Former Utah defenive lineman Jonah Lea’ea has committed to transfer to Michigan out of the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 has learned. Lea’ea will have two years of collegiate eligibility in Ann Arbor. Lea’ea will reunite with new Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham, who was hired at Michigan last month following a 21-year stint as the […]
Former Utah defenive lineman Jonah Lea’ea has committed to transfer to Michigan out of the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 has learned. Lea’ea will have two years of collegiate eligibility in Ann Arbor.
Lea’ea will reunite with new Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham, who was hired at Michigan last month following a 21-year stint as the Utes’ head football coach. The 6-foot-5 and 285-pound Lea’ea started at defensive tackle in all 12 of Utah’s regular-season games as a redshirt sophomore in 2025.
Lea’ea finished this past season with 34 total tackles, including 2. 5 tackles for loss, and one sack along with a forced fumble and recovery, both coming against Cincinnati this past season. He lands at Michigan as the No. 71 EDGE and No. 793 overall player in the transfer portal in the 2026 cycle, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Player rankings.
Lea’ea signed with Utah as a three-star product out of Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV), where he was ranked as the No. 90 EDGE in the class and No. 1,047 player overall in the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting media companies.
Lea’ea is Michigan’s sixth transfer commitment since the portal opened Jan. 2nd, and the second from Utah following Thursday’s pledge from former Utes EDGE John Henry Daley. They join four other Wolverine transfer commits in former Oklahoma running back Taylor Tatum, former UNLV punter Cam Brown and former Pitt special teamers Nico Crawford (long snapper) and Trey Butkowski (kicker).
Whittingham was the head coach at Utah from 2005-25. During his impressive tenure, he guided the Utes to a 177-88 overall record and three conference championships. Now, he’ll look to return Michigan football to prominence.
“You’ve got to get to the playoffs. That’s our expectation. That’s my expectation,” Whittingham said at his introductory press conference. “Big Ten championship, obviously, will get you to the playoffs, but if you can get to that 10-win mark, that usually is a pretty good indicator that you will be in the playoffs, especially when they expand, which is going to happen at some point soon. And so that’s the bar. At the University of Michigan, how can it be any different than that?”
Michigan posted a 9-4 overall record and a 7-2 mark in conference play this past season. The program hasn’t appeared in the College Football Playoff the past two seasons after winning the national title in 2023.
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.
— On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.
Category: General Sports
