With new faces, familiar personnel, Michigan teams have high hopes at running back

Be it through transfers, emerging returners or a workhorse getting healthy, the respective backfields of the five Michigan FBS teams are going to look notably different in 2025 from a season ago. 

From teams like Michigan State and Central Michigan delving into the portal to replenish rooms returning 14 and 24 carries, respectively, to Western Michigan and Michigan each pairing a promising returning back with an enticing transfer, the offseason methods to restock running back rooms ran the gamut. And with all five programs happy, if not preferring to play a run-first style, sussing out who is rising to the top of these new-look running back rooms is front of mind.

And across the five teams, there’s plenty of opportunity up for grabs.  

“You think about those cars driving, you know, four lanes, everybody's driving next to each other and you're behind 'em and you're mad because you're trying to get around,” Michigan State running backs coach Keith Bhonapha said. “We need somebody to press the gas and accelerate and move on to the fast lane.”

Bhonapha and his new collection of backs have the biggest void to fill, as sophomores Makhi Frazier and Brandon Tullis are the only Spartans to have carried a football in a game for MSU, each toting the rock seven times in 2024. They’re both competing to carve out a significant role in the run game along with several others.

Freshman Jace Clarizio, a local talent from East Lansing High School, has come up as an option with real juice and big play ability. Fellow freshman Zion Gist is in a similar mold as a player. 

Not just relying on young returners and freshmen, though, Bhonapha and the Spartans went into the portal and nabbed Sacramento State transfer Elijah Tau-Tolliver over the winter. 

Tau-Tolliver ran for 950 yards and seven touchdowns on 184 carries at the FCS program in 2024, and also caught 38 passes for 317 yards and two additional touchdowns. 

Bhonapha worked with the aforementioned group, plus a few others, in the spring and felt good about the backs enough to not add any more in the summer via the portal. He also didn’t want to cut off pathways to develop for young players that he now sees vying for notable roles in the backfield. 

And Bhonapha doesn’t see this as a situation where one back eats up a lion’s share of the carries. 

“We're not trying to grind one guy into the ground,” Bhonapha said. “We're trying to wear defenses out in the second half. We're trying to keep these guys healthy. We're trying to hold onto the ball. We're trying to be explosive, be efficient, protect the quarterback. So we're gonna need a couple guys to go out there.”

In Mt. Pleasant, it’s a similar story, as the Chippewas returned 24 carries for 150 yards between two backs, Nahree Biggins and Brock Townsend, for new head coach Matt Drinkall. 

Enter Tulane transfer back Trey Cornist. A redshirt-sophomore back, Cornist liked the plan Drinkall and running backs coach Sheldon Croney laid out for him as he eyed various options in the portal. 

And now the Ohio native is poised to take on a leading role in the Central Michigan rushing attack with Biggins and Townsend, among others, taking carries, too.

“I really loved coach Drinkall's plan for me,” Cornist said. “He has a big plan for me and I really believe in this program and what we're finna hit and just the championship mentality that all the coaches have for me. And coach Croney, how he wants to develop me into the player I want to be.”

Michigan sophomore Jordan Marshall might not be the most proven back, but the Wolverines seemed confident in him taking over a big role in 2025 after his strong showing against Alabama in a bowl win to end the 2024 season. 

A former four-star prospect and Top 100 player in the 2024 class, according to the 247 composite rankings, Marshall marked a major get for Sherrone Moore in his first signing class. 

And while Marshall is going to be featured in the backfield, it will be in tandem with Alabama transfer Justice Haynes. 

Haynes, a five-star in the 247 composite in 2023, spent two seasons in Tuscaloosa and became a key cog in the offense. 

Together, Marshall and Haynes could offer a formidable 1-2 punch, with Marshall supplying rugged power and Haynes offering a bit more big play pop. 

“That's a good duo to have,” Michigan offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said recently. “We're excited. They're both every-down backs, in my opinion, that can be in there first, second and third down. Protections are good. And they're smart and competitive and they understand, like, they need each other. And when you've got two guys like that and maybe some other guys coming along behind them, it's a good issue to have. Because you're going to need them.”

The Haynes addition in Ann Arbor, among others, arguably led to Western Michigan’s gain, too, as second-year back Cole Cabana transferred from Michigan to the Broncos. 

A four-star signee in 2023, Cabana enrolled early but didn’t get much playing time at Michigan. Now with the Broncos, he’s vying to form a tandem with returner Jalen Buckley that has head coach Lance Taylor excited about the possibilities. 

“I think he can add a dimension to our offense that we haven't had, really, since I've been here,” Taylor said of Cabana. “I think he's done an excellent job. And we've got a really deep running back room.”

Buckley is the known factor and looking for a bit of a bounce back season. He rushed for 683 yards and nine touchdowns as part of a three-back timeshare in 2024. But in 2023 he won MAC Freshman of the Year as he rushed for 1003 yards. 

Regardless, Buckley and Cabana are poised to be the featured forces of a Western Michigan team that wants to run the ball first and foremost. 

And for Eastern Michigan, the bet for the backfield isn’t so much on transfers but a healthy Dontae McMillan, who missed the majority of the 2024 season after an injury suffered against Washington in Week 2. 

McMillan carried just 23 times for 87 yards in 2024, but is set to take over at the lead back in Ypsilanti this fall. 

The Eagles also added Tavierre Dunlap (Michigan) and James Jointer Jr. (Liberty) via the portal to round out a room that was otherwise a bit thin. Dunlap is expected to play a big role alongside McMillan.

And the group was earning plenty of praise from their teammates at MAC Media Day in July.

“I feel like this is the best running back room that we've had in my time at Eastern,” offensive lineman Mickey Rewolinski said. “This is going on six years now. I feel like, as a unit, the running back room is the best that we have. And I think that's going to be, what I think, should be our main point of focus, running the ball.”