Things are starting to heat up for the Wolverines in the transfer portal. According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Michigan Football has reached out to a former Big Ten quarterback:
According to On3’s Pete Nakos on Friday, the Michigan Wolverines have reached out to former Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan in the transfer portal. Nakos additionally reports that Sullivan is set to visit Tulane next week and has also been in touch with Virginia Tech.
Sullivan — a Michigan native that played high school football at Davison High School — started his college career at Northwestern before transferring to Iowa ahead of the 2024 season. He didn’t play much this past season for the Hawkeyes, completing just 38-of-53 passes for 475 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. He threw 10 touchdowns and five interceptions during his time in Evanston.
“There aren’t a lot of great quarterbacks in the portal with proven starting experience that Michigan would be looking for,” Nakos said . “Brendan Sullivan is one of the few quarterbacks in the portal, next to Steve Angeli, who could fit the role for what Michigan is looking for. He’s experienced and could compete for the starting job. I know everybody loves what Bryce has done, but there is also the reality that Brendan Sullivan has more college starting experience.”
Despite what Nakos wrote — no, Sullivan would not be legitimately competing for the starting job. If Michigan brings in another quarterback, it would be for depth purposes. Sullivan would likely slot in as QB2 or QB3 depending on how long Mikey Keene is going to be out for and how Jadyn Davis performs in fall camp.
It’s pretty clear Sherrone Moore and company believe the same thing I do — that Michigan needs to get another quarterback this spring. Whether it’s Sullivan or someone else, Michigan needs another player for the sake of having quality depth. We saw firsthand last year how miserable it can be to not have depth in the quarterback room, so it’s good that the Wolverines are doing their due diligence and evaluating the portal for another guy.
Sullivan is a grad transfer and has one year of eligibility remaining.