Michigan OL Giovanni El-Hadi opens up about 2024 struggles, body transformation: ‘Never again’

ANN ARBOR – Michigan Wolverines graduate offensive lineman Giovanni El-Hadi is one of the de facto leaders of his position group. Part of being a leader is taking a look at yourself in the mirror, and he did that Monday when praising one of his younger teammates.

In response to a question about sophomore offensive tackle Andrew Sprague and how he has changed his body, El-Hadi admitted that taking his physique seriously is an adjustment he has also had to make.

This allowed him to enter camp at a much higher playing weight than last season.

“Last year, I played very lightly,” El-Hadi said on Monday. “I had a bad camp. I didn’t take good care of myself. I was playing around 300 or 305 [pounds]. Right now I’m about 325-330.”

El-Hadi’s transformation is emblematic of Michigan’s roster-wide adjustment this year. The staff challenged them to improve their physicality to prepare for a year with higher expectations. The left guard says that discipline has been key for him this offseason.

RELATED: WATCH: TJ Guy, Giovanni El-Hadi talk Michigan fall camp

“Eating a lot just in general,” El-Hadi said. “The way I was drinking water, I drink about a gallon, two gallons a day, because I sweat a lot. Big guys, you guys know how it is. We sweat a lot and it’s kind of like a job trying to eat that much and drink that much. And it took me a long time to learn that. And now I have it pretty good. I’ve got a good little rhythm and it is going [well].

 ”Every practice, I was losing about like 10 to 15 pounds of water weight. The first week, I was doing a pretty good job [of rehydrating]. But over time, when you are losing that type of weight, just drinking that much water and eating that much, you kind of get tired of it. And this year I said, ‘Hey. I don’t care how tired you are, you better eat or drink as much as you can until you feel like a balloon.’

El-Hadi started every game at right guard last season and did not have the season he hoped for. He’s hoping his weight game helps him as a blocker with a stronger base.

 ”Last year I was a little light,” El-Hadi said. “I still felt very powerful, but kind of light in the butt, so I was getting kind of moved back a little more than I like to. Now when I get my hands on you, it’s a lot more weight trying to push through. That’s the biggest difference. Far stronger.”

Michigan’s offensive line took a big step down last year, even considering the expectations were not as high given the departures from the national title team in 2023. Ultimately, El-Hadi thinks that too much newness and confusion played a role.

Now, he hopes they have experience with overcoming obstacles.

 ”The line was iffy and there’s a lot of new guys,” El-Hadi said of last season. “A lot of guys switching, and we didn’t really know how to handle that because the last three years previous to that, it was the same guys. The same guys for the last four years, three years, five years. And that was the biggest difference last year when you had five new guys.

“But now we kind of understand how to work through that. And we have that mindset, like no matter who’s in there, better have that urgency to get better and kick some butt.

Michigan brought in famed offensive line coach Juan Castillo as a staffer this offseason to work with Grant Newsome in shaping the position group. Both have been positives, but El-Hadi says the addition of Castillo has been massive.

 ”Coach Newsome is doing a really good job this year,” El-Hadi said. “Last year was a lot of our first times, especially for him too, and it was a little stressful. Now, we kind of just chill, lean back and look at the bigger picture.

“And Juan is the best. We’re with him every day since January. Whenever we want to do any work or wherever it is, we’ll go up to him. It’s like he lives here. It’s actually scary. He’s here all day and he always wants to just help us get better, and we love him so much. We wish we had him sooner.”

Pressed on if this fall camp feels different than last year, El-Hadi admitted it does, and that Michigan vows not to slip as it did five times last season.

“ It feels really good this year,” El-Hadi said. “I’m really excited and everybody’s excited. We are not gonna have a year like we had last year. Never again.”