[image via Maize & Blue News]

[Ed. A—Thanks to Orion Sang and The Michigan Daily crew for passing along audio]

How are you enjoying the experience here so far?

“It’s been good. It’s been real good. Everybody here from an administrative standpoint to a player standpoint has been great. It’s good to be—you know, I’m three hours from home, so family comes often. But it’s Michigan, you know. It’s a dream school. But it’s been really good, so I’ve enjoyed working here.”

You were a Buckeye growing up.

“I was. Well, I wasn’t, my father was, so you kind of get born into it, but yeah, I’m familiar with Ohio State. All respect to them and coach Meyer and what they’re doing, but I was excited about this for a lot of reasons. I’m trying to convert as many family members over.”

How about your dad?

“My dad—my dad was here this past weekend to come to the spring game, the spring practice, and he had a good time. He had a Michigan hat on but he had an Ohio State jersey underneath, so I was exposing him a little bit. But yeah, he’s excited. He’s proud. It’s a great program and great school.”

What did you get out last year with Fickell?

“You said how did I?”

What did you take [away]?

“Oh, well, coach Fickell’s a great person, first off. I hadn’t worked with him prior to going there but growing up in Columbus, a lot of coaches I’m close with were close with him. He’s a great human being, man. Great coach, he’s a winner, so I really enjoyed my time there.

“It was tough to leave so soon because you get relationships with these kids, but—and coach Fickell. What did I get out of it? I guess just another perspective, another high-level coach to learn from how to conduct their business, how to run a program.”

Did it catch you off guard? You were only there for one year, like you said. You’re young. Did it catch you off guard when they called you here and said we want you to coach here? Was it something you expected?

“Every year is kind of its own deal. So, I had been at Boston College for five years prior and that was kind of my—I’ve been all over the place as I’ve come up. Did I think I’d be offered a job at Michigan at the beginning of the year? No, but I didn’t think it was something out of the norm.

“And, you know, my relationship with Donnie [Brown], I’ve kept in contact with Donnie. He’s a big part of that, obviously. That’s documented. But, you know, I’m not surprised about much. Every year is kind of unique, and so it was a great situation, for sure. Appreciative of it, but I’m kind of ready for whatever.”

[After THE JUMP: Don Brown on Mount Rushmore, piranhas on a quarterback, and a child care conundrum I am intimately familiar with]

[image via Maize & Blue News]

[Ed. A—Thanks to Orion Sang and The Michigan Daily crew for passing along audio]

This is kind of interesting for us.

“Is it?”

Just last year we were on the other side—

“Oh, that’s right, on the other—”

How’s it been for you?

“Uh, this has been just a great opportunity and coach Harbaugh has been a guy that obviously I’ve followed for a long time, and the opportunity to come and learn from him and kind of see how someone else kind of does it and puts it together, it’s really been a lot of fun.”

Can you take us through how he contacted you, and how long did it take you to jump on this offer?

“Well, kind of, maybe, I don’t know if he got the wrong number and I answered. You know, I don’t really know how it came about but we got a phone call and was obviously very excited to come and, if nothing else, just getting an opportunity to kind of stand in the background and see how something’s operated, and that’s what’s been really good. He extended the offer and I was really excited about that. My wife and I are really excited about being in Ann Arbor.”

Taking over the wide receiver group, what was the first thing you wanted to teach this group of wide receivers?

“Well, I think there obviously is a lot of talent there, and good, young talent. The thing I really enjoy is being in that room with them. They’re really good people, good young men.

“For us, one of the focus areas has been ability to, number one, get open, especially against all the press coverage that you see. They’ve really worked on honing their skills and trying to do what we’re trying to teach them to do, and yet we’ve got a long ways to go, but at the same time it’s really a fun group of guys and it’s great to be around them.”

[After THE JUMP: Curr Dogg, SEC speed, and how the basketball team could fuel the WR group’s success]

Michigan picked up their second commitment in two days yesterday when three-star New Caanan (CT) offensive lineman Jack Stewart announced his pledge on Twitter. As a Connecticut prospect, Stewart hails from Don Brown Country, which means at this juncture he's all but unscouted by the recruiting services.

Stewart has picked up increasingly impressive offers over the last couple months, however, starting with a trip out west that netted Arizona and ASU offers. Michigan offered a couple weeks ago and—despite picking up offers from Baylor, Ole Miss, TCU, and Texas A&M—Stewart didn't wait long to jump on it. He's the ninth commit in the 2019 class, which moved up a spot to fourth nationally, and the third on the offensive line, joining top-100 OG Nolan Rumler and four-star OT Trente Jones.

GURU RATINGS

These should be ignored, despite what you may have read in the comments on the initial commitment post. There isn't a single scouting report on Stewart from an analyst on any of the three recruiting sites. His ESPN page didn't exist until today; Rivals didn't mention anything about his recruitment until after yesterday's commitment. 247 appears to be the only site that's at least looked at his film and they have him as a decent three-star; it's hard to get far above that before an in-person evaluation without being an obvious monster athlete.

Stewart has solid size for a future interior lineman. All three sites list him at 6'5" and either 280 or 285 pounds, and he doesn't look to be carrying a lot of bad weight on film.

[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and the rest.]

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Scheduling note: Splitting these up because we got a lot from this weekend. Here’s the offense.

Why so Positive?

I hate to write to the worst of my mentions but the biggest complaint I’ve gotten from doing these write-ups is they’re too positive. There is a very good reason for this: That is what the people with access want to share. Most of the information available to the public comes from the coaches and players made available to the press. That’s supplemented by SOURCES: former players, current players, family members, big donors, local coaches, or those hearing second-hand from them. They are partisans or ambassadors, and have all been told how to talk to the media.

Once in awhile some of this is negative, but the first rule of sourcing is don’t repeat something unless you can verify it, either by getting the same information independently or because you trust where it’s coming from entirely. Positive stuff gets repeated; negative things are usually coming from just one guy. Balancing coverage is impossible, for one, and two, a fallacious exercise.

The best I can do is present the information we have and frame it in context of spring hype. If you take biased information at face value you’re a fool; if you run from bias because it’s not what you want to hear you’re a coward. All agreed? Good. Let’s see where the smoke is blowing.

---------------------

Offense in General

What we want to hear: Just be honest, okay?

What we’re hearing: From umbig11: 

“The ‘SWAG’ is back on the offense! We have playmakers and we have studs on the OL. Shea is playing at a level not seen in A2 for several years!”

Michael Spath talked to a couple players ($) about the how the team looks this year, and got stuff like this:

"I'd put Shea up against any quarterback in the Big Ten, I think Tarik is going to be the best receiver and Ruiz ... man, he's got everything. I'd be shocked if he's not an All-American."

In an interview with Josh Henscke, Carlo Kemp said the offensive line is tough to play against:

"They're really good at every position," Kemp said. "It's a battle every time, especially inside. You've got to be ready to take on double-teams, people coming this way and that way, it's a lot faster game. The o-line is looking really good all across the board. We've all gotten stronger, we've all matured from last season and two seasons ago just with experience playing from the same position. It's been a good fight, o-line and d-line this fall."

What it means:  So that’s where the smoke is blowing. Right up in there.

[after THE JUMP: what you want to hear.]

[Jack Stewart/via 247Sports]

As Sam hinted earlier today the Wolverines have added more help in the trenches, pulling 6’5”/280 2019 offensive lineman prospect Jack Stewart out of Don Brown country:

Committed to the University of Michigan. Thank you to all the coaches that extended offers. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/OfP36YAr9C

— Jack Stewart (@jackstewartnc74) April 16, 2018

Stewart got his Michigan offer during the big recruiting weekend a few weeks ago. He had offers from BC, Texas A&M, Zona, and just recently picked up a TCU offer after visiting the two Texas schools last week. Notre Dame was also fishing around. He’s a three star to 247, an unranked 2-star to Rivals, and doesn’t exist on ESPN because Connecticut offensive lineman.

Hudl video exists:

More informative update cometh.

Lanky to the point of deception. [Andrew Ivins/247]

Despite a cancelled spring game, Michigan gained its first defensive back commit of the 2019 class over the weekend when they flipped four-star Hollywood (FL) Chaminade-Madonna Prep cornerback Te'Cory Couch from his prior pledge to Tennessee. The news broke yesterday and Couch confirmed it on his Twitter account last night. Miami (YTM) had been seen as Michigan's biggest competitor to pull Couch from his UT pledge, but one strong official visit to Ann Arbor was enough to sway him.

Couch is the eighth commit in Michigan's 2019 class, which now ranks fifth nationally and first in the Big Ten.

GURU RATINGS

While ESPN docks Couch a star, all three services have him in a relatively tight grouping. Rivals' #16 safety made their top 250, so he's probably lingering around 300th there, which would split between his ESPN and 247 rankings.

Despite the Rivals listing, Couch should come to Michigan as a cornerback/nickel. He measured in at a slight 5'9.5", 145 pounds at the Opening Miami regional, which puts him in the Jourdan Lewis/Lavert Hill cornerback category (as opposed to Channing Stribling/Jeremy Clark types, which entirely comprised the last secondary class). While short and slight, Couch has the frame to add a lot of weight and he plays taller than his listed height because of his long limbs. As you'll see, he fooled at least one scout into thinking he's a six-footer.

[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and the rest.]