I attended the Sound Mind Sound Body camp at Dakota High School last Friday and had the chance to speak with a number of Michigan commits and targets. Today’s interviews include Jaylen Kelly-Powell, a Cass Tech safety with offers from most of the Big Ten, and Osiris St. Brown, a four-star receiver (according to the 247 composite) who visited Michigan earlier in June.

Jaylen Kelly-Powell, 2017 safety

Adam: How do you feel you did out there today?

Kelly-Powell: I feel pretty good. I had fun.

Adam: Have you been to this camp before?

Kelly-Powell: Yeah, two times.

Adam: How did today’s camp compare to the others you’ve been to?

Kelly-Powell: This was better. This one was bigger. Everybody from around the world came out.

Adam: What’s it like to have all of these coaching staffs here?

Kelly-Powell: It means a lot to learn from the best. Most of these coaches have actually played in the NFL and so they can teach you a couple things.

Adam: Where’s your recruitment at right now? Do you have any timeline going forward?

Kelly-Powell: No.                                            Kelly-Powell, right [Bill Rapai]

Adam: What was your favorite part of today?

Kelly-Powell: Coaches teaching me techniques and stuff. That helps.

Adam: What kind of feedback did you get from the coaches out here today?

Kelly-Powell: They said I did good. They said I’ve got great feet and everything so just keep working hard. It went pretty good.

Adam: As far as Michigan goes, who’s recruiting you?

Kelly-Powell: Coach Partridge and coach Wheatley.

Adam: Can you describe their recruiting styles? What are they like?

Kelly-Powell: Well, coach Wheatley, he treats me like I’m his son. He actually talks to me. He’s not trying to sell me on anything, he just tells me how it is and what to look for in a college. He’s really good. Coach Partridge, he’s like that too.

Adam: What are you looking to work on this summer?

Kelly-Powell: My technique.

Adam: Any other visits planned?

Kelly-Powell: Tomorrow [Saturday the 13th] I’m going to Michigan.

Adam: Will you be at their camp?

Kelly-Powell: No, I’m just doing a visit. From there we’ll go on a college tour with Cass [Tech].

[After THE JUMP: Osiris St. Brown and Harbaugh vs. Ralph]

Osiris St. Brown, 2017 WR

Adam: First of all, how’d your visit to Michigan go [Brown took an unofficial visit on June 10th]?

St. Brown: Oh, it was great. Michigan was beautiful. When I got on campus I definitely already saw all the tradition and everything, how you get to see it’s just a great program especially now that Harbaugh’s back. He’s redoing a couple things and it’s going to be great.

Adam: What kind of things is he redoing?

St. Brown: I think the training room they’re redoing and then they’re fixing up the locker room a little bit. He’s taking out all the video games. He wants it strictly football so it definitely feels serious, no goofing around.

Adam: What else did you get to tour?

St. Brown: We got the locker room, the stadium, a little bit of the campus, academic centers. But the stadium was amazing. It was huge- massive.

Adam: How do you feel you did at the camp today?

St. Brown: I think I did pretty good. It was kind of hard for me to get reps because there’s so many kids, but when I got up I did my best and I think I did pretty good.

Adam: What kind of feedback did you get from the coaches?

St. Brown: They said, “great” whenever I made a catch and “good job.” It was just positive.

Adam: What has your experience at this camp been like over the past few days?

St. Brown: Oh, it’s been great. They definitely teach you how to be a better person. It’s not just on the football field, it’s off. I think it’s definitely- it helps a lot of people. For me, my dad tries to help me be a good person but for all the kids that their dad’s not around or their mom or whatever, I think it’s great.

Adam: Do you have anything you’d like to work on over the summer?

St. Brown: Yeah. For receiver stuff, I’d like to work on my get-offs, my routes, breaking down…sometimes I slip so I’m trying to eliminate that and I’m always working on my catching. I always try to catch balls at home off the Jugs machine and that’s probably about the main points [of] what I’ve got to work on.

Adam: What other visits do you have planned?

St. Brown: I think next week we’re going to Stanford for a football camp and we’ll probably tour their campus while we’re up there. Then I’m going to Germany, but other than that I don’t know if we have anything set in stone. I know we’re going to a USC camp and a UCLA camp and maybe Arizona State, so those are all the top schools off the top of my head that I remember. 

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When Jim Harbaugh was nine years old he went through his first full-pads tackling drill. Lined up across from him was Ralph, whom he describes as having a five o’clock shadow and bearing a striking resemblance to the Hulk. What follows is from Harbaugh’s keynote speech at Sound Mind Sound Body. It is…

The Story of Ralph: a Photo Novella

photos by Bill Rapai