Tag: Taylor Upshaw

Former Michigan football DE commits to second school via transfer portal

He’s gonna kill it there.

It has been something of a circuitous route to his forever school, but former Michigan football edge rusher Taylor Upshaw is hoping his new destination will be his last.

Upshaw opted to depart the program in search of greener pastures this offseason, landing with Deion Sanders’ resurgent Colorado Buffaloes team. However, that lasted one semester. Shortly after the spring game in Boulder, Upshaw jumped into the transfer portal yet again.

Now, he’s committing to yet another school, remaining out west. Announcing on Instagram, Upshaw is committing to former Michigan pass game coordinator Jedd Fisch and the Arizona Wildcats.

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From the Big Ten to his second Pac-12 school, Upshaw is making the rounds. Originally, he was committed to Florida before flipping to the maize and blue as a recruit in the 2017 class.

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Former Michigan football edge has re-entered the transfer portal

That didn’t last long.

With the mass exodus in Boulder, it’s further evidence the grass isn’t always greener.

In his first offseason as the Colorado head coach, Deion Sanders brought in an eye-opening number of transfers. However, following the Buffs’ jam-packed spring game, Coach Prime has seen about a quarter of his team depart, many via the same transfer portal from whence they came.

Such is the case for a former Wolverine. The past two seasons, Taylor Upshaw had the opportunity to start at the beginning of the year only to find himself usurped by the end. Still, he was quite the productive player, especially in 2022. His interception against rival Ohio State was the final nail in the coffin for the Buckeyes.

Upshaw transferred to Colorado this offseason, but appears to already have had enough of Boulder. He’s back in the transfer portal, one semester into his tenure there.

It will be interesting to see where Upshaw lands. He certainly has a lot of upside and should be a starter at a vast majority of schools who could use more edge rushing talent.

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Michigan football defender selects transfer portal destination

Best of luck to him.

The lure of Coach Prime is big, so big that a former Michigan football edge rusher is heading to Boulder.

After a couple of years as a starter at defensive end, Taylor Upshaw never quite rose to the level of his predecessors. In 2021, his position was usurped by David Ojabo, who ended up being a second-round pick in the 2022 draft. Upshaw started the 2022 season slowly, but he really came on late. However, he opted to enter the NCAA transfer portal, seeking a fresh start elsewhere.

And on Saturday night, Upshaw announced he’s joining the new-look Colorado Buffaloes.

Upshaw, the son of famed NFL player Regan Upshaw, flipped from Florida late in the 2018 recruiting cycle. Hailing from Bradenton (Florida) Braden River, he had 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2022.

He has one year of eligibility remaining.

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Michigan edge defender in the transfer portal

Best of luck to him!

On Monday, Michigan lost linebacker Deuce Spurlock after one season when he announced he was entering the transfer portal.

Two more Wolverines will join the freshman linebacker.

Earlier on Tuesday Julius Welschof entered the portal and Tuesday evening edge Taylor Upshaw was in the portal.

Upshaw has one season of eligibility remaining and it appears he will spending it at another university.

This past season, Upshaw compiled 12 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks, 1 interception and 1 quarterback hurry.

The former 2018 three-star recruit out of Florida started two games at Michigan and he may be looking for a starting opportunity with the Wolverines having so many edge defenders.

The maize and blue landed Coastal Carolina edge transfer Josiah Stewart earlier out of the transfer portal.

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Jim Harbaugh discusses Michigan football player injuries after Week 2

Hope these guys are back out on the field soon! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football dominated Hawaii on Saturday, but the Wolverines didn’t emerge unscathed.

While Nikhai Hill-Green dressed for the game, he didn’t play. Karsen Barnhart remained out, dressed in street clothes due to his Week 1 injury. But Donovan Edwards was tended to on the sidelines and came back out in street clothes, as did defensive end Taylor Upshaw, who had a walking boot on after the game.

On Monday, at his weekly press conference, Jim Harbaugh was asked about Edwards’ injury, and said that he doesn’t yet have an update as to his status.

“No, I don’t I don’t have an update,” Harbaugh said. “We’re working through something and he’s working through something.”

Considering that Michigan is playing Connecticut on Saturday, a team that ranks 94th in rushing defense and 101st overall, the Wolverines can get away with not having Edwards out there. His potential absence would mean more playing time for true freshman C.J. Stokes, who showed flashes of ability in each of the first two games. He had eight carries for 61 yards against Hawaii, and a touchdown.

As for Upshaw, also considering the depth at the edge rusher position, if he’s not available, that could mean more playing time for transfer Eyabi Anoma or freshman Derrick Moore — both being players that the Wolverines are hoping will make an impact throughout the season.

Harbaugh was not asked about and did not address any of the other player injuries.

Michigan kicks off against UConn at noon on Saturday at The Big House.

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Michigan football players whose fathers have NFL pedigrees

NFL blood is in their veins! #GoBlue

One thing you can often point to when it comes to a college football player having success is ‘it’s in their blood.’ for eight Michigan football players, that’s certainly true.

While Michigan football sends a ton of players to the NFL on a yearly basis, often times, there are players in Ann Arbor who have descended from former NFL players. Though it’s rare that the NFL legacies are also Wolverine legacies, having grown up with someone having had pro experience can often be an indicator of future success.

With that in mind, here are the eight Michigan Wolverines who are on the 2022 team who have had fathers who played in the NFL.

In 2022, Michigan football not satisfied with last year’s Big Ten Championship or win over Ohio State

This is really encouraging stuff for 2022! #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — 2021 is ancient history inside Schembechler Hall.

While there is still some celebratory aspects of the program beating Ohio State for the first time since 2011 and winning its first Big Ten Championship since 2004 — like, for instance, a new graphic that made its way onto some doors celebrating the College Football Playoff berth and conference win — this team that’s currently partaking in spring ball realizes it can’t rest on last year’s laurels.

This time a year ago, a graphic made its way into the weight room (and it’s still up) that reads: ‘What are you doing to beat Ohio State today?’ While that seems like a rejuvenating mantra when you haven’t beaten your rival in some time, what’s it like after you have? Inside Schembechler Hall, the biggest enemy of progress is satisfaction, whether it’s the win over the Buckeyes, or emerging from Indianapolis victorious the week later.

“Really, just not getting complacent,” junior safety RJ Moten said. “You know, we could say that we did it. I could say that I did — I beat Ohio State, I won the Big Championship, but you know, now there’s a new — we’re a new team. I think it’s 143. Now, it’s just the kids that were part of 142 last year, we just can’t get complacent because that ends up carrying on to younger kids and we just want to go back to the Big Ten Championship and go further than just the semifinal game. So really just complacency.”

Though the offense certainly could be explosive in 2022, questions surround the defense, which replaces Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Dax Hill and others, as well as defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. There are newer names that have to step up, like edge rushers Mike Morris and fifth-year end Taylor Upshaw — both of whom will be playing under a new defensive coordinator (Jesse Minter) as well as defensive line coach (Mike Elston).

Upshaw says this team wants to do more than beating Ohio State and winning the Big Ten. In order to maintain the proverbial shoulder chip, these Wolverines have an eye on a grander prize: a national championship.

“Maintaining what we just had, like maintaining the season and building off that,” Upshaw said. “We have a lot of new guys are gonna have to take, including myself, they’re gonna have to take on roles they’ve never had. So it’s not like, ‘Oh, we’re good.’ We have a lot to prove. I have a lot to prove. Our teammates have lots to prove and we’re not satisfied. We didn’t win a national championship. That’s something our team wants to do this year. So that’s how you keep focused, because we didn’t accomplish everything we wanted to.

“(We were) good year last year, but it’s over with.”

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While the coaching personnel aspect of the offseason has been loud in Ann Arbor, with Jim Harbaugh having interviewed for an NFL job while both coordinators departed, those inside the locker room have the same mentality as last year.

It might be easy to chalk the 2021 campaign up to fluke status, but if you paid attention to the program at this time last year, everyone involved expressed supreme optimism at the team’s resurgence. It then played out methodically, from the Week 2 win over Washington, to the Week 5 road win at Wisconsin, to the Week 13 beatdown of rival OSU.

With the quiet of the locker room, questions have loomed about complacency and how will Michigan perform without having the added incentive to get the proverbial monkey off its back. But, instead, the shoulder chips persist, Upshaw says, because the outside doubt in the program remains.

“We’re coming off a successful season, but I feel like Michigan always has had that chip on their shoulder,” Upshaw said. “Michigan is always going to be doubted, the players who are stepping into new roles are always going to be doubted. So it really just feels like the same atmosphere. I think Cade McNamara has done a good job of trying to tell everybody to maintain the atmosphere because we’re not satisfied.”

Sixth-year tight end Joel Honigford has been through a lot of iterations of Michigan football, from 2018’s 10-3 season to 2020’s 2-4 campaign to last year’s College Football Playoff run. This spring, he’s seen ways that the Wolverines aren’t just maintaining last year’s energy and drive, they’re further honing and crafting the winning formula.

“So I’ll give you an example: we go in the weight room and we line our shoes up last year and we put them right next to each other right up against the wall at a 90-degree angle,” Honigford explained. “That’s how we did it last year. We go in this offseason, and that’s how we did it — we lined them up like that. And Coach Herbert comes in. He’s like, ‘That’s not how we’re doing this.’ So instead, he lined them all up like that in a line and we like measured it out. He’s like instead I want you to flip the right shoe backward. So they’re close together and line them up the same way. So we do that. And we see how much of a difference that actually made.

“Now you take that and you apply it to how we’re playing. And like, you want to critique more of the fine details than ever before. Because like, yeah, we know what it takes. But we also know what it takes to be a 2-4 team as well. So I heard you talking earlier about a chip on your shoulder and that 2-4 season, we definitely had a chip on our shoulder. But coming off a Big Ten Championship season, College Football Playoff season, we still have a chip on our shoulder, it just looks different. And I think a lot of guys understand that. And understand what we need to do to become national champions, and what it takes to get there. It’s all about just fine details, and really honing that in.”

The schedule certainly is favorable to the Wolverines this upcoming year, with three imminently winnable nonconference games before Big Ten season starts with Maryland and then a trip to Iowa City. Penn State and Michigan State are at home, though a road trip to Columbus still looms.

Regardless, this Michigan team, while happy that it accomplished so much a year ago, wants to strive for the grand prize, because if anything, 2021 showed the players that more is possible if you work hard enough and believe in each other.

“Yeah, I mean, seeing that success last year, you know, we were right there, we got the Big Ten Championship, it was nice. It was really good feeling. It’s been a while,” Honigford said. “But we’re not national champions. And I know that we can be and I want to go get that with the rest of these guys on this team.”

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Insight into Michigan football defensive, personnel changes

With a new defensive coordinator calling the shots, Michigan football’s defense will look different. One player shares how as well as who.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With a moribund output in 2020, Michigan football changed the breadth of the defensive attack this past offseason, moving on from Don Brown, Mike Zordich and most of the staff on that side of the ball, getting younger across the board coaching-wise, while also implementing a new scheme.

Defensive line coach Shaun Nua was the sole defensive coach retained from last year, but he’s not necessarily the prime name to know when it comes to the defensive line. The Wolverines also brought in several key analysts, among them being Ryan Osborn, the former Tennessee-Martin defensive line coach who also was a grad assistant coaching linebackers at Florida under Todd Grantham and at Mississippi State with then-coach Dan Mullen.

According to redshirt junior defensive end Taylor Upshaw, his position group is working more with Osborn than with Nua at this juncture.

“The reality is Nua is more like a D-tackles coach right now,” Upshaw said. “Coach Osborn is really our main guy. But I’m happy (Nua) is back and I’m happy with the defensive coordinator and my coach – the younger guy. They understand what it’s like being in the position we’re in. It’s a blessing.”

With a switch to a more multiple front, that means that defensive ends aren’t necessarily going to be in the same spot as they had been under former defensive coordinator Don Brown, who had deployed a base 4-3 (or 4-2-5, depending on how you look at the VIPER position). With the expectation that the 3-4 will be the primary base defense, that means one of the defensive end positions would become more of a stand-up position, which appears to be the case.

Upshaw says that he’s among those who are standing up most of the time, as he highlights his role and those who are also working in the position group under new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

“The people we have in that room: Aidan, myself, David Ojabo, Jaylen Harrell, Braiden McGregor, Noah Knight and – I think I got all of them. Those are the guys in our room, including myself. We call ourselves ‘The Reapers,'” Upshaw said. “This is a really important defense. The position we play allows us to make a lot of plays. I think it’s gonna come down to a lot of games. We’re gonna have to affect the game a lot.”

“That’s what we call ourselves (‘The Reapers’), but we’re outside linebackers. It’s mainly a stand-up edge position. For me, I’m mainly gonna be rushing. But there’s also dropping, too. It’s like a pass rush, but I still get into my 3-point stance. I still mix it up. But it’s a stand-up edge position.”

From what it seems, per Upshaw, Osborn has a key role, at least this spring, in working with those outside linebackers, more than what most analysts might, responsibility-wise.

With that in mind, how does Upshaw feel about his coaching prowess? So far, he’s really enjoying working with the young defensive mind.

“Honestly, Os is one of the best coaches I’ve had a chance to play under,” Upshaw said. “He’s young, he’s funny, he gets what it’s like – like I said earlier, being in the position we’re in. But also, he knows what he’s talking about. He’s a good coach. You can tell just with his passion and the things he’s getting us right with our technique. He’s legit. I’m happy he’s with us.”

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What Shaun Nua sees in Michigan’s defensive line struggles

The Michigan football defensive line hasn’t generated nearly as much pressure as usual and the team DL coach discusses why.

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Currently mired in a three-game losing streak, the program’s longest in a single-season since dropping their final three games of the 2017 campaign, there is more than just a singular issue plaguing Michigan football.

One of the most glaring, however, has been the lack of pressure generated by the defensive line. After posting five sacks in the season-opening victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Oct. 24, the Wolverines have totaled just one sack in the last three games, which came in the loss to the Wisconsin Badgers on Nov. 14.

Second-year defensive line coach Shaun Nua, who joined Jim Harbaugh’s staff after one season under Herm Edwards with the Arizona State Sun Devils, appeared on the Inside Michigan Football radio show with Jon Jansen on Monday to discuss his young – and banged up – position group and where they go from here.

Prior to embarking on his coaching career as an intern with BYU in 2009, Nua played for the Cougars from 2003-05 and spent three seasons on National Football League rosters with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills, meaning he can relate to the frustration his players are feeling.

“You rely on the leadership that you have from your coaches, to the leaders on your team, especially your teammates, people that have your best interest,” Nua said. “It’s very, very easy, for times like this, for you to be very, very down and depressed and start pointing fingers. Truth is, it’s very simple, you just go the mirror and look in there and see what you can do better. That’s probably the main thing I learned through all the adversity as a player and now as a coach, it holds true then, and it still holds true now.

“What can you do as an individual to get better? What can I do as a coach to help my guys? What can I do as a coach to help the other coaches? That’s kind of my focus right now, just dig deep, humble yourself, and figure out what the heck is going on.”

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While not completely absolving the defensive line for their struggles, Nua’s young men have been hit particularly hard by the injury bug.

The team’s starting defensive ends, junior Aidan Hutchinson and senior Kwity Paye, are presently sidelined. The former left the game against the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington on Nov. 7 with a fracture in his right leg and will likely miss the remainder of the season, while the latter was unavailable for the Wisconsin contest due to a reported groin injury.

“Anytime you lose players the caliber of those two, you want to change, but you don’t want to change too much, not in a panic mode,” Nua said. “You still got to have faith in the guys that are up next, you know, next guy up mentality, but at the same time, the hardest part, you lose two leaders. That’s probably just as much of them as players.

“The challenge now falls, not just on the players that are stepping up, but myself to make sure, not only their mindset is right, but that they know what they’re doing so that way they can perform at a higher level.

“Losing those two definitely is a challenge, but I also look at is as an opportunity for guys like (redshirt sophomore) Taylor Upshaw, all the younger guys, (redshirt junior) Luiji Vilain, (redshirt freshman) Gabe Newburg, for those guys to step up and see what they can do. That’s what we’re going through right now.”

With Hutchinson and Paye out of action, redshirt senior Carlo Kemp slid out from his normal tackle spot to end against the Badgers. As Nua shared, having an experienced player with this type of versatility is a luxury and someone the younger guys can learn from.

“It means the world because it’s a very sensitive thing,” he said. “Does that mean you have lesser faith in the guys that were there? No, it’s just you want to put the best players on the field, and we have good faith in (Christopher) Hinton and (Donovan) Jeter inside, and Kemp was the next best guy.

“To have him, it’s not like he hasn’t played the position before, he played it two years ago, so, it was almost like an easy move for us to say, ‘OK, we’re playing Wisconsin, let’s get some bigger bodies out there.’

“He did a heck of a job getting the plays down, especially the technique and the fundamentals to play on that edge, he did a good job.”

One of the few positive takeaways from the 38-point loss to Wisconsin, which was the program’s worst home defeat in nearly 85 years, was the extended action some of the younger ends saw, particularly Upshaw and Vilain. Nua took a moment to comment on what he saw from some of his less experienced student-athletes.

“Obviously, not good enough for us to win, but very, very encouraging to see them get in there and make some plays,” he said. “Taylor (Upshaw) did a great job of taking advantage of some of the plays that came his way and made some plays. The experience they get is invaluable, it’s constantly strengthening their foundation of them continuing to become better players.

“Unfortunately, their time has come a lot faster than we thought with Kwity (Paye) and Aidan (Hutchinson) being out, but it’s still a good opportunity for all of them. Guys like Gabe Newburg, Taylor Upshaw, Luiji Vilain, huge, huge opportunity for them to get better, get some experience.”

Paye was in sweats on the sideline on Nov. 14, but Nua remained vague when Jansen asked about when fans will see him back on the field.

“Hopefully, as soon as possible. The sooner, the better, and I know he’s working his butt off trying to get back as fast as possible.

“His influence on these guys is very, very high, they respect him a lot. I told him, ‘Do not shy away during the game, you’re basically one of the coaches now, go help out, whatever you see, help out the guys on the edges.’

“And that’s exactly what he did because his experience is invaluable for us. He did a good job communicating with the guys on the sideline and it was fun to watch him see the game from that perspective. Hopefully, we get him soon.”

Transitioning to the interior of the line, Nua laid out the plan for steady improvement for sophomore Christopher Hinton, redshirt junior Donovan Jeter, and redshirt freshman Mazi Smith.

“Consistency,” Nua said. “Especially with Jeter and Chris Hinton, consistency is my biggest challenge to them, consistently dominant the middle.

“We all know we’re not there yet, so, the challenge for them is consistency. Mazi Smith and (redshirt junior) Jess Speight, they don’t have a lot of experience in there, so, that’s what they need. Whatever reps they get is huge for their development.

“The two veteran guys, Hinton and Jeter, the challenge for them is to consistently be dominant, and be more dominant in the middle.”

The next chance for the defensive line to generate some pressure and build some confidence among the fans will come on Saturday against Greg Schiano’s Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-3) at 7:30 p.m. EST on the Big Ten Network.

Rutgers is averaging just 328.8 yards per game, a total that ranks No. 104 among Football Bowl Subdivision programs, and has surrendered eight sacks, suggesting this matchup could be exactly what Nua’s group needs.

5 takeaways from Michigan’s 49-11 loss against No. 13 Wisconsin

Michigan football captured another loss of the season to the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers. What are the five takeaways from the 49-11 loss?

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A third straight loss is one thing for a team, but when that third straight loss is by 38 points and at home, that says something else. Michigan started strong on defense after forcing Wisconsin to punt, and it seemed like Michigan would have a chance to make this game close. Then one play later, the momentum went in favor of Wisconsin and never left that side of the field.

Early turnovers by Michigan quarterback Joe Milton propelled Wisconsin to a quick 14-0 lead, and suddenly Michigan was in a hole that it couldn’t escape from. The hole would double in size at halftime as it was 28-0. Michigan didn’t have an answer on how to stop the Badgers offense, but also it couldn’t figure out what to do against their defense either. With the score being what it was, Michigan had to leave the running game and throw it through the air, which wasn’t working for them tonight.

This 38-point loss is the biggest Michigan football has had under head coach Jim Harbaugh outside of the two 39-point losses to Ohio State and the 39-point loss to Penn State. One of those three was at home, and now another 30+ point loss happened in Ann Arbor. Michigan has plenty to work on to try and figure out what is happening to them this season. What were the biggest takeaways from the 49-11 loss?