it\u2019ll be a long fall.<\/p>\n

The Wolverines’ 2025 campaign will be judged in October and November. Oregon, Penn State, Washington<\/a>, Ohio State \u2014 those games define the season. But this first glimpse will tell us whether the extra bye week was a blessing or wasted time.<\/p>\n

Conclusion: Wolverines Season Story<\/h3>\n

Ask anyone in Ann Arbor what really matters, and they\u2019ll tell you the same thing: November. That won\u2019t change in 2025.<\/p>\n

Still, this team looks built for another run. The backfield trusts each other. The captain group is as steady as it\u2019s been in years. And the offense, finally, feels like it has a few surprises.<\/p>\n

The Wolverines’ season story won\u2019t be written against New Mexico. But it starts there \u2014 under the lights, in front of 100,000 at the Big House, with the rest of the Big Ten watching.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michigan football 2025 begins with six new captains and a home opener against New Mexico. Built on leadership and chemistry, the Wolverines enter the season chasing another Big Ten crown. Michigan Football 2025: Season Outlook Camp Ends, Spotlight Ahead A handful of schools got their start in Week Zero, but August 30 is the real […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5604,"featured_media":71919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,17],"tags":[4578,33919,34191,33875,8772,33614,35464,33615,33894,34926],"class_list":["post-76626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","category-news","tag-chip-lindsey","tag-derrick-moore","tag-ernest-hausmann","tag-giovanni-el-hadi","tag-marlin-klein","tag-nbc","tag-new-mexico","tag-peacock","tag-rod-moore","tag-steve-casula"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5604"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76626"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76658,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76626\/revisions\/76658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}