Joel Klatt explains why he's a big believer in Michigan, high ranking

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt is high on Michigan going into the 2025 season. He ranked them No. 12 in his post-spring Top 25.

Granted, this was prior to Michigan and Sherrone Moore self-imposing a two game suspension, for games three and four actually, but Klatt is still a believer. Based on the success in Year 1 under Moore, they can take a step forward with certain pieces in place.

“Now here’s why I believe in Michigan,” Klatt said on his podcast. “Last year, they beat USC, they beat Ohio State, they beat Alabama. And in those games, you know what? Their offense did virtually nothing, virtually nothing. And specifically in that game against Alabama, remember all the guys that were going to the draft weren’t playing in that game. So they stopped Jalen Milroe and Alabama basically with the group of guys that are going to be playing this year. Wink Martindale figured it out. I thought early in the year there were growing pains with him coming back to college. He had to dumb it down. He’s too smart. 

“Wink Martindale is too smart of a defensive coordinator, and they, at times, were doing a little too much. They simplified a little bit. He learned the college game a little bit more, the tendencies of it, and that defense took off in the second half of the year. So because of that, that’s going to allow their offense to get its footing.” 

It’s truly a matter of who’s going to start at quarterback: Mikey Keene or true freshman Bryce Underwood. As Klatt puts it, the defense is going to be top tier despite graduating some players to the NFL. Thanks to Wink Martindale, and an expected improved offense, Michigan can climb higher than No. 12.

“Now, they’ve got that tough game early in the year against Oklahoma, but think about it, man, they beat Ohio State, they beat Alabama, and in those two games, they had 234 yards, and then 190 yards of offense. That’s it. So they don’t need to be great on the offensive side,” Klatt said. “They bring in Chip Lindsey as their new offensive coordinator, and now it’s going to be kind of a wait and see, like, who’s going to be the quarterback …

“Now, if the offense is good, this is a top 10 team, and so that’s when we get into like, what could they possibly be? Is it Bryce Underwood? Is it Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene there to bridge whatever gap there might be … I know they have to replace Mason Graham, I know they have to replace Kenneth Grant, I know they have to replace Will Johnson, but that defense, even without those players, largely stopped Alabama in that bowl game when they got that win.”