Michigan announces team captains for 2023 season

With a little more than a week until Michigan opens the season against East Carolina on Sept. 2, the Wolverines have debuted their captains for the 2023 season. And of the six players picked, there aren’t a ton of surprises.

On offense, the trio of running back Blake Corum and guards Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan have been named captains. On defense, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr., linebacker Mike Barrett and defensive back Mike Sainristil have been chosen as captains.

All six Michigan captains are in line to play major roles for Wolverines in 2023.

Zinter and Keegan are both NFL-caliber offensive linemen who will anchor a line gunning for a third-straight Joe Moore Award, given annually to the best offensive line in the country. They’ll be blocking things up for Corum, who rushed for nearly 1500 yards and 18 touchdowns a season ago prior to a Week 12 injury.

Barrett is one of the most seasoned defenders on the entire Michigan roster, entering his sixth season in Ann Arbor with 49 appearances and 20 starts at linebacker. Jenkins will be lined up in front of him and could be in line to follow Mazi Smith, Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo as Michigan defensive linemen and edge rushers to have a dominant season before getting drafted He’s also one of Bruce Feldman’s annual “freaks” in college football. And Sainristil, a converted slot receiver, quickly became a defensive stalwart in the secondary in 2022, playing mostly as a nickel and making the now-iconic pass breakup versus tight end Cade Stover against Ohio State.

Michigan captains will be leading absent Jim Harbaugh for the first three weeks of the season

Michigan officially announced the three-game suspension of football head coach Jim Harbaugh, a self-imposed punishment, earlier this week. An interim coach has yet to be named.

Harbaugh was initially set to serve a four-game suspension for the 2023 season, but a deal with the NCAA fell through and was to be revisited in 2024. When it looked like Harbaugh would coach this fall unscathed, the administration felt best to self impose a suspension for its coach.

The university released a statement after making the decision.

“The University of Michigan Athletic Department today (August 21) announced that is self-imposing sanctions in an ongoing NCAA matter related to its football program,” the statement read.

“Included in the self-imposed sanctions is a three-game suspension for Coach Jim Harbaugh, to be served during the opening three regular-season games of the 2023 season. The sanctions are in addition to previously imposed recruiting restrictions.”

Athletic director Warde Manuel also released a statement.

“While the ongoing NCAA matter continues through the NCAA process, today’s announcement is our way of addressing mistakes that our department has agreed to in an attempt to further that process,” Manuel said. “We will continue to support coach Harbaugh, his staff, and our outstanding student-athletes. Per the NCAA’s guidelines, we cannot comment further until the matter is resolved.”