adonis thomas

Two New Offers

The new (and still incomplete) coaching staff has hit the recruiting trail running, with a couple new offers to committed 2015 prospects going out this week.

TX WDE Charles Omenihu is a Texas commit whose three-star ranking belies an impressive offer list that also includes Florida, LSU, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, and TCU, among others. At 6'5", 232 pounds, he's got the frame to be a rush end in a DJ Durkin defense that'll utilize both three- and four-man fronts. After getting the call from Greg Mattison that he'd earned a Michigan offer, he talked to 247's Steve Lorenz ($):

"I talked to Coach Mattison and he told me I had a scholarship offer," Omenihu said. "Michigan is a program I wanted an offer from since I was a kid. They are a very prestigious school. Coach Harbaugh is a cool guy too. I know he has a plan for them and it's a plan I believe in."

While Omenihu has been firm in his commitment to the Longhorns, he said he'll "definitely" consider an official visit to Ann Arbor.

Michigan also offered three-star FL CB Damon Arnette, a South Carolina commit whose offer sheet—which includes Florida State, Louisville, Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Wisconsin—doesn't necessarily line up with his ranking. At 6'2", 185, Arnette has great size for a corner, something he told The Wolverine's Brandon Brown was a big factor in Michigan offering him; he also talked about his visit schedule, which changed in the wake of the M offer ($):

"All of my visits I've set up are realistic places for me," Arnette stated. "I'm not going just to go. I was originally going to Louisville on the 16th, but I cut them off today for Michigan. My other visits will be to South Carolina and Ohio State. Those three will probably be it."

Brady Hoke's staff didn't recruit Arnette at all, so to jump into the mix this quickly is a good sign for M's chances. As you'll see, the weekend of the 16th—just after the current dead period ends—is shaping up to be a big visit weekend for Michigan.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

Dramatization. The real song our coaches sing on road trips is ram-a-lamma-ding-dong. Insiders believe Nussmeier could be the tenor the staff has been lacking.

The Michigan coaches have been traveling all over the country checking in on commits, offerees, and targets in recent weeks. I have been reaching out to recruits for the past couple of days to see who has been visited or who still might be. I’m sure this list isn’t all-encompassing but I was able to get in touch with a lot of prospects from the 2015 class. I mean A LOT of prospects:

Athletes and Defensive Backs

ATH David Dowell & RB Andrew Dowell – Lakewood, OH/St. Edward – Teammates of Shaun Crawford, the Dowell brothers were visited by Coach Mattison in the early part of the week and he told them he’d like them to come up for a visit, but it’s not planned yet.

ATH Osa Masina – Salt Lake City, UT/Brighton – Masina wasn’t visited this time around but Coach Hoke and Coach Ferrigno did visit him back in mid-December. There aren’t a ton of reasons to stop in Utah so visits to Salt Lake City will probably be few and far between.

ATH Jerome Baker – Cleveland, OH/Benedictine – Baker holds a Michigan offer and was visited by Coach Mattison on Tuesday and says that he is feeling Michigan a lot.

cole
Cole could wind up the top-ranked player in the state. [Sam Webb]

ATH Brian Cole – Saginaw, MI – Heritage – Cole was visited by Coach Hoke earlier in the week.

CB Kei Beckham – Trotwood, OH/Trotwood-Madison – Coach Smith stopped by Trotwood-Madison on Friday but Beckham missed him due to his class schedule. TMHS is a frequent stop for the coaching staff so Beckham is confident he’ll see them again.

CB Marcus Lewis – Washington, DC/Gonzaga – One of four prospects to chat with Coach Mallory from Gonzaga. Lewis really liked Coach Mallory and plans to stay in close touch with him moving forward.

CB Iman Marshall – Long Beach, CA/Poly – Marshall’s father told me that a Michigan coach stopped in to see his son on Monday of last week, he was unsure of who it was but I’d guess Ferrigno.

[After the jump: look at the tags above. There's a lot.]

2015 Quarterback Musical Chairs



Should be awarded fifth star just for using early Black Keys.

When Michigan named Doug Nussmeier offensive coordinator, five-star QB Ricky Town was committed to Alabama, Michigan offeree David Sills was USC's lone (and long-time) 2015 QB commit, and CA five-star QB Josh Rosen had shown little interest in his Wolverine offer.

That's all changing quickly. Town decommitted from Alabama on Saturday, launching speculation that he may want to follow his former would-be offensive coordinator and position coach to Ann Arbor. That speculation lasted a matter of hours before Town committed to his home-state childhood favorite... USC. Even before Town's commitment, Sills started fielding interest from other schools, and a decommitment—possibly of the mutual "this is best for everyone" variety—could very well be in the cards; this quote via ESPN's Blair Angulo is telling ($):

[USC coach Steve] Sarkisian, according to Sills' father, David, was slated to check in at the school sometime this month. That plan might still be in play, though some close to Sills' recruitment got word about Town's decommitment and aren't optimistic.



"The staff was supposed to come by two or three weeks ago, but apparently they will swing by this coming week," Eastern Christian Academy coach Dwayne Thomas said.

...

"David is still considering other schools," Thomas said.

Michigan could very well be one of those schools under consideration, though that situation is complicated, too. Sills was offered under Al Borges, not Nussmeier, and Michigan continues to throw out offers to '15 quarterbacks—most recently, Notre Dame commit Blake Barnett and 247 Composite top-50 TX dual-threat QB Jarrett Stidham. It's unclear how serious Sills is about Michigan; it's also unclear how interested Michigan (read: Nussmeier) is in Sills.

In case matters weren't complicated enough, Rosen's interest in Michigan has grown to the point that he's hankering to visit Ann Arbor, per Rivals' Adam Gorney ($):

"I've seen plenty of Cal and Stanford," Rosen said. "The school I'd actually travel to see is Michigan. I've seen Cal like four times now because I've seen Bryce (Treggs) up there and went to Elite 11 stuff. I pretty much know what's going on there.



"I want to check out Michigan, maybe Texas, I don't know. Michigan is one I definitely want to go to."

UCLA has a decided edge for Rosen—he even considered an early commitment to the Bruins—but if he gets on campus, who knows what can happen from there.

Since it's tough to keep track, Michigan has offered four 2015 quarterbacks: Rosen, Sills, Barnett, and Stidham. Barnett is a firm Notre Dame pledge, Rosen seems likely to stay in California, the Sills situation is covered above, and Stidham has a great offer list that includes the in-state triumverate of Texas/TAMU/Baylor. The search for the right '15 QB could go on for quite a while at this rate, and I wouldn't be surprised if more offers go out in the near future.

[Hit THE JUMP for the latest on new 2015 offers, the chances of bringing Harris and Campbell back into the fold, and more.]