Michigan offensive linemen buying in to Harding's no-nonsense approach

Ann Arbor — Returning starting Michigan offensive lineman Blake Frazier was the first in January to post on social media that he planned to remain with the Wolverines. Frazier was an important domino to start things off as players weighed whether they wanted to be at Michigan and play for new head coach Kyle Whittingham and an almost entirely new staff. His fellow starting linemen, Andrew Sprague and Jake Guarnera, entered their names in the transfer portal and checked out options before ultimately returning.

For Frazier, Michigan has a deeper hold on him considering his father, Steve, was a lineman for the Wolverines and was part of the 1997 AP national championship team. He could not have known exactly how the things would go with the new staff, including offensive line coach Jim Harding, but Frazier wanted to be here to lead and help ease his teammates into this transition. “Everybody knows what this school means to me, and I knew that as a guy that had started seven games, I wanted to be somebody that people knew was going to be on this team and looking forward to adapting to the new staff,” Frazier said Wednesday, explaining why he put it out there so quickly that he was returning to the program.

“It was a big transition, and I wanted to make sure that I was a guy that people knew they could lean on. As soon as everything got settled and people were figuring out where they were going to be, I wanted to make sure I was one of those guys that was ready to come back and play. ” Much of the talk around this program during spring practice, which concludes April 18 with the public scrimmage at Michigan Stadium, has been the explosiveness of coordinator Jason Beck’s offense.

Returning starting quarterback Bryce Underwood has had more skilled instruction this offseason and spring, the receiver room has added talent, and the running backs return leading rusher Jordan Marshall and added five-star Savion Hiter. The explosiveness is derived from the skill players, but it all starts with the offensive line and its cohesiveness. The offensive can't fully click without solid protection up front, after all.