ANN ARBOR, Mich. — If you scour the internet, particularly social media, you often find rumors about players leaving their current program in favor of a newer, flashier one.
It’s the new era of college football, where name, image, and likeness mixed with the transfer portal have created a new atmosphere across the sport. A position coach or head coach leaves? There are rumors that the star players are leaving. A player emerges from obscurity? Well, get ready (via rumors) that they will seek out a new program.
As for Michigan football, ever since Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL, despite only losing one starting-caliber player to the transfer portal in backup safety Keon Sabb, there have been rumors that all of the star players are on their way out. These rumors are exacerbated by rival fan accounts that are doing more wishful thinking than anything.
Take star defensive tackle Mason Graham, who has been the subject of said rival fan rumors. Ever since Sherrone Moore was hired as the new head coach, Graham has been subjected to conjecture that he’ll eventually be headed elsewhere. However, WolverinesWire asked Graham about this gossip on Monday and he says that it couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Man, I just feel like there’s always going to be rumors,” Graham said. “Michigan’s where I want to be, Michigan’s where I’ve been for the past two years. I’m comfortable here, I wanted to stay with all the guys that we went through battles with. So that’s where it all came down to — the teammates I’ve played with. And the program’s in good hands with Coach Moore.”
A big reason why, as Graham suggests, he’s not looking around is due to the culture built in Ann Arbor over the past few years. Unlike other programs that have been built on being transactional in the new college football environment, the Wolverines have built a strong base culturally where players are more likely to stick things out due to the brotherhood as well as the expectations of the program. That may have appeared to have reached a nadir following the national championship, yet the players who remain (and haven’t departed via the NFL draft) insist that the culture has only gotten stronger.
Naturally, even openly debunking these rumors will add fodder for the rival fan bases that insist ‘the hammer is coming down’ and ‘all of Michigan’s players are transferring.’ But the likelihood of either happening is scant, at best.