Get To Know Garrett Taylor Comment Count

Brandon Brown

Garrett Taylor 2

On Monday, Michigan secured its first commitment in about five months when consensus 4-star defensive back Garrett Taylor decided to verbally pledge to the Wolverines. Taylor is the #1 prospect in the state of Virginia and he makes it three years in a row that the Michigan staff has pulled an elite talent out of the Richmond area, with Derrick Green and Wilton Speight preceding him.

Taylor is a big-time talent, boasting nearly 40 offers from virtually every major university in the country. Opposing coaches gave high praise about his abilities on the field, as well as a small glimpse of his reputation off of it.

Taylor's a 4-star prospect with a 5-star's offer sheet.

 

"Garrett is a special player with outstanding ability at corner. He is tall and long for a corner which gives him an advantage when dealing with the taller receivers. He was definitely a defensive presence who we had to game plan around.  He seems to be a great young man away from football as well."

- Head Coach Clint Alexander, Woodberry Forest School

"Garrett Taylor is a very good player who is tough to compete against. He has the ability to take away a teams best receiver which is what St. Christopher's and Taylor did to us this past fall. As a player, Garrett is big and fast with a good skill set. Combine that with his physical playing style and it becomes a real challenge for opponents to be able to line up against him."

-Head Coach Mark Palyo, Collegiate School

When speaking to Garrett personally it was easy to see why the Michigan coaches were so fond of him. He’s a very intelligent young man with a lot of maturity for a guy in high school. He spoke about his decision and his main recruiter, who happens to be his position coach now as well.

I’m feeling great about my decision! Coach Manning is a great coach and a great guy. I’m really glad I’ll be able to get coached by him. He’s just very down to Earth and honest, there is no nonsense with him which is what my family and I want. All of the Michigan coaches really feel like that. That’s what I loved about the staff.

This sentiment is consistent with every recruit I talk to. The coaches have developed an amazing sense of family and the players and recruits really respond well to it. Couple that with the other things Michigan can offer and it’s no surprise why campus visits make such an impact. Garrett agreed.

Home is where the M's are.

When I was there I just felt at home. They had everything that I was looking for academically and the coaching staff was great. I feel like I will fit in really well in their defensive scheme and could possibly play early. The coaches said they recruited me for my size and length at corner and they think that I’ll fit in well with the group that’s going to be there. With Stribling already there and Peppers coming in we could be scary good. I knew about the players that would be there and it was definitely attractive. I’m excited to come in and compete for playing time. Playing with players like that will only make me better.

As soon as Taylor committed, fellow Virginian and current Wolverine Wilton Speight tweeted about how Richmond is becoming quite the pipeline to Ann Arbor. I asked Garrett about what draws fellow and former recruits to Michigan from Virginia and if he had any connections that might help in the future.

I can’t really think of anything specific other than it’s just such a great school. I mean it literally has everything you could be looking for. As far as other recruits I’m kind of close with [2016 WR] Scott Bracey just out of the respect we have for each others game and skill. Other than that I’m not really a huge social media guy in terms of connections with other recruits. I use it more for me and my friends from school.

With recent Michigan commits like Shane Morris, Wilton Speight, and Michael Ferns being some of the best recruiters in the country, Taylors statement might come off as a letdown, but don’t worry, he’s willing and able to embrace any role necessary.

I don’t use social media like that right now but if that’s what’s needed and the coaches ask me to do it, I’m all for it. They haven’t really said anything to me about that yet.

Garrett chose Michigan over dozens of schools but it came down to a battle between the Wolverines and the Stanford Cardinal. Garrett explained why Michigan had the final edge.

Michigan’s business school is very prestigious. It’s at the top in the country just about every year. They knew exactly what tracks I needed to take in order to build a good resume for law school too, so that was the difference.

Taylor fits The Pattern(tm) when it comes to the type of kids that the coaches want to bring in. He’s mature, smart, stable, and talented. He will add to a highly touted group of defensive back recruits by the time he arrives on campus which will be in the fall of 2015. Taylors high school doesn’t allow early graduation so he will arrive in Ann Arbor on the traditional timeline as opposed to the increasingly popular early enrollment track. The 2015 class will be small in size but great in quality if the coaches continue to land players like Garrett Taylor.

Comments

Mmmm Hmmm

March 29th, 2014 at 6:53 PM ^

I know of no official policy, but my sense has always been that Michigan's law school gives a larger boost to collegiate athletes than other law schools.

Piston Blue

March 29th, 2014 at 7:48 PM ^

We only care about basketball right now.





/s

(in all seriousness I loved the post and can't wait to see this monster secondary that M is recruiting on the field!)

Cope

March 29th, 2014 at 8:11 PM ^

Can anyone explain the numbers behind why this class is going to be so small?

To my admittedly completely untrained eye, this year's class was good but alarmingly small. Sure, we had a pick or two go the other way, but with the monster classes of 4 and 5 stars our elite competitors are pulling in, is it a problem if we're looking at another small class, or can someone explain why these numbers are fine for us?

Thanks, if you jump on it.

iamtjeff

March 29th, 2014 at 8:42 PM ^

It boils down to the scholarship limitation. We had fairly large classes in 2012 and 2013. We were able to pull in large classes due to, in part, a lot attrition a few years back. We have a large number of sophomore/rs sophomore on the roster; and conversely, a small number of seniors/RS seniors. 

BK-bloo

March 29th, 2014 at 8:34 PM ^

Love what he had to say about the excellent players already on the team in his position group -- what it means for him as a player as well as for the quality of the team. I'm looking forward to seeing this defensive backfield develop in the coming years.

MGoStrength

March 29th, 2014 at 8:35 PM ^

As much as I would love the see more wins (although I think they'll eventually come), I do like the trend I see in these kids being generally good people.  I really enjoying hearing many of these kids talk.  They are often mature, hard workers, and just get it.  Ross, Green, Lewis, Morris, Butt, Peppers, Ferns, Speight, etc.  Every time I hear a kid interviewed they impress me.  Along those same lines I'm already hearing that Butt is becoming a leader that the team is looking up to.  For a kid that's still a true freshman and injured that is pretty impressive.

Hardware Sushi

March 29th, 2014 at 10:23 PM ^

Awesome to get another top level prospect in our secondary, plus seems like a great person. Bahhh luck has to turn our way sometime soon after passes barely missing our fingers and landing in Hoosier receiver hands...

NoMoPincherBug

March 29th, 2014 at 11:46 PM ^

It is awesome the way the the recruits repeatedly praise the coaches and players at Michigan as "family".

I think we all need to take a breath and give Coach Hoke some time.  It is not easy transitioning over from what happened before.  It took Coach Beilein a few years to get rolling and look where he is at now.  I think we need to all give Hoke the same opportunity to get his guys in and coach them up.

UofM626

March 30th, 2014 at 12:34 AM ^

Better coach these kids up. I'm afraid the Blue Nation will be getting uncomfortable if we have another flame out of a year on the field. I for one hope Hoke gets his 5 years before they even look at him and say "is this working"

dragonchild

March 30th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^

With all these lockdown corners coming in we could see a shift in strategy from a "bend don't break" defense (which was largely implemented because our D was so ludicrously young last season) to a more downhill, attacking D.  We're pretty thin on D-line but if guys like Peppers and Taylor can hold their own without safety help Mattison can dial up some aggressive swarming blitzes.

MGoStrength

March 30th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^

When guys like Pipkins, Charlton, Mone, Wormley, Poggi, Marshall, etc. are all upperclassman it will take care of itself.  The LB corps are already good and there is plenty of young depth that are maturing like Gedeon, McCray, Ferns etc.  And, the DBs are going to be good fairly soon as guys like Lewis, Stribs, Thomas, and Peppers get experience.  I think we are very close to a very good team.  All the peices are in place.  The athletes are there, the star ranking recruits are there, and the depth is there.  We just need a little bit of age, experience, and maturity (and the mental toughness that comes with it).  I think we will go through a little more of growing pains this year, although no where near as much as last year.  But, I think we will finally start to see improvement this season and should be very good in 2015 and beyond.