The Michigan Insider

Tim McCormick and Sam Webb discuss Michigan's expected return from its in athletic activities, then are joined by the great Dick Vitale for an in-depth interview covering his storied career in coaching and broadcasting. Vitale reflects upon the greatest players he has seen, the great Michigan players he has seen, discusses how this year's Wolverines stack up with the nation's best teams, and more. Then Sam has a recruiting chat with 247Sports national recruiting analyst Eric Bossi about commitments Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate, targets Jett Howard, Jarace Walker, Charles Bediako, Efton Reid, Dug McDaniel, Mark Mitchell, and Aidan Shaw.

Tim McCormick and Sam Webb discuss Michigan's pause in athletic activities and the advantages and disadvantages of the downtime. The duo then breaks down Michigan's victory over Purdue, the tremendous defensive showing in that game, the significance of Franz Wagner's visible frustration that night, and how the Big 10 stacks up at this point. The podcast finishes with a lengthy chat with Michigan assistant Saddi Washington about the growth of the team defensively, Hunter Dickinson's maturation, the nation's no. 1 recruiting class and the role he played in building it, and more.

In this episode, we look at two final coaching changes and the on-field impact they could have for the Wolverines in 2021.

First, we look at new wide receivers coach Ron Bellamy's hiring beyond simply the obvious recruiting perks. We discuss his qualifications, why heading a high-school football team is an interesting task and perspective to bring to Michigan's staff and what about Bellamy should make him a hit with the current players and coaches. We also opine on how his arrival impacts other coaches' roles on staff.

Then, we look at arguably Michigan's most controversial decisions of all the coaching changes, discussing the Wolverines' decision to move on from Ed Warinner and move Sherrone Moore to offensive line coach. We look back on Warinner's tenure and what we think Moore can add to what will be a modestly experienced offensive line room.

In this episode, we look at the Michigan basketball team, which is sitting at 13-1 overall this season but is suddenly being asked to stop practicing and playing for two weeks as the Michigan Athletic department deals with an outbreak of a COVID-19 variant.

Among the topics we discuss include: Our initial reaction to the two-week pause, how adversely that can affect the Wolverines, what impressed us most about Michigan's win at Purdue, which players this pause hurts the most, where the Wolverines need to improve and how the pause impacts that, a potential silver lining a two-week pause could potentially cause, where the Wolverines stand in bracket projections and what it means and plenty more.

Sam Webb, Brice Marich and Steve Lorenz explain why new roles for Ron Bellamy and Sherrone Moore will give Jim Harbaugh arguably the strongest recruiting staff of his tenure. The crew breaks down the immediate recruiting impact for both coaches, including how five-star CB Will Johnson is affected. Later the trio discusses in-state targets poised to rise up the board, a new defensive line target, and the latest on transfer portal target Henry To'o To'o.

Sam Webb, Brice Marich and Steve Lorenz explain why Mike Hart, Mo Linguist, & Brian Jean-Mary will give Michigan a major recruiting boost and how the program's recruiting philosophy might change. The crew goes in-depth on Linguist's fast connection with five-star Will Johnson and the significance of Jourdan Lewis' endorsement. Next on the agenda was a discussion of how Shaun Nua's recruiting approach will change moving forward. And finally the crew discusses major transfer portal target Henry To'o To'o..

In this episode, we assess the hires and coaching decisions made by the Wolverines, looking at the strengths and questions of the new assistants and some big-picture talk.

We begin by discussing Michigan's decision to hire former star running back Mike Hart away from Indiana, which we both claim to be the home-run hire of the offseason. We discuss why Hart offers so much more than being a former star player, and what kind of impact he'll make on Michigan's equipped running backs room.

Then, we turn to the defensive side of the ball, looking at new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, co-DC and cornerbacks coach Mo Linguist and safeties coach George Helow. For each individual coach, we look at the strengths they bring and the question marks about them.

We close with some broader discussions on the coaches that stayed, Michigan's timing of the hires, if the Wolverines are "going cheap" this year and if Michigan addressed all of their needs.

Tim McCormick and Sam Webb break down Michigan's bounce-back victory over Maryland, how Michigan is capitalizing on team's going all out to take Hunter Dickinson away, why Mike Smith is so key to Michigan's success, the importance of protecting Eli Brooks, and preview the upcoming match up with Purdue. Tim and Sam also have an in-depth discussion with Michigan strength & conditioning coach Jon Sanderson on the amazing growth and development of Michigan basketball players during his time at the helm.

In this episode, we offer our initial thoughts to Michigan's new defensive coordinator and react to the Wolverines' men's basketball team suffering their first loss of the season.

We open with a brief discussion on Baltimore Ravens linebackers coach Mike Macdonald, who was named Michigan's new defensive coordinator on Sunday. We look at Macdonald's career trajectory, lack of experience, expected energy on the recruiting front. We also discuss the context of Jim Harbaugh choosing him over other options, why it's a big swing for the Wolverines and briefly look at year-one expectations.

Then, we switch gears and look at the men's basketball team, which fell to 11-1 with a blowout loss at Minnesota. We discuss Michigan's turnover woes, if the Golden Gophers exposed a blueprint to slowing down the Wolverines' offense, Hunter Dickinson looking human and the bigger-picture impact of the loss. We also discuss if Michigan is still the frontrunner in the Big Ten, among other topics.

Sam Webb, Brice Marich and Steve Lorenz are joined by The Michigan Insider's Josh Newkirk for a recap of the Pylon All American. Newkirk highlights the performances of JJ McCarthy, Cristian Dixon, and Junior Colson. Then his attention turn to recruiting rumblings in top targets Domani Jackson, Tyler Morris, and Kaleb Brown... all of whom were at the event. Later Sam, Brice, and Steve address the recent pro-Ohio State buzz with Will Johnson. The trio close out with an in-depth discussion of how the likely hire of Mike Macdonald as Michigan's defensive coordinator will affect recruiting. There's also a breakdown of how some of the position coaching targets could impact the in-state recruiting landscape.