ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was something of a coup when Michigan football managed to convince a rival player from Michigan State to switch sides and come to Ann Arbor and wear a winged helmet.
During the summer months, as the Wolverines looked to bolster their safety depth, Jaden Mangham opted to leave East Lansing for Michigan, and many thought that he had a solid chance to start opposite Makari Paige, filling Rod Moore’s role with him out for all or most of the season with an injury. However, it does appear as if sixth-year safety Quinten Johnson is in the lead to be that starting safety.
But, Michigan does pride itself on having a deep rotation, particularly on defense, and Mangham — a former starter for MSU — is likely to still see the field. However, it does also appear that Tennessee transfer Wes Walker is vying for more playing time, making the road to the field a little tougher for Mangham.
Secondary coach LaMar Morgan thinks the future is bright for Mangham, but noted that it takes some time to get used to not only playing at Michigan, but the diversity of what the defense does
“I think Mangham is a good kid. I think he works really hard,” Morgan said. “A good thing about him is he’s a mature player. And he started games at Michigan State. Once again, I think you got to ask all the transfers, we do things different here. And what I mean by that is just the style of practice. Style of practice, what you face at practice every day, the offense that we run, downhill play-action shots, a lot of different things like that. I think that could be challenging for a guy that comes in here with just the spots and how we practice, but he’s done a good job of trying to learn the new playbook.”
It may have been different if Mangham would have transferred in earlier, but that would have been unlikely given Rod Moore still occupying the position.
Given Mangham’s late arrival and not being able to start out in pads until fall camp, that’s put him a little behind where those who have been in the program are. That includes players like Johnson or even sophomore Brandyn Hillman, in some respects.
Morgan says that as Mangham continues to acclimate to the Michigan culture and playbook, as well as understanding that his position comes with an innate leadership role, that he’ll grow more into the player that the Wolverines need him to be.
“He wasn’t here in the spring, we got him later in the summer. So just the adjustment of trying to put like — it’s different between a meeting and a sheet of paper or a playbook, and then now actually being out there, executing the defense,” Morgan said. “I also think that safety is a little bit different than that corner. I think at safety, one of the elite traits is making other people around you better. So I think if you look at all the great safeties that we have had here before, I know y’all talk about Rod all the time when he’s on the field. Everybody feels comfortable, and I think it’s hard for his safety if you don’t know everything that’s going on to make others around you. So I would think that’s probably a challenge with all our new young guys in the secondary, whether they’re freshmen or transfers.”