Michigan football lands DT Damon Payne, Alabama transfer, former Belleville standout

Posted by Admin December 18, 2024 Football

Spread the love

The Belleville to Ann Arbor pipeline remains hot.

Damon Payne, a former top-50 recruit out of high school and Alabama defensive tackle standout, announced his decision to enter the transfer portal earlier this week. On Wednesday decided to come home and join the Michigan football program located 20 minutes west of his hometown, per reports.

He is the third former Tiger to commit to the Wolverines this month, joining incoming freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood and defensive back Elijah Dotson.

During the Jim Harbaugh era, relationships between U-M and Belleville’s staff (namely with former coach Jermaine Crowell) wasn’t on the best of terms. This is another sign that is changing.

At 6-foot-4, 315 pounds, Payne redshirted his freshman year in 2021, played in six games in 2022, then played in eight games during 2023 as a rotational player along the line. Most recently, Payne logged 14 tackles and one fumble recovery in eight games in 2024.

The goal is he will replace part of what U-M loses in the middle of the line in Mason Graham and possibly Kenneth Grant who still has a decision to make.

“Just kind of like you saw in (the Ohio State game), the physicality, I want to turn that up to another level,” coach Sherrone Moore said of what he wants in the transfer portal and recruiting class. “The toughness, the strain that we had in that game was outstanding, but I want to get bigger. I want to get faster. I want to get stronger, more explosive on offense.

“I thought defensively we played as good as a game as you could against that team and so I want to do that and just continue to build as a team because that’s what it’s really all about.”

This is not an unexpected move at all − Payne was the No. 9 available defensive lineman in the transfer portal according to 247Sports composite rankings and fits what could be a position of need for the Wolverines along the entire front.

The Wolverines are scheduled to see Payne’s former team for a second time in 2024 at the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31 (noon, ESPN) in Tampa, Fla. The former Tide trench-man recorded one tackle vs. U-M in last year’s Rose Bowl.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.