Michigan football has a lot of deep position groups, but none as deep as the defensive tackle position.
Despite having a solid rotation of four coming into the 2025 offseason, the Wolverines added two more interior defensive players via the transfer portal — Clemson transfer Tré Williams and Alabama transfer Damon Payne. Along with fifth-year tackle Rayshaun Benny, senior Ike Iwunnah, and juniors Trey Pierce and Enow Etta, it might not be a group filled with household names nationally, but it’s a room with a lot of talent and capability to penetrate opposing offensive lines.
On Wednesday, Trey Pierce appeared on the In the Trenches Podcast with Jon Jansen, and he shared more about what the two transfers bring to the table — along with what he’s learned from the grizzled leader, Rayshaun Benny.
“Tré — I learned a lot from Tré this spring,” Pierce said. “He uses leverage so well, and he’s a pit bull out there. He’s just stronger than everybody else out there. So knowing like how to use leverage and angles and stuff like that. He’s so good at things like that.
“Same with Dame (Payne) and Benny. They’re both two extra years in the weight room. You can learn a lot from those guys. Like Benny’s pass rush and Dame — Dame’s just, he’s a good, he’s another guy with leverage. Learning things like that from those guys, it’s been invaluable.”
Given that we’ll likely see quite a few permutations this season with the different tackles on the field at the same time, how do they build chemistry? After all, it’s crucial for a line (on either side of the ball) to be able to play together, anticipating the other’s moves so that they’re not opening up a critical gap at the wrong time.
Pierce says that the biggest thing for the group is that they’re especially tight-knit, and that allows them to work well together.
“Communication takes care of a lot of that, but also being around each other, like outside of football, helps with that,” Pierce said. “I think just being around each other all the time, you start thinking alike, you start acting alike. Things start to come together on the field, and it gives you more time to think about things like, ‘Oh, like this guy likes to spin inside. I got you, man. ‘Like I’ll cover your, you know, I’ll get the contain — things like that.
“Just being around each other a lot, that kind of helps with that type of thing.”
Fans will get an opportunity to see the new-look defensive line in action starting August 30 when the Wolverines host New Mexico for a night game season opener at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan’s Trey Pierce on new DT transfers’ impact for 2025