Michigan Wolverines get two impact transfer portal players for the price of one to build around Bryce Underwood
Kyle Whittingham brought in some familiar faces out of the transfer portal to help shore up Michigan’s thin defensive depth chart.
It took the Michigan Wolverines a little while to get going in the transfer portal as they worked to retain most of their roster, but it has been full steam ahead over the last several days, and the returns have begun to pile up for the Wolverines.
Kyle Whittingham has had an outstanding start to the transfer portal period, and his ability and acumen as a coach have attracted several high-profile players to the Wolverines. On Tuesday, they added a pair of playmakers to help retool the team on both sides of the ball ahead of next season.
Michigan strikes a 2-for-1 deal in the portal
Former Michigan State linebacker Aisea Moa visited the Wolverines last week, a connection that makes sense given his time with defensive coordinator Jay Hill at BYU before spending 2025 with the Spartans.
With linebacker Cade Uluave electing to choose BYU over Michigan, the Wolverines have an obvious need at linebacker. Michigan has no proven talent and little experience in the room, with Ernest Hausmann, Jimmy Rolder, and Cole Sullivan off the roster.
However, Aisea Moa isn’t coming alone. His brother, Salesi Moa, will also be joining the Wolverines. The former Utah Ute was Kyle Whittingham’s highest-profile recruit at Utah, but Aisea Moa entered the transfer portal with a do-not-contact tag on Monday night, signaling an obvious landing spot.
Moa visited Michigan twice in his recruiting process, so it’s no surprise that Whittingham heading to Ann Arbor would be an alluring spot for him to buy in on his development.
Salesi, a do-it-all athlete in high school, can play both sides of the ball. Moa says he wants to play wide receiver at the next level, even if Michigan needs the reinforcements on defense. Pairing Moa with Andrew Marsh and the newest transfer arrival, Jaime Ffrench, gives the Wolverines a dynamite young trio of playmakers to put around Bryce Underwood offensively.
However, the staff has seemingly echoed their desire to keep him at defensive back. Could the Wolverines have a player in a role similar to the one Travis Hunter played? We’ll see.
I would expect Michigan to continue to be heavily involved in the portal, especially to restock its defense, which still doesn’t have any proven linebackers and is thin at secondary and defensive line. However, this is a strong pairing for both the present and the future of the Wolverines.
With the return of Rod Moore as well, the Wolverines have bolstered their secondary in a massive way this week.
Michigan Wolverines News
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