An Update on New 2013 Offeree Logan Tuley-Tillman
As reported here earlier today, Michigan offered 2013 Peoria (IL) Manual OL Logan Tuley-Tillman today. He now holds offers from Michigan, Mizzou, Illinois, and Indiana, and the last time I talked to him he said that a Michigan offer would put the Wolverines at the top of his list. What did he have to say today? We talked over the phone this evening, and here's a full transcript:
ACE: First of all, congratulations on the offer. How did you find out about it?
LOGAN: Coach Funk, he actually came up to my school. I bumped into him and shook hands with him, said hi, and then he left, and he told me to call him a little bit later, after he left. So I waited for five minutes—I didn't really understand why he wanted me to call him, but I did it anyway—and he just explained to me that they want me to be a Wolverine pretty bad, that I'm what they want in a Michigan tackle. They offered me a full scholarship and let me know that they're going to start recruiting me more aggressively now, so I said 'yes!'
ACE: Obviously this is a really big offer. What was the reaction from you and your family? How did it feel to get the offer?
LOGAN: The offer for me, it was just, like, reviving, because it showed me that everything that I've been hustling for so hard, this is how all the hard work that I've been putting in has really come to light. It's just starting to come to fruition, everything that I've wanted to do, you know, just being at that stage. My reaction, right afterwards, I just called my mom. I had to let her know and she was so excited. I texted my aunt, and it actually brought tears to my eyes, she was just so excited and ecstatic and proud of me that I came to this milestone. She was just real happy and it was a special moment for all of us as a family.
ACE: I know when we talked a couple weeks ago you said that an offer from Michigan would vault them to the top of your list. Is that the case? Who are your favorites right now?
LOGAN: Yeah, they're really up there. Michigan is most definitely number one. They've put the most time in—they're not even done with their 2012 class all the way and it shows how much they really want me to be a Wolverine. So they'd have to be at number one, then after would probably have to be Mizzou, Oregon, Boise State, Nebraska, Illinois, and Arkansas.
ACE: Do you have any idea in terms of a timeline for your recruitment? Does this potentially speed things up?
LOGAN: It really does speed things up [for] when I'm going to make a decision. I'm going to sit down with my mom and see what's good for her—she's been my number one fan since day one, so she's going to weigh heavily into the decision I make. I'm going to make [a decision] before fall, before the football season starts next year.
December 14th, 2011 at 6:51 PM ^
From the looks of it I wouldn't be surprised with an early commitment. Also, I'm certainly no expert but he seemed to show off some good footwork on tape. Not only does he show good drive blocking ability (as most OL prospects in high school do), but he did a good job of rotating his body to a certain side of a DL quickly and still being able to drive full force into that DL, on pass pro and certain runs.
December 14th, 2011 at 6:53 PM ^
Good interview Ace.
Do you know if his mother has seen Michigan yet?
December 14th, 2011 at 6:59 PM ^
Not sure if she's been up with him or not, though he was up here back-to-back weeks for Nebraska and OSU. I didn't want to pepper him with too many questions since it's been quite a day for him and I'm surely not the only one trying to grab an interview. That said, it sounds like his mom would be more than fine with him coming to Michigan, so I don't think that would be an obstacle.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:14 PM ^
I didn't think it would be an obstacle. It seems like most of these kids want their parents' approval or at least for them to see the schol before they decide to commit. That's why I was asking. I just wanted to get a better (speculative) idea of his timeline. Thanks for the info.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^
Ace, did your picture change shirts today?
+1 for breaking the fabric of timespace
December 14th, 2011 at 11:55 PM ^
That has to be worth more than +1
December 14th, 2011 at 6:59 PM ^
I love this kid. Everything about him.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:10 PM ^
Based on some of the schools this kid is listing as his top choices (Oregon in particular), is he more of a spread/zone blocking OL? If so, I wonder if this signals a willingness or desire on the part of the coaching staff to continue some of the fundamentals of the spread as a part of the offense. Or maybe I'm wrong and he is just as well-suited for MANBALL.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:24 PM ^
He's in regular contact with Coach Funk, and I'm sure he knows exactly what Michigan is looking for in a tackle. A big mauler like Logan seems like a fine fit for a MANBALL offense to me, and it sounds like the coaches think the same.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:47 PM ^
Yeah, this dude is 6'7" 280 as a HS junior, he sounds pretty MANBALLish to me.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:59 PM ^
I don't think size really has as much to do with it as agility and footwork. Taylor Lewan is actually bigger than this dude and was an awesome spread offense lineman.
Either way, it's interesting to me that us and Oregon are going after the same guy as we, at least ostensibly, play two completely different stylz.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:38 PM ^
I wasn't suggesting that being big precludes you from being a good spread OT, but that it suggests he would be capable of being a good MANBALL OT. There are a lot more big linemen who can succeed in the spread than there are small linemen who can succeed as MANBALL OLs.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:51 AM ^
December 14th, 2011 at 7:11 PM ^
Sounds like we should be looking forward to his commitment in the next few months :)
Love the stockpiling of OL talent!!
December 14th, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^
Aha! All but wrapping up the class of 2012 begins to pay dividends! Lets hope the effect steamrolls, and by 2015, we're wrapping up the class of 2021!
December 14th, 2011 at 7:55 PM ^
This is not even a joke, but I know who we need to be recruiting in the class of 2016. We have family friends who have an 8th grade son who lives in our town (Valencia, CA). This kid just wrapped up his 8th grade football season, and is 6'3" 265, no joke. He's being recruited by all the catholic schools in LA, and is leaning toward going to Crespi in Encino (Jordan Simmons and Devin Lucien).
His parents are big, so it's no surprise he's already this big, and will likely get bigger. As an 8th grader he played at the same size that Jack Miller did as a senior in high school. Way far off, I know, but he'll be a D1 prospect for sure.
December 14th, 2011 at 9:15 PM ^
That is contingent on him being a good athlete. Size can only get you so far, then technique, athleticism, and talent take over.
He could end up being a 6'8" 320 senior who only has size going for him. Unlikely, but still possible.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:36 PM ^
No doubt about that, but he's already a good athlete, not just a big kid, and that probably won't change too much as he gets bigger. There's a reason every catholic school within driving distance wants to pay for his high school. As for technique, well, he's like 14 so that probably needs some work, but like duh.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^
any chance he would be an EE?
Go Blue!
December 14th, 2011 at 8:36 PM ^
now that's the reaction i expect a kid would have when he gets a michigan offer.
Ace: where else has he visited?
December 14th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^
Just wondering, when do recruits usually start getting rated/ranked/reviewed??
Looking at the Scout site, and he has no rankings there, but i saw a few OL did have 4 or 5 stars. Have people not seen him yet?? Do only a chosen few get ranked this early?? Just looking for some knowledge on the process, since I don't know
I can see by his offers and tape that I'll be happy to have him, just trying to find out when I'll know HOW happy I should be
December 14th, 2011 at 11:11 PM ^
O-lineman are typically the last to get ranked because they are the hardest to evaluate. A good RB is easy to see plus they can't project to potentially 5 other positions like lineman do.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:13 PM ^
I love the hit at the 32 second mark.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:21 AM ^
Schools that haven't even offered him are in his top 7 and Indiana, who has, can't even crack the list. Given the list of schools and where he's from, I'm thinking Nebraska would be our biggest competition if they offer. Maybe Arkansas, if he's swayed by the SEC cachet, and Illinois, if he wants to stay as close to home as possible, but I'm liking our chances.
December 15th, 2011 at 2:06 AM ^
earning that recruiting ninja title!
December 15th, 2011 at 3:59 AM ^
He looks alright. He seems to catch a lot of defenders instead of delivering a blow. He also has a tendency to take a false step when he first comes out of his stance. Then there are the normal criticisms like pad level, blah, blah, blah.
He looks big, quick, and strong though. The things mentioned before can all be coached and fixed. Hopefully he goes blue soon!
December 15th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
Agreed. He's not the most refined player we've recruited in the last few years, but he's big and nasty. I guess the coaches figure they can do a lot with big and nasty.
December 15th, 2011 at 7:08 AM ^
He seems to be standing his defenders up, getting them leaning back....which must be difficult to do for such a tall kid. So, either he has good technique or he's lining up against really tall DEs all the time. Regardless, he seems active and can get down field really well. I think he'll fit the MANBALL scheme just fine...
December 15th, 2011 at 7:55 AM ^
December 15th, 2011 at 9:08 AM ^
It seems like a lot of the OL that we have recruited for the 2012 class seem to have Oregon in their top 5 or 10 schools. Granted, Oregon is a top ten program in the country right now. However, from discussion during the Richrod era, its seems as though spread offenses prefer smaller, quicker OL, whereas Brady Hoke talks about having/getting big, strong OL.
Is this something where they tailor their OL bodies by the training programs once they arrive at the respective university? Or is this possibly a result of Richrod having already developed a relationship with some of these recruits, and Hoke taking advantage of that prior relationship/interest in Michigan? Or is it just that our OL recruits are so awesome that they are big, strong, AND quick, so they would fit well in any system?
December 15th, 2011 at 10:24 AM ^
It brought tears to mine eyes thinkin about the tears in his eyes. We too often forget how incredible it is to some of these kids that they are offered a full scholarship to an institution that will let them do what they love.
Very...very cool to hear his reaction. Seems like a really smart guy, and I hope he dons the winged helmet in 2 (1.5?) years.
December 15th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
I wish I could be a consultant for the music kids pick for recruiting videos. Seriously “down with the sickness” is just awesomely bad.
December 15th, 2011 at 10:44 AM ^
That's because you're not down with the sickness.
December 15th, 2011 at 10:54 AM ^
It might be because I love RAWK music, but Down with the Sickness sure beats all the rap on the highlight videos nowadays, IF ONLY because it's different. Furthermore, the video is edited nicely with the music. You know when the song gets going, he has that nice hit. I think it's actually a great song for an OL.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
In all honesty I would be terrible at picking the music for those things. I would probably go with some wimpy artsy folk song that would make no sense for a violent OL prospect , because my attitude would be just because your a football player doesnt mean your music tastes have to be that of Jock Jams 2.0. But seriuosly Disturbed is just awful.
December 15th, 2011 at 10:48 AM ^
I am from the Peoria Area and Manual for the most part does not play the best competition. they're non-conference schedule is extremely weak and they started off 4-0, I think. But once they hit conference, they droppped quickly and didnt even make the play-offs. Im jsut saying he doesnt play the competition level of most athletes that are recruited by Michigan. Now somone above did make the "big and nasty" reference and he does seem to have the tools. Lets hope he makes it.
I was jsut shocked Michigan offered him. Michigan basketball offered that Bleifildt kid from Peoria Notre Dame and I was shocked. I will be surprised if Bleifildt ever sees the floor (sorry for SP?) I just dont know about these picks. Lets hope im wrong
December 15th, 2011 at 10:49 AM ^
He sounds like a sweet kid. Maybe it's the mom in me, but that counts a lot.
I mean, I want them mean as hell on the field, but it's really gratifying to root for Michigan players who seem like thoughtful, kind people with their heads on straight.
December 15th, 2011 at 10:53 AM ^
Just as long as he can "flip the switch" once his feet hit the field...
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