Wolverine Wednesday: News and Notes

• Dusty grabbed another commit this morning at 4-star 6'5 shooting guard Joseph Hartman committed to Michigan Basketball.  He is rated as a top 65 prospect!

• Tigers got 1 against Cleveland in the Wildcard! 

• The GOAT Jr. will visit A2 soon and is now being predicted to be a Wolverine!  

• Speaking of the GOAT,  Woodson Whisky and Champions Circle is selling a special Bourbon that helps Michigan NIL 

• Michigan is expected to have a few visitors in town this weekend that are flip candidates from other programs.  LB's and CB's please!

Michigan Thursday: Michigan Offers Charles Woodson

When the son of a Michigan legend plays football and is being recruited by Division 1 programs you offer that kid no matter what.   So when your son is named Charles Woodson Jr an offer from Michigan should be an automatic thing.   I was a bit confused why it took so long but yesterday Sherrone woke up and offered the Lake Nona, Florida Safety prospect Charles Woodson Jr. 

Charles is 5'11 and 186 pounds and ranked as a 4 star Safety by the 24/7 composite in 2027 class.  The composite has him as the 243rd player in the country and 23rd Safety.  He is ranked as a 3-star by 24/7 alone, so the other services have him rated higher than 24/7.

His offer list includes: FSU, Iowa State, Ole Miss, UK, Texas A&M, and Syracuse. 

I could understand why Jr. would want to go to another program but I would love to see a Woodson back in a Wolverine jersey in a couple years.

• There is some concern Sean Magee could leave for the Navy AD job.  It seems Navy is now targeting the UCF AD. 

• Did you know Santa doesn't deliver in Florida?  Santa Ono the former President of U of M, left Ann Arbor thinking he had the Florida President job in the bag.  He did not and the board of governors rejected him.  John U. Bacon believes its because he flip flopped on DEI. 

Michigan Tuesday: Updates Injuries

Mike Morris has clearly taken media training.  As this is how he described his injury: “I’m feeling great,” Morris said. “Just a little tweak. I feel like I’ll be alright. Our trainers are working very hard. I was in there getting treatment for like four hours this morning, so I’ll be fine. I’m in great hands. It’s all God’s plan.”

I'm not sure 4 hours of treatment and and a "little tweak" really reconcile.  My guess is he is out for Illinois, so he can be as healthy as possible for the trip to Columbus.  Though this weekend will be his senior day, so he probably wants to play in the worse way.   Expectation is he has done enough this year to be a very high draft prospect and will not come back for another year in Ann Arbor. 

Lastly, we also knew this last week, but Cade is now officially done for the season. 

• Ronnie Bell is expected to go leave for the draft as he has gotten a Senior Bowl invite already. 

• Charles Woodson's wine was named on the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines of the year list.  Congrats to one of the best athletes to ever wear the Maize and Blue! 

• My heart and prayers go out to the UVA football program.  Which also includes Michigan's starting center and UVA transfer Olu Oluwatimi, who I assume knew some of the victims.  

Michigan Monday: Father Time Defeated

There is a famous saying that "father time is undefeated", last night father time took a loss.   Captain America, The GOAT, call him anything you like, but he again proved why he is the best football player to ever play this game.   He now has more Super Bowl wins then any franchise.  

With all those deserved accolades, the MVP of the game should've been the Tampa Defense.   They doubled Hill and exposed the back-up tackles with Barrett and JPP.  It was a masterful defensive game plan by Todd Bowles. 

I hate to compare everything to Michigan Football, but what we saw by Tampa's defense last night has been completely missing from Ann Arbor since Don Brown arrived.   Don was one dimensional and always blitzed the LB's or even a corner.   If you can't get pressure from your DL, your at risk as a defense because there are too many defenders in the backfield and not flooding a zone.  

I also loved how White and David played at the LB position last night.  Devin Bush and Devin White to my eyes are similar players.  

Another great game, lead by the greatest Michigan and NFL QB of all time.  Congrats Tom! 

• I know we are trying to protect the health of the Michigan athletics department, but its time to FREE MICHGIAN BASKETBALL!

• You want to know if a coach can recruit or not? How about a guy gets a job at Michigan and with-in two weeks gets 2 commitments from guys in the 2022 class that wasn't even on Michigan's radar.   Coach Mo got verbal commitments from two TN 4 stars who are expected to play in the defensive backfield Kody Jones and Taylor Groves. (more to come on these guys later in the week) 

• Congrats to Charles Woodson on his entry to the NFL Hall of Fame!

• Ed Warinner is heading to FAU to coach in the Harbaugh head coaching tree.

• RIP to ESPN baseball reporter Pedro Gomez who died unexpectedly at his home last night at 58.

• Ben McDaniel is heading to the Texans as a QB coach.  Will be interesting to see who he gets to coach.  

Michigan Thursday: News and Notes

• Michigan Basketball has a tough schedule next season.  They just added South Carolina to a home and home and the schedule also includes Texas, UCLA and Virginia Tech.  The home and home with Cincinnati seems to delayed or cancelled.   A Cazzie Russell coached Armstrong State will play Michigan for its exhibition game at Crisler.

• A lot of Wood is going to be at the Nike release party.  Both LaMar and Charles are expected to attend.

• Dhani Jones is going to be an NBC reporter at the Olympics.  

• 2017 Alabama OL Toryque Bateman plans to be at the BBQ

Michigan Friday: Dicky V Honoring Chad Tough Tonight

Dick Vitale is hosting his annual gala tonight and will be looking to raise $2.5M for cancer research.  He is honoring two children that lost their life recently and one of those two is our own Chad Carr.    Jimmy and his wife will be accompanied by Lloyd at tonight's gala.  

"You know what frustrates me? I work 24-7 on this, sending letters, leaving messages and texts, anything to get the word out," he said. "Yet some of the big football schools could call for a fundraiser for a practice facility or locker room and they would get $15 million easily. All I want is $2.5 million for kids, sick kids."

If your interested in donating here is Dicky's Gala web site.  

• Mgoblog has a quick interview with one of the greatest Michigan Wolverines ever, Charles Woodson.   He is doing a tour for his new wines.  

• Cass Tech 2017 DB Jaylen Kelly-Powell rated his recent visit to Michigan a 10 out of 10

• Michigan coaches were out to see 2017 WR Nico Collins yesterday.

• Tim Drevno visited 2017 4 star FLOL and Alabama commit, Alex Leatherwood on Thursday.  Leatherwood is a great football name.

Woodson Commericals

Nissan sent me these new commercials of Charles Woodson/Heisman House.   Both are pretty funny.   Enjoy!

Michigan Thursday: Are You a Pepper?

I rarely dedicate an entire post to a player Michigan is recruiting and hasn't committed to Wolverines yet.   Today, I change that policy for a "special" recruit in CB Jabrill Peppers from Paramus, New Jersey.

What do the Recruiting Services think of Jabrill?

Rivals:  #1 CB and #2 Player in the Nation
ESPN: #1 CB and #2 Player in the Nation
Scouts: #4 CB and #11 Player in the Nation
24/7:  #1 Athlete and #9 Player in the Nation

5 Star Player across the board

Jabrill is a 6'1 210 pound defensive back that every major program wants in their recruiting class.   He is ranked as a CB to all services accept 24/7 which see's him more as an Athlete or Safety.

Jabrill talks to the recruiting services often and every time he declares the Wolverines his leader with other schools like Stanford, Penn State and LSU.   

Why Michigan?

• Already visited Ann Arbor and loved it
• Current teammate JBB who is already committed to the Wolverines
• Ann Arbor is much closer to New Jersey then Stanford or LSU
• Greg Mattison is always a strong selling point
• Rutgers will be in Michigan's division when Jabrill arrives on campus, which means Michigan will be playing close to his home a couple times in 4 years.
• Anyone want to bet, they have offered him #2?
• Paramus Catholic is now calling themselves Team 45
• He just dropped Ohio State from his list

Timeline:

Jabrill has said that after his trip to Stanford in July he would know which school he would want to attend.   Lately, that trip to the West Coast has been shaky at best and hasn't been scheduled yet.

His coach told ESPN yesterday that he plans to move his timeline up to early June to put recruiting behind him, so he can focus on his senior year.   His next trip is to Penn State on May 18th, which is only 4 hours away from his hometown.  He visited PSU briefly in February and wants to go back for another look and stay the night.

Outlook for the Wolverines:

Michigan is in great shape for this highly ranked 5 star CB.   The quicker the decision happens the better it is for the Wolverines.   If he makes a decision in June or July, I think he will be Blue.  If the decision leaks into the season and he takes official visits, I think Michigan's pole position could be in jeopardy.

This could be huge recruit for the Wolverines and you could see a snowball effect from other top rated guys to the Wolverines, since this is such a small class.

Michigan Monday: Number Changes

We are starting to see what Big AL has cooking for next year in some number changes that were just announced. 

Roy Roundtree will reverse his number from #12 to #21.  As you know, #21 is one of the Wolverines Legendary numbers since former Heisman Trophy Winner Desmond Howard wore that number.   Last year, Sugar Bowl MVP Junior Hemingway wore #21 as well.  

Devin Gardner is also changing and you guessed it, he will move from #7 to #12.   Both of these numbers have a long heritage at QB at Michigan.  Of course #7 was worn by Rick Leach and #12 was worn by Tom Brady.   It seems moving Devin to #12 gives Big Al the flexibility to move Devin to WR for some snaps or play QB if needed. 

I don't now the NCAA number rules but I'm guessing #7 is a primary QB number and #12 gives you more flexibility.  

• 4 star DB Leon McQuay III and his father visited Ann Arbor for two days this weekend.  He is visiting a number of schools and they stopped by Michigan to check out the Wolverines.  Leon and his father came away impressed with the visit and Leon has moved the Wolverines up to his top 5.   Leon is planning to enroll in January and still wants to visit some other schools.  Academics, tradition and best fit are the decision criteria for Leon and his father.  Weather and being close to home is not a factor.   They are serious about academics and considering schools like Vandy, Duke and Stanford as well.  The one thing that seemed to stand out to Leon and his father was the chance to wear former Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson's number.  

• 4 Star RB Jordan Wilkins is planning on camping at Michigan this summer.

• The Charles Woodson, Steve Hutchinson and Brian Griese Golf Outing this past weekend raised $1.3M for Mott Hospital.

Judgement Day

Back in 1997 an un-defeated Michigan team traveled to Happy Valley as the #4 team in the nation, lead by Heisman Trophy candidate Charles Woodson.    Penn State at the time was ranked #3 in the country lead by QB Mike McQueary.  Similar to this past weekends Alabama - LSU battle this game was getting a ton of buzz.   ESPN tagged the weekend Judgement Day.

I have 3 clear memories of that game. First came during the week when in an interview McQueary said he wasn't afraid of throwing at Woodson.  Second memory, comes from the first play of the game (first PSU possession) when McQueary drops back to pass and Glen Steele comes un-blocked and totally lays him out (it what seemed like a 1/2 a second).  The third memory is a huge hit by a Michigan DB on a PSU tight end (that hit ended that DB's career with a neck injury I believe).   Michigan dominated the game and won 34-8 and went on to win the AP National Title that year.  

That day really wasn't judgement day.  That day came much later in March 2002 when McQueary witnessed a crime and reported it to Paterno and to other Penn State Officials.   That day was truly Judgement Day and each one of those adults failed miserably.
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• Good News Mitch McGary the 5 star power forward that committed to the Wolverine Basketball program last week is expected to sign his LOI today (first day of the early signing period).   Glen Robinson III and Nick Stauskas are also expected to sign today.

• Drake Johnson the Pioneer Running Back who got a Michigan offer yesterday morning and quickly accepted it, is interviewed on the radio at this link.

Michigan Monday: Woodson Gets His Ring and Other Wolverine News

Charles Woodson had a up and down day yesterday.  Of course, breaking his collarbone before halftime was "the down" and getting his Super Bowl ring was the big "up".  Like I mentioned on Friday, Chuck has had a very nice career with a Heisman, a National Championship, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award, and now a Super Bowl Ring.   It doesn't get any better then that.    I hope his collarbone heals quickly.

I didn't see the Tom Harmon Icon special on BTN yesterday and hope to catch a replay.  I wonder if Tom knew that he could have won a Championship with the Green Bay Packers back in the day. Michigan's two other Heisman Trophy winners Desmond Howard and now Charles Woodson both won Championships with the Packers.   (Tom was drafted by the Chicago Bears but elected to play in the AFL with the New York Americans).

On a side note, If you get a chance to see the Lombardi documentary on HBO, I highly recommend it. 

• The Michigan Basketball team had a nice win in Happy Valley yesterday.  When Darius Morris plays well, Michigan is a very competitive team.   I also think Tim Hardaway will be a star in a couple of years. 

• Tom Brady wins the NFL MVP award by sweeping all 50 votes. 

• How about the National Anthem last night?  I thought something didn't sound right.

• MSU lost again last night.  Time for Izzo to go?  Just kidding but we haven't seen a swoon like this from the Spartans in a long time.

• Tate Forcier seems to be down to Kansas State, Miami, Montana, Washington, and Arizona.   He is planning to visit these schools in the next two weeks.   If he wants to play next year he would go to Montana.  If he goes to Washington he will be behind Joe Montana's son (Montana or playing behind Montana?).  Arizona would seem to make sense - (a lot of Michigan QB transfers go to that state to play football).   I worry about Tate in Miami. 

• Michigan's 2012 prospect list are coming out fast.  Here are two recent ones.  I will put up a 2012 watch list this week.

• David Harris is about to get paid!  Sounds like the Jets are about to put the Franchise tag on him.  I wonder how that works without a CBA?

• Michigan plans to announce the hiring today of Curt Mallory, DB coach and Jerry Montgomery to coach the D-line.

• Speaking of Desmond Howard it seems Phil Simms isn't a fan as they got into a confrontation this past week in Dallas.  Phil you are now dead to me.   Phil your in the media, you should be able to take a criticism of your son. 

• Maize N Blue Blood:  Here is an article on Michigan's 2011 walk on full back Joe Kerridge.  (Freep link) 

Wolverine Wednesday: Opens the Big House to All Comers

Today is the day the public can take a tour of the new Big House.  I hope they draw my name for the free luxury box for the year (just kidding they are not holding that contest).   Take the tour today and see if you agree with the way Bill Martin spent the 226 Million.  From last years games and the photos I have seen, I think they did a very nice job. The folks that decide to take the tour today will get the first look at Michigan's new Field Turf.  "For FieldTurf to be on the hallowed ground of Michigan Stadium is an honor for our company, and it is a responsibility that we take very seriously. We pledge to continue to provide the very finest and safest turf available in the world today."

The Big House is the biggest once again.  The offical capcity is up to 109,901 and the largest college or pro football stadium. 

• Fall out from the NCAA investigation?  Brad Labadie, director of Michigan football operations, who was involved in the Countable Athletically-Related Activity (CARA) forms that were mishandled and a focus of the NCAA investigation, has resigned.    Brad has taken a job a Blue Cross and Blue Shield.  David Brandon:  "I absolutely don't think people should" think his departure has anything to do with the NCAA investigation.   Speaking for myself; If I was in Brad's situation, I might find a new job as well. 

• Drew Henson remembers his former Boss and the late George Steinbrenner.  (Freep Link)  As a baseball fan, I always thought it was interesting on how George always put winning first and built his Yankee empire.  As a Michigan fan, I wasn't real happy that he took maybe the most talented (skill wise) QB Michigan has ever seen a year to early.  

• Ford Field says, Big Ten pick me for your Championship Game!

• Charles Woodson escapes a home that was on fire this weekend. 

• TomVH from Mgoblog gives us a quick update on Cyrus Hobbi's visit yesterday to Ann Arbor.  In short, it went great and he will seriously consider Michigan in his recruitment.

WineMaster Woodson

Former Michigan Heisman trophy winner Charles Woodson has a new line of wines called 24. If your interested you can see them at charleswoodsonwines.com when they go on sale on 9/1.

Charles was even in town to support his wine and the Mott Children's hospital last Friday.

Of course the NFL has a problem with Chuck's new business endeavour:

After he did an interview about his passion for wine recently, and as news of Friday's event spread, the NFL contacted his representatives this week to remind him of the league's alcohol policy, specifically that any interviews supporting alcohol would be seen as an endorsement and "may have a detrimental effect on the great number of young fans who follow our game."

Of course the NFL loves all the advertising revenue they get from every major beer label on the planet!

Woodson and his partner Ruiz have a cabernet and a cabernet franc. Good Luck Chuck! Don't name any of your wines the 5 Buck Chuck, I think that title is already taken. :-)