Transfer Tracker: Michigan Has Lost 15 Players To The Portal This Offseason

The offseason in college football is one never-ending news cycle, with the frequency of transfers rising over the last several years, and perhaps to new heights now with the NCAA approving one-time transfer legislation.

Michigan football has become no stranger when it comes to the portal, with 15 Wolverines having departed the program via it this offseason. Meanwhile, Michigan has added two players from the portal to its roster.

Below, we list every transfer-portal transaction having to do with Michigan football, beginning with the most recent news.

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Previous School: Oregon State

Michigan has offered a few defensive tackles in the portal this offseason, and finally landed one when Whittley, who was previously at Oregon State committed in late May.

He has struggled with weight problems in the past, and hasn’t played since 2019, but could potentially be one to provide some immediate help on an otherwise thin interior defensive line.

Previous School: Texas Tech

Bowman, who has three years of eligibility remaining committed to Michigan out of nowhere at the end of February. The Wolverines don’t have a lot of depth at quarterback, with Bowman becoming the fourth scholarship signal-caller on the roster, joining redshirt freshman Cade McNamara, freshman Dan Villari and freshman J.J. McCarthy.

McNamara was named the starter coming out of spring ball, but it’s an open competition heading into the fall, with McCarthy having been ranked No. 2 on the depth chart. Don’t count Bowman out of the race — he threw for 5,260 yards and 33 touchdowns at Texas Tech, while completing 67 percent of his passes.

A former four-star recruit out of West Bloomfield (Mich.) High, Wheeler was coached by now-Michigan safeties coach Ron Bellamy. He did not see game action during his first season with the Wolverines in 2020.

Transfer Destination: Unknown

Allen departed Michigan after going through spring practices but finding himself below the two-deep on the depth chart. He joined the program in January and left in April, never playing a snap for the Maize and Blue. He is headed to UMass, his fifth school.

Transfer Destination: Massachussetts

Paea played sparingly during his four years at Michigan, and registered just three total tackles during his career. He was buried on the depth chart, and decided to find a school in which he could see the field.

Transfer Destination: Utah State

Reynolds decided to leave the program on the same day as Paea, and he will actually head to the same school — Utah State — as the defensive tackle. A former walk-on, Reynolds rose into the two-deep last season and received playing time while sophomore Daxton Hill was injured. He made 16 tackles with one for loss in 2020.

Transfer Destination: Utah State

A viper linebacker in former Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown‘s system, Mohan decided that new coordinator Mike Macdonald‘s scheme wasn’t for him, opting to play elsewhere.

He appeared in just one game last season, his first and only in a Michigan uniform, and recorded one tackle.

Transfer Destination: Tennessee

Jackson started in three games at slot receiver last season, and also served as Michigan’s punt and kick returner. In his two years in Ann Arbor, he totaled 24 catches for 309 yards and one touchdown, while also returning two kickoffs for scores.

Transfer Destination: Washington

Milton waited his turn for two seasons, before becoming Michigan’s starting quarterback in 2020. He got off to a strong start, going 15-for-22 passing for 225 yards and one touchdown in the opener against Minnesota, before struggling for much of the season. He also suffered a hand injury. All told, Milton completed 57 percent of his passes for 1,077 yards and four touchdowns with four interceptions in 2020.

Transfer Destination: Tennessee

Like Reynolds, Shibley is a former walk-on who found himself in the two-deep last season, and he even started one game (against Penn State). Shibley worked his way up the depth chart by becoming a contributor on special teams, then seeing time at linebacker in 2020. That season, he recorded 11 tackles. He is headed to Notre Dame, where he will be a walk-on graduate student.

Transfer Destination: Notre Dame

VanSumeren began his career at Michigan as a fullback, then moved to tailback in 2019. After not successfully making an impact on offense, he switched over to linebacker before the 2020 campaign, where he made two starts and totaled seven tackles.

Transfer Destination: Michigan State

McCaffrey’s decision to enter the transfer portal Jan. 21 did not come as a surprise at the time, since he quit the team before the 2020 season and announced his intention to depart the school, despite staying enrolled at Michigan for the fall semester. McCaffrey ‘opted out’ of the campaign before the delayed fall camp even began, effectively handing the starting quarterback job over to Milton.

During his three seasons in Ann Arbor, McCaffrey accumulated 166 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and completed 51 percent of his pass attempts for 242 yards and three scores. He will play for his father, Ed McCaffrey, at Northern Colorado in the FCS.

Transfer Destination: Northern Colorado

Injuries plagued Vilain during his four years at Michigan. He did not see any action in the 2017 or 2018 seasons, before appearing in seven games as a backup as a redshirt sophomore in 2019.

Vilain took on by far the biggest role he had ever seen at Michigan this past year, thanks in large part to injuries to senior defensive end Kwity Paye and junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. He played at least 22 snaps in each of Michigan’s three games from Nov. 7-21, but nevertheless failed to make much of an impact, finishing the year with just four tackles, no sacks and no tackles for loss.

Transfer Destination: Wake Forest

Charbonnet led the team with 726 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns as a true freshman in 2019. His 11 scores set the record for the most by a U-M freshman in program history.

The Camarillo, Calif., native was expected to be one of the primary rushers once again heading into 2020, but things did not go as planned. Though his 19 carries were the third most among the team’s running backs, the sophomore only ran for 124 yards and one touchdown on the year. It’s also worth noting 70 of those 124 yards came on one carry in the Oct. 24 win at Minnesota.

Transfer Destination: UCLA

He redshirted as a freshman in 2018, but showed decent potential while competing in three games and carrying 20 times for 99 yards. Turner was one of the club’s primary backs when the 2019 campaign kicked off, but only rushed it 44 times for 171 yards on the year.

Turner opted out of the 2020 season originally, then opted back in once the Big Ten reversed its decision and decided to play a fall campaign, though the Wisconsin game Nov. 14 was his only appearance of the year.

Transfer Destination: Wake Forest

A former walk-on, Hart eventually earned a scholarship and played a big role. Hart endured a breakthrough redshirt sophomore campaign in 2018, taking home the Big Ten’s Punter of the Year Award after averaging 47 yards per punt and booting 19 balls 50 yards or further. He averaged 44.2 yards per punt while starting all 13 games in 2019, before appearing in just one contest in 2020, before being passed over by Brad Robbins.

Transfer Destination: Unknown

Carpenter redshirted as a freshman in 2019 and never saw game action, before his career began to take off in a big way toward the latter half of 2020. Carpenter competed in each of Michigan’s first four games of the season, before eventually starting the final two contests against Rutgers and Penn State when fifth-year senior Andrew Vastardis went down with injury.

Thought to be one of the primary competitors for the starting center job next season, Carpenter surprisingly transferred Dec. 10, despite the fact the Wolverines were still thought to have at least one more game to play at that point. Since the contest was canceled, we considered Carpenter as offseason attrition and thus included him on this list.

Transfer Destination: Indiana

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