Michigan football: 'The time is now' for Marlin Klein; Hogan Hansen being challenged this offseason

Michigan Wolverines football standout Colston Loveland was picked No. 10 overall by the Chicago Bears this spring, making him the second-highest drafted tight end in program history, behind only Paul Seymour (seventh overall, Buffalo Bills) in 1970.

Loveland was the focal point of the Michigan offense when he was in the game, but he also missed time with injury. Believe it or not, the Wolverines were 3-0 without him, notching big victories over USC, Ohio State and Alabama with senior Marlin Klein and sophomore Hogan Hansen taking the majority of the snaps alongside graduate tight end / fullback Max Bredeson.

Following 15 practices, Michigan’s 19-13 ReliaQuest Bowl victory over Alabama was a chance for Klein and Hansen to show out. The 6-foot-6, 247-pound Klein logged 38 offensive snaps, while Hansen tied his career-high with 21.

The Wolverines completed only 11 passes, choosing to run the ball 51 times, but Klein and Hansen both played key roles. They each had 1 catch, and Klein was dominant in the run game.

“With Marlin, it was gonna be an opportunity for him to take his best moments and put it all together on a Saturday, from a level of consistency,” Michigan tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Steve Casula said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast. “And he wasn’t perfect in that game, but I think it is certainly the most physical he has played in a game, the most successful he’s played in the run game or pass protection. There were some times where he was dominant and aiding us to run the football.

“It was the first time for me that from snap one to snap last you saw that level of confidence from him through the whole way.

“For Hogan Hansen, it was the first time that he had really been able to go through a full practice segment, where when you play as a true freshman, so much of it is, ‘I just gotta know what I’m doing.’ It was the first time we were kinda able to hit the reset button for him on like, OK, let’s focus on the ‘how’ to do it. 

“I thought he really grew and developed. I think it might’ve been the most snaps he played in a game for the season.”

Both Klein and Hansen played well in the regular-season finale, too, a 13-10 triumph at Ohio State. Klein had 3 catches for 13 yards, while Hansen caught 1 ball for 9 yards. Two of Klein’s 3 grabs came on third down, moving the chains during a crucial drive that allowed the Wolverines to chew clock in the second half.

The standard of a Michigan TE is Colston Loveland

Hansen is no longer Michigan’s freshman who flashes on occasion. The Wolverines are looking for a greater level of consistency from him. Klein is no longer the sidekick to Loveland, meanwhile. While he played the most tight end snaps on the team last season, his role will grow even larger in 2025.

“When you play as a freshman, sometimes it’s just the pressure of, ‘I just need to know what I’m doing. I gotta get lined up, I gotta run the right route,'” Casula explained. “Of course we’re coaching them and they’re trying to do exactly what we’re focusing on. But then you have these 15 practices to nitpick what each guy’s doing and how they’re doing it, and the challenge to Marlin and Hogan and the whole room was, ‘Listen, a first-round draft pick just walked out of the room, so somehow, some way, collectively, we have to replace that.’

“That would never be an easy task, but you’re then able to kinda reset their own standard like, no, the standard of being a tight end at Michigan right now is Colston Loveland. Everyone’s gonna be compared to him, everyone’s gonna be challenged and pushed to be as good as him. It’s different when that guy’s still there, because you can just throw that guy in a game to go do it. It was a challenge to them, but they rose to the occasion. Super pleased with how they did.”

Casula on Klein: ‘The time for him is now’

Casula was asked if Klein could be a breakout player for Michigan this season, after tallying 13 catches for 108 yards last year.

“He and I have talked about this — it needs to be,” Casula noted. “And he and I together need to make sure that, that happens, because we have talked a lot about his ability and his potential, and he’s helped us win a lot of football games here and played outstanding as an in-line tight end this past year. But he and I are both in agreement that it’s time for that to happen this fall.

“He and I have kinda talked about this, and we’ll talk about it less and do it more. But I really believe that this is the year it needs to happen. I’ve got all the faith and trust in Mar. He’s got outstanding ability and talent — and the time for him is now.

“We have a saying, ‘The ball finds talent, technique and energy.’ He’s got great talent, he’s got the capacity to use great technique, and he’s got the right energy about him.

“He is going to be targeted more this upcoming season, and my challenge has been to him every single play, ‘Man, win the route. Every single play, do it right.’ So, he’s being held to a super high standard now.

“I do believe this spring was the best he’s ever played, but our guys need to be who Michigan needs them to be. Michigan’s starting tight end needs to be an NFL player, an all-conference level player. That’s what our history is here. That’s what the level of expectation is. So, pushing him to be that.”

The next step for Hogan Hansen

The 6-foot-5, 236-pound Hansen has shown flashes of being dynamic. He caught 7 passes for 78 yards and 1 touchdown last season and will serve in a role similar to Loveland in years past, where he’ll line up out wide in addition to in-line. Casula explained what the next step for him is.

“Refining the detail, applying detail blended with his outstanding ability and playing with great technique,” the Michigan coach said.

“When you first play, you celebrate all the good that happens, and anything that goes wrong, ‘Oh, well he’s a freshman. Oh, well he’s a sophomore.’ I think the biggest challenge for anyone who plays really early and has some success, well now this spring all of Hogan’s reps were with the first group — the first or second group.

“So, life’s a little bit different when you have to deal with [senior EDGE] Derrick Moore all day. Or life is a little bit different when you’re running routes against [senior linebacker] Ernie Hausmann. It’s just different, right? [Junior safety] Brandyn Hillman’s covering you. And that’s not to discredit any of our younger players. But when you go from a part-time player to a full-time player, practice is harder. Blocking [graduate EDGE] TJ Guy is not easy.

“And the expectation or what you’ve gotten used to as a true freshman is everything I do really good, everyone’s kinda like, ‘Yeah, let’s go!’ And then everything that goes wrong is, ‘Oh, he’s a freshman.’ He’s not a freshman anymore, so now you gotta be upheld to the standard of the guys you’re in the game with. That’s a challenge, but I think it’s a challenge that Hogan handled well.

“He’s really talented, he’s physically gifted, but now, detail, playing with great detail and not everything is like, ‘Oh, the ball just found him.’ No, man, going and winning every route, getting open and continuing to get better through detail.”