tyrece woods

‘Tis the season for in-home visits and the subsequent flood of photos of coaches with their arms around recruits and their families to hit twitter. The coaching staff has spent a fair amount of time checking in on already-committed prospects—Jim McElwain visited phenomenal tweeter CA slot bug Giles Jackson, Al Washington had dinner with OH SDE Gabe Newburg, Jim Harbaugh and Don Brown visited the home of FL ATH George Johnson III, Sherron Moore checked in on OH TE Erick All Jr., and so on—while also jetting around the country to see a select few prospects that would fill out a class that, at 25 current commits, is close to full.

Tight ends coach Sherrone Moore went to Texas to visit TX WR Jaylen Ellis, who took a Michigan official in early September. Ellis has been committed to Baylor since summer 2017, has a crystal ball that is currently 100% Texas, and still plans to take official visits to Baylor, Houston, and Tennessee (he officially visited Arizona in late September). Crootin’! Ellis is coveted for his speed in a class that apparently lacks that. He runs a verified 4.59 40 but has been given the “plays faster than his time” scouting note, so he’ll be worth checking out at the All-American Bowl.

Jim Harbaugh and linebackers coach Al Washington visited the home of GA LB Kalen DeLoach yesterday. You may remember an earlier recruiting roundup in which his father more or less told Sam Webb that he asked Michigan to continue recruiting his son despite being verbally committed to Florida State; Webb said on The Michigan Insider’s recruiting roundup segment that DeLoach is thinking of decommitting from Florida State not because of their record this year but because they haven’t recruited him very hard post-verbal. Contrast that with Harbaugh, who visited DeLoach’s father and mother at work yesterday. DeLoach was a composite top-300 recruit when he pledged to Florida State, got a bit of a bump with his July verbal, got a nearly 50-spot preseason bump, and has hung just inside the top 250 since.

He may not be getting an in-home visit, but one seemingly out-of-nowhere flip candidate has set an official visit date. FL LB Anthony Solomon will take an official to Miami, the school to which he verbally committed in April, on December 7th before heading to Ann Arbor for a December 14th official. That’s good news if you’re a fan of the “he who goes last wins” theory of recruiting. This is something of a shock, as the last 11 events on Solomon’s 247 timeline are all Miami-related. 247’s Andrew Ivins checked in after Miami HC Mark Richt and DC Manny Diaz visited Solomon, and the sentiment seems to be that Solomon-to-Michigan has legs and that Solomon wants to get out of South Florida.

[Things get cloudy after THE JUMP]

I’m sure Charbonnet added weight via lifting or whatever, but I personally guarantee what’s on the bandana works, too

Earlier this summer, Brian penned a recruiting roundup in which he noted 247 had CA RB commit Zach Charbonnet ranked in their top 50, and Michigan RB commits who end up with a fifth star usually go the way of the very real dog that, should 247 not knock Charbonnet’s ranking down, was definitely gonna get it. The outlook for this very real dog continues to get worse, as 247’s Greg Biggins took in Charbonnet’s Honor Bowl performance last weekend and came away feeling that he was “easily” the best player of the 20 or so high-level prospects on the field.

Charbonnet told Biggins that he worked on getting bigger, stronger, and faster in the offseason, and Biggins reports that it shows; Charbonnet found a way to add 15 pounds and some subsequent power without slowing down:

The 15 pounds is noticeable on Charbonnet as he definitely looks bigger throughout his body. He’s running with better pad level, finishing his runs and running right through defenders… He has a better burst and more short area quickness as well. He has always had good top end speed but there were times when it took him longer to get to it.

Rivals’ Adam Gorney viewed the same game and came away with nearly the same impression: fast, yes, but most impressive is his power and ability to run through contact. In his words, “when he’s on the field he’s there to hit people and hit them hard.” Seems like a good fit for the offense and a nice complement to the style of fellow 2019 RB Eric Gray.

Though there will always be some trepidation over the solidity of a commitment from a California kid who seems to be blowing up, Charbonnet says that UCLA and USC expressed interest in the past but his parents advised him that they felt moving away from home was good for one’s personal growth. With at least Karan Higdon vacating a seat in the running backs’ meeting room, there’s a fair chance Charbonnet could see playing time next season, a chance buoyed by his plan to graduate early and enroll in time for spring practices.

Mazi Smith, Under Armour All-American and Scion of Fred Jackson

Dream Big. Work Hard.@UMichFootball commit Mazi Smith is officially an Under Armour All-American. #UAALLAMERICA pic.twitter.com/C5SJsPH7Iu

— All-America Game (@AllAmericaGame) September 4, 2018

TMI’s Josh Newkirk caught up with 2019 DT Mazi Smith the day after his selection to the UA All-American game was revealed to talk about what led him to commit to Michigan earlier this summer. Smith, apparently a graduate of the Fred Jackson Academy of Media Relations, didn’t shy away from singling out one person.

"Of course coach Mattison is the greatest coach ever," Smith told The Michigan Insider. "So If I'm just looking at that it's a no brainer.

… "It's ridiculous what he does," Smith said of Mattison. "I've heard so much about coach. They say whatever he gets his hands on turns to gold. But being able to get in there and see it and see him work and  see what he does is pretty special."

I may be new at this, but Smith’s commitment seems as solid as solid gets considering the kind of praise he heaped on a guy who will be his position coach also happened to be his lead recruiter. Smith has been as productive as you’d expect a UA All-American to be; per The Wolverine’s Brandon Brown, he has recorded 11 tackles, one sack, and a number of QB pressures in his first two games.

[After THE JUMP: flips, film, and a whole bunch of texts]

[Nasternak]

Intrepid MGoVideographer David Nasternak braved the congestion of US-23 on a Thursday night to make the trip north to Brighton for the Bulldogs’ game against Belleville. What at first was on the schedule because it fit with the rest of the players David was going to see took on some intrigue as Brighton quarterback Will Jontz had a breakout performance that put him on the radar of a number of teams around the Big Ten, in turn giving us an intriguing litmus test for Belleville’s two Michigan commits.

Those commits: 2019 DT Tyrece Woods and 2020 CB Andre Seldon. Both impressed the Michigan staff enough at camps this summer to leave with scholarship offers. Woods, whose second-highest crystal ball percentage was Cincinnati at 17%, took two months to commit and had a handful of other offers from MAC schools and Fresno State. Betting against Don Brown and Greg Mattison seems like a surefire way to seal your fate, but there offer list indicates he might be raw. Seldon picked up a number of MAC offers this spring and had taken unofficial visits to Florida State, Penn State, and Michigan State, but he decided to jump on Michigan’s offer, committing just days after he camped in Ann Arbor. Both prospects clearly showed that they have traits the staff feels will fit their system well, but both also come with questions. Does Woods’ on-field performance seem to fall in line with the buzz around his camp drill performance? Is he more of a strongside end or a 3-technique? Is Seldon, at 5’8” or 5’9”, too small for the Big Ten? Is he even done growing? Let’s turn to the tape for answers (err, except to that last question, which I think we would need x-rays to figure out).

Tyrece Woods and Andre Seldon Every-Snap Film

[After THE JUMP: film, analysis, and long-term options]