Michigan Friday: CB's Are Coming In For Michigan

I really don't enjoy discussions on whether Michigan and other Big 10 Universities are opening up this Fall or not.  I'm pretty sure we are still in a state of confusion where nobody knows sh*t.

This leaves us recruiting discussions, which many of us enjoy.  😃

Michigan has clearly had a good week in adding three 4 star defenders in the last 5 days.   Seems the good will on the recruiting trail continues has many top candidates are taking notice. 

• Rocco Spindler commented that Michigan Football has the best edits this week.   This has been an area where many have been critical of Michigan's recruiting strategy.  Seems the right people are enjoying them.  

• Donavan Edwards is starting to see a trend of new crystals balls in Michigan's favor. With a 5 star QB and all these 4 stars jumping on board, I think it's starting to make a difference to Edwards and staying close to home.

• Quentin Somerville is a 4 star DE from Arizona that is announcing on 6/20.  He is trending hard to Michigan right now.  

• George Rooks, is a 4 star DT (Yes a DT) from NJ is starting to trend to Michigan.  He is 6'4 and 260 pounds.  

• Drew Kendall is a 4 star OG from MA that has 85% CB's to Michigan

Donovan and Rocco are expected to be the top two players on Michigan's board as both are instate recruits.   I'm also excited about the latest defensive recruits as they coming in at needed positions.  

• 5 star QB JT Daniels who was down to USC and Michigan in his original recruitment is transferring to Georgia.

from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2020/05/michigan-friday-cbs-are-coming-in-for.html

Michigan Thursday: Donnie Is Having a Good Week!

Before Sunday, Don Brown 2021 class had a lot of "high ceiling" guys on it.  Which in recruiting circles means 3 star guys who mostly project to late career starters or special teams roles.  Each class needs these type of players but you hope to add the high star guys first.   Since Sunday Don has added three 4 star prospects with the latest coming last night. 

Kechaun Bennet is a 4 star DE out of CT.  He is 6'4 220 pounds and rated the #1 player in Connecticut.   His clearly also a good student as his offer list included the likes of Duke, ND, Cal, GT, Miami, Pitt, PSU, Nebraska, Purdue, BC and many more.   24/7 Composite has KB ranked as the 21st SDE in the country. 

“I am super excited right now,” Bennett said. “This is actually crazy with me going to Michigan, especially being from Connecticut. This is wild.”

"I was always leaning toward Michigan from the jump," Bennett said. “I kind of always knew I wanted to go to Michigan so I committed. They stood out because of the culture they have, and a couple of people from Suffield, they said I could go to Michigan and do well.”

KB clearly needs to put on a few pounds and probably is not playing against top talent in CT.  I see a redshirt year heading his way, so he can add some weight and muscle on that 6'4 frame.    We give Don the business for loading up with guys from the North East but this seems like a very good fit for the Wolverines. 

Michigan now has the 5th ranked class in the country, which should make it a little more interesting for guys like Donovan and Rocco.  Spindler seems to be down to Michigan and ND and Edwards seems to be more open in his recruitment. 

from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2020/05/michigan-thursday-donnie-is-having-good.html

Wolverine Wednesday: Does Michigan Have A Recruiting Problem?

Michigan Football has a 99 problems, is recruiting one?  

The answer is yes, but not as big of a problem as we might think it is.  Everyone was worried about this current class and now they're ranked #6.   Touch the Banner has a new post up on how to fix Michigan recruiting and I agree with many of his points.  

Here are my thoughts:

Michigan has a talent gap between Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State.  It was very clear at the Big House against Ohio State and Alabama in Orlando.  Michigan out played Alabama for the first half and everyone knew in the stadium Bama was going to win the game.   Why?   Talent.  

I don't believe Michigan is at a coaching disadvantage over those 3 schools.   Bama loses its entire staff every year and they just keep winning.  Saban doesn't have a magic elixir, he just recruits top talent every year.   I do believe Don Brown freezes up in big games and doesn't come up with anything new, but now Jimmy has put 2 very experienced former DC's around him.  

So now what?

Michigan has to recruit the freak athletes and recruit them hard.   When I watch OSU, Clemson, and Bama they have freaks 3 or 4 deep.   When Michigan loses a starter, many times the backups aren't ready for the bright lights.   For years, Michigan had zero options at back-up QB.  BTW, I'm not talking about nothing but 5 star prospects, I'm talking about taking a chance on a 3 star 5'8 kid that runs a 4.2.  Find the freaks! 

Recruit Ohio and Detroit better - Michigan lost Detroit when Wheatley left for the NFL again.  He is now a head coach, so that move worked out for him.   Michigan needs someone from Detroit to recruit Detroit and probably should bring back a former Wolverine to do it.    Ohio kids will always go to OSU because they don't have a choice.  Still Michigan needs to win a small percentage of those battles.   

Get the ball to the talent - Jimmy's biggest weakness in my mind, is that he doesn't get the most of the talent that he has.   Michigan needs to find more ways to get the ball to their game breakers.  DPJ didn't have the Michigan career he should have.   Hell, the NFL continues to question the way Michigan used Josh Uche the last couple years.   This is another Saban and Meyer strength, OSU always beats Michigan with their best athletes and it doesn't take a genius to know Ruggs and Jeudy were going to kill Michigan in Orlando.  

When Texas was on top of the college world, they would invite the top 50 players in Texas to a camp, pick 20 guys to offer and their recruiting was done.   Bo could fill his roster with 100+ scholarship kids from the Midwest.  Things have changed and Michigan will always recruit well even if they didn't leave campus to talk to kids.    Still they need to find more ways to close the gap between the top schools if they are going to compete for Championships.  

from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2020/05/wolverine-wednesday-does-michigan-have.html

Michigan Tuesday: Jimmy Flips Over Southern 4 Star Linebackers

Don Brown hasn't had too many good weekends since last Thanksgiving.  Memorial Day Weekend finally put a smile on the embattled Michigan DC's face as he landed two 4 star LB's from south of the Mason-Dixon line.  On Sunday, Michigan landed 4 star TN LB Junior Colston, whose mom grew up a Michigan fan which clearly translated to her son.   On Monday, Jadon Hood followed suit and made his own pledge for the Wolverines.   Jimmy, Don, and BJ-M all did summersaults in Jaydon's video. 

Junior Colston is Michigan's first 4 star defensive player in this class.  He is rated #116 in 24/7's composite and the 8th OLB in the 2021 class.  Junior who will be a Freshman in 2021 and is currently 6'2 and 228 pounds.  He also had a ton of offers from the likes of USC, Auburn, FSU, LSU, Tenn, Ole Miss, MSU, PSU, Oregon, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and more.    This was a great get out of Tennessee who has been killing it this year on the recruiting trail and has the #2 ranked 2021 class behind OSU.

Junior received his Michigan offer a year ago when he attended a Michigan Camp and his mom was clearly emotional when that offer came through.   Junior's story is a special one as he is adopted from Haiti after the Earthquake hit that killed 250,000 people.  He was actually in an orphanage when the tragedy happened as his father had recently passed away when he was only 7 years old.  He lived through 2 tragic experiences and now will be a Wolverine.   I have a strong feeling that Michigan fans will embrace this young man and make him a fan favorite. 

Welcome Junior!

Jaydon Hood didn't let Junior stay the only 4 star in the class on the defensive side of the ball for long as he became the second in 24 hours.    Jaydon is out of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas and Michigan's 2nd commit from that school in the 2021 class.  This recruitment is a little different due to the virus and Jaydon not seeing Ann Arbor yet.  Though his uncle knows Joe Milton's dad and was able to get plenty of information on Ann Arbor and the rest of the football program. 

“It was actually a very hard decision between Michigan, Miami, and Minnesota,” Hood told The Michigan Insider. “It just came down to what scheme I liked, what things I like, and where I feel most comfortable. And the biggest thing for me was coaching stability. That’s very important to me. (So too are) coaching relationships, culture, tradition, atmosphere, and good campus life because I’ve got to be able to live there. And that competitive atmosphere. I definitely want to play in the biggest games. I want to be a part of that. And I just looked at it… I went pros and cons with every school, and Michigan checked off on everything I wanted.”

Jaydon is rated 298th player on 24/7 and the 11th ILB in the country.   His offer list included Alabama, FSU, UK, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Minn, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and others.   His is 6'1 and 212 pounds.  

Welcome Jaydon! 

Michigan's "poor" 2021 recruiting now has the Wolverines with the #6th ranked class in the country.   Michigan is done with LB's and now needs DT, DE, WR, TE, OT, and CB's in this class. 

from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2020/05/michigan-tuesday-jimmy-flips-over.html

A businesswoman's vision for an entrepreneur ecosystem thrives in Maryland

Stephany Yu, an entrepreneur and co-founder of Sunwater Capital, has developed more than 40 million square feet of residential, commercial, and retail property in the United States and China. So, when she came to North Bethesda, Maryland, she did it again but on a larger scale—creating a 103,000-square-foot innovation center.
 

from http://open.maryland.gov/blog/businesswomans-vision-entrepreneur-ecosystem-thrives-maryland/

Michigan Friday: Commit Watch This Weekend

Michigan LB recruiting looks to be very strong this year.  Michigan already has gotten commitments at LB from IL Tyler McLaurin and MA Casey Phinney.  Now they are leading for Florida 4 star LB's Jaydon Hood and Junior Colston.   Junior is planning to announce his college choice on Sunday and the Wolverines are the presumed favorite. 

Many of us were upset when the great recruiter Chris Partridge left for Ole Miss but new LB coach Brian Jean-Mary is clearly a strong recruiter and seems to be opening the state of Florida recruits back to Ann Arbor. 

Don Brown had this to say:

“Once again, the Ohio State game was a huge negative for us,:” Brown said. “I’m not going to live in that world. And I don’t want the players to live in that world. We acknowledge it. We move on from it. And hopefully I do a better job. I don’t blame players for anything. You blame the old guy right here. I got to do a better job getting our guys ready and I promise you I’m going to."

Don, we have heard that before and we have zero proof you can beat a good offense.   You better start using the expertise on your staff (Shoop and Jean-Mary) to find new ways to beat the Buckeyes or other good offenses.   I'm tired of hearing how your going to be doing a better job, because you haven't. 

• Seems the next "Last Dance" type documentary from ESPN/Netflix will be on Tom Brady in 2021.   

from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2020/05/michigan-friday-commit-watch-this.html

Michigan Thursday: News and Notes

• DPJ sings with the Browns 4 years $3.4M

• Don Brown says that Michael Barrett is 220 pounds and runs a 4.5 at Viper 

• Jimmy prefers football with no fans vs. no football at all

• Ty Law and Tripp Welborne are among 6 inductees for Michigan's Hall of Honor in 2020

• Seems NCAA Schools are going to try to open slowly on 6/1. I'm interested if football programs can get their 2 weeks of Spring Practices back.

• Florida 2021 LB Jaydon Hood has Michigan in this top 10

from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2020/05/michigan-thursday-news-and-notes.html