The Michigan Wolverines failed to show that they were anywhere near the level of the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in their Week 14 rivalry game on Saturday. As a result, the program announced some big changes pertaining to their special teams unit on Wednesday.
Special teams have been one of the bigger concerns for the Wolverines throughout the 2025 season. This year, Michigan has averaged the second-fewest average kickoff return yards in the Big Ten and the third-fewest average punt return yards in the conference.
The kicking game hasn't been much better for the Wolverines. After missing just one field goal in 2024, senior kicker Dominic Zvada has regressed significantly, making just 68.2 percent of his field goal attempts on the year.
Following the final game of the regular season for Michigan against Ohio State, the program announced its decision to shake things up on special teams heading into their looming Bowl Game.
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According to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel, Michigan has decided to fire special teams coordinator J.B. Brown on Wednesday, ending his five-year tenure with the program.
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In a statement about the move, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore explained that parting ways with Brown was "in the best interest of the program".
"After thoroughly evaluating our special teams’ performance throughout the season, I made the decision to make a change that was in the best interest of the program," said Moore.
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Given the unfavorable stats to come from Michigan's special teams unit this year, it's hard to argue that this wasn't the right decision.
Special teams were far from Michigan's only issue throughout the 2025 season. Saturday's 27-9 loss against Ohio State showed that the Wolverines have a way to go offensively to compete against the elite teams in college football.
With that in mind, Michigan could very well make some changes to their offensive coaching staff that shortly follow this move to part ways with Brown in order to potentially get back over the hump against the Buckeyes in 2026.
For more college football news, head to Newsweek Sports.
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