Michigan tight ends coach reveals Wolverines' player who has 'come on' during past week of practice

With Michigan football's opener just over a week away, fall camp has winded down as the program gets ready to prepare for New Mexico on Aug. 30 at the Big House. Earlier this week as the Wolverines were coming to the closing stages of camp, tight ends coach Steve Casula met with the media to discuss various topics relating to the position group and offense as a whole.

One of the topics that came up was the progression of Michigan graduate student transfer Anthony Simpson, who has flown under the radar in the receiver room as Donavan McCulley, an Indiana transfer, has received much of the attention when it comes to the new faces at wideout.

Casula, however, coached Simpson at UMASS in 2023 when he was the offensive coordinator and knows what type of player Simpson is. That year, Simpson hauled in 57 receptions for 792 yards and three touchdowns before a tumultuous season in 2024 under former Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown, where he got injured in Week 2 and was later dismissed from the program due to an incident with one of the team's assistant coaches, Fight Massachusetts reported.

When asked about Simpson, Casula said the two have a close relationship and that he knows the 5-foot-11, 186-pounder is going to help the team.

"Simp plays incredibly hard, like incredible effort," Casula said. "But his greatest skill set to me is like ball in hand and the way he runs. We always joke he almost runs kind of angry. You know, he’s not a little guy by any means, but he plays bigger than his size. He has really come on here in the last seven days or so. So I love Anthony, very happy that he’s here. I get to see him every day. He and I have a close relationship, and he’s going to help us, certainly. To say, does he look different? Yeah, older. You know, like certain things, like his game's evolved. Probably he’s faster than when I coached him in 2023. He’s done well. He’s taken to coach Bell and Soup’s coaching and our program in general."

Michigan could use as many playmakers as possible for expected true freshman starting quarterback Bryce Underwood, and if Simpson could step up and make plays for the offense, it would go a long way in helping the passing game reach its full potential.