LB Troy Bowles’ path to Michigan Football, outlook for 2026

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Kyle Whittingham was on The Rich Eisen Show earlier this week and expressed some concern about the second and third phases of Michigan’s defense.

“Little thin in the secondary as far as guys that have accumulated a lot of reps,” Whittingham said. “Same with linebacker — we’ve got some really good young players but not a lot of reps accrued in that position group either.”

There’s a reason Whittingham and defensive coordinator Jay Hill made some additions to the linebacker room this offseason, but one returner who is hoping to make his mark in 2026 is Troy Bowles. The Wolverines will need the veteran to step up for the defense to play to its full potential.

The story so far

Bowles has football in his blood, as his father is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his brother is a defensive back for Rutgers. Because of those ties and a strong high school career, Bowles was a four-star recruit and the No. 83 overall player in the 2023 class.

The first stop in his collegiate career was at Georgia, where Bowles played in five games as a freshman and two as a sophomore. He made just five tackles in his career with the Bulldogs, earning a redshirt for his second season with limited playing time.

The 2025 campaign was Bowles’ first with Michigan, but once again, he joined a really impressive room. Two of them — Jaishawn Barham and Jimmy Rolder— were NFL Draft picks, while Cole Sullivan and Ernest Hausmann have also departed. Still, Bowles saw some snaps playing a rotational role on the defense while maintaining a full-time position on special teams. He made 27 tackles, two for a loss, and one sack while blocking a field goal and forcing a fumble.

Outlook for 2026

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally Bowles’ time to shine. He’s in the thick of a competition for the starting role with Chase Taylor and Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng. Linebacker coach Alex Whittingham said on the In The Trenches podcast in early July that Bowles made “huge strides” in a “fantastic spring” calling him “one of our faster guys in that room.”

As we head into camp, this room is likely the one fans are most skeptical of. Little returning production is putting stress on a defense and a team that needs answers in order to compete with a top-15 schedule in the country. A few of these guys must take a leap and become reliable starters for the Wolverines to have success. Bowles is the one with the most experience, so the most pressure will be put on him heading into the fall.

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