Michigan details redshirt plan for up-and-comer on defense
The Michigan Wolverines have increased depth at the linebacker position this season, but someone who has not factored into that is sophomore Jimmy Rolder. After carving out a role as a true freshman as a depth piece and special teamer, Rolder has yet to see the field for the Wolverines this season.
It appears that has all been by design.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh revealed on Monday that the plan for Rolder is to give him a redshirt year while Junior Colson, Michael Barrett, Ernest Hausmann and others fill out the top of the depth chart.
“He did not redshirt last year,” Harbaugh said. “And so we have a year that we’re really attempting and pulling off really is to play Jimmy in the four games and get that year back for Jimmy. A redshirt doesn’t have to be just in the freshman year.”
Michigan linebackers coach Chris Partridge went a little deeper into the plan during his session with the media on Wednesday afternoon. Given that he has four regular-season contests that he can get into while preserving the redshirt, there could very much be a role for Rolder this season.
“His progress has been great,” Partridge said. “I’m really excited about Jimmy, his future and his potential. When we feel like we need him in a game – it could be this week – he’s ready to go. We’ll play him in four. He’ll play in four. When he’s ready, he’ll play. We can use him in four of the next five games. It might be this week depending on how he looks today.”
Rolder was injured during Michigan’s fall camp, which was a setback in his development and prevented him from working into the rotation. Partridge said the idea to redshirt was not a tough sell to the former four-star recruit.
“It wasn’t that tough,” Partridge said. “We try to be really open with our guys every single day and in regards to where they’re at and everything. He had to work through some stuff in camp with a minor injury. And that kind of set him back. So going into the season, we just try to advise him like we’re his parents and then we open up to the family. We talk to them and just try to find out what the best situation for that individual is. And this was the best for Jimmy and everyone came to an agreement and here we are.
“I think it worked out pretty well that we were able to stay healthy at the position to this point. Now we have some added value that he can play in every game, no matter how many they go.”
Michigan has been fortunate to only have to dip into the depth chart for linebackers in mop-up duty this season, which is keeping everyone fresh with a potential reinforcement in Rolder on the way.
“I was joking with Junior just now. He’s sitting up in my office like, ‘Dude, have you played in the fourth quarter this year?’ At some point that’s going to have to happen. It’s great, it builds depth, it lets you see some other guys in there. It gets them experience. You get good at football by playing football and practicing, but also playing in games. You could say it doesn’t matter what the score is, when you go in, in the fourth quarter, playing in that game, that experience is huge.”
Michigan hopes to set its reserves up for potential mop-up duty this weekend as 24-point favorites over the rival Michigan State Spartans. Kickoff from East Lansing is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on network television via NBC.
