benjamin morrison

Michigan’s closing in on prospects at some positions of need, and adding guys to the board at a lot of spots where they’re less sure of their top options. So let’s check in on recruiting before this post gets pushed down by another Hello or Goodbye. The 2022 recruiting board lives here.

Quarterback

CA 3* Nate Johnson got a crystal ball from 24/7’s Sam Webb and a FutureCast from Rivals’s EJ Holland recently. Johnson ran a 10.49 100-meter-dash at a meet last weekend per his coach. For reference, Tyrone Wheatley put up a 10.46 at Michigan, Denard’s personal best was 10.44, and the mathematics of the Universal Standard Model of Quarterback Physics breaks down at around 10.42.

Holland said as long as Michigan overcomes the distance hurdle, Johnson will be in the class. Matt Weiss working with Lamar Jackson (and Harbaugh’s history with Kaepernick) is helping convince the dual-threat Michigan would know what to do with him, a comp also shared by 24/7’s Brice Marich($). Utah and Oregon State will get their visits, and then I am guessing we’re on commit watch when Johnson visits in June. Holland also said Johnson ran a laser-timed 4.45, and gave a player comp to Marcus Vick, noting the elite athlete could play safety or wide receiver if quarterback doesn’t work out.

Johnson might not be the only QB on the board however. Marich reports they’ve made contact($, info in title) with Cal commit/CA 4* Justyn Martin, who just had a pretty nice delayed junior season.

Happy Trails: IN 4* Tayven Jackson committed to Tennessee.

Best Guess: Nate Johnson and thoughts turn to Dante Moore in 2023.

Running Back

Lorenz reports that recent offeree LA 4* Trevonte’ Citizen is a longshot($), despite Michigan making a top ten cut. I’m not adding him to the board.

Best Guess: Pursuit of Sawchuk goes to the moment Sawchuk signs with Oklahoma, add a Karan Higdon or Tavierre Dunlap type along the way.

[After THE JUMP: Dashes]

This feels especially dumb now that literally having a guy signed and on campus isn’t enough to stop him from getting recruited anymore, but hey, here’s the defensive half of recruiting update. Recruiting board is here, or find it under ‘Useful Stuff’.

Offense is here, including a list of visits. Some quick updates on that: the June 18-20 visit weekend is being dubbed “Victors Weekend” and the BBQ is that one week in July when recruiting briefly reopens (thanks reader).

Welcome Home Courtney Morgan

Years ago I was at the Bentley Library texting late-’90s photos I was finding to late-’90s players, and at that moment some recruit Hoke was after chose UCLA. I asked Cato June what’s up with losing guys to frikkin Jim *L* Mora and, Cato was like “You know who’s out there: Courtney Morgan!” So last week when I heard from someone that Mississippi State was going to hire Morgan I said “Man, we should get him.”

This totally means you have me to thank (you really do not) for Harbaugh bringing home a beloved Lloyd-era lineman who’s been killing it (and sometimes us) on the West Coast, to modernize Michigan’s recruiting efforts. Sitting recruiting director Matt Dudek, was welcome to stay but understandably wasn’t thrilled that Michigan had hired a high-profile alum to share his job, and gracefully resigned to take the opening under Mike Leach in Starkville.

For what it’s worth I was told “That wasn’t it” when I suggested the timing of this shakeup coincided with losing Xavier Worthy, that this was just a case of jumping on a true blue hot commodity who was in the process of moving up. Dudek critics have always been way off base—the I still don’t think I’m going out on a limb in believing Worthy’s botched enrollment played a role in making Dudek expendable.

Anyway: great move. Everyone from his former teammates to the OL coach of Pittsburgh Steelers have been handing out unsolicited praise about Courtney Morgan, and his track record at UCLA, Fresno State and San Jose State speaks for itself. Sam noted on their podcast (38:00) that Morgan adds a guy with Ohio ties (his parents are from there), which was previously a blind spot for this staff, and Lorenz added that Courtney has experience in marketing for when NIL comes into play. Like Hart and Bellamy, and very much unlike Dudek, this is the kind of program hire that should survive a rough season if Harbaugh doesn’t, which means the recruiting class could too.

Defensive Tackle

Quick summary: Need bodies. They have have a 3*, plus a good shot at Cass Tech’s next big guy, and the kind of Alabama 4-star Michigan can get. Very much in it for a #1 overall elite but you know how those go down.

The latest: All hands are on deck in the recruitment of elite TN 5* Walter Nolen, who will be visiting during the big June weekend. Via Sam Webb, the Allied forces include lead recruiter Ron Bellamy and position coach Shaun Nua, the parents of CB commit Kody Jones, 5-star commit Will Johnson, and Mom’s entire extended family($):

“Man, my wife's uncles and cousins... we went out to her grandmother's house and they came in with their Michigan paraphernalia on,” Mr. Nolen recalled laughingly. “They were like, 'cuz... nephew... you gotta go to Michigan!'”

“She's got an aunt that's in Phoenix and they were FaceTiming. She was like, 'nephew, you gotta to Michigan.' They were cracking jokes and one her uncles said, ‘tell her Ohio State is one of the (schools) on the list and watch what she says.’ She pitched a fit! Man, it was hilarious. (Laughter)”

Of course camp friend Kody Jones is in Nolen’s ear all the time.($, info in title)

EJ Holland used the bulk of his Into the Blue (free) column this week to address Michigan’s pitch after Nolen came up for an unofficial visit:

Michigan always preaches family to recruits. Nolen will get a better feel for the staff's genuine approach to this on his official visit, but I know Michigan is virtually moving the needle in this area. Nolen's grandparents live in Detroit, so he would have family close by if he were to pick Michigan. The Wolverines also offered Nolen's younger sibling, which meant a lot to the family. And I'm told his parents and other relatives that made the trip really loved their time at Michigan and around Ann Arbor. Continuing to pitch family will be key in this recruitment.

Holland thinks OSU and Alabama are the other teams ahead, while Wiltfong includes Florida, Nolen’s dad lists Michigan, OSU, and Georgia as his most likely visits to MLive’s Ryan Zuke, and OSU writer Bill Kurelic would take the field over OSU($). Mom says “academics, academic support, good strong academic support and a coach that’s going to challenge him,” are what she’s looking for. 24/7’s staff has analyzed the attack plan($) and agrees the Nolen Alliance presents a real danger. SEC writers warn not to overestimate our chances.

[After the JUMP: Michigan leads for some guys but shhhhhhh]

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This will probably be my last of these for awhile as spring practice is now underway, and with it Hail to the Victors 2021. There’s also been a lot of movement, most of it pretty good news, on the recruiting front. We’ll go backwards through the roster again since that’s kind of the order of interest as well.

CORNERBACK

Pull the trigger! The 5-star in-state legacy Will Johnson announced a decision date of this Sunday, when he will choose between Michigan, Ohio State, and USC. Timing suggests the former is the choice($), but the latter is the biggest threat, especially since friend and fellow 5-star Domani Jackson committed there, and USC’s own ace recruiter Donte Williams pushing($). Jackson sounds like he’s good staying out West, so it’s unlikely this is still a “package deal” for Michigan, but the prognosticators are all coming in for Michigan($), and increasing in confidence($). Johnson and Jackson were in Miami last weekend for their 7-on-7 tournament, though Johnson was limited:

Will Johnson, the No. 4 cornerback in the 247Sports Composite was limited by an ankle injury so he played safety and still looked good moving around and covering a lot of ground. Michigan, Ohio State and the Trojans are the three battling for his signature. Johnson sported Wolverines gloves while competing on Sunday.

Sam Webb and Steve Lorenz shared on their podcast that Will was close to committing to Ohio State earlier this year but Michigan successfully talked him into pumping the breaks while they got their staff settled. It appears they nailed it with the Linguist hire, and Ron Bellamy further solidified Michigan’s credibility with the Detroit area fraternity—father Deon Johnson has been involved in Sound Mind, Sound Body for years.

It’s also a good sign that Johnson’s been interacting with other high-profile Michigan targets. If he does choose blue, he could be the anchor of this class the way J.J. McCarthy and Junior Colson were for the latest one.

[Hit THE JUMP for all the other positions, plus more elite corners who seem to like the way we trim our genoas.]