Michigan Tuesday: Ann Arbor High Schools Sending Players to Brady Hoke

Here is a good article about Ann Arbor high schools Pioneer and Huron keeping players in town to play for the Wolverines.  Pioneer currently has Drake Johnson and Ricardo Miller on the Wolverines and Huron has Jeremy Jackson the son of running backs coach Fred Jackson.  

“I said it coming out of the spring, I thought (Jackson) was the most improved coming out of the spring and he’s definitely picked it up from there and has really elevated his game and has really done a great job at this point,” said wide receivers coach Jeff Hecklinski.

Ricardo Miller was a transplant from Florida and was only at Pioneer for a short time before becoming a Wolverine.  He started his Michigan career at TE and is now moving back to WR, the position he played in HS in Florida and at Pioneer. 

"It became evident that that wasn’t going to be his strong suit. So what the thought was let’s move him back (to wide receiver)," Hecklinski said. "Let’s take his skill set that he has and let’s utilize it to the offense, while also allowing him some comfort to let him know that he can play where he feels comfortable.”  Ricardo has lost some weight and has been working on his WR skills this summer.  Let's hope he has regained some speed to separate from DB's.

Michigan could really use big years from both Jeremy and Ricardo at WR role, which lacks proven depth. 

• Kevin Koger is helping coach Saline while he rehabs his left Achilles tendon : “I started jogging two-and-a-half, three weeks ago, so it’s definitely getting stronger. My calf is starting to fire,” Koger said. “I’m somewhere between a jog and a sprint. I haven’t been doing much cutting yet.” As for a timetable for a return to the field, Koger has a goal in mind, but won’t commit to a specific time.“Hopefully by sometime in late October, early November or mid-November I’ll be healthy enough to try out for some teams,” Koger said.

• State of Michigan HS Football Participation numbers are starting to drop.  Football saw a 6.9 percent drop, or 3,203 fewer student/athletes that took part in the sport for the 2011-2012 season.  This is the biggest drop in participation since 2006-2007.   Some could consider the drop due to a loss of a few football programs due to financial concerns, others will point out other sports as an option or the long term effects of concussions. 

• There seems to be a rash of bikes being stolen at U of M.  I have a solution to this problem:

Taylor Lewan and Graham Glasgow on Bike Patrol