BOOOOOOM! Utah defensive end John Henry Daley is transferring to Michigan Football! The All-American is considered a Top-10 player in the transfer portal:
The Wolverines just landed a huge target through the transfer portal, as former Utah defensive end John Henry Daley is transferring to Michigan to reunite with head coach Kyle Whittingham and edge coach Lewis Powell.
Michigan beat out Notre Dame and LSU — two places he also visited — as well as BYU in this portal recruitment.
Daley was a three-star high school recruit in the 2021 recruiting class and, as a legacy recruit, chose to go to BYU. After a two-year mission trip with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil, he got on campus and took a redshirt season in 2023 before entering the transfer portal that offseason and heading to Utah.
After a minimal-impact 2024 season with the Utes — and only tallying seven total tackles and one sack his first two years in college — Daley had a breakout season this season that resulted in him being named a Second-Team All-American and a First-Team All-Big 12 performer. The 6-foot-4, 255-pounder racked up 48 total tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one pass deflection in 11 games in 2025.
Unfortunately, Daley’s season came to an abrupt halt when he suffered a non-contact lower-leg injury — reported as a ruptured Achilles — in the penultimate game of the regular season. While he may not be fully recovered by the time spring ball rolls around, he is expected to make a full recovery and be ready to go for the 2026 season.
Injury be damned, Daley still graded out near the top of Pro Football Focus at his position this year. Daley earned a 92.4 overall grade, good for No. 5 at the edge spot in the country only behind David Bailey (Texas Tech, 93.6), Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami, 92.9), Michael Heldman (Central Michigan, 92.8) and Romello Height (Texas Tech, 92.6). Daley also had the second-best pass rush grade (93.7) in the country, just barely behind Bailey (93.9).
With Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham off to the NFL Draft, defensive end was one of the top needs for the Wolverines in the portal this winter. You can now consider that need checked, although I certainly wouldn’t turn down another edge rusher through the portal if they wanted in. Regardless of what happens next, landing Daley is a massive move for Whittingham and provides defensive coordinator Jay Hill with an instant impact player at a premium position.
Daley — who is rated as the No. 4 overall player in the portal by On3, and the No. 49 overall player in the portal by 247Sports — will have two years of collegiate eligibility remaining. He’s the fifth player to transfer to Ann Arbor this winter, joining Pitt long snapper Nico Crawford, UNLV punter Cam Brown, Pitt kicker Trey Butkowski and Oklahoma running back Taylor Tatum.
Check out some of Daley’s best highlights at Utah in the video below.
Category: General Sports
