Wednesday Recruitin' Arrives with the Cavalry
If you have recruiting tips or questions, tweet @varsityblue or email [email protected]. All-time updates live on the Michigan Football Recruiting Board.
Every Prospect in America Goes Blue
Since last we spoke, Michigan has picked up 6 commitments, with a few more likely to drop before Signing Day. It's HOKEMANIA season in Ann Arbor.
Brady Hoke started the commitment parade by gettin' his snake oil on, yanking OH CB Tamani Carter from Minnesota's commit list. Hello: Tamani Carter.
Carter had previously been committed to Stanford, but when Harbaugh left for the NFL, reconsidered that. Local article:
"Tamani had a very special season," said Central coach Jay Sharrett to ThisWeek last fall. "When we needed a pivotal play, he was always there for us. Whether we needed a big reception, interception or fumble recovery. Tamani was the guy who made plays that won games for us."
Read delusional Minnesota message board reactions here. Carter's high school coach tells Mark Snyder that Hoke's days at Ball State made him comfortable with the staff.
Helloooooo Heitzman (sorry). OH DE/TE Keith Heitzman has said he's being recruited mostly for defense, but it remains to be seen what will happen with all these guys once they sign.
MI CB Raymon Taylor has seemed like a pending Michigan commit since receiving his offer from the Wolverines, and... Hello: Raymon Taylor. A bit more on his game from Touch the Banner.
Tom spoke with CA K Matt Wile's coach shortly following his commitment, and he had this to say:
"It's no surprise that's where Matt ended up. You have a heck of a coach, and you got a heck of a kicker."
Prior to the commitment, things looked positive, per Sam Webb article and TomVH interview. Hello: Matt Wile.
The developments with TX QB Russell Bellomy happened fast, as he visited campus over the past two days. Before leaving yesterday, he committed to Michigan. Hello: Russell Bellomy. Brady Hoke seems to be reinforcing the new Michigan tradition of stealing a commit from Purdue in one's first recruiting class.
Michigan has offered OH LB Antonio Poole ($, info in header). Wolverine coaches were in Cincinnati earlier this week to check in on him. Last night, he made it official. Hello: Antonio Poole. Video (HT: @MikeDyer):
That's 6 Hello posts in 6 days. Stay tuned for more.
Sealing the Deal and Who's Up Next?
FL OL Commit Tony Posada firmed up his commitment ($, info in header) on the visit.
MD CB Commit Blake Countess hosted defensive coordinator Greg Mattison last night, and has reaffirmed his commitment to the Wolverines.
OH TE/LB Frank Clark had a "great Michigan visit" ($, info in header). He announces on Friday, and Michigan is in a strong position.
Arizona's Scout site thinks IL OL Chris Bryant is still favoring Michigan. Even though he visited Pittsburgh a couple weeks back, the Panthers must not be too confident, as they added a JuCo offensive lineman on Monday ($, info in header). He visited Illinois over the weekend, and announces on Friday.
CO LB Leilon Willingham, a Texas A&M commit, visited Michigan last weekend... instead of taking his official to Texas A&M. That probably says a lot about his interest in Michigan, and meeting TX LB Commit Kellen Jones probably doesn't hurt. Willingham had been thinking about a decision today, but will visit UCF this weekend and plans to announce on Signing Day.
Upcoming Visits
MI RB Thomas Rawls will announce at his school next Wednesday, and he "hopes for surprise" ($, info in header). Given that Central Michigan is his only current offer, it will be tough for him to surprise anyone - unless the surprise is that he's gotten a qualifying test score and therefore a Michigan offer. He wants to visit this weekend, so stay tuned.
Michigan has shown interest in OH FB Trayion Durham. His high school coach says if they plan to offer, he'll know by (last) Friday. He decommitted from Wisconsin in December, and is an unconfirmed commitment to Kent State. He is one of the nation's top fullbacks, and may visit Ann Arbor this weekend.
TX TE Chris Barnett will visit Michigan this weekend. He's backed off an Arkansas commitment. He visited Miami last weekend, but it wasn't enough to pull them ahead of the Hogs ($, info in header).
AZ OL Ryan Nowicki, a Penn State commit, plans to visit this weekend.
Despite positive vibes, Tom says not to get your hopes up for MD DT Darian Cooper unless the kid schedules an official to Ann Arbor despite Brady Hoke's in-home visit ($, info in header). He spoke with Michigan DC Greg Mattison on Sunday and hosted the former Ravens coach in-home yesterday. GERG2 had "interesting" things to say, and Cooper's also been hearing from Commit Blake Countess about Michigan. If Cooper visits Michigan this weekend, consider the Wolverines back in the running.
Michigan is recruiting TX DE Brandon Alexander, and dropped in for a visit with him. His coach thinks he's likely to stay close to home, but the Wolverines may get a visit this weekend.
TX DE Devon Moreland, an SMU commit, might visit this weekend.
LA CB Floyd Raven has scheduled two official visits for the final two weeks before Signing Day ($, info in header). Intrepid mgouser UM_lawful uncovers that he was planning to be in Ann Arbor this weekend, but after re-affirming his Ole Miss commitment, that may not happen.
Happy Trails
CA CB Stefan McClure's post-visit article doesn't have a positive header ($), which is probably a bad sign for landing him. In fact, he's announcing a decision this week and Michigan is no longer in the running.
Happy trails, LA CB Daren Kitchen. He was looking for a committable offer that never came, and has committed to SMU ($, info in header).
Etc.
OH TE Jamare Mills has received interest from the new Michigan staff.
Past-and-hopefully-future Commit MI OL Jake Fisher came away from his Florida visit with positive vibes, but it certainly doesn't sound like he was blown away. If I had to guess, I would say Oregon is the biggest threat to Michigan re-gaining his commitment. He visits Eugene this weekend.
PA DE Max Issaka, who held an offer from Rich Rodriguez's staff, had that offer reaffirmed by Brady Hoke.
OH WR Shane Wynn might visit Michigan soon. He's a teammate of Frank Clark at Glenville.
Etc. Etc.
For those who were getting hopeful about swiping MI DE/OL Anthony Zettel from Penn State... don't; He's solid to the Nittany Lions. ESPN's Bill Kurelic thinks Frank Clark and Chris Bryant will drop soon for Michigan. Article on Kris Frost officially to Auburn. AnnArbor.com fluff on Kellen Jones.
Michigan WR coach and recruiting coordinator Dave Hecklinski talks a little bit about recruiting at the end of this video.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:09 PM ^
Scout boards are saying we've dropped Floyd Raven, Brandon Alexander, Max Isaaka, and Devon Moreland.
January 26th, 2011 at 7:06 PM ^
Any reason given on the last two? Thanks.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:53 PM ^
January 26th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^
Thanks, Tim! Very helpful guide, and it looks like it's going to be a great finish to what started out as an iffy-at-best class.
I'm not sure how I feel about Mattison being called GERG2 though... I'm still trying to recover from GERG..
January 26th, 2011 at 5:24 PM ^
Tom tweeted earlier that he thinks Cooper will probably visit this weekend. Why is it so hard to get a freakin DT?
January 26th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^
when the stars start to align. Go Blue!
January 26th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
Agree on the DT thing... there've been so many that we've been chasing after over the last 10 years that we've missed out on... Pearlie Graves and Quinta Jones come to mind (although one of them we might have been lucky to miss on), and the big one we do get, Will Campbell, is on his way to being a big disappointment. Maybe we'll have to wait for the 2012 class to land one.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:43 PM ^
DANNY O'BRIEN IS A MONSTER
January 26th, 2011 at 5:46 PM ^
Does he still have interest in us? I thought I read on rivals where he was quoted as saying he dropped us after RR was fired. I could be wrong and either way, we have over a year to mend that fence if true.
/way to early recruit talk
January 26th, 2011 at 5:54 PM ^
I didn't read that. But first off, Hoke has a tooooon of time to get back into it. Secondly, O'Brien is a huge M fan. I'd be surprised if he dropped us altogether. I know he liked the previous staff, but he loves the school.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:27 PM ^
2012 is loaded with DT talent. Just off the top of my head are O'Brien, Schutt, Valentine, Pipkins, and Godin. Eddie Goldman is considered the cream of the crop but there's a lot of football to be played. IMO, we need at least 2 DT recruits in 2012.
January 27th, 2011 at 1:29 AM ^
January 27th, 2011 at 2:23 AM ^
I love it when we can say things like that about recruiting.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:55 PM ^
Yeah, it's way too early to pay attention to that.
It's very possible he was upset when RR was fired since he had a relationship with him and his coaches, but that was likely before (1) UM hired a defensive-minded HC whose experience is in coaching the DL (for Michigan when we won a national championshp), (2) UM hired a DC from the Baltimore Ravens who also focuses primarily on the DL, and (3) UM won the 2011 B1G Championship.
We have a long time to change his and I bet we do it.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
Hellllllllll yea.
January 27th, 2011 at 2:23 AM ^
My dad said Ohio State's going to win a MNC next year, notwithstanding all the senior attrition. I think our pipe dream is considerably more realistic then his, don't you?
January 26th, 2011 at 9:13 PM ^
His interest in Michigan stems from childhood fandom, and I doubt that's likely to be so severely shaken by firing a coach two years before he arrives on campus.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:38 AM ^
We're probably in a better position now with O'Brien than before. He is excited to meet the new staff, and still thinks highly of Michigan. It's just too early to say where he'll go obviously.
January 26th, 2011 at 9:12 PM ^
O'Brien is a good prospect (and possibly an early commitment), but I don't know if "monster" is the right evaluation of his talent. He'll likely be a mid-4-star guy at best.
Should he pick Michigan, I'll gladly leave myself open to being pleasantly surprised.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:51 PM ^
Well we did get two pretty highly rated guys last year in Talbott and Ash, it's very likely that one or both of them turn out to be good to very good after red-shirting last year. Also, QW will end up being a solid DT pick-up for us, even if that's not what he was recruited for.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
I have a feeling that under the new staff Campbell is going to develop and emerge as a force. Under Mattison this defense is going to take a huge step forward.
January 26th, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^
January 27th, 2011 at 1:40 AM ^
will be a huge step forward next year. It will be impossible to be worse than the last 2 years, and for that I will be eternally greatful.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:42 PM ^
Pretty excited about Antonio Poole, he's a very good player and that video was pretty cool. I think it's safe to say our LB corps will be very good for the foreseeable future.
A couple more OL and possibly a DT and this is a very good class.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:43 AM ^
Yeah I agree. With Jones, Poole, Morgan, and possibly Beyer (if he plays LB over DE), we will have a killer LB corp for years to come. Plus if we can get RJS and the other LB recruit from Michigan (can't remember his name), we will be set.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:42 PM ^
"so a total of 12 days after he commited to us he switches. What a dbag. We don't need morons like that anyway. Indecisive little prick. So what, does he switch his commitment everytime he takes an official visit or something? If he committed to us already then why would he visit Michigan(assuming that is what he did)? Seems pretty common sense that if you really aren't that thrilled with a school you shouldn't commit to it."
There is lots of delusion on that board.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:45 PM ^
Thanks, Tim.......as always, great news.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
just kidding!! The next week or so is going to be alot of fun.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^
So based on all the info I've gathered, we have 6 openings, and these 9 realistic options left:
OH LB Frank Clark, CO LB Leilon Willingham, IL OL Chris Bryant, MI RB Thomas Rawls, OH FB Traiyon Durham, MD DT Darien Cooper, TX TE Chris Barnett, MI OT Jake Fisher and AZ OT Ryan Nowicki.
Should be an interesting last week.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:36 PM ^
I'd take Willingham, Bryant, Cooper, Fisher, Clark, and Rawls. That's tough though.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^
Mine would be similar but I'd take Barnett over Clark even though Clark seems more realistic than Barnett I just think we need a one TE more than a fifth LB. And I'd be OK with Durham over Rawls - either/or is fine with me.
Really though, any 6 of those is a pretty damn good finish.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:24 PM ^
i pray he isn't the guy in the maize sweatshirt in that video.
January 26th, 2011 at 6:28 PM ^
I would like to get those linemen, offensive and defensive, you have listed as options. Build the trenches. Allow the skill guys to shine.
January 26th, 2011 at 7:13 PM ^
Dont we have plenty of slot ninjas
January 26th, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^
Probably, but he's reporting offers from USC and OSU. He's short, but he's not exactly Nealy or Holloway. He's good.
January 26th, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^
I have no basis for saying this, but it seems to me there could be some attrition amongst the slot ninjas -- so bringing in an elusive receiver/returner could end up as a hidden need. Plus, he'd get to play with Denard, and then have a shot at being one of Gardner's favorite targets.
And, let's face it, taking a Rodriguez-type offensive recruit away from Ohio State would be, well, insanely cool and maybe even somehow help to close the book on the coaching change.
January 26th, 2011 at 8:09 PM ^
Does Hoke have an in home set up with Fisher or am I mixing stories together?
January 26th, 2011 at 8:11 PM ^
Last I heard, he did have an in-home visit scheduled with him tomorrow but if he's also seeing Bryant then not sure if that's true unless he's Greg Mattison and has the ability to be in 4 places at once.
Hopefully Hoke gets to see him before Fisher's visit to Oregon.
January 26th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
I will be (happily) amazed.
What will Hoke and company do with a full year to recruit?
January 26th, 2011 at 10:10 PM ^
You can bet large sums of money that this class will make it to 20.
January 26th, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^
I'd be stunned if we didn't get a full 22 with the options we have left, which is amazing under the circumstances.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:06 PM ^
Lookin Good Brady!!!!! Keep em coming!!!! any word on brennan beyer? last i heard is he reopened his commitment. Is he all in?
January 27th, 2011 at 12:55 AM ^
it was a wild six days to say the least.We are looking good for Chris Bryant,which i think we really need to get him.GO BLUE!!!
January 27th, 2011 at 7:11 AM ^
Who is going to be our next commit(s)?
January 27th, 2011 at 8:46 AM ^
Odds are Clark, Willingham, and Bryant. But we will have to see.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:55 AM ^
Darian Cooper is visiting the new staff so I assume the coaches convinced him and hes back in the running
January 27th, 2011 at 8:04 AM ^
I really want to hone in on Fisher. Bryant is rated higher (according to Rivals) but Fisher is a long-time fan of Michigan AND he's one of the top guys from this state. (As an aside, getting both would be even more awesomer).
In MY opinion, netting him goes a long way (imo) to meding some fences in the high school coaching community throughout Michigan.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:45 AM ^
Bryant is a guard and Fisher is a tackle. Both are still needs, but the class already has a center and a guard (Magnus lists Posada as a guard -- he is otherwise listed as a tackle). Michigan needs another tackle in this class, and Fisher is really the only prospect with an offer that isn't a longshot. The last-minute offer to Nowicki is probably indicative of just how important they think this is. I don't really understand Jake's decommit, other than just anger about Rodriguez, because, if Magnus is right, he's looking at starting on the other side from Lewan in 2012.
January 27th, 2011 at 8:09 AM ^
Clearly this Hokemania is overated. It's been more than 24 hrs without a welcome announcement for a new commitment. This new coaching staff is full of a bunch of slackers.
Sarcasm - ever heard of it?
January 27th, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^
who would have thought we would have this many options on Jan 1st?
I guess Dave Brandon isn't as dumb as some people think...(including me)
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