Michigan LB Barham gets massive praise from rival coach

Michigan linebacker Jaishawn Barham. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michigan LB Jaishawn Barham gets massive praise from rival coach

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Sep 25, 2025 10:57 PM ET

You've got to be a pretty darn good football player to have the head coach from another team talk about you in the media after you played his squad.

That's apparently the case for Michigan Wolverines' junior linebacker Jaishawn Barham, who was so disruptive a few weeks ago against the Nebraska Cornhuskers that Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule is still talking about him.

Recently speaking on "The Pat McAfee Show", Rhule revealed that Barham completely messed with Nebraska's game plan in Michigan's 30-27 win on Saturday.

A big part of it was Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale moving Barham from middle linebacker to outside linebacker/EDGE.

“The week before they moved Jaishawn Barham, they moved him from middle linebacker,” Rhule explained (h/t On3). “They moved him out to their outside linebacker. I walked up to him after the game, I said, ‘Boy, you’re, a top-10 pick. I mean, that move disrupted everything."

"You can't win in the Big Ten if you don't control the line of scrimmage and we have to improve that..

Jaishawn Barham is a difference maker and so is Justice Haynes" ~ @CoachMattRhule #PMSLive https://t.co/pL3LCrVDhn pic.twitter.com/Belf3qacWv
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 25, 2025

In Michigan's 24-13 Week 2 loss to Oklahoma, Barham didn't come off the edge. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Wolverines were able to sack QB John Mateer only once.

It was a different story against Nebraska, though. The Wolverines got pressure on QB Dylan Raiola all game long, finishing with seven sacks in the game. Barham had one of them to go along with four tackles and two tackles for loss.

Michigan is going to be utilizing Jaishawn Barham (#1) exclusively as an EDGE moving forward. He made several big time plays against Nebraska… combination of explosiveness and versatility is incredibly appealing on the NFL level. pic.twitter.com/Q0wcvBiOEi
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) September 24, 2025

He’s a great off-the-ball linebacker, but he is a difference-maker coming off the edge," Rhule said.

From District Heights, Maryland, Barham checks in at 6-foot-3 and 248 pounds. He's got excellent athleticism and closing speed. He came to Michigan in 2024 after two seasons at Maryland.

Barham has notched 16 tackles and three sacks so far this season. He notched eight sacks total in 2022-24 combined, so he's definitely on the breakout path.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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