STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 11: Acting head coach Sherrone Moore of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates after an offensive touchdown against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the second half at Beaver Stadium on November 11, 2023 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Michigan Wolverines football program has had failures on and off the field over the last two years, particularly because of poor decisions made by former head coach Sherrone Moore.

Moore, who was fired last December, had a strength and conditioning program that regressed mightily from the Jim Harbaugh era. When Harbaugh left to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, he took strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert with him, who’s considered one of the best in the profession. Michigan made an internal hire and promoted Justin Tress to fill the void of Herbert’s departure. However, Michigan got weaker in the trenches and across the board.

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At Big Ten Media Day, Michigan running back Jordan Marshall noted that Michigan didn’t bench press much under the former staff but noted that it’s something the team needs to have. Marshall

“Huge difference. A lot of us are a lot bigger and stronger,” Marshall said.

Marshall noted that a lot of players’ squat and bench press are up 100-200 pounds.

“Even from a conditioning standpoint, I think we’re going to win a lot of games just because of how much we condition and how much we run. I think that’s the biggest difference: We’re going to be more conditioned than teams in the fourth quarter. And I think we lacked that last season.”

New Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham shared how surprising it was that Michigan’s players were in the physical place they were when he took over. Doug Elisaia, who was at Utah with Whittingham from 2006-25, is Michigan’s new strength coach.

“The most glaring thing that stood out to me when we first got there was that when we tested them in the strength room, the overall strength of the team was not up to par,” Whittingham said. “We’ve worked hard the last seven months to correct that.”

It appears Michigan’s strength program has improved drastically since Whittingham took over in January.

“We tested last week, and I think every player on the team with the exception of just a handful, did all their personal best in the lifts,” Whittingham said. “We think we’ve got that problem solved. That was probably the most eye-opening thing when we got here. Because we had all these real tall, long, good-looking athletes, but the sheer strength wasn’t there. So, we’ve addressed that.”

While Sherrone Moore would tout how physical Michigan was under his helm as head coach, the talk of playing “smash” football was often more bluster than reality. While Michigan has yet to play a game in 2026 and it remains to be seen how much stronger they are once the games count, it’s safe to see they are on the right track under the leadership of Whittingham and Elisaia.

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