The Michigan offense hasn’t been up to standard the last two seasons, but things have a chance to be much different this season under new head coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Jason Beck.
Beck engineered a major turnaround at Utah last season, taking it from being one of the nation’s worst offenses in 2024 to a group that put up 41.3 points per game in 2025. It’ll be hard to produce another turnaround like that, but Michigan might have the tools to make it happen.
On Saturday, the Wolverines
played their annual spring game and gave fans a glimpse of some things that could be different in the offense this season. We saw some of the traits of the spread offense Whittingham mentioned in his introductory press conference back in December, but perhaps more importantly, we saw two freshmen — wide receiver Salesi Moa and running back Savion Hiter — look rather comfortable.
Hiter was the one of two five-star recruits Michigan pulled in during the 2026 recruiting cycle, managing to hold onto his services even though he had committed to the program while Sherrone Moore was still the head coach. On Saturday, we saw a little bit of what he could do, as he had 10 carries for 44 yards for the Blue team. At 6-foot, 210 pounds, he boasts a college-ready frame and tree trunks for legs that should help him adapt well to the physicality of Big Ten football. Not to mention some burst that should manifest itself at some point this fall.
“I thought that Savion (Hiter) really showed that he’s an explosive back,” Whittingham told reporters after the game. “He’s a powerful back that’s gonna be a big factor for us this fall.”
While Jordan Marshall will enter the fall as the leader on the depth chart, Whittingham has repeatedly said great things about Hiter throughout the spring. It might not be a 50-50 split of the carries, but the youngster will definitely get his share of work in the new offense much like how Marshall and Justice Haynes were able to coexist last year.
As for the passing game, it’ll be Moa that could provide the group with a boost. He was enrolled at Utah for a short time before transferring to Michigan. He similarly was one of the eye-catching players on Saturday, making four catches, including a one-handed snag, for 26 yards on six targets.
“Salesi (Moa), you saw him make a few nice catches today. He started off spring really well, but hit a little bit of a wall there towards mid-spring ball, but then started to progress and take off again towards the end,” Whittingham said.
When asked about the progress of the pass-catchers this spring, Whittingham mentioned Andrew Marsh and J.J. Buchanan as the top two on the depth chart, with three, four amd five still needing to be sorted out. Moa made a nice bid for one of those spots with his performance on Saturday, and it wouldn’t be a surprise for him to take on a big role this fall.
Michigan’s pass-catchers have particularly struggled and dragged down the ceiling of its offenses since the end of 2023, but Moa already shows solid polish as a route-runner with his shiftiness.
“I think like Savion (Hiter) and Tommy (Carr), (Moa’s) ceiling is very high and he has a bright future,” Whittingham said.
The offense as a whole might not have lit up the scoreboard in the spring game and there’s still work to do the next few months, but Michigan has two young players that can raise the ceiling for this team drastically if they pan out like many are hoping.
