
Michigan football wraps up 2025 with Citrus Bowl loss; what’s next?
Michigan football wraps up 2025 with Citrus Bowl loss; Tony Garcia breaks it down Wednesday, Dec. 31, in Orlando, Florida.
It’s another section of of the offseason where college football rosters are reshaped. Players transfer to other institutions to follow their coach, seek a fresh start, move closer to home, get more playing time or, more often, more money.
Gone are the days, in large part, of players staying somewhere for four or five years while working their way up the depth chart. Michigan football does a better job of retaining its players than most, but there will still be transfers.
Here are the Wolverines who are set to enter the transfer portal, as well as those who’ve pledged to join new coach Kyle Whittingham as part of his first squad in Ann Arbor.
This will be updated as players announce their intention to enter the portal.
Wide receiver Semaj Morgan has also entered the transfer portal – he shared a graphic with the news on his Instagram shortly before noon on Friday. Morgan, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound slot receiver from West Bloomfield didn’t quite have the junior campaign he wanted. He caught 20 passes for a career-high 223 yards and a touchdown but struggled consistently catching the ball with eight drops on the year. He ran the ball five times for 25 yards and didn’t make much of an impact in the return game, with 13 punt returns going for just 30 yards – he also muffed two kicks and lost one fumble against Northwestern. He burst onto the scene as a freshman, having caught 22 balls for 204 yards and two scores, running four times for 67 yards and another two scores and setting a Big Ten title game record with an 89-yard punt return. As a sophomore he took a step back, averaging just 5.1 yards per catch and while he had a career-high 11.1 yards per reception, the drops and lack of explosion left a bit to be desired. He enters the portal with one year of eligibility – he had 921 all-purpose yards in three years at U-M.
Inevitably there are going to be some major losses with a new coaching staff coming into Ann Arbor, but to this point, this is one of the biggest one if he departs. Cole Sullivan, one of Michigan’s most impactful defensive players from this season, has entered the transfer portal, team spokesman Dave Ablauf confirmed to Freep. Sullivan met with reporters following his team’s 41-27 loss to Texas in the Citrus Bowl – where he had a team-high seven tackles, a pass breakup and a forced fumble on special teams – and expressed that he needed some time to make a decision. “As far as my future, it’s too hard to say,” he said. There’s too many uncertainties at this point, but I love this university.” He said he had a “great meeting” with Whittingham and he really likes “what he’s bringing to this team and this program” but felt it was in his best interest to keep his options open. There’s still a chance he comes back to Michigan, which would be big for the program. Sullivan had worked his way up from second string to starter by the end of the year and finished with 44 tackles, five for loss, three interceptions, two sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.
CB Elijah Dotson
A high school teammate of Bryce Underwood at Belleville, the freshman cornerback is on the move. He shared the news at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 1 – one minute before the portal opened – simply saying “Gods Plan”. Dotson, who was the No. 2 recruit in Michigan, the No. 11 defensive back in the country and No. 131 player in the Class of 2025, played a decent amount for a freshman. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound cornerback had 11 tackles, one quarterback hit and an interception against Central Michigan. Dotson has three years of eligibility remaining.
QB Davis Warren
2024’s starting quarterback told the Free Press during December Citrus Bowl practice that he intended to enter the transfer portal – he will have two years of eligibility remaining, with a redshirt from 2023 and a medical redshirt this season while rehabbing a torn ACL.
The 6-foot-2 Warren, from Manhattan Beach, California, debuted for the Wolverines as a sophomore backup in 2022 – after overcoming leukemia in high school – and became the team’s primary starter in 2024. He threw for 1,199 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions in nine games that season.
QB Jadyn Davis
Once seen as the heir apparent to J.J. McCarthy, Jadyn Davis is also headed to the portal. A 6-1, 207-pound prospect from Charlotte, North Carolina, Davis enrolled early in December 2023 as the No. 9 quarterback in his class, per 247 Sports’ composite rankings. Despite the hype, he played in just four games during two seasons at Michigan, which included a redshirt year in 2024 as a freshman.Â
During that time, Davis attempted just two passes, one of which was intercepted this past October in a 31-13 road loss at USC. In 2024, many fans wanted Michigan to turn to Davis when the quarterback carousel of Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle didn’t produce, but coaches implied Davis wasn’t ready.
He has three years of eligibility remaining.
WR Fredrick Moore
Moore’s decision came in the fall when the former three-star from St. Louis became U-M’s first player to hit the portal in early October. He started for the Wolverines as a sophomore in 2024 but could not break into the rotation in a meaningful way in 2025. Moore had just 18 snaps over four games this season, though he had more playing time as a special-teamer, with 45 snaps and one tackle this year.
The 6-1 Moore had 15 catches for 160 yards and a touchdown during his time in Ann Arbor. The best game of his career was 2024’s ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama, when he caught three passes for 37 yards and the lone touchdown of his college career.
He has two years of eligibility remaining.
OL Connor Jones
With several young offensive linemen set for bigger roles in 2026 and beyond, senior tackle Connor Jones announced his portal plans in early December. He played in 10 games on special teams in 2025. The 6-foot-7, 320-pound lineman can play tackle or guard and has one year of eligibility remaining.
[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Hail Yes!” your go-to Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]  Â
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.