Michigan CB Smith Snowden Reflects on Transfer Decision, Reveals Goals for 2026

After spending three seasons at Utah, cornerback Smith Snowden made the decision to follow Kyle Whittingham to Michigan for his final season. Snowden was a Swiss Army knife for the Utes this past season, starting on defense, while seeing action on offense and the return game.

Defensively, Snowden tallied 37 tackles, 11 PBUs, along with two interceptions. After starring at Utah this past season, Snowden took a few visits as one of the top transfer portal players on the market, but he knew he wanted to be in Ann Arbor.

Appearing on 'The Team' with Chase Herbstreit, Snowden spoke about his experience.

"I took, I took a couple other visits," Snowden said. "I honestly wanted to, you know, take those visits. It wasn't the highest recruited player in high school. I had a lot of offers, a lot of good opportunities, but never the Michigans, the Oregons, Ohio State, Notre Dame. So, you know, I definitely wanted to take the visits and soak it all in. But in the back of my mind, I knew that Michigan and following Coach Witt and following this staff that he made would definitely benefit myself for the long run."

Baylor Bears wide receiver Kole Wilson (2) is tackled after the catch by Utah Utes cornerback Smith Snowden — Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Snowden might be new to the program, but he brings plenty of experience and should slot in as a starter next to both Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry. With playing a lot of college football, he has a sense of which players are making plays on the field.

Snowden talked about a few wide receivers he has been impressed with this spring, like Andrew Marsh, JJ Buchanan, and Kendrick Bell. And of course, playing next to Hill and Berry has impressed Snowden — along with sophomore Shamari Earls.

"There's been, I don't even know if I can name all the people that stood out to me," admitted Snowden. "There's, this is a really good team, but like I'll talk about, you know, I'm a DB. A.Marsh, he's that guy. J.J. Buchanan just came in, stepped up, making plays every single day. K.B. been balling. There's a lot of guys I could, you know, I could keep on going. But defense, you know, Shug, Shug's the man. Zeke, Shamari can go. We have young guys in the room that can just really go. And I'm excited to, you know, get in there and kind of get thrown in the fire and, you know, see what I can do."

Goals for Michigan in 2026

While Michigan's defense has been good enough the past two seasons, the Wolverines are looking to take another step under new defensive coordinator Jay Hill. Michigan is looking back toward that 2023 national title season, where Michigan's defense was a powerhouse.

Snowden, who went through a little procedure to take care of a sports hernia, has a personal goal of coming back healthy and making an impact on the defense, but he said the team's goal to be No. 1 in every category this season.

"Yeah, I think just for myself, obviously, it's coming back healthy, being able to play a part in this defense," said Snowden. "And just as a defense whole, I know Wu and Shug kind of talked about it, but we just want to be the best. You know, we look at the stats from previous years, the teams that win, the teams that go where we want to go, they're the top of the every single category. So just being able to, you know, be at top of every category with takeaways, third downs, points per game, just all of that. We want to be at the top of all those categories."

While Snowden has faith in Michigan's defense to make plays — he also wants fans to be excited about the offense. And it all starts with QB Bryce Underwood. After an up and down season last year, Snowden said Underwood has improved and Michigan has put enough weapons around him to make plays.

Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) looks to throw against the Texas Longhorns — Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

"It's going to be a tough team, a team that scores a lot of points," Snowden said. "I want you guys to be excited about this offense. We have a bunch of weapons that are going to make plays, and I think that's going to start with Bryce. I believe in him, and I think he's going to, you know, keep guiding us in the way that we want to go and we want to win. So I think it's just going to be a good year for Team 147."