Michigan Football: Jim Harbaugh's gifts from the football gods lived up to the hype

Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant formed perhaps the most dominant defensive tackle duo in Michigan football history...

Matt Lounsberry | 15 Hours Ago

Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Michigan Wolverines

Coming off its first Big Ten championship in 17 years, Michigan football added the No. 9-ranked recruiting class in the country during the 2022 cycle. It was a class that would play an instrumental role in lifting the Wolverines to the very top of college football.

No one knew at the time how special two particular players — the eighth and 11th-highest ranked prospects in the class — would become, but it didn't take long for then-head coach Jim Harbaugh and the rest of his staff to find out.

In July 2022, at Big Ten Media Days, Harbaugh described a pair of freshmen as "a gift from the football gods". He was talking about defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, the duo that would become the centerpiece of a Michigan defensive interior which led the program to a national championship in 2023.

In July 2022, Jim Harbaugh said Michigan had two freshmen who were “gifts from the football gods.” Neither had even played a snap in college yet.

Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant both leave after three years as All-Americans, national champions and projected first-round picks. pic.twitter.com/7PT9Q3lja7
— Brandon Koretz (@BrandonKoretz) December 26, 2024

After three years in Ann Arbor, which included two more Big Ten titles and a Rose Bowl victory alongside the national title, Graham and Grant's collegiate careers have come to an end.

Graham, who could be selected as high as the Top 5 in the 2025 NFL Draft, declared for the draft on Dec. 10. Grant, meanwhile, took more time to come to his decision, amidst rumblings that Michigan had offered a highly-lucrative NIL deal to keep the defensive tackle around next fall. Ultimately, however, Grant joined Graham in declaring for the draft.

In their Michigan careers, Graham and Grant never lost to a rival school, having gone 3-0 against both Michigan State and Ohio State. Graham was named a unanimous first team All-American this past season, and was the defensive MVP of the Wolverines' win over Alabama in last year's Rose Bowl. Grant, meanwhile, earned a third team All-America selection from the Associated Press.

During his time as Michigan's head coach, Harbaugh had a tendency to overamplify the abilities of some of his players, like saying quarterback Alex Orji "has a chance to be maybe one of the greatest kick-returners of all time". Orji never returned a single kick for the Wolverines.

However, when it comes to Graham and Grant, Harbaugh wasn't exaggerating one iota. The pair formed perhaps the greatest defensive tackle duo in the history of Michigan football. They were indeed a "gift from the football gods."

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