Harbaugh antics of the week

After climbing a tree for CA CB David Long's little sister, Harbaugh "participated in" a De La Salle class on world religions. He was there as part of his in-home with CA DT Boss Tagaloa:

Here is Jim Harbaugh attending class with Boss Tagaloa @_BT75 today. pic.twitter.com/hhc7Ggcwlq

— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) January 19, 2016

He proceeded to spend the night at AZ DE Connor Murphy's house, whereupon Murphy either displayed an ignorance of memes or—more likely—deliberately tried to set twitter's server farm on fire:

It was a Netflix & Chill kind of night with @CoachJim4UM @umichfootball @espn #sleepover pic.twitter.com/yezUaYc6bK

— Connor Murphy (@CMurph_90) January 20, 2016

Twitter survived. Murphy reports that he played chess against Harbaugh when he was 12 and lost. No word on whether Harbaugh then took him to laser tag.

Business is boomin'

"How's business ?" #GoBlueEdition @AntonioBrown84 @CoachJim4UM pic.twitter.com/4JcYmYnTqi

— David Long Jr. (@dee_knowz) January 19, 2016

Tim Sullivan understands what this is about even if we don't

CA CB David Long commits during Recruiting Nation on ESPNU this evening. Show starts at 6 PM. Even Washington mods who will fight you if you suggest players are not going to Washington have resigned themselves to their fate. They are probably fighting themselves now.

Other recruitments with a likely positive outcome in the near future

1. NJ DT Michael Dwumfour told Sam Webb that the "main reason he didn't flip" is that his high school coach wants him to handle things "in a respectful way." That sounds like he's about to let PSU down easy this weekend. It's not you, Penn State. It's me. We have put in a ballz for Dwumfour to Michigan; Sam issued a gut feeling.

One note: Dwumfour is not qualified yet. He says he's "very close" but just "has to finish up a few things." He also gave Webb some enticing intel on Rashan Gary.

2. PA S and MGoBlog fave-rave Khaleke Hudson left his official visit to Michigan with the Wolverines as a clear leader; Tim Sullivan reports that Michigan goes in-home today in the hope of getting Hudson to pull the trigger. Even if Hudson follows through on planned trips to PSU and Pitt he seems likely to end up in a winged helmet by Signing Day. Webb reports "overwhelming confidence" from Ann Arbor.

Unfortunately 247 issued him a fourth star, thus disqualifying him from Sleeper of the Year consideration. /shakes fist at 247. An interview with Tim Sullivan reveals where he might play:

"They really want me, and they think they can use me in many ways. They say safety - like a nickel - and maybe running back.”

Hear hear.

3. It's status quo for MO TE Chase Allen; he has no visits scheduled and Michigan is a heavy leader. Sam issued a gut feeling on him as well.

4. FL WR Eddie McDoom decommitted from Oregon, who subsequently pulled his scholarship, and currently has a list of "Michigan and… uh". He told Scout that he's planning on pulling the trigger this weekend if he "loves it."

I would be surprised if any of these gentlemen did not end up in Ann Arbor.

Gary panic of the week is downright relaxing

Our brief regional era of was kicked off by a couple of Ole Miss crystal ballz from guys who work for the Rebel 247 site. At the time I noted that they were speculative predictions from guys who had no record of ever talking to NJ DE Rashan Gary or his mother and that actions spoke louder than words, so like chill man.

Days later, lo, the ball has unflipped:

…the news that he is returning to Michigan this weekend on his own dime, factored in with his former high school coach on the Michigan staff, the numerous recruiting ties the Wolverines have with players at Gary's high school, and the reports that his mother did not see or was unable to see the Ole Miss coaches Monday when they were there, seems to be bright writing on the wall.

All of these things save the last were true when the ball flipped in the first place.

Gary's official on the 29th may or may not happen; I'm leaning towards "will" after this Scout article:

According to his mom, Jennifer Coney, his last official visit will be to either Alabama or Clemson, and he could visit one officially and the other unofficially. She said a decision on which school will get the official has not been made.

"The final visit will be between Alabama and Clemson," she said. "We may do both. ...We're not sure which one officially."

That notes Gary is going to be in Atlanta next weekend to pick up some award for being awesome, so he's going to be near those two schools anyway. Even if said visit occurs the kind of things that might push either of those two schools past Michigan have already been attempted by Ole Miss, and rejected.

Finally, USC did hire their DL coach. He's a former Trojan DE who spent the last couple years as an assistant strength coach. Not likely to move the needle.

[After THE JUMP: less good news on Jonathan Jones, a massive massive visit weekend, another class projection, and some 2017 news of note.]

Not so much on Jonathan Jones

File under "who you talk to is important": FL LB Jonathan Jones has given interviews to the ND sites at Rivals and 247 in the last few days. In both he explicitly states that his dad is in ND's corner. Rivals:

"My dad is Notre Dame all the way," Jones said

We've flipped our ballz to ND based on "who you talk to" and a general lack of chatter from the Michigan side of things. Most of our picks are based on spidey sense and Jones, who had Michigan as his leader forever, just gives off a Not Michigan vibe at this point. Que sera sera.

Who might take Jones's spot in the class as a second linebacker? He might be on campus this weekend…

Massive visit weekend on tap

This is going to be an absolutely enormous weekend for Michigan. Gentlemen incoming:

• NJ DE Rashan Gary. The nation's #1 recruit is taking an unofficial to Ann Arbor, hopefully to confirm things.
• NJ WR Donald Stewart. Could announce at any time between Michigan and Stanford. Depending on who you talk to either school could lead. Definitely a take with the Nate Johnson wobbles.
• NJ CB Jordan Fuller. OSU thought to lead, but kid is really quiet and Michigan could depose the current king of the hill.
• FL WR Eddie McDoom. Coming to commit.
• CA TE Devin Asiasi and CA DT Boss Tagaloa. The De La Salle duo is coming off an official to Washington that was met with the usual positive noises. Washington mods insist the Huskies lead for them because they are football players with interest in Washington. UCLA and USC lurk.
• AZ DE Connor Murphy. Recruitment is relatively fuzzy but vibe has always been that family connections with Harbaugh will win out. M certainly has room for him. Lorenz says he's close to putting in a CB.
• GA LB Elysee Mbem-Bosse. With Jones trending away Michigan will try to lock down EMB. He just tweeted he had a "GREAT" in-home with Brown and Partridge; Lorenz thinks Michigan has growing confidence with him.
• FL LB Josh Uche. Uche's bringing his coach and recently fielded a Don Brown in-home visit that provided another entry in the ever-growing field of "Don Brown is a streetwise cop who gets results" photos. Florida, the vague leader, is next week.

Webb reports that Michigan isn't recruiting FL LB Joel Dublanko, who was supposed to come in this weekend, any more.

Meanwhile the enemy will get their turn with a number of uncommitted prospects:

• PA ATH Khaleke Hudson is set to follow through on his official visit to Penn State.
• Ditto NJ DT Michael Dwumfour.
• MI K Quinn Nordin got offered by USC and switched his planned visit to Baylor to the Trojans. Sam Webb and Allen Trieu think it'll be very tough to pull Nordin away from Michigan. In light of this news we have authorized a 30-second period of fist-shaking directed at John Baxter, after which you should get over it.
• MI CB Lavert Hill visits Michigan State. Webb says he's down to 50/50, with Delano's development, Greg Jackson, and mom in Michigan's corner versus Corley and Vance in MSU's.
• FL WR Pie Young visits FSU. FSU may be recruiting him as a defensive back. Unclear how high he is on their board.

A couple more visits will be covered in the wobblers section.

Sooooo about that tackle spot

Assuming a Cole move to the interior, Michigan's tackle depth chart looks like this going into 2017:

LT: Newsome(Jr), Ulizio(So*)
RT: Bushell-Beatty(Jr*), Hamilton(Fr*)

That is one guy who's trending in a very good direction, two middling recruits with experience, and a redshirt freshman version of mid-four-star Devery Hamilton. That is not a depth chart I'm a fan of.

Possibilities to paper over the hole include:

• playing Cole at right tackle, which buys you a year.
• moving TJ Wheatley to tackle, as his weight might dictate.
• using Bredeson as a tackle a la Cole, but then your guard depth looks shaky.
• getting another tackle in this class. As of two days ago I couldn't say who that might be, but it might be eatin' things on the internet time…

Always promise to eat a lemon, not a hat

So…

Great meeting with the university of Michigan #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/3xAHWwWiRv

— Ej Price (@Ej_Price77) January 20, 2016

…this guy. GA OL EJ Price decommitted from Georgia in June. There was a brief flurry of chatter about him amongst Michigan fans in the aftermath, in part because Price is originally from Grand Rapids. Sites said nothing was going to happen there and that looked accurate until Price fired that tweet out.

There had been some renewed chatter about Price as people tried to piece together a tweet about Chris Partridge's visit schedule that included a trip to Atlanta and Matt Doherty following Price on twitter. This resulted in 247 and Rivals reiterating that they really didn't expect Michigan to pick Price's recruitment back up. Lorenz offered to "eat a hat" if Price ended up at Michigan, and trust me on this: never promise to eat anything on the internet.

Scout says there might be something there. Sam says Price's recruitment "has legs" and Michigan will try to get his last official; he goes to Auburn this weekend. He had planned on going to Georgia—the presumed favorite—on the 29th. The usual: Michigan has a shot with a visit. Price has already been on Georgia's campus frequently and that might help Michigan out.

Despite that Price remains a long shot. Other options:

• MD OL Stephen Spanellis, who told Scout he's "pretty on the fence" about flipping from Virginia. He'll visit UVA this weekend and then decide. Feels like if M goes after him hard he'll flip, but conflicting info about how enthused they are about him.
• AZ DE Connor Murphy is 6'7", 250, and could easily end up an agile left tackle.
• Some Guy You've Never Heard Of could easily emerge. He will be under the radar because he never did camps and you will be irrationally enthused about him.
• A gaggle of walk-ons could produce a Glasgow; Michigan has an offer out to OH OL Matt Muterspaw and is doing a good job scouring the bushes for guys who could contribute after they develop.

Or Michigan could skip it, go with the Cole gambit, and try to lock down the two five-star 2017 OTs (Isaiah Wilson and Tedarrell Slaton) who have named Michigan their leader.

Safety types

Great in home visit with @CoachJim4UM #〽️ichigan pic.twitter.com/qkj2OoWIxX

— Isaiah Simmons (@isaiahsimmons25) January 18, 2016

Michigan fired out an offer to KS S Isaiah Simmons last week. This would normally be too late to get involved with a four star, but Simmons has only visited Illinois and Missouri; Kansas leads on his Crystal Ball. Those are not mountains to overcome. Simmons told Josh Newkirk he is planning on officials to Michigan and Clemson, another recent offer, before a Signing Day decision.

One hitch: he's already scheduled trips to Nebraska and Louisville. Getting a visit set up is going to be "kind of hard." There hasn't been any movement on switching his visits up so far.

Wobble wobble wobble wobble

Recruiting is fun. Fun is had in recruiting.

Michigan DT commit Jordan Elliott will officially visit Texas this weekend, according to reports #HookEm. https://t.co/GzIOIepNnF

— EJ Holland (@EJHolland247) January 20, 2016

TX DT Jordan Elliott is of course the recruit who Texas folk were after hardcore despite his commitment, causing a series of adamant denials that Elliott was even slightly persuadable. Holland was in fact specifically called out by Elliott on twitter for asserting that he might flip his commitment. So… yeah.

We'll see how persuadable he actually is; Texas people are naturally expecting a flip. Michigan has an in-home tonight that is their best chance to stave it off. Webb says it could go either way. I give this 5/5 crootins.

TN WR Nate Johnson did tell Marich this…

Wolverine commit, Tenn. WR Nate Johnson told me that he's 110% committed to #Michigan and bleeds blue pic.twitter.com/276W4fM7YR

— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) January 19, 2016

…but later announced he would announce on Signing Day, rendering his commitment almost entirely notional. His three finalists are Miami, Notre Dame, and Michigan—Penn State got the ziggy. At this point Michigan should probably go forward as if he is uncommitted.

Meanwhile MI OL Michael Onwenu is still supposed to visit MSU this weekend. Nobody on the Michigan side expects much to come of that.

IN RB Kiante Enis made his decommitment official.

This instant's best guess

The Swenson news adds another spot to the list. I'm also moving Nate Johnson off the "is actually committed" side of the ledger, so Michigan has ~13 spots. Again this is in approximate order of likelihood.

1. CA CB David Long.
2. MO TE Chase Allen.
3. PA S Khaleke Hudson.
4. PA DT Michael Dwumfour.
5. FL WR Eddie McDoom. McDoom and those above him are 95%+ to be in the class.
6. NJ DE Rashan Gary.
7. MI K Quinn Nordin. Gary and Nordin are almost in the same boat as the locks but haven't set off the bat signals yet. PSU offered another kicker, so…
8. FL WR Pie Young. Michigan a longstanding and unwavering leader but NJ WR Donald Stewart may get first crack; Young may get intercepted by one of the schools he visits.
9. AZ DE Connor Murphy. Getting less speculative as room in the class is more clearly there.
10. NJ WR Donald Stewart. Stanford main competition, M has last crack. Johnson of course an option here.
11. MI CB Lavert Hill. No change since Monday.
12. GA LB Elysee Mbem-Bosse. Somewhat random LB pick in wake of expectation Jones goes to ND.
13. MD OT Stephen Spanellis. Guessing the EJ Price thing doesn't work out and M presses for Spanellis.

DROPPED: FL LB Jonathan Jones.
NEW: Stewart, Mbem-Bosse, Spanellis

Again, not sure TX grad transfer OL Jake Raulerson would take up a slot here or will be factored in after spring practice.

2017 stuff

Yes, we're glossing over some news that in a Hoke year would be the top news because this class would be all but settled. Most notably "CO QB Dylan McCaffery seems about 99% to commit to Michigan soon" but also:

• Four star NJ LB Drew Singleton is taking an unofficial this weekend with his Paramus bros. Michigan is thought to lead. Stewart might have spilled the beans on Singleton's eventual destination, telling MGoFish that playing with Gary and Singleton "would mean a lot."
• Five star CA RB Najee Harris, an Alabama commit, is a high-priority target next year who just fielded a visit from Harbaugh himself. Lorenz says the Alabama commit is "relatively soft" and that Michigan will pursue heavily.
• Five star TX LB Baron Browning tells Brandon Justice that he "most definitely" plans on visiting Michigan. Browning's brother played for Harbaugh and he's friends with Jordan Elliott so Michigan has a couple of ins there.
• Recent MI S offeree Scott Nelson says he grew up an MSU fan, so that might be a more difficult recruitment than your average instate one.
• Offers went out to OH ATH Lynn Bowden, OH WR Javonte Richardson, and CA OL Aaron Banks.

Etc.: Happy trails to TX DE Levi Onwuzurike, who picked Washington. Michigan makes TX S Chris Brown's final three with Texas and Florida; he hasn't been mentioned by any Michigan site in a long time now so Michigan appears to be just another hat on the table. FL LB commit Devin Gil confirms that he is indeed coming in as a linebacker. He'll need some seasoning at 6'1", 205. Redshirting "isn't an option," he says, so if he inexplicably burns a year on STs that looks to be his choice.

MI OL Michael Onwenu gets a ratings bump at 247; NJ WR Ahmir Mitchell and NJ RB Kareem Walker tumble into the 300s.