Michigan Friday: BBQ @ the Big House 2023

The BBQ at the Big House is an annual tradition that started back in the Rich Rod days.  It's a time for future recruits and commits to come together and have a relaxed time with family, future teammates, and coaches.   This year we are adding another category to the attendees, transfers;  Nigel Glover, a LB from Northwestern will also be in attendance. 

2024 commits expected to attend:

• Jadyn Davis
• Blake Frazier 
• Channing Goodwin
• Jake Guarnera 
• Jacob Oden
• Brady Prieskorn
• Ben Roebuck
• Jaden Smith 

2024 Recruits:

• Zaquan Patterson, 4-star S from Florida (this is his 2nd visit to A2)

2025 Recruits:

• TE DaSaahn Brame 4☆
• OT Rowan Byrne
• Ath Messiah Delhomme 4☆
• CB Jahari DeLaotch 
• Ath Elijah Dotson 
• WR Elisha Durham 
• CB Chris Ewald (commit) 4☆
• OT Avery Gach 4☆
• DL Bobby Kanka
• WR Kaliq Lockkett 4☆
• OT Carter Lowe 4☆
• DL Nathan Marshall 4☆
• QB Ryan Montgomery 4☆
• WR Quinn Morris 
• DE Xavier Newsom 4☆
• WR Quincy Porter 4☆
• S Justin Rowe 
• OT David Sanders 5☆
• QB Akili Smith Jr. (Anyone feel old on this one?) 4☆
• QB Bryce Underwood 5☆
• DL Jaylen Williams 4☆
• S Marcus Wimberly 

HT: Touch the Banner

It will be interesting as Michigan will be entertaining 3 highly ranked QB's including local boy 5-star Bryce Underwood, Akili Smith Jr., and Ryan Montgomery.   With a potential transfer that could be on the practice field on Tuesday to a ton of highly ranked prospects in the 2025 class, this is a huge weekend for Michigan Football.  

Michigan Tuesday: Northwestern Trade - Player to Be Named Later?

NBC is running a TV promo for Big Ten Saturday Night Football.  Michigan of course gets a ton of highlight snips during the commercial.  One clip shows AJ Henning celebrating in the end zone.  AJ transferred to Northwestern prior to the program being lit on fire with a hazing scandal.  

When a head coach is fired, it allows players to jump into the transfer portal (even though it's closed) and look for new opportunities.  Former 4-star 2023 LB from Ohio, Nigel Glover has decided to look around even though he hasn't officially played a down of college football.  Nigel has also decided to attend the annual Big House BBQ this weekend to see if he fits into what is happening in Ann Arbor.  Nigel played at Rod Moore's high school so that might make him a little more comfortable to make a change so close to camp starting. 

Glover is 6'3 210 and could play OLB or Safety and you know Michigan loves tall DB's and the flexibility a guy that can multiple positions can bring.   Glover did not have a Michigan offer prior to committing to Northwestern and plans to visit Kentucky this week before his trip to Ann Arbor. 

Glover's original offers included Iowa, Washington, IU, Pitt, UK, Rutgers, Duke, BC and more.   Michigan took 3 LB's (Jason Hewlett, Semaj Bridgeman, and Hayden Moore) in the 23 class. 

• The Big Ten Media picks Michigan to win the Big Ten

• Chaundee Brown will be playing next year in a professional league in France

• Jourdan Lewis is starting on the PUP for the Cowboys, he hurt his foot last season during a game. 

Michigan Tuesday: The 2023 Class Continues to Grow

When Michigan has a top 20 recruiting class, it could be considered a bit of an off year on the recruiting trail.  The 2024 class is just the opposite as the Wolverines currently has the #3 class in the nation.  

What has surprised me about the 2023 class, is that it continues to grow.  As you know, after the first Wednesday in February it's usually a wrap on that year's class.  Michigan recently got a ND de-commitment in Brandyn Hillman a 4-star athlete who projects as a defensive back prospect.  It's a position of need and a really nice late pick-up.   So that's a wrap on the class, right?

Nope, Michigan got a PWO for 2023 in QB Jack Grusser.  Michigan didn't take a QB in the class and getting at least one a year is important.   Your first thought might be, getting a PWO QB is a good strategy, but why are you highlighting it?

Because Jack is a 3-star QB and decommitted from Harvard to play at Michigan as a PWO.  Jack is 6'1 and 185 pounds from Franklin Lakes, NJ. He also had a Big Ten offer from Rutgers and offers from Army, UConn, UMass, Dartmouth, Penn, ODU, Western Michigan, etc.  This is scholarship worthy QB, who is joining Michigan on his own dime.  That is pretty cool. 

Does Jack stick as a QB?  Who knows, but the opportunity to play for Harbaugh in Ann Arbor was worth more to him than attending Harvard or getting 100% of his school paid for at another program.  

• NBC is suggesting they are working on something with Michigan Football.  My best guess is a behind the scenes "Hard Knocks" type of show. 

• 110 players jumped into the portal this weekend, the latest is MSU QB Hampton Fay.

• A bit of an under the radar commit DL Manuel Beigel has been offered by Penn State. 

Michigan Monday: Continues to Add to the 2023 Class!

Today is March 20th and well past the February final signing day for the 2023 class.  Everyone pretty much assumed the 2023 class was done and the coaches had moved on to recruiting 2024 and 2025 classes. 

Until Sunday, when 2023 4-star Safety/Athlete Brandyn Hillman committed and signed with Michigan.  How is this possible? Brandyn signed with Notre Dame and asked to be let out of his commitment and ND granted it last week.  Michigan, OSU, and USC were in hot pursuit of this talented DB and the Wolverines closed on him this weekend. 

Brandyn is listed as an athlete on 24/7 and is 6'1 and 191 pounds and before he committed to ND had roughly 20 offers.  He is from Virgina and ranked 130th on 24/7 and 214 on the composite. 

Welcome to Ann Arbor! 

• A shorthanded Michigan Basketball team lost in Nashville by 1 point on Saturday as the world was watching the NCAA. 

• LSU blew out the Michigan Women's Basketball Team last night in the NCAA, congratulations on a successful season! 

• Congratulations to Michigan Wrestler Mason Parris who won the Heavyweight Championship! Defensive lineman?

• Michigan Hockey won the Big Ten Tournament and are back-to-back Champions! 

• Isaiah Barnes is heading to the portal and we wish him good luck on his next program! 

• Early reports are that Michigan continued to impress 5-star QB Jadyn Davis this weekend and that the connection with new QB Kirk Campbell went well.   This photo seems positive! 

From left to right: Brady Prieskorn: 59th overall player, #3 TE, Jordan Marshall: 83rd overall player, #7 RB, Jadyn Davis: 24th overall player, #4 QB, Blaze Frazier: 213th overall player, #13 OT

Michigan Friday: Legacy 2024 DB Comes Home

Before we get into football related information, Michigan Basketball had its best win of the season in beating Northwestern on the road 68-51.  Kobe "Buckets" had the best game of his career in a near triple double with 15 points, 12 boards, and 8 assists.  Let's hope they can build off this win and go on a winning streak.

2024 Instate 4-star DB Jacob Oden made his commitment to Michigan offical on Thursday.  He is the best DB in the state and ranked as either an athlete or Safety on most sites.  I believe Michigan wants his 6'1 and 188-pound frame in the defensive backfield, anywhere from CB, Nickel, Safety.  As I mentioned this week, Jacob is the son of Rod Oden a former Michigan walk-on FB.  Welcome!

How did Michigan finish in the 2023 Recruiting Class?

24/7: 19

Rivals: 18

ON3: 19

• Jimmy hires a new analyst for his staff to replace Kirk Campbell who got promoted to QB Coach.  The new offensive analyst is Youngstown State's QB/WR coach Josh Sinagoga. Welcome Josh! 

• Saban is looking at ND's OC Tommy Rees for his open OC role left by BOB

• Jake Moody was named the Shrine Game MVP! We are going to miss him next season.

• NBC's Big Ten Saturday Night game will have a booth of Todd Blackledge, Noah Eagle and Kathryn Tappen

• Spring Game is April's Fools Day 5/1

Michigan Thursday: Help on the Defensive Line

In the 2023 class, Michigan had a chance at one 5-star recruit.  Yesterday afternoon Nyck Harbor decided to pick South Carolina and play Beamer Ball.  So that really left 2 candidates on the defensive line in Cam Brandt and Jamel Howard.  Cam went Blue and Howard went back to Wisconsin. 

Michigan went 1-3 on the day.  Though the good news did continue as they secured a PWO in legacy player John Jokisch who is a 6'4 235 defensive lineman.  Who happens to be the son for former Michigan WR Paul Jokisch.  John can play and had an offer to Army.  Welcome! 

Lets take a deeper look at Cam:

Cam was originally committed to Stanford before David Shaw decided to step down. His offer list included the likes of USC, UCLA, CAL, Texas, Washington, etc.  Cam is a 4 point student and was clearly looking for a strong academics University.  He found one in A2.

Brandt's rankings are a bit all over the board.  He is a 4-star to 24/7 and ESPN but a 3-star to On3 and Rivals.  He averaged around the 50th defensive lineman in the country. 

Cam is a bit of a tweener between DE and DT, most recruiting insiders believe he is being recruited as an edge rusher at Michigan.  He might follow a Chris Wormley path as Cam isn't as big as Worm but if he puts on some serious weight on his 6'4 260 frame he could play inside.  We will have to see how he develops and what his natural position is. 

As I was reading some reviews of the talented lineman, this review caught my eye:  Ellinghouse describes Brandt as "the hardest working kid you can imagine. He's driven, he's self-motivated, 6-4/260, can run like the wind and plays with a motor that's relentless. … Just a complete, well-rounded D-lineman who's just as good as he is inside as he is outside, against the run as he is against the pass. He's a real football player."

Yes, Please! 

Welcome to the team! 

• The scariest thing to a fan base is when its 100% clear that their coach is out of touch with their players, program, and modern football.  Here is the latest example: Kirk Ferentz: “As I stand here today, I anticipate no changes in our staff moving forward”.

Breaking News: The GOAT Calls It a Day

Tom Brady has retired from the NFL and the second time is the final time.  As we know, as year ago to the day, he retired the first time and quickly came back in true Groundhog Day fashion. 

He will be known as the greatest Michigan Wolverine Football player ever.  Rest easy, GOAT you left your legacy.  You're a true Michigan Man. 

Moving on to other news:

Per some reports Jimmy was the Bronco's #1 option and he turned them down.  If Jimmy really wanted back to the NFL, he had his chance and had to say no twice.  Then the Broncos tried to talk DeMeco Ryans out of going to the Texans.  He also declined and then Denver had to give up valuable draft picks to sign Sean Payton.  A team like the Broncos needs those picks as they try to get better. 

Jimmy has not won a National Championship at Michigan but this should cement in most people's mind that he is one of the best coaches in college football.  You don't see the NFL coming after Kirby Smart for example. 

Moving on to NSD Part 2:

• Harbor announces at 1:00.  I wouldn't hold your breathe on this one. Michigan has a punchers chance but expect some big NIL $$ to come in from other programs. Went to South Carolina

• Hopefully, we get good news from Stanford commit DL Cam Brandt today at some point. 👍

• Another prospect is Chicago nose tackle Jamel Howard, who could go back to Wisconsin or follow some NIL $$ to another program.  Michigan seems to be on the outside looking in on this one.

As I mentioned yesterday, the staffs focus is on the 2024 class and beyond. 

• I did not realize yesterday, that 4 star 2024 DB Jacob Oden is a legacy recruit as his dad Rod Oden was a walk-on full back in Ann Arbor and currently the head coach of Harper Woods.  Jacob is committing on Thursday. 

Michigan Tuesday: NSD Part 2 Eve

Tomorrow is the final National Signing day of the 2023 class.  It used to be the only signing day and a calendar circling event.  Now, its an after thought for most programs as they try to secure most of their  recruits in December.  Michigan is also in the same boat and really only have 2 recruits that seem to be persuing.

-5-Star Athlete Nyckoles Harbor has Michigan as a finalist but most insiders believe he has South Carolina or Oregon as his 1 and 2.  Harbor wants to run track and take a shot at the 2024 Olympics and The Ducks have a legendary track team funded by Nike.  Some believe Michigan still has a shot as the family is pushing for Ann Arbor.  If this becomes an NIL pissing match, it won't be a good thing for the Wolverines chances.

-4/3 star DL Cam Brandt is a Stanford commit and is expected to flip to Ann Arbor.  Let's hope that happens! 

Outside of a surprise, Michigan has those two guys left in the 2023 class and now focusing on 2024.

• In-state 2024 S 4-star Jacob Oden is expected to make his decision on Thursday, between Michigan, MSU, Iowa, PSU, and Tennessee.

• I guess Harbaugh has to say, "I will not be the head coach of the Denver Broncos" to stop these rumors.  If your remember, Saban as Dolphins head coach, "I will not be the head coach of Alabama".

• Senior Bowl week is here and lets hope the Wolverines in attendance perform nicely during the week. Big Week for Ronnie Bell!

Michigan Thursday: Welcomes A New Defensive Lineman

Ted Hammond a 2024 defensive lineman from St. Xavier in Cincinnati committed to the Wolverines last night.  Michigan continues its focus on the State of Ohio and grabs a solid player from St. X due to the recruiting effort of Mike Elston.

Ted is 6'5 258 pounds and a 4-star to Rivals and a 3-Star to 24/7.  His offer list includes the likes of Oklahoma, Washington, BC, Pitt, Iowa, Duke, Minnesota, Northwestern, Duke, UC, and others. 

It's expected that Ted will fill a Kris Jenkins type of role on Michigan's defense.  Welcome! 

• There is at least 1 former Wolverine on each of the Final 4 teams in the NFL Playoffs. With 8 total former Wolverines between the 4 teams.

• Jimmy did visit 2023 5-Star Nyck Harbor on Wednesday, who will be signing on NSD.  This is a player Michigan needs but everyone wants. 

• Hutch is a finalist for the Rookie Defensive Player of the Year

Michigan Tuesday: Hey Coach, Can You Coach QB's?

Jimmy has been hitting the phones looking for a new QB coach.  The thinking is that Moore will get the full OC gig and Jimmy is looking for a QB Coach or Passing Coordinator to replace Matt "Watergate" Weiss.  

1. Brian Greise - Former Michigan National Championship winning QB, NFL QB, Monday Night Football analyst, and currently 49'ers QB Coach (See Brock Purdy).   Would be a great hire for another Michigan Man to come home, don't know if he would be interested as his team is making a run for the Super Bowl currently.  Though, when you get the call to go home?  Brian was also very critical of Michigan Football in 2020 and prior and thought Jimmy should be removed.  I assume that situation is water under the bridge. 
2. Tee Martin - Former National Champion QB at Tennessee, played 5 years of professional football, had a number of college coaching jobs including USC, and at Tennessee.  Currently, the WR coach at the Ravens for John.  Known as a top tier recruiter. 
3. Tavita Prichard - Former Stanford QB and spent his entire coaching career at Stanford.  He is currently the OC/QB Coach.  Played for Harbaugh at Stanford of course. 
4. As I mentioned yesterday, Kirk Campbell, who is on staff, is also a candidate. 

It's hard not to want Greise to come home but Tee Martin is known as a strong recruiter and that position needs a strong recruiter.  I'm not that familiar with Prichard or Campbell, but when it comes to QB coaching, in Jimmy I trust.  I do like the idea of Greise going into a QB's house wearing his NC ring. 

• Okie as expected is following his HS head coach to play at Charlotte.  I appreciate the loyalty with Biff, but wonder if that is the right decision for his career.  He will get many more snaps with Biff but won't be on national TV every week. 

• Looks like Saban is in the market for a new OC as BOB goes back to the Patriots

• 2023 DL and Stanford commit Cam Brandt will make his decision this weekend and is coming off an official visit to Ann Arbor last weekend. 

• The best coach on the Cowboys Dan Quinn is getting a second interview with the Cardinals today and still a top prospect for the Broncos and Colts.  I'm betting he has a new head coaching gig my Friday.  Jerry Jones who has always wanted Sean Payton as a head coach, seems like he is going to let this opportunity pass him by. 

Michigan Monday: 2 Days of Quiet?

After the Matt Weiss fireworks on Friday, it seemed like a normal quiet weekend for the Michigan Football Program.  They hosted a junior day and did some other recruiting.  Let's get to a few bullet points:

• Jimmy has an in home with 2023 5-star athlete Nyck Harbor on Tuesday.  Rumors are that Michigan no longer leads in his recruitment and this will be an important visit/meeting.  As you know, Michigan is void of any 5 stars in the 2023 class and will need players like Harbor to continue to compete at the next level of college football. 

• Michigan Basketball struggled to beat the Golden Gophers at home on Sunday, but did get the W. 

• Michigan Football will be making some changes to the tunnel and will be removing a few seats from that area. I believe the purpose is to make it wider, not separate it into 2 tunnels.

• Chad Henne made a quick appearance in the Chiefs playoff game this weekend and even threw a TD pass. 

• Ed Reed could not come to terms with Bethune Cookman to become their next football coach. 

• Not a ton of rumors about who will replace Matt Weiss.  If you made me guess, I would say Sherrone Morre gets the full OC job and Michigan promotes former ODU OC Kirk Campbell who is currently on staff to a QB coach or Pass Coordinator role.

• Brock Purdy and Jalen Hurts played against each other in college when Hurts was at Oklahoma.  The Sooners won 42-41.

• The realization just hit me that there are only 3 football games left this season.  😞

Michigan Friday: News and Notes

Michigan Football news has been non-stop since the final whistle blew in Glendale, AZ on New Year's Eve.  We don't need to recap everything again, as you know too well by this point.  Hopefully, the Wolverines can take a break from the news cycle for a few weeks and focus on recruiting and maybe trying to grab a cornerback out of the portal.   

• Mike Hart has been hitting Texas this week and handing out offers to running backs.   That seems like a good state to find a RB or 2.

• The Michigan staff seems to be focused on recruiting the 2024 and 2025 class right now.   

• Michigan Basketball lost on the road to Maryland.  

• Miami QB Garcia is transferring to Missouri 

• Speaking of Miami, Coach Prime just flipped a 5-star CB from the Canes 

• Harbaugh and Jaydn Davis spoke on the phone this week.

• Former Wolverine Thomas Gordon has been diagnosed with ALS. He has just taken a job at Purdue as their director of S&C, please keep Thomas and his family in your thoughts and prayers. 

• 2023 DT from Chicago Jamel Howard is taking a visit to LSU this weekend.  He is a Michigan's recruit and was hoping for a signature in a couple of weeks.

• Greg Roman used to work for Jim Harbaugh (as an OC) and was just let go yesterday by John Harbaugh. 

Michigan Friday: Plays Catch-up

With signing day this week and of course the holiday coming up this weekend, a few things got missed while we were keeping an eye on the 2023 class.  

Can this be true? Jyaire Hill is already enrolled on campus and practicing with the team.  Time sure does fly by, it seems like 48 hours ago, he was just announcing his decision.  

• Cam McGrone was signed off the Patriots practice squad by Indy

• Chris Hinton on promoted off the Chargers practice squad to the NFL roster (good week for the Hinton brothers)

• Andrew Stueber practiced for the first time this week for the Patriots

• Michigan Basketball lost a close one to UNC.  I love Juwan's passion but he needs to pull it back sometimes. 

• There was a throwaway line in a tweet about Wisconsin OLB coach Bobby April III becoming Stanford's DC, "that Bobby was a finalist for Michigan's DC job a year ago".  That seems like new information to me and his name was never discussed in the media as far as I know. 

• Corum is 50/50 on coming back to Michigan and his rehab on his knee is expected to take 2 months.  Damn, I wish we had him for the CFP! 

• I'm very proud of the Michigan offensive line, but I had never heard of the Joe Moore Award until last season and literally have heard that mentioned 200x since.  I think there should be a Joe Moore award drinking game for next week's game against TCU. 

• Air Force put 30 on Baylor last night, who was in the Big 12 Championship game just a year ago.  

Michigan Thursday: Early Signing Day Post Game

Wednesday was a fun day and a great day for the Wolverines future.  No, this wasn't a top 5 class, hell it wasn't even a top 15 class, but when you combine it with the work the coaches did in the portal.  This class is highly ranked and sets up Michigan for years to come. 

In this post, we will look at where Michigan ranked in the top services, early enrollees who can start practicing with the team right away and what if you add the transfers to the mix?

Current ranking for this class:

24/7: #16
Rivals: #17
On/3: #18

Let us not forget the recruiting class is not complete and there is a February date still available and a couple of big fish still out there for Michigan.  Having zero 5-Star recruits clearly hurt Michigan's ranking in this class. 

How did our recruiting competitors do (24/7)

#5 OSU
#9 ND
#14 PSU
#23 MSU
#32 Nebraska
#34 Maryland
#39 Iowa
#41 Minnesota
#44 Northwestern
#50 Illinois

The biggest risk in this class is zero QB's taken.  Michigan missed out on two highly ranked local QB's and are all in on Jaydn Davis in the next class.  If that approach backfires Michigan will be living in the portal for the QB of the future.  Let's not forget, Michigan took 2 development QB's in the last class. 

Who is enrolling early? 

RB: Cole Cabana and Ben Hall 

WR: Semaj Morgan and Fred Moore 

TE: Zach Marshall 

OL: Amir Herring 

Edge: Aymeric Koumba 

CB: Jyaire Hill and Cam Calhoun 

How do you rank transfers by stars?

24/7 gives a star rating for transfers if they were true recruits right now.  For example, a 3-star out of high school could now be a 4-star transfer.  

Michigan has the #1 Ranked Transfer Class via 24/7. 

• AJ Barner 4-star
• Jack Tuttle 3-star 
• Drake Nugent 3-star
• Josaiah Stewart 4-star 
• Myles Hinton 4-star
• Ernie Hausmann 4-star 
• LaDarius Henderson 4-star 

If you combine Michgian's recruits and transfers that is a total of fourteen 4-star prospects.  Yes, please! There is an inherit risk when you take a recruit, you really don't know how their skill set will develop and translate to Big Ten Football.  When you take quality transfers, that risk is much lower. 

Michigan's Early Signing Day Extravaganza

5:30: 

That should wrap the day up.  Michigan got all its commitments to sign and picked up two 4-star players on both sides of the ball in English early in the day and Hill late.  Today was a good day for the Wolverines future! 

4:30:

Illinois 4-star CB Jyaire Hill has committed to Michigan!!! Go Blue

The final 5 was clearly a head fake to keep some drama in the decision.  Clink scores another top CB! 

Hill is 6'1 180 pounds with a ton of offers from OU, Oregon, PSU, TCU, UCLA, ND, Mizzu, Florida, FSU and many more.  Hill is a polished CB and could compete for playing time as a true freshman. 

2:45 Recap: Michigan's class is fully signed with one surprise commitment from English and one TBD with Hill below.  Michigan didn't lose any commitments and everyone signed that was expected to.  

Noon:

Illinois 4-star CB Jyaire Hill has moved his announcement time from 4:00 to 2:00 EST. Michigan currently is not in his top 5 list. 👀- Update #2: The announcement has been moved again to 4:00 EST. 

10:30 Breaking News!!

Michigan Melo!  Karmelo English a 4-star WR from Alabama, has committed to the Wolverines. He is 5'11 and 175 pounds and a former Auburn commit.  Offers from the likes of Alabama, Georgia, UK, Florida, FSU, Miami and Others!  Another WR ✅

----

Good morning, Big House Blog inmates!  We are off to another signing day. Things are happening quickly!!

7:00 AM

• #1 LOI is in, France, DL Aymeric Koumba! 
• Georgia's RB Ben Hall, is taken off the 👀 list and signs 
• "West Bloomfield born and raised on the playground is where he spent most of his days" -WR Semaj Morgan is in! 
• From Ohio, Athlete Breeon Ishmail is in
• Get your morning kick started with Ann Arbor's own Adam Samaha is in
• You don't need a link for this news:  DC, OL Evan Link is signed 
• A bridge to another Semaj! PA, LB Semaj Bridgeman is in! 
• "At the Copa, (Co) Copacabana, the hottest spot north of Havana" Local Boy from Dexter, RB Cole Cabana is in! 
• Future Lawyer? Only if he passes the Bahr Exam! Defensive Lineman from IL, Brooks Bahr is in! 
• Ohio Athlete Jason Hewlett is in!
• C2 to A2 - Another Ohio athlete, DB Cam Calhoun is in!
• This Deakon performs on Saturday! Ilinois to Ann Arbor, as TE Deakon Tonielli is in! 
• Flipping Wisconsin new on the A2 Network - DL Trey Pierce is in! 
• Let it Enow, let it Enow, let it Enow! Off the 👀 list, Texas DL Enow Etta is in!  (Many schools were trying to flip him at the last minute and he stayed Blue! )
• Ring that 🔔 for the 2nd time! KC Athlete Kendrick Bell is in! 
• DJ spinning Big 10 WR's - Ohio DB DJ Waller is in! 
• Michigan got a Blue Herring as West Bloomfield OL Amir Herring is in! 
• He is going to get Moore catches and Moore YAC - MO WR Fred Moore is in! 
• How many Moore? At least 1: CO LB Hayden Moore is in! 

10:00AM

• Joining the offensive line, GA Nathan Efobi is in! 
• Newest Wolverine WR Karmelo English is in! 

2:00 PM:

• California Dreaming, TE Zach Marshall is used to catching waves will now catch footballs on Stadium and Main.  His LOI is in! 
• The last commit of the day Jyarie Hill is locked and loaded and that is a wrap! 

Updates:

• Something to 👀 Aaron Gates is a 4-star athlete from GA is committed to Florida, has not sent in his LOI yet, visited Ann Arbor last month.   Looks to be sticking with Florida due to NIL$$ and will commit later today.

• IL 4-star CB Jyaire Hill is announcing at 4:00.  has moved to 2:00. Mizzu, Illinois, Purdue, Florida, and UK in his top 5.  

• Waiting on new commit English and California's TE Zach Marshall's LOI  

• NT Jamel Howard, DT another Wisconsin De-Commit may hold off until February. 

Transfer Updates from Tuesday afternoon.  An IU migration! Michigan landed a back-up QB and a starting TE to replace Erick All.  Jimmy is attacking the portal like I've never seen before. 

• QB Jack Tuttle is a new Michigan QB.  Jack has played 5 years between Utah and IU in mostly back up roles and knows the situation at Michigan.  He is a "break glass in case of emergency" QB and will get to enjoy at least a year of free education in Ann Arbor.  He is taking the role of Alan Bowman. 

• TE AJ Barner is a guy that is expected to see the field after Michigan lost (or is losing) 3 TE's to the portal and the draft.  AJ had 28 catches for 199 yards and 3 TD's at IU last season.  I expect he can block as well. 

Welcome Jack and AJ! 

Michigan Tuesday: Early Signing Day Primer

How busy are the coaches right now? This week includes early signing day, Christmas, and let us not forget playoff prep.   I'm all for an early signing day, but this is a bit ridiculous. 

Tomorrow is the big day and the largest traffic day of the year at your favorite Michigan Blog.  If you've been around for many years, you know I camp out and post all the commitments as they arrive at Schembechler Hall, I'll also post any rumors or speculation that a player may flip to another school or flip to the Maize and Blue.  It's a ton of fun and please join us if you can! 

Key:

🔒 = Locked in commit

👀 = Need to keep an eye on 

To the committed crew:

4-Stars

• Cole Cabana Local RB 🔒
• Evan Link, OT from DC 🔒
• Amir Herring, Guard from West Bloom 🔒
• Enow Etta, DE from Texas 👀 
• Semaj Bridgeman, LB from Philly 🔒
• Nathan Efobi, OL from GA 🔒
• Deakon Tonielli, TE from IL 🔒

3-Stars

• Semaj Morgan, WR from West Bloomfield 🔒
• Adam Samaha, local kicker 🔒
• Brooks Bahr, DL from IL 🔒
• Ben Hall, RB from Georgia 👀 
• Cam Calhoun, CB from Cincy 🔒
• Fred Moore, WR from STL 🔒
• Jason Hewlett, ATH from Youngstown 🔒
• Zack Marshall, TE from CA 🔒
• Rod "Trey" Pierce, DL from Chicago🔒
• Aymeric Koumba, DE from France 🔒
• Kendrick Bell, ATH from KC 🔒
• Hayden Moore, LB from Colorado🔒
• Breeon Ishmail, LB from Cincy 🔒
• DJ Waller Jr, CB/S from Youngstown 🔒

First thing first, we need to welcome Michigan's newest commit Hayden Moore to the Wolverine family.  Hayden is 6'3 210 and a player the Michigan coaches have been targeting for a while.  He visited last weekend and decommitted to Nebraska while he was in Ann Arbor.  On Monday, he committed to the Maize and Blue.  Moore is also a pitcher and might play both sports at Michigan.  Welcome Hayden!!! 

Now let's look at the 👀 players. 

Enow is Michigan's highest ranked recruit in this class and has a ton of offers to places like Alabama, LSU, OK, and Miami.  A few places that will drop a bag to get a recruit.  His social media is all Michigan and retweeting commitments.  I don't think there is a ton of risk here but I will be happy when pen meets paper. 

Ben Hall is an interesting one.  The guy performed well in summer camps but reports are he didn't have the greatest senior year.   Michigan was sniffing around other RB's but might have settled back on Ben after a visit to his home this month.   

This is a solid class, but not one the Michigan faithful is going to go crazy over.  Michigan needs one or two 5-stars in each class.  This one is currently sitting at 0.  There also isn't a QB in this class, which makes sense after you read below and going all in on 2024 Jadyn Davis.  With the portal, having a class like this, plus adding 5 portal guys you've seen play college football, makes a ton of sense.  

Who is left out there?

• 5-star ATH Nyckoles Harbor - plans to sign in February, would be the crown jewel of the class.
• 4-star CB Jyaire Hill left Michigan out of his top 5 on Monday.  He is planning a commit on TV at 4:00 on Wednesday.  Michigan still has a chance here as all the CB's point to the Wolverines. 
• 3-star DT Jamal Howard, another Wisconsin de-commit could take his decision to February as well.
• Another WR and RB 

In other news..........

• Detroit 5-star QB Dante Moore flipped from Oregon to UCLA on Monday.  This is the QB Michigan went all in on and missed by a mile.  That effort probably also killed any hope of Lloyd's grandson going to Michigan.  

Michigan Friday: Players Transferring In and Out

This is just a different time in college football and as Michigan fans we need to get used to it.  Players are now "free agents" and will check their worth and value via the transfer portal.   Michigan felt both sides of that situation on Thursday.   

Coming: 

Ernest Hausmann is a freshman LB from Nebraska with a huge upside.  He played a ton as a freshman at Nebraska with 54 tackles and the coaching staff believed he could be a star there.   Iowa really wanted Erine and last weekend was on a visit with All and McNamara.  Ernie picked Ann Arbor.  Welcome!

Going:

Back-up QB Alan Bowman who seems to have been in college for 10 years.  Surprisingly Alan has one more year of eligibility left and probably could have become a surgeon by now in funded scholarships.  He wants to use his final year at a place where he can play.  The rumor is he might go with Biff and play for Charlotte. If you're worried about back-up QB's for the CFP, Bowman plans to stay with the team through the playoffs.   On a side note, I got inside information that the plan for Davis Warren after the performance in the spring game was to transfer after this season.  Then a lot of things happened including the loss of Cade and now Bowman who he already beat out.  Not to mention, there is zero QB's coming in the 2023 class.   Since he is now a play away from being in the CFP, my expectation is that he changed his mind and plans to stay.  (that is my hope anyway)

Last note on this, I of course don't know what Erine's transcripts look like but we know how hard it's been to transfer to Michigan in the past.  Hopefully, those rules have softened a bit so Michigan can be competitive in the transfer market. 

• Mazi Smith sentencing got moved to 1/12/23

• Purdue hired Graham Harrell as OC, so they're not moving to the triple option. 😃

• Blake Corum won the Chicago Tribune Silver Award for the Best Player in the Big Ten, Voted by the Big Ten Coaches. 

• Edge rusher Josiah Stewart, one of the portal's best players, says he is down to USC and Michigan.  Which one is Pass Rush U again?

• Michael Barrett is not sure what he is going to do next year.  He has one more year left and wants to increase his draft stock but doesn't want to be the old guy in the locker room either. 

• Bryan Mone tore his ACL last night on Thursday Night Football

• Last official weekend before the Early Signing Day!  Let's hope for some good news! 

Michigan Thursday: Welcomes new DL to Ann Arbor

The Michigan coaches are doing their best to finish the 23 class as strong as they can.   The early signing period is now less than a week away and Michigan needs to continue to add to this class.  That task took a major swing in the right direction when 3/4-star Roderick "Trey" Pierce from Chicago Brother Rice picked the Wolverines last night.  Pierce was a former Wisconsin commit and de-committed after the coaching changes.  The Wolverines held off a number of programs coming after the talented defensive lineman including home state Illinois and Texas.  

"The reason I chose Michigan is because of the combination of competitiveness, community, and education," Pierce said. "I fell in love with the people and facilities. I also feel like I fit in with the players. It was definitely a hard decision. A lot of factors went into it. But I really do feel at home in Ann Arbor."

Pierce is 6'3 and 290 pounds and will probably start off at DT, even though he could play all 3 defensive line positions.  My guess is that George Rooks saw this coming and decided another program was a quicker path to playing time.  Trey is considered a prospect that could contribute as a true freshman.  

Welcome big man!  Let's hope Michigan can land DT Jamel Howard next (also from Chicago and also Wisconsin de-commit)! 

• Erick All was one of my favorite players.  He saved the 2021 season with his TD catch and run against Penn State.  His story about a fireman saving him from his burning house was just incredibly moving.   The way his family is acting as he leaves Ann Arbor for Iowa is very disturbing.  His father put up a picture of Harbaugh's young son crying and his brother called out the other TE's on the roster not being up to his brother's skill set.  I'm very disappointed how they're acting on social media and they're not doing their son/brother any favors.  Football is a very small community and burning bridges will not help Erick in the long run.  You don't think the NFL is going to call Harbaugh about him before the draft?

• UCLA Regents have approved the move to the Big Ten.  

• There is an open practice and NIL meet and greet on Saturday for fans that want to support the team with their wallets. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Michigan Assistant's Safe?

Western Michigan had been shopping for a new head coach on Michigan's staff.  Both Mike Hart and Jay Harbaugh were interviewed, co-OC Sherrone Moore declined (he makes more as an OC at Michigan).  The Bronco's ended up not gutting Michigan's staff but grabbed the Louisville OC.  

Did you mention Louisville?  Their head coach left after some poor results and took the Cincinnati job.  Another place Michigan staffers could have ended up.  Now UC and WMU are off the board. 

Louisville tried to hire Jeff Brohm a few years ago and he turned it down.  He takes the Boilermakers to the Big Ten Championship game this season, his team plays very well, and they lose by 3 TD's.  He is off to Louisville, where he played college ball. 

Now Purdue is on the clock, is the Michigan staff being considered again?  The search was pretty quiet until it wasn't yesterday late morning. Ryan Walters on Monday was the Illinois DC, today he is the Purdue head coach.  Jeff is 36 years-old and the 4th youngest head coach in the country.  He inherited a bad defense in 2020 and turned them around to one of the best the last 2 years.   He will not coach the bowl game as Jeff's brother Brian will have that duty. 

The unique thing to me about this hire is that Purdue has always been known as an offensive team with an offense-oriented head coach. This hire is a strong indication of a new direction. 

Outside of the Mississippi State tragedy, I don't expect any Michigan assistants to leave for another college program at this point.  The next window will be the NFL coaching carousel and a Michigan coach getting an NFL assistant gig.  

If Michigan's staff stays in place that will help recruiting in 2024 and beyond.  Losing so many last season clearly hurt recruiting in this class. 

• Corum and Olu make 1st team ESPN and Sporting News All American teams 

• Nebraska de-commit 4-star athlete Malachi Coleman has cancelled his visit to A2 this weekend for Colorado.  Damn it Coach Prime! 

• Uche was named the AFC and Brandon Graham NFC Defensive Player of the Week = Michigan Pass Rush U.

Michigan Monday: Heisman a QB Award

The Heisman Trophy ceremony continues to be a QB award and Caleb Williams took home the trophy on Saturday.   Blake finishing 7th is criminal as he would have won the trophy if he hadn't hurt his knee and had the yards Donovan Edwards had in the OSU and Big Ten Championship.  Out of all the guys in the top 7, who had the best final game?  Blake had 100 yards in the first half before hurting his knee.  

• Reports are that Mike Leach is in critical condition after a medical event on Sunday.   Mike is a national treasure and I hope he makes it through. 

• Michigan Coaches are on the road to try to firm up the 2023 class days before the early signing period.  Michigan has had a ton of success on the field but the 20th ranked class in 2023.  The reason? New coordinators and larger NIL at other programs.  There were also a number of official visitors this weekend.  

• Hutch has 2 sacks and DPJ over a 100-yards receiving on Sunday. 

• There is a movement that OU and Texas could join the SEC a year early and we should know in a month if they will join for the 2024 season. 

• MSU is losing a number of recruits in both the 23 and 24 class.   Their 2023 class is down to 10 players, on the good side most of them are 4 stars. 

• Stanford hired the Sacramento State coach and now the Navy head coaching job is open after losing to Army and a losing record this season. 

• The Purdue search has been pretty quiet.  Todd Monken might be a candidate (Georgia OC).

• Hello to PWO Cole Morgan from NJ.  Cole is a 285-pound offensive lineman.  His name sounds like a Michigan Man; Cole Morgan!

• Texas Basketball head coach Chris Beard has been arrested on a domestic abuse charge.