tomiwa durojaiye

Board lives here.

We have a lot to get to, with a brewing war on the horizon with USC (don’t panic), some major changes on the board at quarterback and cornerback, and the NCAA finally allowing on-campus visits and camps again after a pandemic’s worth of naught.

But first, we’ve got to talk about The D (NNTTD), for Michigan declared yesterday Detroit Day. This was the scene in Ann Arbor:

Not pictured: an unkindness of Ravens

For one day in Ann Arbor, all T’s were pronounced as D’s* all soft TH’s became Z’s, company names were given apostrophized possessives and pizzas were served square and bubbly. Coneys and looseburgers were piled onto the serving staff’s arms and washed down with pop, followed by Sanders on Stroh’s. Harbaugh shared his powerpoint Hall of Fame case for Lou Whitaker, traded gear for jars McClures from Eastern Market, and everyone went home with Pewabic tiles, most of which survived the potholed ride home on 94, which still nobody calls the Ford. I made an all-Motown team for the occasion. Also 30 area recruits for 2022-‘24 were on hand (free), which hand doubled as a map for a spirited, three-hour debate about which route everyone should have taken to get there. That list also turned out to be incomplete($). Rivals’ EJ Holland got reactions($), with Cass Tech OL Jackson Pruitt’s ⬆ the most interesting.

Whom they met along the way is best detailed by the 24/7 crew, who broke down who’s who on the remade recruiting staff on their latest podcast. Lorenz also broke down Michigan’s greatest positions of need which became a high-view state of the class and hosted a VIP chat($) for those looking for the gritty—it’s a few weeks old but has some good bits on Deone Walker and tight end recruiting. Steve is also keeping the visitors list as updated as he can.

The board is also shifting daily. This was expected—after a year and a half of no visits, few camps, and scattered football we knew the late-rising 2022s and all of the 2023s were going to be left unevaluated, both in terms of their football projections and their real interests in schools, until way deeper in the cycle than usual. We’re now starting to see all sorts of guys show up to camps and earn serious offers, and it’s only been a few days since they’ve been able to officially interact in person with these schools and gauge how serious they are.

⬆⬆⬇⬇⬅➡⬅➡BA

People liked the NCAA Football game-inspired arrows last time so I’m going to use them some more. Ups and downs mean trends based on where they were last writeup. Lock means commit or near to it. Peepers is we’re watching for something to happen soon. Right arrow is steady on, or no change despite news, or Connor Jones’s coach is giving quotes again. Left arrow is just there so I could reference a videogame code that’s twice as old as the players we’re talking about.

* [I once seriously confused my bud from from France when I told him to find us a restaurant in a specific New York neighborhood and he spent a half hour searching for somewhere called Liddliddle Lee.]

[Hit THE JUMP for the position-by-position breakdown]

Linguist Fallout/Clink Reactions

Losing their hottest recruiter at a position of dire recruiting need last week was a blow, but one that was salvageable if Ron Bellamy could play damage control($) until Michigan could pull off the one hire people wanted more than Linguist. They did so, and now the damage doesn’t look so bad. There are a lot of details behind the paywalls here but I’ll give a quick rundown of the board and how things have shifted with links as to the how and why.

THE MR. BLUES:

• ➡ 5* MI CB commit Will Johnson: He’s “in the class” ($) says EJ Holland. Dad is on board. Johnson is still telling 5-star Oklahoma commits to come to Michigan, so I think we’re good here.
• ➡ 4* TN CB/Nk commit Kody Jones: Has an existing relationship, told Sam he’s “all-in” and that Clinkscale was his first offer.
• ⬆/➡ 4* TN CB target Myles Pollard: Told Holland Clink was his first choice(free), and Sam writes Pollard “has a leader”($, info in title) so no change. Pollard did add a visit to Florida after those to Oklahoma and Auburn. In a Michigan vs the field recruitment, I say more the merrier, since it just dilutes the field.
• ➡ 4* NJ CB target Jaeden Gould: Helps($) thinks Holland, “Still in a really good place”($) Johnson told Sam.
• ⬇ 4* MI S/Nk target Dillon Tatum: “Not had the best words about it” Johnson told Sam, who also got Dillon to admit on record that up until last Wednesday the only thing holding up a Michigan commitment before was waiting on the video. Apparently Tatum was turned off at some point when Clink was recruiting him to Lexington; Holland learned before Clink was hired(free) that Tatum didn’t have a good relationship there, says there’s some fence-mending needed($) and went into detail on a public Q&A before Clink was hired that sounded like somebody up US-23 was whispering sweet nothings. Upshot here is Tatum will take visits to his leaders, and Michigan is giving him time to form a bond with Clinkscale.

THE HAPPY TEETH​

• ➡ 5* CA USC CB commit Domani Jackson: Linguist’s leaving hurt, via Holland, but Clinkscale and Domani’s dad are both from Youngstown. Holland wrote that ASU’s Christian Hawkins would have moved the needle here the most.
• ⬇ TX 4* S Chace Biddle. Probably wasn’t happening anyways.
• ⬇ VA 4* S Sherrod Covil. Once an M/ND scouting win who was ticketed for Va Tech, now Clemson/Bama/OSU involved and ND is trying to hang on. M was probably pulling out before Linguist left.

THE DATUM (DATAS?)

• ➡ GA 4* UGA CB commit Marquis Groves-Killebrew is one Linguist connection I was surprised is still coming up here, but that’s the plan($) says Sam. MGK is one of two recent offers whom Will Johnson told Webb Michigan’s “in a good place with.”
• ➡ GA S Mumu Bin-Wahad is the other, and will still be up for a visit on Victor’s Weekend. Trying to dig on this guy returns mostly rebuffed recruiting reporters until the 24/7 Michigan guys started getting interviews about MBW’s bond with Will Johnson($, info in title).

THE SAD JOSH

• ⬆ 3* MI Kentucky S commit Jeremiah Caldwell: Probably changed this one from a peripheral recruitment to a flip.

THE NEFARIOUS EDUARDOS:

• ⬇ I’m just gonna take TX 5* Bryce Anderson off the board entirely. He was trending to Texas($, info in title) before Michigan lost the one reason he was interested.
• ⬇ Ditto LA 5* Jacoby Matthews (going to LSU guys).

NON-DEFENSIVE BACKS:

• ➡ 5* TN DT Walter Nolen. Via Holland, Bellamy had more to do with this recruitment than Linguist. Keeping Kody Jones is important. Michigan also just offered Walter’s middle school brother, a 2025(!) OL. This is the only way you’ll get me to talk about 2025 recruiting.
• ⬆⬆ 3* MI DT/OL Deone Walker: Up($), also rising. Holland had a (free) 1-on-1 recently, that includes an interesting note about how the new staff would use a 6-7/340 guy I’ve upgraded him to Mr. Blue on the board:
• ➡3* TX LB Jeremy Patton, who probably won’t be a 3-star much longer, is going to use one of his coveted few visits to check out Michigan(free) reports Steve Lorenz, who stresses Patton was one of the first targets the new staff ID’d. Seems like a big hurdle in a recruitment that will have a few of them.
• ➡ 4* MI Notre Dame LB commit Josh Burnham: No change($).
• ⬆ 4* TN LB Keaten Wade and 4* ATH/QB Destin Wade, both UK commits: Package deal($), M needs a QB so would make sense.

Rest of the board isn’t tied to Linguist or Clinkscale in a specific way. I guess it could help with MI CB/WR Jaden Mangham from my high school, who was just bumped up to a 4-star in 24/7, but I haven’t heard yet.

[After THE JUMP: Two more cornerbacks, and guys the size of two cornerbacks.]

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]