The Wolverine Digest Pod

The busiest offseason of Jim Harbaugh's tenure continued today when he hired Sydney Sims to be the Director of Football Strategic Communications & Branding. Sims comes to Michigan from Notre Dame where she led up the social media arenas for the Irish and also spent some time in front of a camera as she brought content to the fans. She's expected to do some of the same things in Ann Arbor.

Harbaugh has not only been hiring new people, he also extended offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. Michigan's offenses have declined under Gattis, but you simply can't have a coach entering a season on the last leg of his contract and expect him to have any semblance of success on the recruiting trail. The extension was necessary for appearances, but Gattis is definitely on thin ice.

Finally, we take another, different look at Michigan's schedule, as we rank each opponent from easiest to most difficult. Every single Michigan fan on the planet can pick the most difficult opponent, but there's some wiggle room with the rest.

Michigan added a BIG piece to its defense on Friday when 358-pound defensive tackle Jordan Whittley announced his commitment to the Wolverines. The graduate transfer from Oregon State isn't necessarily a superstar, but he should fill a very specific need for Michigan as Mike Macdonald installs some version of a 3-4 defense. Also, six of Michigan's marquee games now have a betting line and some are a little surprising. We discuss Whittley's commitment, the betting lines and also touch on Steve Clinkscale's new contract during Episode 20 of The Wolverine Digest Podcast.

Jim Harbaugh has shaken his program to the core this offseason by hiring six new assistant coaches and three new support staffers who will drastically change the recruiting department. No one knows if all the changes will work, but you have to give Harbaugh credit for identifying issues and doing everything he possible can to fix them. We also dive into Alan Bowman's chances of winning the starting job over Cade McNamara.

With Mike Macdonald running a defense that stems from a base 3-4, Michigan is in need of a jumbo defensive tackle and they might be close to landing one from the transfer portal. We talk about that, a promotion in house to replace Matt Dudek and the ten Wolverines we're most excited to see in 2021.

An independent investigation conducted by the law firm WilmerHale has uncovered decades of sexual abuse by former University of Michigan employee and school doctor Robert Anderson. In a 240-page report released by the law firm on Tuesday, nearly 600 former patients of Anderson came forward to share their experiences - often describing inappropriate and disturbing conduct by the former university doctor.

Employed by the University of Michigan from 1966 to 2003, Anderson's habit of sexually assaulting his patients was reportedly common knowledge among Michigan's student athletes, coaches and even some officials. According to the report released by WilmerHale, Anderson would often perform unnecessary examinations of students who were seeking treatment for unrelated issues.

Beyond the disturbing conduct carried about by Anderson during his time at the University of Michigan, the investigation also examined the University's handling of the allegations - including former Michigan head football coach Bo Schembechler.

We try to make sense of it all as we discuss the findings and also examine options as Michigan tries to make things right moving forward.

When Mo Linguist left Michigan for the head coaching job at Buffalo, it was not well received. It was viewed as an unfortunate development for the Wolverines and left the maize and blue in a very unenviable position. Now, it looks like a blessing in disguise. Linguist was replaced by former Kentucky defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale, who is viewed as one of the best recruiters in the country and a solid position coach as well. Jamie Morris and Dennis Fithian invited me on to The M Zone to talk all things Clinkscale, and Michigan fans should be excited about what was said.

Former Wolverine Digest publisher Steve Deace drops by to explain a formula that he came up with that assigns points for talent and ranks college teams by the amount of talent they have. Unfortunately for Michigan fans, the last five years of data proves that Michigan has underperformed as much as any team in the country. All of that explained, plus a look at the potential record in 2021 based on those numbers and an overall viewpoint of the state of the program all things considered.

On today's episode, we talk about Franz Wagner's unsurprising decision to enter the NBA Draft and discuss what kind of pro he might be. We also briefly talk about Tony Fair, a 340-pound transfer defensive tackle who is considering Michigan. Finally, and for most of the time, we talk about Michigan's cornerbacks coach and co-defensive coordinator Mo Linguist, who is a finalist for the head coaching job at Buffalo. If Linguist gets the job, his stay in Ann Arbor will be less than four months long. All that and more on The Wolverine Digest Podcast.

Jim Harbaugh is heading into year No. 7 at Michigan, but instead of nearing a decade of stability, more questions surround the program now than at any other point during Harbaugh's tenure.

During a segment on The M Zone with Jamie Morris and Dennis Fithian, we discuss the quarterback situation, expectations for Michigan football in 2021 and what exactly it all means for Jim Harbaugh.

In a very unsurprising development, Franz Wagner has announced that he will enter the NBA Draft. The 6-10 sophomore built up his body, sharpened his handle and became a defensive stopper this past season and is oozing potential. All of those traits have him looking like a lottery pick.

Losing a player like Wagner isn't awesome, but the overall state of Michigan basketball is. Juwan Howard has been outstanding in just about every way and he's got the No. 1 recruiting class in the country coming in next year. Throw Coastal Carolina graduate transfer point guard DeVante' Jones into the mix, and Howard and Co. will very likely be in position to repeat as Big Ten champs.

Jamie Morris and Dennis Fithian invited me onto The M Zone to talk about all of that and more earlier today.