Chicago — Now, looking back, with a new coach and a new staff in place, and the Michigan players about eight months removed from their 5-7 season last fall, the Wolverines admit that something was amiss within the program last season.
They lost both rivalry games, to Michigan State and Ohio State, were swept by Big Ten newcomers Rutgers and Maryland, they failed to reach a bowl game and their coach, Brady Hoke, was fired after four seasons.
“Something was missing, of course, because that’s why we weren’t winning,” linebacker James Ross III said Friday at the Big Ten media days.