Josh Priebe, an offensive lineman, had no intention of leaving Northwestern. He was a three-year starter and team captain in 2023, but in this day and age, the transfer portal is a great tool for athletes seeking a fresh opportunity.

Priebe chose to use the portal and use his last year of college eligibility somewhere else, partly due to uncertainties surrounding his role as coach at Northwestern.

The Michigan Wolverines entered the scene at that point. Priebe, who committed to Michigan last month, is joining the team at its best moment under Jim Harbaugh, having just finished a 15-0 campaign that included a National Championship victory.

It was all too easy to transfer to Michigan, with the chance to play at the highest level of collegiate football in the Big Ten, return to his home state, and grow under offensive line coach Sherrone Moore and strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert.

According to Priebe, “Michigan will offer the best training possible for development with coach Herb and everything, so it was kind of a no-brainer from that aspect.” “And then, given the state of the team and programme, I wanted to play my final year of college football in the greatest programme in the nation with all the resources at my disposal.”

Priebe wasn’t one of those players that enters the portal and doesn’t always know where they will end up next.

Even before I entered the portal, Priebe stated, “I had a pretty good idea that I would definitely want to target Michigan and be able to gauge their interest right away.” “I was aware that some of the guard positions would be opening up, and I thought it may be a nice chance for me. I spoke with a number of different universities, but my true focus was in Big Ten and SEC institutions as they are the two most competitive conferences—especially in light of the recent realignment issues. I visited with a number of other schools throughout both conferences, but my mental state was somewhat established after that.

Priebe paid Michigan a visit during one of their final preparations for the Rose Bowl in late December. Though he didn’t accomplish much during the visit, giving voices on the phone faces and personalities helped solidify his decision.

“You can only work things out so well over the phone, and I didn’t really have a lot of time to get on the phone and chat with them,” Priebe said. “Over the phone, you can only do so much, and they were so busy getting ready for the Rose Bowl.” I recently visited for the day and had the opportunity to have actual conversations about ball with coach Harbaugh, coach Moore, and a few other people. We talked about where they see me fitting in, how they see me, all these different things, how they see me being able to develop and get better, and they kind of had a plan and vision for all of this.