California is an area of familiarity for Brady Hoke, and there's no surprise that he's made that region part of his recruiting focus. Typically a hot bed for recruiting talent, this year is no different for California.

San Clemente High School is the home to 2012 offensive lineman Kyle Murphy (6'6", 255 lbs), who was extended a Michigan offer this past Friday. Murphy's head coach, Eric Patton, told me how it went down. "Coach Ferrigno from Michigan called Friday. He got a little info on Kyle and then told us they were offering." Michigan's offer was not the first, and certainly won't be the last for the talented lineman. "He's very heavily recruited. He's being recruited by Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame, Duke, and Washington. A number of Pac 12 schools," said Coach Patton.

It's still too early in the process for Murphy to have any leaders, and is wide open in the process. With so many schools coming after him, it's easy to see why. "He's a top notch recruit. He's a legitimate 6-foot-6, he's getting close to 6-foot-7 now. He's really athletic, good frame, great balance. He has and does a lot of things that big men don't usually have in high school," his coach said.

Outside of his athleticism, Murphy has a good reason to focus on academics. With an older brother starting on the Harvard offensive line, and maintaining a 3.9 GPA, he has a lot to live up to. "Kyle is probably a better football player than Kevin (his brother). He's interested in academics, that's one of the reasons why Michigan appeals to him. He wants to play at the highest level he can, and the Big Ten and Michigan are right up there," said Patton. "The Big Ten is very prestigious, and he wants to go to a place that respects football and a good education. His family is very academically oriented, and they've said they'll move out of state for Kyle, like they did for his brother."

With distance not a part of the equation, that's a big hurdle avoided by Michigan. The next step in the process will be to get Murphy in Ann Arbor, and on campus. "We haven't talked about visits yet to Michigan. I know he wants to visit, and he wants to take a serious look at a number of schools. My guess is that he'll take a look and then decide which five he'll want to visit. Outside of Michigan, I'd have to say that Stanford will be real high on his list," Coach Patton said.