Michigan Friday: MSU Fires It's AD

I'm sure MSU leadership had plenty of reasons to fire Alan Haller as its AD.   The football program has been a dumpster fire for the past couple of years.   Jonathan Smith is solid but he doesn't have a great record in any of his stops.  He was under .500 at Oregon State when MSU hired him.   

AD's at major universities have to raise money for NIL and MSU pointed out that their next AD will have to have a track record of excelling in that area.   That is code for, Alan couldn't raise enough money, so we had to show him the door.  

• Deep on the bench back-up Alessandro Lorenzetti who jumped quickly into the transfer portal this spring as he kept moving from offensive line to defensive line, will take two visits to Coastal Carolina and Middle Tennessee State.  As we know, Walker just transferred to Middle Tennessee State. 

• Myles Hinton has signed his deal with the Eagles

Michigan Tuesday: It Starts Today

Michigan's campaign for another championship starts today.  I will still stand on my soap box and yell to anyone that will listen, that the #1 goal every year continues to be a Big Ten Championship.   Anything else is icing on the cake.  I do agree, Michigan has the talent to do more and the sights should be set higher, but one step at a time. 

Today camp opens and all the distractions from recruiting and the summer are gone.  The only thing hanging over the program is the probable suspension of Jim Harbaugh for buying a recruit a hamburger and not recalling he did it years ago.  The NCAA continues to be a clown show.  

Submarine or no Submarine this year? 😃

Back 30+ years ago, today would be for guys getting in shape and working back to be a full-time football player.  Those days are gone and now players are in the S&C program all year and should be ready to start full practices today.  JJ, Blake, and Donovan are all healthy with Michigan's talented RB's coming off late year injuries.  Will Johnson is expected to still be banged up and probably not participating early in camp.  

It's great to get the freshman that weren't enrolled in January on the field and the continued familiarity of the boat load of transfers.  Here is a quick refresher on the new transfer Wolverines:

-LaDarius Henderson ASU Guard/Tackle: He is expected to fight for a starting position on Michigan's elite offensive line. 

-Ernest Hausmann Nebraska LB: Is expected to start at LB. 

-Myles Hinton Stanford OL: Brother of Chris and is expected to be a backup offensive lineman. 

-Drake Nugent Standford Center: Is expected to start at center. 

-Josaiah Stewart Coastal Carolina: Is expected to play a ton of snaps at edge (in a position that rotates non-stop, starter vs, non-starter doesn't really matter)

-Jack Tuttle IU QB: Will be #2 or #3 QB 

-AJ Barner IU TE: Could be a huge part of the Michigan offense and expect him to get a ton of catches this year and become one of JJ's favorite targets. 

-Josh Wallace UMass CB: Will walk into a starting role opposite of Will Johnson or in place of Johnson if he is not healthy to start the season.  

Each transfer will have an important role on this team this season.  

Question marks going into camp?

• Michigan will have to replace the best kicker in the nation.  We know a kicker is really important to a Jim Harbaugh offense, that seems to struggle scoring TD's early in the year. 

• Michigan has 2 great RB's and will need to continue to mature the passing game for a balanced offense.

• CB depth is a concern mostly if Will is not fully healthy.

• Punt and Kickoff return with AJ now at Northwestern.

• Pass Rush, Michigan seems to have the talent but still a bit unproven at this level.

There are two goals for Summer/Fall Camp.

#1 Get 1% better everyday 

#2 No injuries

• Did you know that Devin Bush signed a one year "prove it" deal with the Seattle Seahawks?

• Nike latest Michigan Pegasus 40 is releasing on Thursday at the MDen, Fanatics, and I assume Nike.com.

Michigan Tuesday: It's Big Ten Media Day

 

This is a day full of coach speak and players really not saying much, they've been trained not to.   I don't expect any controversy today, sometimes an East Lansing reporter will take a shot at Jimmy for not winning enough games or being able to beat the Spartans.   After a Big Ten Title, there shouldn't be much of that (although they didn't beat the Spartans).  Or Urban Meyer protecting his WR coach against abuse allegations which was the tipping point on him leaving Columbus.  

The reason I like this day is it's the official summer sign that camp is starting soon and Michigan Football will be in the Big House in about 6 weeks.  I also love seeing Mazi and DJ there, Cade and Erick to me are the easy picks but seeing two defenders that have really developed over the last season is pretty special. 

Jimmy will speak at 12:30.

• Levert Hill is now on staff as an intern with the strength and conditioning team

• UCF transfer Cam Goode seems to be fitting in well with his new teammates: “I thought having a transition from Florida to Michigan was going to be hard. But I’ve been going to the beach so it hasn’t been that bad of a transition,” Goode told The Michigan Insider on Sunday, a day after he spent the afternoon at Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon. “The weather has been treating me well. People have been treating me well. Ann Arbor is an amazing place — young people, very energetic people. I’ve been having an amazing time.” ---- “Elston, that’s my guy,” Goode said. “Spending time doing film with him, just chopping it up. Cool guy. Just grabbing some food sometimes. He’s an amazing guy. I love Elston — he changed my life for the better — and I honestly can’t wait to be coached by him.” 

• Davante Jones has signed a professional contract to play in France

• I just read that diamond in the rough recruit Aymeric Koumba has a 7'2 wing span.  Yes, please!

Michigan Thursday: Transfers is The Theme

Transfers are now part of college football and basketball.  It's a new way to make your team better and for MSU Football they completely rebuilt its program last season through the portal.  The University of Michigan has had some high-profile transfers like 5 Star QB and USFL star Shea Patterson but due to admissions issues, Michigan maybe gets one or two guys a year.  

Basketball is the same way and Juwan Howard has gone into the portal the last two years for point guard help.  Today, Michigan is hosting a 6'6 Texas Tech transfer Terrance Shannon, Jr. (unless he is heading in for Miggy's 3000 hit? :)). Terrance is reportedly a strong lean-to Michigan and hopefully everything works out with admissions and transfer credits.   Usually, both sides like to get the "red tape" out of the way prior to a visit, so let's hope that is the case here.  

On the transfers leaving side, Brandon Johns Jr. has picked his new school and will suit up for VCU for his last year of eligibility next season.  I hope the new program gives Brandon some new confidence and he can end his career on a positive note.   

• Did you know that Luiji Vilain is in the NFL Draft?  He had a very good year at Wake Forrest.  Since he graduated from Michigan, he is a member of Pass Rush U.  PFF considers him one of the most under-rated players in the draft. 

• Ben St. Juste got married this past weekend (transfer from Michigan to Minnesota, now a Washington Commadores)

Michigan Tuesday: Is the Grass Greener for Michigan Transfers?

iowaagribusinessradionetwork.com

Wolverine Wire gave us an update on how Michigan's transfers did last season.   I always find it interesting to track how successful they've been.  Since we are still 10 days from The Orange Bowl, I thought I would rate the transfers:

Transfer Success - The grass is greener effect:

1. Zach Charbonnet 1,137 yards on 203 carries and 13 TD's - UCLA 
2. Luiji Vilain 9 Sacks, 34 tackles, 3 TFL's, and 2 force fumbles - Wake Forrest 
3. Hunter Renyolds 83 tackles, 1 pick, 3 pass break ups - Utah State 
4. Dylan McCaffrey 1,333 passing, 5 TD, with 7 picks - Northern Colorado
5. Drew Singleton 56 tackles and 3 TFL - Rutgers
6. Joe Milton threw for 375 yards, 2 TD's passing, 2 TD's rushing - Tennessee
7. Christian Turner 463 rushing, 29 receiving, 5 TD's - Wake Forrest 
8. Phil Paea played in every game, 14 tackles and 2 TFL - Utah State
9. Jordan Anthony - 277 snaps, 35 tackles, and 1 TFL - Troy 
10. Giles Jackson 87 yards receiving, 45 rushing, special teams - Washington
11. Myles Sims 25 tackles and 3 pass break-ups - Georgia Tech 
12. Will Mohan 247 snaps and 9 tackles - Tennessee

Where in the World?

• Willy Allen - Had 56 snaps for UMass 
• Gaige Garcia - 16 carries for 72 yards for Lehigh
• Zach Carpenter played in 5 games for IU 
• Ben VanSumeren 12 tackles and 1 sack for MSU
• Aubrey Solomon 31 snaps, 8 tackles, and 1 TFL for Tennessee
• J'Marick Woods 27 tackles, 2 TFL, and 3 pass breakups for Duke 
• Jaylen Kelly-Powell 73 tackles, 1 sack, 1.5 TFL for Akron
• Corn Wheeler 108 snaps and 1 tackle for Kansas 
• Oliver Martin 3rd B10 team, 170 yards receiving and 1 TD for Nebraska
• O'Maury Samuels 202 yards rushing and 1 TD for New Mexico State 
• Brandon Peters 1,170 passing, 7 TD's and 4 pick for Illinois 
• Kareem Walker 295 rushing, 5 TD's, 43 receiving for South Alabama 

There is some decent success above, and some guys played like they did in Ann Arbor.  It's great for guys to get the playing time they deserve.  Brandon Peters has been playing college football for what seems like 10 years.  Here are a few thoughts:  

• Zach had a great year and just didn't have a role in a crowded RB room in A2.  
• What the hell happened to Aubrey Solomon?  
• Love that Luiji had a breakout year, would be nice to have him on the roster for next season. 
• Joe Milton played just like he did at Michigan and got pulled quickly - Dylan was injury prone at UNC. 
• Giles Jackson numbers are troubling to me for a UW team that needed any offense they could get.
• Kareem Walker was in the 2016 recruiting class
• Jordan Anthony had a very hard time finding a team and was working at Dicks Sporting Goods.  Glad he found a home. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Looks At An Interesting Offer

Jeffery M'ba has been almost everywhere.  He grew up in the Congo, started to play football in France, and now is one off the highest rated JUCO players in the country playing in Kansas.  

Jeffery was a highly ranked 6'6 305 pound DT recruit in the 2019 class that originally committed to Virginia.   After playing for one year for a private school in Connecticut.   There were too many transcript and visa issues for Jeffery to enroll at UVA, so he changed his year to 2020 and then COVID hit.  Which made him head home to the Congo and re-evaluate what his next step was.   Back in 2019, Michigan was very interested in Jeffery and offered him a scholarship.  

Looking like his football career is slipping away, a coach in France got him into Kansas Independent Community College and he started playing football again last season.  He struggled as he hadn't played football in a year and other players started dominating the big man.  

This year is a different story, he has 17 tackles and 2 sacks and big time programs (West Virginia, Arizona State, Houston, Minnesota, NC State, Mississippi State, USC, Nebraska, Florida Atlantic and Miami) are starting to take notice.  Michigan offered yesterday and M'ba has some history with the program.  He watched Michigan practice when they were in France a few years ago and he also knows staffer Biff Poggi.  As M'Ba was trying to enroll at Baltimore St. Frances from France when he was looking for a U.S. high school.  

He will visit Miami this weekend and probably will look to visit USC and Ann Arbor later this season.   His former position coach at UVA is now at USC (but might not be there for long).  

His high school coach tweeted out that Michigan hasn't offered a JUCO player in 27 years but that is not the case as Austin Panter was a JUCO transfer back in 2007.    Michigan admissions has let JUCO players transfer in for other sports like Baseball and lets hope that trend continues for the football program.  

• I got an email yesterday from Outback that had Blake Corum and AJ Henning in it.  Times sure are a changing!  

• Looks like Taylor Lewan suffered a concussion and not a serious neck injury on Monday night.  He should be back after a couple of weeks in the protocol.  

Michigan Friday: A Day In Michigan

Ryan Day, who is clearly is a distant relative of Eddie Munster, this week scolded a reporter for using the word "Michigan" and not calling it "The School Up North".    This is not new for the Columbus Crew and I thought I would share a few more words that are included in OSU's special dictionary.  

If OSU has to play a MAC school from the State of Michigan: 

Central, Western, or Eastern The School Up North .   To bad Northern Michigan is a D2 school, because they would be playing Northern The School Up North.   MSU is of course The School Up North State.

What if someone from Columbus wants to travel to Chicago for shopping?

They go to The School Up North Ave

Enjoy a Race?

The School Up North International Speedway

Go Fishing?

Lake The School Up North 

Buy Tires?

The School Up North elin 

Have a nice light beer?

The School Up North elob Ultra 

Address the former First Lady or award winning actress: 

The School Up North elle Obama or Pfeiffer

Enjoy an old Bateman movie with actor

The School Up North ael Keaton 

The best basketball player of all time....

The School Up North ael Jordan 

Need a trainer?

Jillian The School Up North aels 

• Sam Webb put in a CB Prediction for Donovan Edwards to Michigan.  I'm still leery on this recruitment but this is a positive sign.   This is a must win for the Wolverines along with Kendall and Benny.  

• Former Wolverines Eddie McDoom and Devin Gill who transferred to South Florida have both decided to opt out of this season. 

Michigan Thursday: Will This Year Be Different?

With the regular game day preview scheduled for Friday, I thought today would be a good time to discuss why things will be different this year.

I'm sure we all can agree that Michigan should have been much better then it really was last year.  Think about a 5 star QB, Higdon and Evans at RB, talented WR's and a experienced offensive line.  Then you add Gary, Bush, Winovich, Hill and Long on defense and you wonder if this Michigan team had any weaknesses.  Still  the Wolverines lost the first game of the year and had another terrible finish to the season.

So now what?  Why does this season have a chance for a Big Ten Championship?

1. #Speed in Space, I know Jimmy, Lloyd, and Bo all believed in power football and that you will wear down your opponent and win the game.   The game has changed and you can't be that predictable on offense.  It's too easy to cover for any defense with talented players.   Maybe since RR, Michigan will run an offense that schemes people open and takes advantage of mismatches.  How many times have we watched Michigan have a two WR route in a passing play?  It's time for a Michigan offense to scheme plays that can get WR's buck naked open.   If Gattis can do this, he will be a head coach somewhere next year and Shea will make a run at the Heisman.
2.  An experienced talented offensive line.  Michigan finally has a good offensive line with a good offensive line coach.  It seems Michigan has struggled on the offensive line for the last 10 years. 
3. Don Brown head scratcher - Every season Don Brown has a head scratching defensive performance where his unit gets blown out.   Don does a great job in 90% of the games, he has to work on the other 10%.   Can he run a zone?  Can he be un-predictable and turn the tables on some of the good offenses Michigan will see this year?  He better. 
4. Year 2 healthy QB - Shea Patterson has an offense that fits him and a year under his belt with Harbaugh which could pay huge dividends.  
5. QB Depth - OSU had a 3 string QB take their team to the NC game a few years ago.  Michigan's back-ups where guys like John O'Korn and that one dude that couldn't play at Miami of Ohio (where he transferred to and then transferred again). 
6. Urban is gone.  There where two great head coaches in college football Nick and Urban.  Dabo is on his way, but I can still remember the Clemson fans wanting to run him out of town and hire RR of all people.   No matter who you put in Columbus, it's going to be a downgrade from Urban.   OSU will be worse and Michigan has a chance to wrestle back this series. 

One of the best things about Jimmy as a head coach is he isn't too stubborn to change and brought in Josh Gattis to fix the offense.  Which really wasn't broken last year.   Michigan scored enough points on offense to beat Ohio State, the Michigan defense just let us down.   Let's hope the Wolverines now have an offense to win a shoot out in those type of games.  

• Oliver Martin, Aubrey Solomon, and Myles Sims all got waivers from the NCAA for immediate eligibility this week.   Michigan will get to see Oliver in about a month.  

• Michigan Basketball Season Tickets are sold out for the first time in 19 years.  That must be the love for Coach Howard as this team doesn't have a ton of talent. 

• Keep sending your game day predictions in! 

Wolverine Wednesday: Updates Brian Cole

Remember Brian Cole?  He was an athlete from Saginaw that could pay on either side of the ball.   He was a the top rated player out of Michigan in the 2015 class and the #74th player in the country to 24/7.  Michigan wanted him on offense and he tried his hat at WR.  During his freshman year he caught one pass against Utah and played mostly on special teams.  Later that season, Michigan considered moving him to CB.

After that season, it was quickly downhill for Brian at Michigan and in May 2016, Brian was enrolled at East Mississippi CC.  After some time at East Mississippi, Brian transferred to Mississippi State but not all his credits transferred and he had to sit out his first year on campus.  

Brian is now a 5th year senior at Mississippi State and starter at Safety.  Last year, he had 11 tackles and one pick after starting 4 games while partially tearing his pectoral muscle.  Good luck to Brian during his senior year!

• Sun Bowl is now The Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.  Please expand the playoffs. 

• Brandon Peters former Michigan QB who took a graduate transfer to Illinois, was named the starter yesterday.   Illinois clearly got the better of the Jeff George, Jr. trade, who never played at Michigan or made it through camp.  

• This seems strange but Shea Patterson is an alternate captain on offense, Josh Metellus on defense, per UM Athletics.

• Michigan spent nearly $1.4M on recruiting costs last fiscal year.   MSU spent over $766K

Michigan Friday: Luke Keeps Digging The Hole

Luke Fickell is very popular with Michigan fans.  He is the only head coach at Ohio State that Michigan has defeated in recent memory.   He was the interim head coach at the time but has gotten passed over twice for the full time gig in Columbus.   So he packed up his things and headed South  about an hour and now coaching The University of Cincinnati.

Now he is upset because he believes Jimmy didn't support James Hudson's waiver to get immediate playing time at UC.  Jimmy fired back that wasn't true and Luke still believes it is.

Tom Mars the lawyer for Shea Patterson's transfer and now a member of an NCAA Committee, has come out and said that Michigan had zero influence over the NCAA's decision.

Another example is Drew Singleton who transferred to Rutgers from Michigan.  His waiver was granted by the NCAA in May and will play this year for the Scarlett Knights.   Similar to UC, Rutgers also has a head coach who was an assistant coach at Ohio State.   The difference is, Rutgers is on Michigan's schedule this year.   Meaning, if Jimmy were going to try to block any transfer, this would probably be the one.

Luke needs to worry about his own team and stop blaming Jimmy for the NCAA's strange decisions.  I hope this is over now.

• Michigan has received the most impactful injury of training camp as potential RT starter Andrew Stueber has gone down with a leg injury.   We are not aware of how significant the injury is at this point.   This now pencils in Jalen Mayfied as the starter with Ryan Hayes as the back-up.    Jalen and Andrew were in competition for the starting spot, so at a minimum this hurts the Wolverines depth on O-line.   

• Another MSU trainer has been charged with domestic violence.

• Saturday night well be 2 weeks away from Michigan Football! 

Wolverine Wednesday: Jimmy Speaks a Lot

We haven't heard much Michigan's head football coach since camp started.   Yes, a few players have spoke and even the coordinators, but not much (as former head coach of the AAF Champion Orlando Apollos Steve Spurrier likes to call the position) from the head ball coach.

Until Tuesday, when Jimmy spoke to the BTN crew, dropped his podcast, and did a press conference.  That is a waterfall of information.   I will do my best to summarize new information for you.   We don't need to re-cap the guys are in great shape and that Josh Gattis is doing a wonderful job running the offense.

• The highlight of the press conference is when Jimmy took Cincinnati Head Football Coach Luke Fickell to task over the James Hudson transfer.  Jimmy said, he told the truth about the position switch and had nothing to do with his waiver being approved or denied for immediate playing time.  The NCAA denied it, by the way.   Luke had mentioned to the ESPN's Athletic that Jimmy was "cold" when they spoke and inferred that Michigan didn't support the waiver.   Jimmy called that stance by Fickell "erroneous".

• Jimmy likes the Freshman: Mazi Smith as lost 25 pounds of fat, David Objo has put on 25 pounds of muscle, Giles Jackson, Dax Hill, and CJ Johnson are doing great as punt gunners.  "Zach Charbonnet is coming on like a freight train"

• The coaches review the depth chart and each player at 10:00 PM each night. 

• Practices 6-9 will have more scrimmage time built in.  Just completed practice #5. 

• The rumor of Ambry Thomas having Mono was incorrect, he has Colitis and is now gaining his weight back and getting back his conditioning.  There is no timetable for his return as he heals.  Expect Vincent Gray to replace him in the starting lineup. 

• Jimmy likes the depth on the defensive line?  CMU transfer Mike Danna is also a starter right now on the DL. 

• ESPN GameDay will do the it first location of the season at Disney World, next week for the Gators - Hurricanes match-up. 

Michigan Tuesday: Taters Are Going To Tate

Michigan for a short time had a famous Tate from California before he flamed out.  Ohio State recently had one until he transferred, Tate Martell.   Its a slow news day, so I'm going to give you a quick update on the former OSU QB.

Being Tate Martell:

Tate grew up in San Diego but decided to transfer to Las Vegas Powerhouse Bishop Gorman to become a nationally recruited QB.  That strategy paid off and Tate became a 5 star Dual-Threat QB in the 2017 class.

Let the recruiting process begin! Well sort of, when Tate was 14 he committed to the University of Washington.   Then in 2015 he de-committed from UW and committed to Texas A&M.  Then in 2016 he again de-committed this time from the Aggies and committed to Urban Meyer and Ohio State.   After playing in his senior season at Bishop Gorman, he transfers to Dessert Pines HS so he could join Ohio State early.   Not sure how that would work bit there is clearly some Urban Meyer magic in there.

Tate at Bishop Gorman also found himself to be a TV star, as he was the subject (along with Jake Fromm and Tayvon Bowers) of Netflix's QB1 reality series.   Tate threw up video game numbers his senior year and was named the Gatorade Player of the Year.  He passed for 41 TD's and ran for another 21, while posting a 15-0 record.   He was a rock star and knew it.

Tate joined the Buckeyes and found himself buried on the depth chart, mostly behind Dwayne Haskins and JT Barrett.  This offseason Tate's time was finally here, as Haskins entered the NFL Draft early and JT was gone the year prior.   Then things started to change in Columbus, Urban steps down and Ryan Day takes over.  Another 5 star QB decides he wants to be in Columbus and Justin Fields transfers from Georgia.  Justin also secures a waiver from the NCAA for immediate eligibility due to race incident in Athens.

So now what?  Tate like he has done in the past, decided to make another change and enters the transfer portal.   He finds a home at the University of Miami and gets a waiver from the NCAA to play right away due to the coaching change at OSU.   Miami is in bad shape at the QB position and also has a new head coach in Manny Diaz.  Tate again is ready to start, this time for the Hurricanes.   If you remember, Tate Forcier also tried to transfer to Miami but his grades stopped that transaction.

The time in now as Miami has a very early and important game against Florida in Orlando in 11 days.  ESPN asked the NCAA and both teams to move this game up a week so it could be the highlight of the weekend and the start of the college football season on 8/24.

Yesterday, Miami head coach Manny Diaz announced that freshman Jarren Williams would be the starting QB for the Hurricanes in their match-up against the Gators.   Tate doesn't show up for practice on Monday.

What is next for Tate?  Only Tate knows.

Wolverine Wednesday: Brandon Peters Transfers to Illinois

I'm happy for Brandon that he finally found a new team.  It has been clear for over a year that he was the odd man out at the QB position in Ann Arbor.  He announced yesterday he was transferring to Illinois and will have two years left and immediate eligibility for Lovie Smith.

Illinois is close to home for Brandon and his family and happy that he will get a shot at starting for the next two years.  Michigan plays Illinois next season at Champaign on 10/12.

That is the one change to the new transfer rule I would make.  If a player is immediately eligible, they should not be able to transfer to a team that is on the schedule (of the team your leaving) the next season.

Good luck to Brandon!

• Mo Wagner is in the news.  The Lakers are trying to move his contract to open up more cap room and he also mistakenly liked a tweet about George Zimmerman.  He apologized about that and tweeted out that he didn't know how his account did that.   Mo wasn't even in the states when that tragedy happened. 

• Juwan Howard continues to offer 5 star players.  He just offered the top player in the 2021 class.  I doubt he will have a ton of success offering these players, but I'm glad he is doing it.  

• Jacksonville Jaguars LB Myles Jack has a new side business selling candles: “I always take baths with candles . . . so I made my own little lavender candle,” Jack said, via Tess Demeyer of USA Today. “I lit it, and I was reading in the bath, and I was like, ‘Oh, OK. This candle’s actually all right.’”

Michigan Tuesday: Oliver to Iowa

Michigan WR Oliver Martin in the last few weeks was out, was back in, and then out.  Now he is heading to Iowa to play for the Hawkeyes.  That was the presumed destination and it ended up being correct.  It's a bit strange for him to transfer to a place that still has Michigan on the schedule, but times are a changing and we wish him good luck.

Oliver is expected to sit out this season and have 3 more to play for the Hawkeyes.

• Instate OT Grant Toutant flipped from Penn State to Ohio State, it seems the Wolverines had little to no interest in the large OT. 

• CWS Michigan vs. TT at 2:00 on Saturday. 

• Here is a glimpse of Juwan's July:  "(July) is going to be a very busy month for us," Howard said. "Me and my staff will be out (on the road recruiting). In LA, the Adidas Gauntlet tournament. We'll be out there in Anaheim watching that. There's the Peach Jam, Nike is holding a big event that they've put on for many years. A lot of talented ball players go out there and compete in that. The Peach Jam is also located in Augusta, Georgia, let me not forget to say that. There's another event held in Atlanta, and we've got pretty lucky with that one. There's a tournament that Under Armour is hosting... It's going to be a very busy time."

Michigan Thursday: Oliver Heads To The Portal

Oliver Martin has been struggling with a decision.  He reported a day or two late for summer workouts, then the rumors began.

He showed up in a picture with the WR's at BW3's this weekend and the rumors starting to die down.  Sam Webb then confirmed with his parents that, "Oliver wasn't heading anywhere".   The rumors died.

He shows up for a couple days of workouts, misses one, and then ends up in the portal on Wednesday night.

I'm torn on this one.  I really was excited to have Oliver in the best WR class Michigan has ever had.  That alone fact was exciting and probably the reason he is moving on.   Black came out and was a star in a win over Florida in Dallas, then gets hurt twice.   DPJ was the star WR last year and you could see Nico skills as a future NFL WR.

Then Mike Sainristil takes the opportunity of DPJ and Nico being out and tears up Spring Ball.  I'm sure Oliver is feeling like the odd man out.   You can't blame the kid for reading the room.  

The flip side of this is Michigan's running back situation.  A year ago, it seemed Michigan had unlimited running backs on the roster.   After the NFL Draft, transfers, injuries, and suspensions all that depth is completely gone.   Kurt Taylor decided to transfer (I believe to a CC) and probably would have been the #1 RB in Spring Ball and gotten a chance to show his skills with the first team.  

I understand the transfer and wish him luck but would have loved it if he had stayed and waited for his chance. 

• Michigan continues to trend for Jordan Morant a 4-star Safety out of NJ. 

• Michigan Football is holding camps on the 8th and 10th this weekend.  Expect a number of visitors in Ann Arbor. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Yak Expected To Head To Texas

Michigan's Basketball staff is starting to come together under Juwan Howard.   The bad news is, reports are that Luke Yaklich is going to accept an offer by Shaka Smart and head to Texas as their DC.  The good news is, Saddi Washington is expected to stay on staff.

Many fans were hoping Luke would stay, but Juwan is a defensive head coach and their skills sets may overlap.   Luke has a senior in high school (next year) so this can't be an easy decision for he and his family.   Its not completely done, but if it happens, we wish him the best of luck in Austin.   This will also allow Juwan to add some of his own coaching staff which could be a long term benefit as well.

As reported a couple days ago, Jon Sanderson the S&C coach was also retained.

Juwan will be announced at a press conference tomorrow at 11:50,  it will be streamed on Mgoblue.

• Ed Cooley said it was very hard to turn down Michigan.  Let me be the first to say, Thank you Ed for doing that!  I still question if he had an offer.  

• Jaevin Cumberland the Oakland transfer is reportedly down to Michigan and Cincinnati.  His cousin Jarron has decided not to enter the NBA Draft and head back to UC.   Which seems to point to Jaevin leaning heavy towards the Bearcats, who also have a new head coach.   

Wolverine Wednesday: New Portal Guy

Touch The Banner

Can you lose a guy, you already lost?

That is the question for CB and Michigan graduate Ben St.-Juste a former 4 star CB that Michigan Football officially retired from football, is now in the transfer portal.  Ben tweeted out when he graduated last week that his retirement from football wasn't his decision.  

Ben missed all of last season due to a hamstring injury and one that the Michigan doctors must of thought would not heal appropriately.    What other reason would Jimmy and Don Brown push a position of need out of the program?  Ben had a very high ceiling and should have been competing for a starting role this spring.  

There was a similar situation a few years ago, when Michigan wanted Ondre Pipkins to take a medical redshirt due to multiple concussions, he declined and transferred to Texas Tech for a year.  Ondre had a nice year at Tech with 32 tackles and 5 for a loss.   If you remember, Brady Hoke declined a commitment from Joey Bosa because they had Pipkins committed.    Glory Days! 

This has happened before and I wonder what the condition of Juste's hamstring truly is.  

• OSU's QB Matt Baldwin is transferring to TCU

Michigan Tueday: Wolverine News and Notes

Watching twitter and seeing all the fun the team is having in South Africa is just amazing.  This is the Michigan Difference at work.  Freshman QB Cade McNamara thanked Michigan Football for one of the best days of his life.

We're wrapping up our final day in Cape Town, and it's been a fun one.

Our morning began on Table Mountain, one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World!#UbuntuBlue 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/WCADgDEJFx

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) May 6, 2019

These kids should be in high school still.  Going to prom and graduating.

• Sam Webb says Michigan is looking good for 4 star RB Blake Corum 

• Scot Loeffler is clearly trying to build a mini-Michigan at Bowling Green.  He recently lost Jim Herrmann off his staff to the NFL and has replaced him with former Wolverine Jim Morrison.  If Michigan fans need a MAC team to root for, it could be BGSU.  

• Former PSU QB Tommy Stevens will visit Kentucky.   

• Coach B needs to rework his options for next year and one of those options could be Oakland grad transfer Jaevin Cumberland, who is planning a U of M visit.

• 2020 4-star Miami CB Henry Gray will be visiting soon.

• 2020 4 star OLB from Maryland Mitchell Melton will use one of his official visits to Ann Arbor.

Michigan Monday: Didn't Make The Trip

It seems Tarik Black and DPJ didn't make the trip to South Africa, which seems a bit strange.   We know DPJ is healing a groin injury but Black participated through Spring Ball.  At this point, I don't think there is anything to read into this, but its a bit strange.  

Brandon Peters on Friday graduated from Michigan and also put his name in the Transfer Portal.   Which we all knew he was going to do as he is currently #4 on the QB depth chart.   Peters showed flashes on good QB play, but also showed some bad and mostly in the Outback Bowl Scrimmage, where Michigan laid down against a poor South Carolina team.   Purdue is still the expected destination.

Since we are playing, whose on the trip?:  Brandon parents told him to have fun in Africa.   Which also seems a bit strange.  

Former Michigan CB Ben St. Juste announced on Twitter that he graduated from Michigan in 2.5 years.  Which is quite an accomplishment.   He also said, that his medical retirement was not his decision and he will have an announcement this week.  In that same post, he also said he was accepted to U of M's Kinesiology graduate program.   So if he is going to continue to play football, he won't be attending U of M.

Losing Ben was a big blow as many had high hopes for him in Michigan's secondary.

• There seems to be some trending for instate 4 star DE Braiden McGregor to ND.   

• ESPN and Fox are expected to televise the XFL, which should help getting through its first year. 

Michigan Friday: Transfer Portal Impact

Michigan has benefited from transfers since Jimmy has taken over the program.  Jake Rudock started the trend when he transferred from Iowa and turned that decision into a NFL backup role.   Michigan's most famous transfer of course, is current QB Shea Patterson from Ole Miss.    Michigan also had 2 DB's transfer to the program but hardly see the field.

The Big Ten, had a few high profile guys enter the portal yesterday:

• Former 4 Star CB from Michigan Myles Simms 
• Penn State (expected) Starting QB Tommie Stevens 
• Ohio State back-up QB red shirt freshman Matthew Baldwin

I'm not crying for OSU who lost 1 QB to the NFL, another to a transfer to Miami, and now Baldwin is leaving.   They of course got a 5 star from Georgia and another transfer from West Virginia.   OSU only two QB's on the roster are from other programs.  

Penn State of course will now start seeing what life is like without Moorhead, Barkley, and McSorely.   Tommie has waited a long time for the starting gig and now prefers to leave.   

This is the new norm for college football.  I hope Jimmy is using his staff to look for a defensive tackle and maybe a RB.  He mentioned on the podcast that they have a grad transfer long snapper coming in.   Also keep an eye for others to enter the portal, like one time starter Brandon Peters.  

My top concern right now is a inexperienced defensive line against the top 25 Army triple option in September. 

• Remember Kurt Taylor?  That RB from Georgia that was in the program for a couple of years and decided to transfer to a community college in January.  Can't help to wonder if he wouldn't have gotten his shot to impress the coaches this spring.  

• Sam Webb reports that 3 star DE Kenny Mesitdor is expected to make a decision soon.  He has offers like a 4 star which includes: Michigan, UCLA, Florida, BC, MSU, UK, USC, CAL and more.  

• #1 Safety in the country 2020 4 star Jordan Morant is currently on campus. 

• Also  2020 QB commit JD Johnson will be taking his a visit this weekend.