Notebook: Quick hits, CMU QBs, what spring games will look like
The five Mitten FBS teams are in the final stages of spring practice, with most of the spring games taking place next weekend.
Before getting into anything, make sure to catch up on Mitten Football’s reporting from this past week.
Andrew Graham
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Now, onward — and make sure to stick around for some fun at the end.
Quick hits on each team
Central Michigan: Running back might be the deepest position for this team, with Brock Townsend getting help from transfers Jayden Clerveaux, Vaughn Blue and John Stowers. Freshman Trav Moore is also factoring in. I’d expect all of them to be used in some capacity; Stowers has big potential as a blocker at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds.
Eastern Michigan: EMU’s new defensive tackles coach, Zac Sias, appears to be a great quote. He spoke briefly with EMU’s Greg Steiner after a recent practice and dropped a wonderful soundbite about fundamentals, and how the EMU DL calls them their “fundies,” because they put them on every morning like their underwear.
Michigan: Angelique Chengelis wrote about this in the Detroit News, but the offensive line has leaned into the straightforward approach of position coach Jim Harding. And that seems to fit with a broader vibe shift in Ann Arbor that Kyle Whittingham spoke about this past week. It’s not that the prior couple teams were undisciplined, but a heightened level of focus and execution are needed to achieve the goals Michigan wants to achieve.
Michigan State: Don’t forget that former CMU running back Devon Spalding is now on staff at MSU, coaching the running backs in East Lansing. He spoke with media this past week, and offered some promising messaging for Spartan fans.
“This will be year four of coaching in the league,” Spalding, who comes from the same role at Wisconsin, said. “The first thing I look for in a tailback is physicality. The more physicality we play with, the more business decisions they have to make.”
Also, did y’all see Pat Fitzgerald and other Spartans trying vegemite? (I really don’t think it’s that bad, and s/o Aussie Rhys Dakin for expanding horizons for folks in East Lansing!)
It’s an acquired taste… pic.twitter.com/NdtfTEoX09
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) April 10, 2026
Western Michigan: To bolster a recent story here about Western Michigan expanding its passing offense, cornerback Jarvarius Sims said earlier this week that the offense has iterated to push down the field a little more. That was evident in practice as receivers and corners went at it on some vertical, outside the numbers routes.
What the spring games will look like
None of the five FBS teams are just going out and scrimmaging, fully, for their announced spring games.
The closet, from the sound of things, will be Central Michigan, Michigan and Western Michigan. Earlier this week, Kyle Whittingham explained that the Wolverines will break down into two teams that will face off in the spring game. However, that game won’t feature around a dozen to 18 of Michigan’s top players, Whittingham said.
That’s mainly because said players — they haven’t been revealed yet — don’t have much to prove after playing numerous college snaps at Michigan, or Utah. Best guess is that it’s players like Smith Snowden, Rod Moore, Jyaire Hill and Jordan Marshall, basically an assortment of veterans and proven young returners. Whether or not Bryce Underwood plays in the spring game does still seem a mystery, and he could surely benefit from every rep he can lay his hands on.
Central Michigan will roll with everyone who is healthy and available, and head coach Matt Drinkall said earlier in the spring that he anticipates a live portion with hitting and tackling for everyone but the quarterbacks.
Western Michigan will likely do something similar, with live periods in front of fans on April 25.
Eastern Michigan and Michigan State, however, are going to hold something more akin to showcases, basically making the 15th spring practice open to the public. There will likely be some 11-on-11 live action in these practices, but both programs are more or less making it like another practice, just one that will have fans.
Eastern Michigan is also hosting an athletics equipment sale prior, and doing a book drive for the local community, and is encouraging fans attending the spring game to bring a children’s book in good condition to donate.
Michigan hoops inspiring football
Michigan men’s basketball won the national title, in case you somehow were not aware of this fact. And it’s something that seemingly resonated with their fellow Wolverines in Schembechler Hall.
“It was super inspiring,” transfer OL Houston Kaahaaina-Torres said. “I mean, honestly, once they won, I just wanted to — in the back of my mind, I said, ‘I can't wait for us to win it.’ And everybody, I want to see everybody else's reaction with me, with it. Because I know it's gonna be just as good.”
Various Wolverines spoke about how they watched the game in different group settings — Blake Frazier was at South U until he couldn’t control which direction he was getting shoved, he said — and surely many attended some form of the championship celebrations.
And for a program that has won a national title in recent memory — and still has a few players on the roster from that team — the success of men’s basketball is a reminder of a standard they helped set forth.
“That was unbelievable to see,” Frazier said. “So as a Michigan fan, I love to see it. As a Michigan student, I love to see it. It was really exciting.”
How CMU’s QB room is shaping up
This is purely off observation, but it’s starting to look like Jadyn Glasser is the ticket to unlocking a lot of downfield passing.
Glasser has the most natural arm talent of the quarterbacks that Central Michigan currently has, and is the sort of big, athletic do-it-all body that can hold up in the run game as they want. As head coach Matt Drinkall said earlier this offseason, he and Angel Flores entered the spring leading the clubhouse to be the starting quarterback.
It’s still quite possible that CMU rotates quarterbacks as it did last year, though that formula is changing and evolving with new personnel.
Now, the CMU coaches aren’t particularly urgent to leave spring with definitive starters. And Marcus Beamon, along with Flores, is pushing hard to be a factor in the room come fall.
Also worth noting that Daniel Gomez, who was a reserve in 2025, has looked good throwing the ball this spring, with a lot of zip on his passes.
My Master’s champions dinner
Been thinking about this since WMU’s football account posted what the coaches there would serve — too much lemon pepper going on, imo — and I think I’ve finally got it.
Appetizers: Ginger scallion pork dumplings (pan fried and steamed), bacon wrapped scallops, chef’s salad
Entrees: Reverse seared prime rib with gratin potatoes, baked four cheese crab mac and cheese
Dessert: Cinnamon babka, cheesecake
The real challenge is not just having 14 things for each element. And I’m personally curious to test out what the fine cooks at Augusta National can produce — Peking duck, anyone? — but kept it on the rails for this exercise. I want people to enjoy this meal. The same might not be true of Andre Bernardi’s choice, as the WMU strength coach played to form.
— Western Michigan Football (@WMU_Football) April 8, 2026
