The 2025 NFL draft was another celebration of Michigan football's success as the Wolverines had seven players selected in total, including three in the first round.
None of the Michigan football draft picks wound up in Los Angeles, playing for former head coach Jim Harbaugh, however, the former Wolverines head man was still "awfully proud" of his former players.
“Just awfully, awfully proud of them — personally and everybody at Michigan,” Harbaugh said via The Wolverine. “I texted Sherrone (Moore) [current Michigan head coach]; I know he’s proud.”
Harbaugh added more context.
“Just watching the guys … Colston was in his home in Gooding,” Harbaugh said. “I’ve been in that home. That was cool to see the whole family there. Got a lot of the residents of Gooding there. To see Kenneth. I think he was at his school. Looked familiar that way. And Mason, his parents have moved since I recruited him, and he was at the draft."
“Just awful proud. It’s cool.”
Harbaugh sounds like a proud father when he talks about his former players. He'll be competing against a lot of them in the NFL, but that doesn't change what they accomplished together.
Colston Loveland, Mason Graham, and Kenneth Grant are three of the best examples of Harbaugh's genius. He took three recruits who were ranked No. 247 or lower in the 2022 recruiting rankings and developed them into first-round picks.
They were cornerstones of a national championship team and gifts from the football gods as Harbaugh once said. He didn't say that about Loveland, but he should have.
Michigan football doesn't win a national championship without the trio and their impact on the program will be felt for years to come.