ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- When the transfer portal opened between the end of the 2024 regular season and the bowl game, Michigan football made some moves, some less splashy than fans and pundits would have liked. One such move was to bring in Cal Poly IOL transfer Brady Norton, listed by On3 as the ninth-best interior offensive lineman who was available last cycle.
Given his level of competition at the lower level of college football, the thought was that Norton was going to be a bit of a project. But Wolverines offensive line coach Grant Newsome indicated on Monday that while that was a consideration, Norton has asserted himself in spring ball and could potentially be a factor this fall.
"Brady's been great. Been a great addition," Newsome said. "Very smart. Loves ball. Obviously has some good experience. Although it was at a lower level that you haven't seen any of that kind of struggle that you're not worried about, but you wonder like, hey, is this going to be a little too fast for him? Everyone's a lot bigger, stronger, faster. You haven't seen that at all.
"So he's doing really, really well. And, again, he's another guy who's going to put himself in that mix to be one of those best fives. So it's been awesome to see that from him."
The knock on Norton was his lack of size, coming in at 6-foot-3, 270 pounds. Considering that the Wolverines have tended to put 300-plus-pound linemen out on the field regularly, there was going to need to be some offseason work.
Norton is listed on the spring roster at 275 pounds, but Newsome says that he's pleased with his offseason progress. What's more, regardless of his size, pound-for-pound, the transfer from Mission Viejo (Calif.) is one of the strongest players on the team, which adds to the intrigue.
"Yeah, I'm very happy with where he is weight-wise," Newsome said. "Coach Tress and Abigail and her staff have done a great job with all those guys. But, no, he's at a weight where he can play in this conference right now. So I don't have any concerns about is he big enough, is he strong enough? He's one of the stronger guys in the room. So he's physically -- I have zero concern about is he anything enough to be able to contribute."
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan transfer IOL Brady Norton impressing in spring ball
