Michigan football begins spring practice next week

Maize n Brew has confirmed with Michigan football spokesperson Dave Ablauf that the Wolverines will begin their spring practices next Monday, Feb. 22 in Ann Arbor.

In a normal year, Michigan begins spring practices in March, culminating with the annual spring game at the Big House. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that has pushed spring practice up a bit this year for the Wolverines.

It is unknown at this time whether or not a spring game open to the public will happen this year. It was also not immediately known if practices will end in March, or go up until April, as it usually does. The Wolverines have 15 practices to split up, so we will see how they space it all out. As we have come to know during this pandemic, everything is in a “wait and see” mode.

More specific details about the spring plans for the Wolverines are expected to be released at a later time.

This spring is set to be a fairly important one for the Wolverines across the board. New defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is set to install a brand new defense after Don Brown was let go from the position after five seasons in Ann Arbor. Other new assistants are also in town and have work to put in to have their position groups succeed.

But arguably the most important storyline heading into the spring is that there is no clear favorite for the quarterback position. Joe Milton was rocky in 2020, but an injury may have led to most of his struggles. Cade McNamara showed some potential, but he also suffered an injury that clearly affected his game. J.J. McCarthy, a former five-star prospect, is already on campus and will give Milton and McNamara a run for their money as well.