Friday Recruiting Is Watching Colorado Tonight
Apparently the Pac-12 championship is tonight. Is this new? Have I never watched the Pac-12 championship before? I'm very confused. I thought I'd tell you in case you are unprepared for a Friday game.
Anyway:
Woods re-affirms
AL S J'Marick Woods, a wobbler, ceases wobbling:
"It was really hard to make my final decision because I like Arkansas a lot, but I am picking Michigan," said Woods. "I just prayed about it and the Lord showed me signs. I feel good about my future as a Wolverine."
He's an early enrollee so this should be a definitive end to his recruitment. There are two visit weekends before the dead period and afterwards he'll be in Ann Arbor. Kind of get the feeling the Arkansas/Mississippi State dalliances were manufactured to provide his school with an excuse to do some hat stuff.
Keeping Woods is important with Michigan's need at safety and the lack of other names on the board at the spot; Scout makes him sound a lot like Jeremy Clark:
Woods is a defensive back with great length. He is lean and will need to add weight to his frame when he gets to the next level. He could get a look at cornerback, but he is likely a free safety in college. His length is an asset in coverage and recovery.
I'll take another Clark.
All hands to the tweet decryption stations
Michigan's coaches are on the road this week, visiting anyone and everyone they're still recruiting. CA OL Aaron Banks lives in El Cerrito, California, and this may or may not mean anything.
I have an emoji for this.
Possibilities:
- Harbaugh finally got his latte after like 15 minutes
- Clash of Royale Strike level up
- Banks is announcing for Michigan on the 9th.
- Harbaugh's making telescopes? And selling them for profit? I guess?
It's times like these I wish Michigan had a TOOT TOOT ALL IN FOR THE GOVERNOR wink wink commit thing, like many schools do. Just a few hours prior to the above tweet, Lorenz reported that Michigan had little idea what Banks would do. Reports that Banks was not a take appear to be incorrect.
FWIW, Brice Marich hears that the in-home with Banks "went excellent and was very informative too."
Dominate the hyphens
Michigan's quest to dominate the state of Hyphen continues unabated after their setback with Brelin Faison-Walden. Next up might be MI DE Deron Irving-Bey, who is set to announce at the Army game. With just two visit weekends left before the dead period and one official visit in the books, some tea-leaf reading is possible:
- His list of six is really a list of four. He's visited Tennessee, plans to visit Maryland this weekend, and has been on the MSU and UM campuses many times for unofficials. Syracuse and Cincinnati are window dressing.
- Webb reports that he'll take an official to Michigan for their huge December 9th weekend. That should be his last in person recruiting contact before his commitment, since the dead period starts the 12th. In a dead period you can only interact on the phone or by text.
While you can't entirely rule MSU out since he's familiar with the program, Michigan is perceived to lead and gets the last crack. Also he has a hyphen in his last name.
Linebacker board static
Sorry for leaving FL LB Jordan Anthony off the recruiting overview post on Wednesday. That was an oversight only; Michigan is still expected to get him. That does rather complicate things in the projected class, which had MS LB Willie Gay on it and then did not when I inserted Anthony.
Despite that omission, Gay remains very high on Michigan. Per Lorenz, Partridge stopped in on Tuesday and Gay said it went "better than I would have ever thought," which is kind of a weird statement and also very encouraging. This is still in "believe it when I see it" territory. If Gay schedules an unofficial back to Ann Arbor, then I will start thinking it's happening. I remember Fletcher Cox and will not discount Mississippi State for an instate kid, ever.
Meanwhile, MI LB Antjuan Simmons decommitted from Ohio State, making that one guy's article about Meyer's recruiting coup look a bit silly. Do not expect Michigan to get involved. Simmons still appears salty about Michigan's lack of enthusiasm early in the process. Even after he started looking around and must have had an inkling that he was not going to end up in Columbus, his twitter feed was... uh... aggressive about Michigan.
This is mostly disappointing because I wanted this screenshot to be a wall of block Ms:
Seven out of eight wouldn't be bad. Webb's hearing Arizona may be Simmons's landing spot, which would be something. Notre Dame is also a strong contender.
NJ LB Drew Singleton will be at The Big Recruiting Weekend.
Rutger is fine, it's just the S that makes it a problem
Webb reports that the parents of TN DT Rutger Reitmaier are in Michigan's corner, and with Oregon in flux they will have a great shot to flip him. Reitmaier's dad has been on campus more than some committed recruits:
The elder Reitmaier made his way to campus for a game weeks before his son came up for an official visit. It gave dad an opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time with Harbaugh. They built on that when the entire Reitmaier family came up for Rutger's official visit a few weeks ago.
A recent OSU offer may be the main competition if Reitmaier follows through with a visit.
Why the Herbert wobble is a thing
“I want to play right away," he said when asked what he's looking for in a school.
“Miami says I can come in and play right away, Florida says that I can come in and play, and Michigan says that I have to come in and compete with [junior tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty] and probably another tackle [current Michigan commit Joel Honigford].”
It is unrealistic that Miami and Florida don't have guys at least on JBB's level. If Herbert's takeaway from those two competitors is "I should go to another school," that sounds like the kind of reason that's not the real reason. He's the only guy in the class I think is a serious threat to voluntarily decommit.
Edges of the board still active
Marich also reports that CT CB Brandon Sebastian plans a mid-January official and that AZ S Isaiah Pola-Mao has tentative plans to official at some point during that month as well. That's good timing for Michigan, as a lot of questions about who will and will not be in the class will be resolved by the time either guy gets around to making a decision.
Meanwhile, chaos at Oregon has seen a number of their top prospects decommit or Explore Their Options; delightfully named OL/DL Popo Aumavae is one of them. He's setting up a suite of visits and he'd like Michigan to be one of them.
Obligatory Najee Section
Tom Van Haaren puts a not-at-all-completely-arbitrary chance on CA RB Najee Harris flipping:
Committed to: Alabama
Chance he flips: 50 percent
Toughest competition: Michigan
!!!
I like that number. It is a high number. Lorenz reports Harris will follow through on his plan to visit Michigan for The Big Recruiting Weekend. Like Irving-Bey, that should be the last in-person crack anyone gets at him before he enrolls early. (Or commits, in Irving-Bey's case.)
Etc.
Matt Wenzel interviews MA RB commit AJ Dillon, who missed a chunk of his senior season with a broken leg. He's taking some visits but it doesn't seem like a serious situation:
Dillon, who said he would have considered enrolling early at Michigan but his school doesn't allow it, will take his first of five allotted official visits to Boston College this weekend and then go to Ann Arbor the following week. He's also considering visits to Nebraska and Iowa, but nothing is arranged yet and he's still firmly committed to Michigan, which he's been watching from afar all season.
"I was really impressed with them, they're still doing great."
A Notre Dame visit would be something to watch out for given Dillon's family ties; I doubt that Nebraska, BC, or Iowa have the recruiting mojo to flip Dillon without an external bombshell named Najee.
Happy trails to TX LB Baron Browning, who committed to OSU. GA WR Jeremiah Holloman isn't really a happy trails since Michigan hasn't been on his list since shortly after his decommit almost a year ago, but if you're curious he just committed to Georgia.
Keep an eye on the FAU job. Bruce Feldman reports that Mario Cristobal is a candidate; if he gets it that would greatly aid Michigan's chances with Alex Leatherwood.
Brandon Brown lists the various guys who plan to enroll early. I was not aware of a couple of these names. For the record: JaRaymond Hall, Donovan Jeter, Corey Malone-Hatcher, Ben Mason, Benjamin St-Juste, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, J'Marick Woods, Donovan-Peoples Jones, Ambry Thomas, Tarik Black, Cesar Ruiz, and Najee Harris all plan to enroll early. Michigan should have room since they'll have a ton of guys who want to get done with school this semester so they can prep for the NFL draft.
FWIW, Brown has also dropped a couple hints that Rivals will give Solomon a fifth star when their next re-rank comes out. That would be a second; Scout gave him one after the first few games this year, and reports that CT WR Tarik Black denied that he ever named Alabama his top school.
Jedd Fisch visited FL WR Mike Harley in-home. Harley is a WVU commit who's probably flipping somewhere; Michigan was involved just before he went off the board.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:06 PM ^
I think.
(Yay for ubiquitous mobile game names)
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December 2nd, 2016 at 1:11 PM ^
I like KLH but if we can get some combination of Wilson, Banks, Filiga (or all three) then i'm not going to worry about seeing any of our current OL commits departing.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^
Don't get excited for Leatherwood. Don't get excited for Leatherwood. Don't get excited for Leatherwood. Don't get excited for Leatherwood. Don't get excited for Leatherwood.
WE'RE GETTING LEATHERWOOD WOOO.
Damnit what did I just say?
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:35 PM ^
Funny how that used to be the same thought about Najee Harris... Does this mean we actually are getting Najee Harris??? Can I now watch the highlight video of Najee Harris???
December 3rd, 2016 at 12:46 AM ^
50% chance he flips and the only real competition is Michigan, so we basically have a 50% chance of getting him. In other words, it's a done deal.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:16 PM ^
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December 2nd, 2016 at 1:40 PM ^
Very possible, but why be cryptic/vague if that's the case? May as well mention his name as a reminder to recruits that UM produced the B1G TEOY (and likely 1st-2nd round pick).
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:51 PM ^
Honestly that seems more likely as Jay is the TE coach after all.
December 2nd, 2016 at 5:18 PM ^
All on board lets go!
— Brian L Smith (@Coachblsmith) December 2, 2016
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:04 PM ^
I remember seeing it yesterday right when Jay posted it and thought it was about Butt.
It was also right after he retweeted the video of Newsome walking, so there's another possibillity.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:17 PM ^
With the Oregon coaching change, and Hoke being out of there, would he put in a good word for UM for Rutger Reitmaer? Hoke definitely had a good eye for D-line talent.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:53 PM ^
Meitmaier to enroll in UM now? Is Hoke still on the payroll with a chance of being on the new staff? If so, Hoke likely is recruiting his tail off to try to keep guys at Oregon. If he does get canned or if he's gone already, I'm not sure if he's allowed to talk to recruits anymore, but if he is, and Rutger asks him about Mattison and Michigan, I'm sure Hoke would only have good things to say.
December 3rd, 2016 at 12:05 PM ^
December 2nd, 2016 at 10:47 PM ^
You should ask him.
He's know better than any of us anyway.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:21 PM ^
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:03 PM ^
The Michigan difference...
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:25 PM ^
At first I was like, "Didn't Mario Cristobal coach at FAU before?" and then I was like, "lol jk that was FIU."
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:32 PM ^
Crystal Ball.
December 2nd, 2016 at 3:04 PM ^
exact same thing. Google'd it and everything.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^
But Isaiah Wilson talking to ESPN with a (maybe?) Michigan Shirt on.
I know recruits wear shirts all the time from different places, but it can't hurt right?
https://twitter.com/StevenBarker12/status/804752772256043008
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:37 PM ^
Sam Webb seems very confident in our chances with him FWIW. Not "gut feeling" confident, but more like 80-90% confident the way it sounds.
December 2nd, 2016 at 5:14 PM ^
@MGoFish Isaiah Wilson with *possibly* a Michigan shirt on while talking with recruiting nation today pic.twitter.com/2TAd9JabXI
— Steve Barker (@StevenBarker12) December 2, 2016
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:40 PM ^
What?
What about Cristobal's performance at effectively the same school (FIU) leads FAU to believe this is a good idea? Then again, it does look like he had FIU on a relative upswing
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:29 PM ^
He had literally the only winning seasons in FIU program history. Tossing him after a 3-9 season one year removed from back to back bowl bids was generally regarded as inexplicable.
December 2nd, 2016 at 5:43 PM ^
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:42 PM ^
Here's a really basic request from someone who reads these posts and then has to type in "[NAME] 247" into google for each player covered to know how excited to be (I'm an unapologetic stargazer -- I'll admit it). After the bolded name, could you add the 247 composite ranking in parens? So, it would be "AL S J'Marick Woods (348)" or somthing similar. I don't even think you need the star rank if you just give the number.
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:01 PM ^
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December 2nd, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^
Thirded.
One thing that I have noticed is that Ace tends to include the stars, whereas Brian almost never does. Interesting.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:47 PM ^
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:01 PM ^
But topping who OSU just got eh...not sure if I'd go that far. But then again Lorenz said Willie was really underrated.
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^
For Harris et. al.
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:52 PM ^
just like Michigan can haz a nice thing (see ref bias @OSU), the cold weather front building in Alaska may be on top of A2 around the weekend..;-(
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:55 PM ^
#1 recruit is always good, i'm more worried about getting a strong OL and DL class.
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:32 PM ^
Agree in general but, as Brian said about Gary, getting the overall #1 is basically a guarantee. And frankly while we have good RBs, a guranteed difference maker at RB sounds...promising.
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:38 PM ^
can do a lot more to make the guys behind them look good than the guys behind them can do to make up for deficiencies on the lines.
So yes, I would take Leatherwood over Harris in a heartbeat.
December 2nd, 2016 at 4:06 PM ^
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:57 PM ^
would cristobal really leave bama for fau? isn't that like drevno leaving for sjsu?
December 2nd, 2016 at 1:59 PM ^
"The grind is rewarded"
OK, so, this looks like plaintext English, but it's actually a 4096-bit RSA. But with a little quantum computing and a secret decoder ring, I was able to extract a portion; it's obviously incomplete:
B* SU** TO *R**K YO** O**L*INE
I think the complete message is, "Be sure to truck your off. line", with a typo here or there. It's Twitter, after all. Jay's obviously after another D-line recruit.
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:05 PM ^
I was hoping Isaiah Wilson was an EE for 2 reasons. One, so he could just announce already. And two, because I feel like he could earn significant playing time next season.
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:53 PM ^
December 2nd, 2016 at 6:18 PM ^
who is most likely to compete to start or be in two deep for the OL group? Seems like tackle types would have a good shot, based on current roster. Hoping that among the expected big haul that a couple are at least Bredeson/Cole ready. Not expecting miracles. Just want depth that's not total liability. Newsome's return feels like a longshot for fall of '17 - hope I'm wrong.
December 2nd, 2016 at 6:31 PM ^
December 2nd, 2016 at 7:04 PM ^
Do you think if (IF) Leatherwood came in he might have a shot? I could see Bredesen bumped out to RT with several guard prospects currently on the team (Onwenu!) and others coming in. I'm concerned about that LT. I'm doing all kinds of Santeria shit to try to get Newsome well and/or JBB to make the leap. Otherwise, gulp.
December 2nd, 2016 at 7:28 PM ^
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December 2nd, 2016 at 2:05 PM ^
Championship has always been on Friday. East Coast bias! (it really is a thing, but the West coast doesn't really care about their own sports nearly as much anyway).
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^
for a HC job, you would think that a lot of recruiting writers would switch their Cristobals to Michigan for Alex Leatherwood.
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:14 PM ^
Soo Cristobal to FAU = crystal balls to Michigan
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^
Honestly no sarcasm here. I definitely thought the Pac-12 game was tomorrow sometime around Clemson and VTech. So much for getting some sleep for an early morning.
December 2nd, 2016 at 2:16 PM ^
Boy, do I hope that Brian has keep Ace chained to his keyboard next weekend. Here's to bleeding fingers and carpal tunnel!
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