Michigan Football recently picked up a commitment from Birmingham Groves OL Avery Gach, the second commitment since Sherrone Moore took over as head coach. Today we give him the proper Hello: 

GURU RATINGS 

Gach is a consensus four star, ranked just inside the top 250 of the On3 Consensus and the 247 composite. Rivals and 247 are the highest on Gach, putting him inside their top 200 and ranking him among the top 15 IOL prospects nationally. ESPN is a bit lower, just inside the top 300, but all three of those sites consider him a top three prospect in the state of Michigan. On3 is the rather bizarre outlier (something that their own EJ Holland heavily disagrees with in his pieces), ranking Gach as an irrelevant three star and 7th in the state of Michigan. According to Seth's five star scale, Gach overall grades out as a solid four and in the middle of the pack among all IOL prospects that Michigan has gotten commitments from since 1990. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: what the scouts say]

SCOUTING 

As usual, EJ Holland has provided us with oodles of content on a committed prospect, so we can start this section there. EJ put up a piece with a set of takes like usual where he introduces the discussion about what position Gach will play in college ($): 

Gach is a straight interior offensive lineman that projects as a pure guard at the next level. Gach can play right tackle in a pinch, but his build and physicality best suits him for the interior. Gach finishes his blocks with authority on tape and plays with a consistent motor and mean streak. Gach isn’t overly athletic and can continue to work on his feet

Alright. Sounds simple enough. The build and physicality come up pretty much any time someone talks about Gach and it's what makes him a good fit for Michigan, something that his HS coach brought up in an interview with On3's Zach Libby: 

“When he’s on the field between the lines, he turns the switch on,” Flaherty said. “It’s just unbelievable. Whether he’s playing offense or defense, he wants to put that guy on their back every single time, and that energizes our team.”

Physicality is what Gach brings to the table, which according to Flaherty, makes Michigan a proper fit for his traits.

“They like to run the ball and get after it,” Flaherty said. “That’s the one thing I really thought that put Michigan back over the top. They want to run the ball, and they’re going to grind it out. He likes running the ball, so I think it’s a great fit. I really do."

Sounds like a "SMASH" kind of guy. Also sounds like a Michigan Man: 

“The work ethic is out of this world. I mean, he’s got the measurements. You know, he’s always 6-foot-5, 290 (pounds), and athletic. I think the two things that make him a difference maker are that he gets up and (thinks) he’s got to be a better football player. He feels guilty if he doesn’t work out. He won’t put his head on the pillow if he hasn’t done something to make him a better football player.”

Jim Harbaugh may not be around anymore but Jim Harbaugh would've loved coaching Avery Gach, if these quotes are to be believed. Alen Trieu of 247 provides a more comprehensive breakdown of Gach, providing us with more quotes about the physicality: 

Tenacious, physical player who goes to the whistle and finishes plays. Shows functional strength and pad level in addition to the pure willingness to want to move defenders off the ball, all making for a dominant run blocker. Still technically coming along in pass set and pass pro. Physicality shows up in his punch there also. Left tackle in high school who may be more suited as a right side option or interior player at the high-major level. Has added good weight and strength and will continue to do so. Is a solid base-level athlete, but can also continue to improve on pure explosiveness and lateral agility

Trieu describes Gach as a sort of high floor prospect who he sees as safely projectable to being a P5 starter. The comparison he tosses out is Ben Bredeson, which makes sense as another taller HS tackle who came into Michigan with some positional ambiguity who eventually ended up at guard. That's where most scouts seem to believe Gach will end up but Steve Lorenz tells us that the staff is more open minded ($): 

Michigan looks at Gach as one of their 'malleables' as far as a guy who could play guard or tackle. I think he'll be inside eventually but the staff has left the door open to play either one

A reasonable guess based on the scouts is that Michigan gives Gach the opportunity to play either position but eventually he winds up at guard. All of these reviews have been pretty positive, hard working, physical OL prospect with good size who should be a pretty safe take. Want to hear more of a downer take? Here's Touch The Banner, who likes the physicality but sees a couple notable red flags: 

There are some red flags, though. He appears to be a bit of a waist-bender instead of a knee bender, and he can be somewhat mechanical in his movements. He keeps a narrow base and doesn’t often win the leverage battle; he wins most of his battles with his size and foot churn, but he does not flex through the hips as much as I would like to see. He tends to pop up too high, and even on his highlights, his first step is a split second too late. There are times where he struggles to redirect to mirror pass rushers. And because of his narrow base, a lot of his “pancakes” tend to be holds that appear to go uncalled because he’s so physically dominant

I'm not enough of an OL technician to give major takes on how merited these critiques are, but I felt it was worth putting them out there so it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Gach is highly ranked, but he's not a can't miss five-star and this provides a bit of a window into that. 

OFFERS

Gach's recruitment centered on an in-state Michigan vs. Michigan State battle due to his parents being MSU alums. Michigan recruited Gach from some time and seemed to be close to landing a commitment, before things quieted down a bit after Jonathan Smith was hired in East Lansing. Gach wanted to give the Spartans a fair opportunity under new leadership but ultimately his profile and position on the field made Michigan the most logical match, especially with the former OL coach now as the head coach of the program. 

Ohio State was also loosely involved in the pursuit but the action centered on the two brotherly rivals. Other schools extending offers included a lot of the B1G (Wisconsin, Maryland, Purdue, Nebraska, PSU, Indiana, USC), plus national powers Georgia, Alabama, Florida State, Tennesee, Texas A&M, Miami, and Florida, in addition to assorted lower P5 teams and most of the MAC. It's a long list and you ought to get the gist by now. 

HIGH SCHOOL

Given the high school involved here, we had to outsource this section to Seth: 

Wylie E. Groves High School has more writers for your favorite website (Seth and Raj), famous directors (Sam Raimi) and just about everything else than scholarship Michigan football players, of which Avery Gach is the first. He probably won't be the last, as the program has improved significantly from the one that wouldn't let Seth play on it. They have a former 4-star safety in the portal via MSU in Jaden Mangham, and may have a couple of future B10 prospects coming up, but Gach is the only one whose family also goes to Seth's synagogue and sent their kids to Seth's mother-in-law's preschool, which probably won't repeat the feat. Rise up, beat the Mapes!

STATS 

Is an OL. No defensive stats listed anywhere that I could find. Claims 90 pancakes on his junior highlights Hudl reel. 

FAKE 40 TIME 

Have not seen a 40 time for Gach listed anywhere. 

VIDEO 

Junior highlights: 

ETC 

Also plays baseball. 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

Gach seems to be a solid offensive line prospect, more likely to end up at guard than tackle, but he ought to have plenty of time to figure that out once he gets to Ann Arbor. Michigan's OL depth chart is very dense, even accounting for possible transfer portal attrition in the coming years. I currently have 17 scholarship offensive linemen on Michigan's roster for 2024 and while some may leave in the intervening time, when Gach comes in with a few classmates there still won't be much need to rush him onto the field. If he pops quickly, there will always be playing time rewards waiting, but if he needs time to develop, that's fine too. 

Like any OL prospect on a team with a well-stocked, well-recruited OL group, the best thing you can predict is that he will develop for a couple years and we'll see what he can bring down the line. Based on his recruit ranking, profile, and the logical match between team and player, there is a reasonable chance that Gach could end up a respectable starter for multiple seasons in his upperclass years who helps Michigan win. 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS 

Gach is the first offensive lineman in the 2025 class, which has been a bit slow getting off the ground. The complete reshuffling of the coaching staff set recruitments back a decent ways but the combination of recent commitments Gach and Nate Marshall, plus the momentum coming out of the spring period, hopefully gets the ball rolling quickly in the summer. Right now the Wolverines have those two, plus Bobby Kanka (DL), Carter Smith (QB), and Eli Owens (TE) in the class. Pretty wide open! 

As for the offensive line, Michigan is said to want a bit smaller of a class than the five man OL group they took in 2024. Something in the range of 3-4 guys has been discussed and Gach is the first building block in the group. Attention now turns to IOL Michael Carroll and blue chip OT Andrew Babalola as top targets for the Wolverines. Two more names, Hardy Watts and Douglas Utu, are ones to watch and you can consult the full 2025 recruiting board here. 

THE CLASS AS IT STANDS