Takeaways from Episode 1 of ‘Michigan Made: Football’

The looks behind the curtain of Michigan Wolverines football keep on coming, and the latest series is looking like the most interesting yet.

On Thursday, Michigan Athletics dropped the first episode of a five-part series titled Michigan Made, a web documentary that builds on the highly successful series Those Who Stay, which was released last month.

While I can’t recommend enough watching it for yourself, here’s what we learned from Michigan Made’s debut episode:

The sting of the Fiesta Bowl loss has fueled everything this offseason

“We really feel like that’s not how it should’ve went.”

From Cornelius Johnson’s opening comment, the tone of episode one is clear — the Wolverines are determined to avenge their unexpected end to last season. Blake Corum also claimed the loss played a role in him coming back for one last go, saying he “just knows” the Wolverines have what it takes to win the National Championship.

From that pain however, Kris Jenkins claims, comes fuel.

“You gotta take this pain with you,” Jenkins said. “You gotta bring that with you to the winter training cycle, gotta bring that with you to spring ball, to summer training camp — you gotta run with it. This is what’s gonna fuel us to do what we do this upcoming season.”

It’s national title or bust in 2023

It’s something that just a few years ago would be scoffed at — the Wolverines enter this upcoming fall with the firm expectation of not just making the College Football Playoff, but winning the whole thing. With that comes a repeat of the trifecta they accomplished last year — keeping the Paul Bunyan Trophy in Ann Arbor, beating Ohio State and winning their third straight Big Ten championship.

“Obviously, the No. 1 goal is to win a National Championship,” Corum said. “Goal two, you know, is just to repeat — beat Ohio State, beat Michigan State, win the Big Ten Championship. Repeat”

J.J. McCarthy took it one step further in his own goal, wanting to claim a spot not just atop the 2023 mountain, but among the greatest teams in college football.

“I want to be one of the best teams to ever play this game,” McCarthy said. “We have the potential to do it, we have the talent to do it, the dedication and commitment and hard work to do it. It’s all about just putting it together and executing the plan.”