Aug. 21, 2026, 3:07 p.m. ET
Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham addressed several player injuries during fall camp. Offensive tackle Andrew Babalola is dealing with a minor setback but is expected to return. Freshman lineman Ace Hamilton will miss the season due to a lower leg injury. Edge rusher Dominic Nichols has missed a few days with an injury but is expected back soon.
Previously injured players John Henry Daley and Rod Moore are progressing well, with Daley now at 100%. ANN ARBOR, Mich. — This is usually the time of year when college football fans, as excited as they may be for the upcoming season, brace themselves for potential bad news. And for fans of the maize and blue, there are rumors circulating that certain players may or may not have injuries that could keep them from seeing the field. One of those players is offensive tackle Andrew Babalola, who is coming off an ACL injury that forced him to miss his freshman year.
While Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham noted on Friday that Babalola is injured, he clarified that it’s not a serious injury. “Andrew Babalola was really progressing,” Whittingham said. “He’s had a minor setback, so he hasn’t been out there for a few days. There will probably be a few more at least before we get him back, but he was showing progress, and he’s got all the tools, as I mentioned, at the onset of camp, but has just been slowed by a nagging thing.”
With rumors that running back Savion Hiter also is nursing an injury, Whittingham further clarified that there’s only one particular significant injury. It is to a freshman on the offensive side of the ball, but not one that was expected to be a part of the rotation this season. “Nothing that we’re concerned about,” Whittingham said. “We’ve had some setbacks with guys for a few days here, a few days there. But knock on wood, we haven’t had anybody. We had a freshman lineman get a lower leg injury that was going to keep him out of Ace Hamilton. He’ll be out for the year. That is one that was unfortunate, very unfortunate.”
The only other player mentioned who has been out with injury is edge rusher Dominic Nichols, who is presumed to start opposite John Henry Daley.
Whittingham confirmed that he’s been out, but is expected back soon. “Dom Nichols was having a really good camp and unfortunately had an injury that’s just kept him out for a few days,” Whittingham said. “So he hasn’t been there for four or five days, but he was doing very well. I mentioned the two freshmen (Carter Meadows and Tariq Boney) and Nate Marshall. Cam Brandt is a very steady, solid performer, and he’s been really good as well.”
As far as players who were previously injured, Whittingham says that Daley is now at 100% and doing everything that every other player is doing, while the team is being a little more cautious with safety Rod Moore. “He played all week long,” Whittingham said. “We put those guys on pitch counts early in camp, and we kept feeding them a little more, a little more, and now they’re pretty much to the point, especially John Henry, where there’s no pitch count whatsoever. He’s just practicing like everybody else. Rod’s still a little bit. We back off a little bit on him at times, but right now he’s taking on more reps and doing more things than he has at any point in camp.”
