How Michigan football avoided mass exodus ahead of Citrus Bowl

How Michigan football avoided mass exodus ahead of Citrus Bowl

ORLANDO, FL — When previewing the Citrus Bowl matchup against Texas earlier this week at Schembechler Hall, interim Michigan football coach Biff Poggi said the team was only anticipating three opt-outs.

Days later, on a podcast hosted by Longhorn icons Mack Brown and Vince Young, his tune had modified. He implied that without a training rent soon, there was an opportunity of as many as 25 gamers passing on the postseason.

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There’s a coach in place, however Poggi will still coach the boal game and, positive sufficient, for U-M’s first bowl follow, at West Orange High School, just about everybody was readily available. In addition to the three anticipated opt-outs – Derrick Moore, Jaishawn Barham and Gio El-Hadi – the Wolverines have been lacking only operating again Justice Haynes and linebacker Ernest Hausmann.

Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) celebrates with operating again Bryson Kuzdzal (24) after scoring a landing during the second half against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.

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Hausmann has been coping with a “personal matter,” per a team spokesman, which also saved him out of U-M’s final two regular-season games. Haynes, meanwhile, broke his foot in late October and hasn’t performed since, however he’s anticipated to affix his teammates before the Citrus Bowl on Wednesday (3 p.m., ABC).

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U-M nearly fully avoided a standard wave across the NCAA, of gamers passing on bowl games outdoors the College Football Playoff. But with the tumult within the teaching employees, how have been the Wolverines capable of maintain issues together?

“I feel like you could either go one of two ways: we either stay together or break apart,” linebacker Cole Sullivan said. “I’m dang sure, we don’t want to break apart. That was really the only choice we had. And the camaraderie we have in the locker room. We always tell each other we love each other. It’s not something we just say.”

The gamers who spoke Saturday ahead of follow also credited the remaining staffers, beginning with Poggi, for preserving U-M’s concentrate on the bowl, despite their futures also being in flux.

New coach Kyle Whittingham can be shaping a new employees replete with people he already is aware of. As a result, as is the nature of the enterprise, a number of current Michigan assistants this week will seemingly be headed elsewhere next month.

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Still, most have stayed round and continued to pour their all into the team.

“[Once everything with former coach Sherrone Moore] happened, it’s like ‘Is everything going downhill from here?” operating again Bryson Kuzdzal said. “I think it was smart that Biff came in right away – we never really went down at all. It was close, then Biff made sure we were going in the right direction, so I don’t think we fell off at all.”

Michigan appearing head coach Biff Poggi waves at followers at heat up at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025.

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Sullivan said it was a “challenge” to maintain a concentrate on the bowl game amid the outdoors noise of social media, however the gamers knew they needed to rally together. Sullivan said they have been glad to have each other during a month he described as a “roller coaster of emotion.”

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Also, he added, the want to select up a tenth win is still strong, for each the seniors and the coaches.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with these coaches, so we want to end it the right way for them,” he said. “Hopefully they get to come back, but that’s something that’s out of my control. … I’ve been praying for them every day.

“I’m just joyful, I believe they’ve performed job for us, I’m just extraordinarily grateful for them.”

A few days off for the players during the holiday week appears to have restored the pep in the Wolverines’ step at practice. For quarterback Bryce Underwood, it was as simple as getting back into action.

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“Playing football is our fun,” he said. “Playing our game, and any way possible we can be good, that’s what we’ll do.”

Michigan linebacker Cole Sullivan (23) celebrates an interception against Washington during the second half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.

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The crossing of the present and the future will continue this week. Whittingham is scheduled to be introduced on Sunday in Orlando, and the importance of him arriving this week cannot be overstated.

The two-week transfer portal window opens for U-M players on Thursday – five days after the announcement of a new coach, per NCAA rules, and a day ahead of the regular portal window. It’s an opportunity for players to hear from Whittingham first-hand about the future of the program.

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Michigan kept its team together for a Citrus Bowl appearance. Can it do so again in the offseason?

“First, I just need to see what his imaginative and prescient for the program is,” Sullivan said. “I’ve heard that he is a blue-collar, hard-nosed, powerful coach, and I believe that’s precisely what this program has been constructed on. So that’s thrilling to listen to. I’m also just excited to speak one-on-one with him, see what his imaginative and prescient is for me, for this protection, and go from there.”

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football rallies for Citrus Bowl: ‘Don’t want to break apart’

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