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ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - APRIL 18: Salesi Moa #12 of the Maize Team dives for extra yards during the second half of the Michigan Wolverines Football Spring Game at Michigan Stadium on April 18, 2026 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Jaime Crawford/Getty Images for ONIT) | Getty Images for ONIT
Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham and his staff used a recruiting tactic that is common around the country but hasn’t been successfully done at Michigan recently — recruiting family members.
In order to retain both Trey Pierce and Enow Etta from the grasp of the transfer portal, Whittingham extended offers to both transfer portal linebacker Christian Pierce (Trey’s brother) and freshman edge rusher Ndi Etta (Enow’s brother). While Etta was technically offered by the previous coaching staff, Whittingham maintained contact and finished the job by landing him in February.
While neither are likely to see the field in Ann Arbor, the tactic clearly worked as both Trey and Enow remain Wolverines and figure to lead the Michigan defensive front this fall.
Those aren’t the only sets of brothers on the roster. Wide receiver Salesi Moa was a prized recruit out of Utah that Whittingham was able to bring with him to Michigan. In order to help recruit him, the coaching staff extended an offer to Salesi’s brother, Aisea, a portal linebacker who played at Michigan State last season.
An exhaustive list of all of the brothers to play for Michigan in the long and storied history of the program is nearly impossible to find. Instead, we’ll focus on some of the key pairings.
The Wisterts are considered the gold standard for family football at Michigan. While they didn’t play college football at the same time, Francis, Albert and Alvin Wistert all wore the same number (11), all were consensus All-Americans, and all are in the College Football Hall of Fame. The No. 11 has been retired by the program because of all three of them.
More recently, the Glasgow family sent three sons — Ryan, Graham and Jordan — to Michigan. Interestingly, all three were walk-ons who were eventually drafted to the NFL despite playing three different positions. Ryan was a defensive tackle, Graham was an offensive lineman and Jordan was a linebacker and special teams savant.
Max and Ben Bredeson are yet another recent example of brothers thriving at Michigan. Ben was a highly touted four-star offensive lineman out of Wisconsin who had a great career in Ann Arbor. Drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2020, he is still a steady and reliable guard in the NFL. Meanwhile, Max was the heart and soul of the program the last few years. A throwback type of fullback, Max will look to carve out a role in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings this fall.
While not as successful as the rest of the brothers on this list, Jason and Tate Forcier meet the qualifications as well. Both transferred out of the program for various reasons, but Tate had a flash in the pan season in 2009.
Lastly, Ronnie and Kendrick Bell are a prime example of brothers making their own path at Michigan. Ronnie was a basketball player out of Missouri before becoming a steady, stable wide receiver for the Wolverines; he even had some modest success at the NFL level. Kendrick is now following the same path, and while he hasn’t seen quite the success that Ronnie had, the door is still open for that to eventually happen.
What Whittingham has done with Pierce, Etta and Moa is certainly not new in college football, but it’s interesting he brought in three brothers in one offseason. We will quickly be able to see if that strategy paid off.
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