Michigan Monday: Cole Sullivan to Michigan

Cole Sullivan became a Wolverine on Friday night beating out the likes of ND and other programs.  If you look at Cole's ranking you might be a little surprised, he is ranked as a 3-star and just in the top 600 on 24/7 composite, 56th LB, and not even in the top 10 in his home state of Pennsylvania.  

Those rankings lead me to believe that Cole is a bit underrated, another fact that leads me to that conclusion is his offer list of: Michigan, ND, Miami, BC, UC, MSU, PSU, Stanford, MSU, UVA, Pitt, Wisconsin and more.  Which stands out to me as a 4-star offer list.  The coaches seemed to like what they saw vs. the recruiting services. 

Cole is 6'3 and 200 pounds and plays for Central Catholic in Pittsburg.  Looks like he is taking care of things in the classroom and on the field where he recorded 117 tackles and 2 sacks last season.  Welcome Sully!  

• Juwan reeled in the top in state player in the 2024 class in Grand Rapids PG Durral Brooks, who is known as a playmaker that can get to the rim, but is not considered a knock down shooter. 

• Ray J Dennis from Toledo is considered the best guard in the portal right now.  He averaged 19 points per game last season, was named the MAC Player of the Year, and visited Ann Arbor this weekend.  He is taking a ton of visits before making a decision.  Michigan of course could use that scoring, as getting the ball in the basket will be a challenge for the new look Wolverines next season. 

• Former Wolverine Brandon Rusnak had a big interception in the XFL Championship game on Saturday night.  When the announcer said Rusnak was a former Michigan Wolverine, I thought it was a mistake.  It wasn't, Brandon Watson changed his name in 2020.   Congrats to Daveon Smith who also had a good game, scored a 2 point conversion, and was on the winning team coached by Big Game Bob. 

Michigan Friday: Mixing Blue with Green

It's not very often a former Wolverine works for Michigan State Football.  Thomas Wilcher a former Michigan Football Player and the famous head coach of Cass Tech took a job on Mel Tucker's staff a few years ago.  The Michigan Football community had mixed emotions about the hire. It's great that a high school coach gets a shot at Big Ten Football but it's Michigan State. 

Michigan is also an offender in this rivalry hiring.  Jimmy hired Dan Enos for 18 minutes one day before he jumped ship to another program.  Dan is famous for leaving jobs for other positions very quietly, reportedly Dan left Alabama for another gig by not showing up to a Saban staff meeting.  I would have loved to have heard an FBI wiretap at that meeting.  Stay Classy Mr. Enos.  

Reports out of East Lansing is that Thomas Wilcher is no longer with MSU.  Which clearly leads me to believe he was a double agent spying on MSU for the good of Wolverine Nation.  

The internet tells me with you mix Blue with Green you get the color Cyan.  Which means that Thomas's next stop is Tulane.   😃

• Remember the recruitment of Dorian Thompson-Robinson?  He is now in this year's NFL Draft.

• XFL vs. USFL this weekend.  If you like football, April is the month for you!! Names in the USFL you might recognize: Big Willie Henry, Delano Hill, and Channing Stribling. 

• New official visit rules go into effect this August where prospects now can take more than 5 visits, but just 1 per program.  The schools can only have 56 official visitors a year, which did not change.  Yes, if there is a coaching change you can take 2 to that school.  

• 2024 4-star Edge Dominic Nichols just spent 3 days in A2 and has already booked an offical visit to come back.  He has 100% CB's to Penn State

• 2024 4-star TE Max LeBlanc is down to Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State and Tennessee, with a commitment expected in the next few weeks

Michigan Monday: Just Proud

Michigan and MSU are longtime rivals on the field of play, after last week we are all human and sometimes things are more important than a game.   The two Universities showed a ton of class and humanity on Saturday and played a basketball game.  I'm proud of everyone who participated in honoring the victims of the MSU tragedy.  I have a nephew at State and that tragedy really hit home for me and my family.  

The Michigan Basketball team had one of its better efforts on Saturday by going on a 12-0 to finish the game against MSU.  Dug and Kobe played well and it was sort of a coming out party for big man Tarris Reed.  Michigan continues its roller coaster season and hopefully puts a run together for an invite to the Big Dance. 

• I watched a little bit of the XFL and it seemed like decent football.  I did like a few of the format changes, running clock, proactive booth reviews, interesting kick off idea, and the extra points are very cool.   I hope the Rock's $$ holds out to see how they do. Better make another Jumanji. 

• I believe today is the first day of Spring Practice, which is hard to believe! Spring Game April, 1st. (That is not a joke 😀).

Michigan Friday: You Say Good Bye, I Say Helow

A bad sign? When your replacement is hired before you agree to leave your job. 

Hi Honey, who is that dude in the backyard?  He is my new husband.  Damn it! 

Michigan fans were excited that Chris Partridge came back to Ann Arbor, known as a player's coach and a great recruiter, we saw his career blossom in Ann Arbor before he got paid to go to Ole Miss.  Chris's reputation was just the opposite of George Helow's, who reportedly struggled on the recruiting trail and connecting with players.  The problem is, both guys coach linebackers and George was handpicked by Mike Macdonald.  Which now equates to looking for a new coaching gig.  Maybe a return to the Ravens, who knows?

• Kirk Campbell is getting paid $350K this year and $400K next

• ND hires its TE coach as OC to save a few dollars 

• The Michigan - MSU Basketball game is on this weekend 

• Tiger Woods is back and made his first 2023 appearance in chilly LA and shot -2 on Thursday afternoon.

• XFL starts this weekend with these former Wolverines on teams: De'veon Smith = Arlington, Kareem Walker = St. Louis, JBB = St. Louis, Lavert Hill = St. Louis.  Also names from the NFL you may remember include: Josh Gordon, Vic Beasley, and Martavis Bryant. 

Michigan Monday: The XFL and The Rock

The XFL is coming back in February and there are some familiar names as head coaches.   The issue is, will The Rock and the XFL investors have the appetite to take a financial hit while the league finds its footing? There is a lot to not love about the new LIV Golf League but the reason big names are jumping to play and broadcast, is because that fund has enough money to fail every year.  

Here is a list of the head coaches:

Orlando: T Buck 

Houston: Wade Phillips

Arlington: Big Game Bob Stoops 

Vegas: Rod Woodson

San Antonio: Hines Ward 

Seattle: Jim Haslett

St. Louis: Anthony Becht

Washington DC: Reggie Barlow 

Most of the OC's and DC's have been hired as well.  Seattle has the most interesting pair as the DC is Ron Zook and OC is June Jones. 

  

• Michigan's Football Team was up north in the western part of the state on Sunday.  They did some dune buggy rides, worked in historic Idlewild, enjoyed dinner and the sunset at Acarida Bluffs (for my money the best golf course in Michigan - should be on every Michigan golfer's bucket list for sure).   

• Michigan is trending for 2024 4-star WR Channing Goodwin.  That name might be familiar to you and yes, he is the son of Jonathan Goodwin and would be another legacy Wolverine.  I also believe Harold Goodwin is Channing's Uncle. 

 

Michigan Thursday: News and Notes

 Distracted by the PGA Championship this morning, so throwing some N&N at you!  😀

• Moussa Diabate testing #'s at the combine were pretty good (compared with Centers): Lane agility #1, Shuttle #1, Sprint #1, Standing Vertical #2, Max Vertical #1.   He gone! 

• Looks like NCAA Football Conference Divisions are going away.  I just don't want to play OSU twice in a row.   I am for moving any Michigan game in Columbus to Indy and playing it as the Big Ten Championship game. 

• Funny how NIL is giving boosters the right to "buy" recruits.   So nothing has changed, just what has happened in the dark, is now in the light. 

• Ryan "Pay" Day gets a nice raise and a 2-year extension.   I didn't think that happened after losing to "The Team Up North".

• USFL expands roster with 5 more players, trying to protect players against the XFL next season. 

• Speaking of the XFL, they have signed a deal with ESPN.

Michigan Tuesday: Waiting For The Big Ten Schedule

As COVID races and shut downs Big Ten Football programs.  With Northwestern and Rutgers being the latest with outbreaks, there is also a very well written FaceBook post by the mother of a Indiana offensive lineman that has been hit very hard by COVID while training with his teammates.   We are waiting on Big Ten to announce the new schedule.  The rumor mill is saying we are going to hear something this morning.   I have also heard similar rumors for the past 3 weeks.  So who knows?

As far as Michigan recruiting goes, the next big fish will be announcing this Saturday in Rocco Spindler.  Rocco is rated a 4 star Guard and one of the highest recruited offensive lineman in this class.  He is down to Michigan and ND with 50/50 in predictions.   Rocco, Donovan Edwards, and Rashaun Benny are the three must wins for Michigan as they are positions of need and instate recruits.    Rocco is a coin flip, Edwards was trending away from Michigan but now in better shape, and most insiders feel Rashaun is a strong lean towards Ann Arbor.  

• The Rock and a group of investors buys the XFL for $15M.  Hopefully, they give the league a chance and willing to lose money for a few years.   Here are my recommendations for success: 1- try to get some deal with the NFL and NFLPA, 2- TV deals are very important, 3- play in professional soccer stadiums not NFL stadiums, 4-Pick football hungry locations like San Antonio, Orlando, Portland maybe?  5- don't overpay big name coaches and use the league to develop minority coaches and management.   If you can get the NFL more involved as a development league for players, coaches, and management you have a chance.  (even former players wanting to be broadcasters, Troy Aikman started calling games in the World League)

• One of the Big Ten's best players, Minnesota WR Rashod Bateman is opting out of the Big Ten season and will train for the NFL Draft. 

• I'm looking forward to the first golf major this weekend in the PGA Championship.  Love they are playing on a public course in San Fran. 

• The man that arguably saved Michigan Football, Jim Hackett is retiring as the CEO of Ford on Oct. 1

Michigan Thursday: Who is Hassan Haskins?

Freep

Michigan was so deep at RB last season, they moved 6'1 220 pound true freshman Hassan Haskins to LB as he played both RB and LB in high school in St. Louis.   HH wasn't the highest rated or recruited guys in the nation, he was rated 3 stars and his top offers where from the likes of Purdue, EMU, and Memphis.  He was barley in the 24/7's top 1000 (975) and only had a 4.7 40 yard dash.   Some fans have the opinion the reason the program can't turn the corner is because Michigan is offering recruits rated this low.

Fast forward to the end of last season, 1 RB starter is headed to the NFL, another transfers out, and the holdover starter has an academic issue and is suspended.  That left a former walk-on Tru Wilson, Christian Turner, and incoming true freshman.  Michigan needed more tailbacks and pulled Hassan back from defense.   Fast forward again to this season and Michigan is struggling at the RB position.  Tru was hurt, Charbonnet was banged up, and Turner is having trouble holding on to the ball.   Which meant that HH now has his chance in Champaign, Illinois.

Jimmy on Monday said: "First started seeing some wow-type of plays in practice, and now we’ve seen them in the games,” Consistently getting better and better. This last game, he had a great game, over 100 yards, along with Zach Charbonnet”

Clearly the game is starting to slow down for HH as he speeds up.   He started the season mostly on the bench with a total of -5 yards through the first 3 games.  HH started to shine during the Rutgers game where he got more playing time and totaled 45 yards, then 2 caries against Iowa for 22 yards before his career Saturday with 125 yards against Illinois.   His most impressive run all day might have been the 4th and 2 in the 4th quarter.  He didn't make it, but it took the entire Illinois defense to get him down.   (BTW, Shea scores if he keeps the ball on that play - huge miss read)

Now, he will be a big part of the game plan in Happy Valley.  Michigan's offense needs a kick in the pants or a secret weapon and maybe HH will fill that role.   My advice, keep running hard and hold on to the damn ball!!

• Amara Darboh has been signed and promoted from the Tampa Bay Bucs practice squad. 

• Fingers crossed that Coach Howards lands his first 5 star recruit tonight at 7:45. 

• MSU has had 5 players enter the transfer portal in the last month.

• Tyree Kinnell was also drafted by the XFL and will join Pep's team in DC. 

Michigan Tuesday: Aidan Hutchinson is The BIG10 Defensive Player of The Week

Aidan Hutchinson's performance on Saturday earned him the BIG10 defensive player of the week award.  He had 6 tackles (2.5 TFL's), 1 Sack, 1 Forced Fumble and his unit gave up 1 rushing yard.   Don Brown also said on the radio, he has/had an upper body injury last week, which didn't slow him down a bit.  The biggest oversight was by me not including Aidan in Sunday's "Cheers" section.  I'm sure he was crushed and will take it out on Illinois this weekend.  :)

Will Aidan get to chase his former room-mate on Saturday Brandon Peters?  We still don't know, as Brandon left during the first half of last Saturday's game with a concussion.  My guess is that Brandon doesn't play on Saturday, but that is purely just my speculation.

• Jimmy didn't have an update on the status on McCaffrey or Paye's injuries. 

• I wouldn't be surprised if Dylan is 100% healthy on Saturday that he gets the start.  Again, speculation. 

• Have you been wondering which former Wolverines are in the XFL Draft?  Nope, me either but here it is anyways:  Stribling, Isaac, Edwards, and Logan Tulley-Tillman.   Good luck to them! 

• ABC has confirmed the PSU 7:30 kick