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It’s that time of season, when a certain caste of players look to finish their careers elsewhere, after a season didn’t quite go as anticipated.
After coming in with a promising recruiting ranking, one Michigan linebacker, per multiple reports, is looking for another opportunity come next season.
Despite getting some early playing time — finally — in 2019, one such player, Wolverines linebacker Jordan Anthony, will seek a transfer, as he has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal, first reported by Detroit Free Press’ Ranier Sabin and further confirmed by 247Sports’ Steve Lorenz.
Michigan junior linebacker Jordan Anthony, a former four-star recruit, has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal, according to a source.
— Rainer Sabin (@RainerSabin) December 4, 2019
With starting middle linebacker Josh Ross hurt early in the season, Anthony had significant playing time in Week Two against Army, where he played the entire second-half.
Said defensive coordinator Don Brown the week after that game:
“Now, let’s talk about Jordan Anthony. Josh Ross did a great job first-half. Gets a stinger, I mean – woo. You watch that physically – put on play 34 and watch the physical hit that he gets. Clean, it’s all good. But he gets hit pretty good. Now (Jordan Anthony) has to come in off the bench, he’s played about this much time (zero) for us since he’s been here. Now he’s gonna take over us, and I’ll share this with you, because I probably won’t be around the next time we’ve gotta defend the triple-option. We go in and we call a blitz every snap of the game. It’s gonna get impacted by formations where the blitz is actually gonna get run about 18-20 snaps of the game. If you let them, they’ll get into different formations, and you’re sitting there in an option defense and you can’t get to the quarterback and they just pick you apart. So, any opportunity we get to blitz them, we want it! When they gave us blitz opportunities, we check it. And we just play the blitz.
“For example, simple: I give them a blitz, so they got the blitz call. They come out, they’re in double slot, you’ll see the hands go up. ‘Longhorn, longhorn!’ It’s Texas, triple-option. So that’s our word. And we play the triple. They come out and they give us the formation, and all of a sudden, he goes, ‘Blitz! Blitz! Blitz!’ and we run the blitz. He’s gotta get 11 guys lined up, plus himself, then play against the triple or execute the blitz, and he’s played that much (zero) football for Michigan.
“How did he play? All I know is that in the half of football he played, they scored zero points. So how do you think he played? It’s amazing to me.”
However, despite playing early minutes against Wisconsin in Week Four, he was supplanted by second-year standout Cam McGrone, who started at MIKE the rest of the way.
Anthony is listed as having played in nine games and finished with 11 tackles. He redshirted his freshman year, and played in seven games in 2018 on special teams, registering 3 tackles and one sack.
As a recruit, Anthony was part of a three-man linebacker haul, all three being four-star recruits. Anthony was the middle-rated of the three prospects, as the No. 106 player in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite. He makes for the second of the three to transfer, with top-linebacker, Drew Singleton, having transferred to Rutgers this past offseason.
Ed. note: this article was updated with extra information.
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