BBrown: Vic Enwere Commits to Cal, Coaches Identify New Possible Target

Submitted by Brandon Brown on

Not surprising to anyone 2014 RB Vic Enwere reaffirmed his commitment to Cal tonight via Twitter and it appears the Michigan coaches already knew it was coming.

Well before Enwere announced anything publicly, earlier today Coach Singletary and Coach Nussmeier reached out to RB Marlon Mack who is currently committed to UCLA. The offer from the Bruins is by far his biggest on paper as most of his other offers are from less than powerhouse programs.

Position: Running Back
Ht/Wt: 6'0" / 190 lbs.
Location: Booker High School (2014) – Sarasota, FL
Offers: Ball State, Florida Atlatntic, Florida Intl, Indiana, Iowa State, Marshall, Middle Tenn St, Northern Illinois, Ohio, South Florida, UCLA
Ranking: ★★★ .8365 (247 Composite)
FILM

Coach Singletary and Coach Nuss reached out to Mack today and expressed how impressed they were by his film. He told me that the coaches asked him a lot of questions to see how interested he might be in Michigan and tried to make sure he understood that they had taken notice of his skills.

Mack was very open with me about how he basically committed to UCLA simply to see what other schools might then become interested. He told me that he likes UCLA, but he doesn't love them. That to me sounds like a kid fishing for a specific offer, although he tells me that there isn't necessarily one particular offer he covets.

This might come off as a little dishonest but he told me that he truly feels like he's been overlooked and thought committing would be a good way to get noticed. He did say he felt shocked that Michigan has now taken notice. The coaches didn't mention anything to him about an offer yet but obviously they would like to add a running back to the 2014 class and Mack appears to be a backup plan if things go south with Jeff Jones.

JimBobTressel

January 11th, 2014 at 8:33 PM ^

Brandon, I know its early but do you think Nuss will do things differently than Borges with recruiting and offering types of kids?

Inuyesta

January 12th, 2014 at 2:36 AM ^

Except David Sills, who holds one of the two 2015 QB offers we've sent out and has two teammates committed to M, told Brandon that he had "actually never talked to Coach Borges."  That's not "I'm no longer recruiting QBs because I know I am about to be fired," that's "I don't recruit QBs."

Brandon Brown

January 11th, 2014 at 8:36 PM ^

Nuss is probably still going to want big backs, see Alabama, but with a slightly different skill set to flourish in the zone blocking scheme. A 1-cut and go kind of guy, like an Arian Foster is ideal for a zone running team. Derrick Green and DeVeon Smith might be able to do that, but that's not exactly why they were brought to Michigan. I actually think Derrick Green could be scary good in a zone scheme. He definitely has a burst through the hole and good speed for a big back. His vision will be key.

ND Sux

January 12th, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^

Smith and Green both strike me as capable backs, with Smith having just a bit more burst.  If we have any line dominance at all, I could see some big time play action gains downfield to our big WRs.  Woo HOOO, is this excitement I feel?  Am I an over-optimistic moron?  Wouldn't be the first time, but lovin' it for now. 

Rabbit21

January 12th, 2014 at 12:57 AM ^

To be fair UCLA was after Joe Nixon HARD and just grabbed Nate Starks out of Colorado.  The usual pattern with UCLA recruiting is to not get too attached to their early commits as those guys rarely make it into the class.  It seems both the coaches and the players use the commit as a placeholder before finding a  better deal.  Watching UCLA close out a class has become absolutely fascinating the past couple of years with the number of late changes and flips.  

Not surprised Mack took the tactic he did and I would be very surprised if he ended up a Bruin, hopefully we get ourselves a sleeper Wolverine.

MotownsFinest

January 11th, 2014 at 8:51 PM ^

The biggest schools play in 7A football in Florida. The smallest schools play in 1B. So just him being in 5A means he plays in one of the three biggest conferences in Florida. Definitely a decent-good competition level. Notre Dame has a 4* running back committed from a 5A school in Florida. 

SWFLWolverine

January 13th, 2014 at 9:17 AM ^

Actually, Florida has 8 classifications, 8A being the largest. There is talent that comes out of Booker HS though (Baraka Atkins and Sam Shields are both NFL players). Booker plays in a conference with smaller central Florida schools (DeSoto,Hardee along with Manatee county schools Southeast and Bayshore). The school I teach at is a 7A (down from 8A last year in a division with Sarasota Riverview, East Lake, and Palm Harbor University HS). We went 3-6 this year and beat Booker in a pre-season game 23-0. 

robmorren2

January 11th, 2014 at 8:38 PM ^

With the somewhat new emphasis on RB recruiting for this class, can we safely assume that the coaches expect some attrition -- something along the lines of the Johnson injury being career threatening, or a guy buried in the depth chart transfering?

robmorren2

January 11th, 2014 at 9:09 PM ^

That was going to be my guess. He seems extremely buried on the depth chart. He also doesn't seem to have the skillset to get on the field any other way ... 3rd down back, pass catcher, special teams, etc

tmzenn

January 11th, 2014 at 8:40 PM ^

I thought I read somewhere on this blog that the staff had supposedly already moved on from Enwere and was hoping on Jeff Jones? Should be interesting to see how things shake up.

I dumped the Dope

January 11th, 2014 at 8:46 PM ^

that our new OC is off to the races in recruiting.  I was impressed with the overall staff already, this is a nice way to get the wheels turning right away.  It would appear that given all the activity surrounding RB recruits this is a central part of the offense going forward (I guess I already knew that but there wasn't exactly a flurry of activity...)

tmzenn

January 11th, 2014 at 8:57 PM ^

His highlight tape is impressive, but I can't help but notice that most of the competition is a lot smaller than him. I am not saying that this will affect him in college, however, it does make me wonder how his skills will translate. 

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

January 11th, 2014 at 8:57 PM ^

Seems the coaches had moved on from Vic with the Jones offer. He visits AA on Jan 31st right before NSD. Mack seems like a response to Jones not giving off a positive vibe.

BB, do you think Jones or Mack on NSD?

Brandon Brown

January 11th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^

Tonight was my first contact with Mack and Jones has only answered me initially to confirm that he did get offered by Michigan.

Mack's Michigan recruitment is in it's infancy and he doesn't even have an offer yet.

Jones has been committed to his home-state Gophers for a long time and Kill seems to have a great rapport with players. Florida seems to be the other player for Jones and they just got a RB commitment the other day. Tom VH seems to think Michigan is in really good shape with Jones so that is encouraging. Should be an interesting 3 weeks until signing day.

Njia

January 12th, 2014 at 9:32 AM ^

Folks who write those kinds of comments should understand that they can also be read as: "While your current efforts are showing some signs of improvement, you dug such a deep hole with your previous work that we need to see some evidence of sustainability in your performance."

In other words, it's a non-complimentary compliment.

jdon

January 12th, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^

OR... a small contingency of us thought he was as douchebag, but it turns out that his recent articles make his personality tolerable... but most people are too concerned with making amends rather than saying how they really feel so you get the psuedopositve affirmations you keep seeing...

just my opinion, what do I know?

love,

jdon

 

Leonhall

January 12th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^

Don't comment. Who the hell are you? This isn't Brandon's only job. For those who disrespect, what information do YOU have on recruits that Brandon doesn't? If you're so goddamn smart why aren't you doing his job? Remember when Mgoblog didn't exist and we didn't know shit about high schoolers? Maybe after assuming he was a d-bag initially, you should have taken the wait and see approach instead of being a douchebag yourself. Just saying...any information is better than it used to be. It bothers me that people criticize someone else when they have no idea what they are talking about.

jdon

January 12th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^

Personally, I don't crave that much information about high schoolers.  I read it cause it is there.  I follow it passively, again because it is there.  If it wasn't there, I could live without it... anyway, I digress...

As for your rant about 'what do I know' or 'if I was so goddamn smart... blah blah blah', I don't find the willingness to call and talk to high school kids, or follow them on twitter, as all that respectable of a profession:  you won't find me wasting my time on high schoolers opinions...

I don't think Brandon is a bad guy or anything, I just think he is a guy with a rolodex and a willingness to make some calls.  At first he was abrasive with some of the peopl critical of him, now he's not.   Good for him.   

love,

jdon

 

 

ps.  at no point have I ever claimed not to be a douchebag my self: I do not lack perspective my friends...

Leonhall

January 12th, 2014 at 2:45 PM ^

A personality have to do with reporting or giving updates? If you don't have time or want "waste your time talking to high schoolers," something most people on this site do as a side thing, why do you feel the need to call him a d-bag? Really none of us should be critical, we aren't paying him.

Blue X2

January 11th, 2014 at 9:00 PM ^

How refreshing. Was everyone else already aware that Borgess did not recr it because he did not like to travel? Isn't this unusual for an OC? I know !attison has been very involved in recruiting key talent.

Good riddance Al. Sorry it did not work out, but this seems to be a real upgrade for us.

Go blue

tmzenn

January 11th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^

Honestly, I just want a successful running game that complements our passing attack. One thing I really liked about what Nuss said in his press conference, was that he wants to be agressive and make defenses have to adjust to the offense.

WolvinLA2

January 11th, 2014 at 11:53 PM ^

I don't think that's what he meant.  I think he wants our running game to be all like, "Hey great work on the play action today, Passing Game."  

"No prob, Running Game, thanks for setting it up for me!"

tmzenn

January 11th, 2014 at 9:05 PM ^

He seemed to be out running most of his competition. Of course, him outrunning everyone could have something to do with the quality of defensive players his team plays against.