lamar jackson

Bye Week Visits: Nauta, Gary Square Off

Coming to your citayyyyyyy

It's the bye week. Life is mercifully boring, unless you're on Michigan's coaching staff, in which case you're probably on a plane.

Spending the day mining for Gold with DJ Durkin & @JayHarbaugh ! #GoBlue

— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) October 23, 2015

The coaches will stop by schools and check out games of several top targets today and tomorrow. The headliner is tonight, when five-star DT Rashan Gary and Paramus Catholic take on five-star TE Isaac Nauta and IMG Academy at 7pm (televised on ESPN2 if you're curious); Jim Harbaugh will be there, per TomVH ($):

Harbaugh is expected to be in attendance at IMG’s game on Friday as it takes on Parramus Catholic, a team that features the No. 1-ranked player in the country, Rashan Gary.

"It’s awesome that he’s coming to the game,” Nauta said, “especially because I was just up there and he’s making the effort to come down here. He could have gone to a lot of places but he chose to come down here so that’s huge.”

That's a nice two-for-one, and it's not the only stop Harbaugh will make on the recruiting trail this weekend; 247's Steve Lorenz reports($) he'll also head to Houston on Saturday to see four-star ILB Dontavious Jackson and three-star S Chris Brown. John Baxter is heading out to California to see four-star CB David Long and, in all likelihood, four-star ATH Lamar Jackson. Jay Harbaugh is going to Tampa to check out three-star TE Jacob Mathis. Tim Drevno is on his way to Texas to watch four-star OT Jean Delance.

Several other top targets will receive visits, as well. There's also a new name on the list of bye week targets: four-star 2017 CO OT Jake Moretti, an Ohio State commit who 247's Bill Kurelic reports got a visit from Jedd Fisch ($):

Being a class of 2017 prospect and being an offensive lineman out in Colorado, Moretti’s name doesn’t often come up right now. But Wolverine assistant Jedd Fisch, with Michigan having a bye this weekend, stopped at Moretti’s school this week.

And Fisch isn’t the only coach interested in flipping Moretti.

“Schools keep coming after me,” Moretti said. “(But) I’m good with Ohio State. I’m 100%. I love Ohio State. Ohio State is a special place.”

Michigan's had some success recruiting in Colorado and could add to that if Carlo Kemp chooses the Wolverines over Notre Dame. We'll see if anything develops with Moretti.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

Visit Reaction: M Leads For Jackson

While the game itself didn't have the desired outcome, last weekend proved to be a good one for Michigan's recruiting efforts. Four big-time official visitors took in the game and the Wolverines look to have a great shot with at least three of them.

Top-100 CA ATH Lamar Jackson, who could be a corner or safety at Michigan, told 247's Steve Lorenz that the Wolverines now lead after his official ($):

"Yeah, I'd say Michigan leads," he said. "The Michigan experience kind of spoke for itself. The atmosphere at the game was incredible, the academics at Michigan are great and I learned a lot about the program, the players and the leadership of Coach Harbaugh was really impressive to me. I wasn't sure heading into the visit because it's a long ways away and I was not familiar with the weather, but the visit definitely changed my mind on things."

Michigan is clearly in great shape. This was Jackson's fourth official and he hasn't scheduled his fifth; while many considered USC the odds-on favorite, he has no plans to see them on an unofficial before announcing his decision at the Under Armour game.

Five-star GA TE Isaac Nauta is right up there with Rashan Gary as the top overall target on the board, and he told Scout's Chad Simmons he was "very surprised" by how much he liked Michigan ($):

"Coach Harbaugh told me and showed me that there is a both, a need for me, and a want for me at Michigan.  We looked at film, we had a talk, and I saw a lot.  at the end of the visit, I was just surprised more than anything else.  

"I just did not expect it to be that way.  My mind about Michigan has definitely been changed."

Lorenz chatted with us on MGoRadio yesterday and said the visit couldn't have gone much better; that said, he also thinks Nauta still ends up at Georgia, though Michigan has made this a tough decision. Nauta plans to announce at the Army All-American Game.

Top-100 WR Dylan Crawford spoke to Rivals' Adam Gorney after his official visit and discussed his potential role at Michigan ($):

"I really like how it went," Crawford said. "I could see myself fitting in there. I feel like I could play there. I like the coaching staff and obviously the Michigan education is solid and the networking there is unreal. "They don't really have a slot player who could take the fly sweep. They were showing me all the footage about how they have to bring Jabrill (Peppers) on offense to do the bubble screen routes and stuff like that. They said if I was there they wouldn't need to do that."

After talking to a couple sources close to Crawford's recruitment, Lorenz put in a Crystal Ball pick for Michigan ($). One team to watch is Oregon; they haven't offered Crawford yet and could become a major factor if they do.

Finally, after taking officials to both Notre Dame and Michigan, top-100 CB David Long told Scout's Greg Biggins he isn't certain about his Stanford commitment:

"I think there's still some question if they want me more  for receiver or corner," Long said. "Notre Dame and Michigan both are recruiting me 100% for corner but I think that's still in question a little with Stanford.

"I'm still committed but I'm also thinking about maybe opening things up a little to make sure I'm doing the right thing. It's such a huge decision and I want to make sure I'm 100% comfortable with it. You can't go wrong with Stanford and I know that but I just want to be totally sure about this."

Long said he "got a little better vibe and felt more comfortable at Michigan" compared to Notre Dame. He's still a Stanford commit and the other California schools will be in the mix as well.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

MSU Visitors: Biggest Recruiting Weekend Of The Fall

Well, I hadn't even started this post before Michigan got a commitment this weekend. Three-star GA RB Kurt Taylor is the newest member of the 2017 class; here's a short post on him for now, and he'll get the full Hello treatment on Sunday.

As for the rest of this weekend's visitors, 247's Steve Lorenz has the full list posted for free. Some highlights follow.

Official visitors:

• Five-star GA TE Isaac Nauta is arguably the most important recruit left on Michigan's board—yes, perhaps even including Rashan Gary—and this weekend's visit will give the Wolverines a chance to push past home squad Georgia.
• Four-star CA WR Dylan Crawford hasn't let on much about his recruitment, but 247 national analyst Steve Wiltfong recently put in a Crystal Ball pick to Michigan.
• Four-star CA ATH Lamar Jackson was ticketed for USC by most; with that program in a state of disarray, the door is open for another school to make a move.
• Four-star CA CB David Long is a Stanford commit but Michigan appears to have a real shot regardless.

Unofficial visitors:

• Penn State commits Lavert Hill (four-star Detroit King CB) and Quinn Nordin (top-ranked Rockford kicker) will be two to keep an close eye on this weekend, especially Nordin. Hill's teammate Donnie Corley (four-star WR) is also expected to be in attendance.
• Four-star 2017 CO QB Dylan McCaffrey, Michigan's top target at the position in the class, will be on campus. With Stanford, where his father Ed went and brother Christian currently stars, coming off a blowout of UCLA, Michigan might need to make a statement.
• Several members of the Pipeline 9, including five-star Cass Tech WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, are expected to be there.
• Three-star 2017 Ann Arbor Pioneer OLB Antjuan Simmons could be in line for an offer; his recruitment has blown up lately.

There are plenty more at the link above. This is a huge recruiting weekend for Michigan. That probably didn't need to be said.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]