Michigan football ‘rocking and rolling’ with new strength coach Justin Tress

One of the biggest losses for Michigan football this offseason, in addition to Jim Harbaugh leaving for the NFL, was the departure of strength coach Ben Herbert.

Herbert was elite at his craft. When scouts came to Michigan football practice, they would talk about how the Wolverines already looked like an NFL team. Seeing the results at the NFL combine, that wasn’t hyperbole. J.J. McCarthy’s draft stock is soaring and he’s not alone among Wolverines.

So far so good with new Michigan football strength coach

Blake Corum has been compared to Emmitt Smith. Harbaugh’s Chargers are also the betting favorite to draft the Michigan football legend. Herbert was a big part of that professional development. Also, the championship culture. Justin Tress, his former right-hand man, has taken over and the early reviews are good.

“First off, I’m so happy for Coach Tress,” Braiden McGregor said at the NFL combine. “When I got there, he was kind of the younger guy. I think he was like the third in line, so it’s kind of cool just to see, I went through four years, Coach Herb went to the Chargers, Coach ‘Ro [Kiero Small] went to Purdue and then Coach Tress gets the job.

“It’s just so exciting to see what he does, because he was the type of guy who was like Coach Herb and then he would have an off switch, be able to actually hang out with you, kind of understand that. I’m just excited to see what he does.”

Michigan has been ROLLING in the weight room this offseason 💪 #GoBluehttps://t.co/tlojbFUMlQ pic.twitter.com/vNmuktk9bX

— TheWolverine.com (@TheWolverineOn3) March 6, 2024

Tress joined the “In the Trenches” Podcast to discuss his efforts taking over for Ben Herbert and said that the Wolverines have been “rocking and rolling” in the weight room. He also added that they players were “fully bought in” which is a great sign heading into the spring.

Despite the loss of Jim Harbaugh and 18 players who were invited to the NFL combine, Michigan football has the talent to win the Big Ten next season. They just need to keep the current talent on the roster and so far, it sounds like the addition of Tress has been a net positive.

Living up to the Michigan football standard

In fact, nothing has changed according to Tress and that’s because the standard has already been set.

“The first day, how I chose to address that (his hire) was, we trained,” Tress said. “I didn’t give them a speech at the beginning; we just trained. And then I brought them up at the end and said, ‘Well, that was so different, wasn’t it?’ And they were kind of looking around like, ‘Is this a trick?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, no. No.’My message to them was, the reason why it wasn’t different is because of the standard they have set.”

Thank you for reading Blue by Ninety. For more Michigan Athletics and Big Ten content from Blue by Ninety, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Also, be sure to check out our shop and our podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms.