Michigan defensive tackle competition is 'fun' and 'intense, but that's what you come here for'

Michigan Wolverines football has size and depth at the defensive tackle spot, planning to rotate heavily to keep players fresh. The Maize and Blue possess six different defensive linemen who are expected to play key roles and all weigh 296-plus pounds.

Junior Trey Pierce is hoping to break out in 2025, after playing a career-high 38 defensive snaps in the 19-13 ReliaQuest Bowl victory over Alabama. He’s working alongside, and competing for playing time against, some veterans, however, including three graduate students with experience in Rayshaun Benny, Tré Williams and Damon Payne.

“It’s super fun, because you got that constant competition, but you also got a lot of guys who you can learn from, especially we have a lot of older guys in that room,” Pierce said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host Jon Jansen. “You got a lot of guys who can just flat-out play. We probably have six guys who could start anywhere else in the country in the D-tackle room. It’s fun.

“It’s intense, but that’s what you come here for. You come to Michigan, you know you’re gonna be around good D-tackles. It makes everybody else better in the room. I think it’s fun; I find it fun.”

Pierce played right away as a freshman in 2023, but mostly on special teams. He was in the rotation last season, totaling 7 tackles on 153 defensive snaps in 13 outings. The 6-foot-2, 315-pounder has had the opportunity to learn from current NFL players Kris Jenkins (Cincinnati Bengals), Mason Graham (Cleveland Browns) and Kenneth Grant (Miami Dolphins), among other talented teammates, and he’s taking those lessons with him now that he’s an upperclassman.

“Really just how to be a pro,” Pierce said of what he picked up. “When I was getting recruited, Mazi Smith was here, so I got to learn from him a little bit. And then I came in, it was Kris Jenkins, a second-rounder, you get KG, Mason, first round. Really just how to be a pro, how they carried themselves, how they walk around the facility, how they take care of their bodies, things like that. I learned a lot from those guys.”

The current veterans in Michigan’s defensive tackle group are helping, too.

“I learned a lot from Tré this spring,” Pierce said of the Clemson transfer. “He uses leverage so well, and he’s a pitbull out there. He’s just stronger than everyone else out there. So, knowing how to use leverage and angles and stuff like that, he’s so good at things like that.

“Same with Dame and Benny. They’re both just two extra years in the weight room. You can learn a lot from those guys. Benny, pass rush. And Dame, he’s another guy with leverage. Learning things like that from those guys has been invaluable.”

Pierce feels much different entering his third season at Michigan than he did just two years ago.

“I know what to do, actually,” he said. “I know what I’m preparing for. I know what I’m getting into. I have my routine set, and I know what I need to work on.

“Freshman year, you think you’re good, because you’re the best from where you’re from. You think, ‘Ah, I gotta work on this, I gotta work on that, obviously,’ but you really don’t know what you’re good at and what you’re not good at, at this level. That’s the difference, knowing what I have to work on.”

A year from now, Pierce wants to be a household name at Michigan and across college football, after experiencing individual and team success in 2025.

“I want to play as much as possible. That’s a big goal for me,” he noted.

“I want to win a Big Ten championship, [beat] Ohio State, Michigan State, obviously. Natty — that’s the big goal.

“But for me, I want to put myself in conversations that I think I deserve to be in. Coming into next year, I want to be one of the top D-tackles in the country. I want to show I’m one of those elite guys in the country. Those are my personal goals.”