Is there any discernible grumbling about the state of the program with Michigan fans (beyond what is always present)?
What if they finish 8-5 this year?
Hard to see them finishing 8-5 this year. If they did- man Harbaugh's seat would be white hot.
Schedule sets up nicely as they get ND, MSU, Iowa, and Ohio State all at home. They have to play Wisconsin on the road but it's early in the season which to me is a plus. I'd rather play Wisconsin 3rd week of the season and be fresh vs having to play them late in the season banged up. Wisconsin's style of offense also plays right into Don Brown's hands. It's those spread you out, tempo offenses that Brown seems to have no idea how to slow down. Other than that the only road game they really have is Penn State. And not sure how good Penn State is even going to be this year.
Offense returns nearly everybody and has the added benefit of getting Tarik Black healthy to start the entire season, new OC in Gattis, and another year of Ed Warriner shaping that OL into form. RS Frosh RT Jaylen Mayfield has been making lots of noise. This could wind up being the best OL that Harbaugh has had at Michigan by a wide margin. RB is really the major ? mark. Chris Evans' status is in limbo right now and the hotshot 5* early enrollee RB is missing all of spring ball with a knee injury.
Defense lost a lot, but there's still plenty there for it to be pretty solid. Kwity Paye, Josh Uche, and Aidan Hutchinson all good DL players. They also added the grad transfer DE from CMU who had 16 sacks last year in Mike Danna. They should have 4 really good DE's this year with those guys. And maybe their most talented DE in Luiji Villain is finally healthy and making noise in practice. They should be able to go 5 deep at DE if Villain is healthy. Ambry Thomas and LaVert Hill is a damn good CB duo. Josh Metellus should be a really solid starting strong safety. I'd be shocked if 5* hot-shot Dax Hill didn't walk right in and start at FS as a true soph. Kid is insanely athletic. They still have Khaleke Hudson and Josh Ross will probably be a better fit at MLB than he was at OLB- those two are pretty good LB's.
Who will be the 3rd LB to emerge and the depth at DT are probably the two glaring question marks for that defense. DT took a massive beating with Mone and Marshall graduating and Aubrey Solomon deciding to transfer to Tennessee. They've got Carlo Kemp and Mike Dwumfour and that's about it. Neither inspires much faith. Kemp is a mediocre player at best and Dwumfour is one trick pony- pass rush specialist DT who has struggles with the run at times. RS Soph. Donovan Jeter and RS Fr. Taylor Upshaw are the only other DT's on the roster that aren't true frosh. Mazi Smith, Chris Hinton, Gabe Newburg, and Mike Morris- all true frosh. Smith and Hinton probably play as true frosh. Wouldn't surprise me to see Newburg redshirt this year than be processed out and transfer- and then see Morris redshirt and switch to OL- where Florida State had wanted him to play before he flipped to Michigan.