Michigan Friday: Meet Your 2025 Captains

 

That's a strong list of leaders! Don't forget Tom Brady said, his greatest football honor was being named a Captain at the University of Michigan. 

• Max Bredeson is mentoring Bryce Underwood and asked to be his camp roommate.

• How did CJ Carr get the start for ND?  Per sources and Chris Hummer: "He's got the moxie. He's got the leadership. He's got that 'it' factor."

• Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern have come to a settlement on his dismissal. I'm shocked he is not working anywhere.

• Hawaii Football will log nearly 30,000 air miles this season.

• DPJ was released by the Saints after trading for Vele.

• One sleep before Week 0 of College Football! A ranked Big 12 game!

Did you know? That Iowa Football shared the National Championship in 1958?

Iowa has long laid claim to the 1958 national championship. The Hawkeyes were recognized as national champions by the Football Writers Association of America after leading the nation in total offense. The Hawkeyes' 8-1-1 (5-1 Big Ten) campaign ended with a 38-12 Rose Bowl victory over Cal and garnered the No. 2 spot in the final Associated Press poll.

Iowa leading the nation in offense is just crazy.  The AP voted LSU National Champs that year.  With all that said, Auburn has now taken the National Championship that year for themselves.  😃

Michigan Thursday: Saddi Has a New Gig

When Dusty arrived in Ann Arbor, he hired is own coaching staff.  Which meant some long time Howard and Beilein coaches needed new jobs.  Saddi Washington was one of those coaches and has landed on MSU's staff under Tom Izzo.  Guy's got to work, I guess. 

• The Lakers are targeting Dan Hurley from the back-to-back National Champions UConn Huskies. 

• Michigan Football is currently holding its high school camp and they are handing out MVP's and net new offers. 

• Biff Poggi is 65 today!  Happy Birthday Biff!

Michigan Monday: A Good Sign or Bad Sign?

Insider reports are that Michigan held another scrimmage this weekend as they prepare to open their season in less than two weeks.   As the submarine is air tight right now, some tidbits did float to the surface.  The biggest note from the scrimmage is that the Defense line dominated the Offensive line during the scrimmage. 

Can you really trust the camp buzz coming out of a srimmage?  Maybe.  Let's assume it's somewhat accurate.

The Good:

• The defensive line is really good 
• The DE's are getting to the QB 
• The big men Grant and Goode are stuffing the run 
• Mason Graham is going to be 1st team All-Big Ten this season
• Kris Jenkins is Michigan's next 1st round defensive lineman 
• This squad is winning against maybe the best OL in the country! 

The Bad:

• Could Michigan's offensive line be over hyped?
• Are there injuries on the offensive line? 
• Are some of the transfers not living up to expectations?
• Has the 1's gelled yet?
• Is the buzz inaccurate?
• Is the offensive line playing a lot of guys to gauge talent and depth charts?

The answer could be a percentage of all those bullets, we won't know for sure until September and beyond.  I'm not that concerned.  

• Oliver Martin caught a pass for JAX against the Lions on Sunday.  For a second, I thought he transferred to Jacksonville State, which ironically is not in Florida and coached by Rich Rod.

• Michigan Basketball is in the mix for Argentine forward prospect Lee Aaliya who is expected to make a decision this week. 

• Illinois names Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmyer starting QB

• Dianna Russini has moved from ESPN to The Atlantic

• Jordan Marshall and Jadyn Davis both had huge opening games of their high school season.

Wolverine Wednesday: Jimmy Talks

Harbaugh gave a press conference on everything team related on Tuesday.  Of course, he was not able to speak on anything regarding the NCAA Investigation.   He did mention a few injuries, which was interesting. 

-Amrion Walker is in a walking boot, but Harbaugh expects him back in 4-5 days. 

-Walk-on WR Logan Forbes could be out for the season with an injury. 

-WR Darrius Clemons is working through something.  Hopefully it's not serious, as I expect huge things from him this year.  I predicted he would be an impact freshman last season and that did not happen. 

-Will Johnson was not mentioned but is expected to still be recovering from surgery.  (Did anyone see him in the Big Ten Network practice?)

Another interesting tidbit was that back-up QB Alex Orji could be on kickoff returns. Another way to get an athlete on the field.  I also believe Alex showed up at the bottom of Feldman's Freak List (which is still an honor). 

• Seems Michigan has hit a bit of a roadblock on the recruiting trail as now some insiders are predicting a flip of the Smith Twins to Kentucky.   There is now more work to be done in the 2024 class. 

• Ronnie Bell had a couple nice catches in his first NFL Preseason game for the 49'ers. 

Michigan Tuesday: It Starts Today

Michigan's campaign for another championship starts today.  I will still stand on my soap box and yell to anyone that will listen, that the #1 goal every year continues to be a Big Ten Championship.   Anything else is icing on the cake.  I do agree, Michigan has the talent to do more and the sights should be set higher, but one step at a time. 

Today camp opens and all the distractions from recruiting and the summer are gone.  The only thing hanging over the program is the probable suspension of Jim Harbaugh for buying a recruit a hamburger and not recalling he did it years ago.  The NCAA continues to be a clown show.  

Submarine or no Submarine this year? 😃

Back 30+ years ago, today would be for guys getting in shape and working back to be a full-time football player.  Those days are gone and now players are in the S&C program all year and should be ready to start full practices today.  JJ, Blake, and Donovan are all healthy with Michigan's talented RB's coming off late year injuries.  Will Johnson is expected to still be banged up and probably not participating early in camp.  

It's great to get the freshman that weren't enrolled in January on the field and the continued familiarity of the boat load of transfers.  Here is a quick refresher on the new transfer Wolverines:

-LaDarius Henderson ASU Guard/Tackle: He is expected to fight for a starting position on Michigan's elite offensive line. 

-Ernest Hausmann Nebraska LB: Is expected to start at LB. 

-Myles Hinton Stanford OL: Brother of Chris and is expected to be a backup offensive lineman. 

-Drake Nugent Standford Center: Is expected to start at center. 

-Josaiah Stewart Coastal Carolina: Is expected to play a ton of snaps at edge (in a position that rotates non-stop, starter vs, non-starter doesn't really matter)

-Jack Tuttle IU QB: Will be #2 or #3 QB 

-AJ Barner IU TE: Could be a huge part of the Michigan offense and expect him to get a ton of catches this year and become one of JJ's favorite targets. 

-Josh Wallace UMass CB: Will walk into a starting role opposite of Will Johnson or in place of Johnson if he is not healthy to start the season.  

Each transfer will have an important role on this team this season.  

Question marks going into camp?

• Michigan will have to replace the best kicker in the nation.  We know a kicker is really important to a Jim Harbaugh offense, that seems to struggle scoring TD's early in the year. 

• Michigan has 2 great RB's and will need to continue to mature the passing game for a balanced offense.

• CB depth is a concern mostly if Will is not fully healthy.

• Punt and Kickoff return with AJ now at Northwestern.

• Pass Rush, Michigan seems to have the talent but still a bit unproven at this level.

There are two goals for Summer/Fall Camp.

#1 Get 1% better everyday 

#2 No injuries

• Did you know that Devin Bush signed a one year "prove it" deal with the Seattle Seahawks?

• Nike latest Michigan Pegasus 40 is releasing on Thursday at the MDen, Fanatics, and I assume Nike.com.

Michigan Monday: Walt, Wait a Week or 2?

The #2 prospect in the nation Walter Nolen tweeted out this weekend that he is shutting down his recruitment and is going to make a decision.   The big DT took a visit to UF this weekend and was expected to visit A2 in 2 weeks.   Now that visit is highly in doubt if Walter sticks to his tweet.    

No word on USC DT transfer Jay Toia who visited Ann Arbor this past weekend.  He would be a huge get and potential immediate starter for the Wolverines. 

• The Ferris State Camp last week seemed to have gone well as Jimmy attended and even spoke to all the players and coaches in attendance. 

• Michigan hosted its own camp this past weekend.  Will be interesting to see if any offers come out of it.  

• Michigan Baseball got swept out of the regionals with loses to UConn and CMU.   

• Juwan Howard is reportedly a candidate for the Portland job, which Jason Kidd has already removed his name from consideration.   I'm guessing this is not an ideal NBA job.   Boston seems to want an former NBA coach, which is good news.  

• A come back? Rutgers has the #7 ranked recruiting class in the country.

• A crazy day for Jon Rahm at the Memorial outside of Columbus on Saturday.   A hole in one, one of the best rounds of his PGA career, a 6 stroke lead, a positive COVID test, and a WD. 

Wolverine Wednesday: The Unknown

This is strangest time in history for sports.  Nobody knows if and when their favorite sport will come back.   The NBA is trying a way to do their playoffs, MLB is trying to squeeze in their season, the NFL doesn't know when they will start, and college football doesn't know if they can play if there isn't any students on campus.  

The California State Schools closed their doors for the fall semester and will continue with virtual classes.   What does that mean for UCLA or CAL football?  We don't know.  

The MAC has cancelled a number of sports end of the year tournaments for the next 4 years already.  Florida Tech has completely closed their football program. 

The NCAA is not going to mandate any return to sports.  It will be up to the State Government, the University Presidents, and large organizations like the Big Ten.  

I don't have the answer but I'm not loving the outlook for sports in 2020.  

• Purdue Guard (basketball) Nojel Eastern is in the transfer portal.  He clearly should head to EMU.  

• One year ago today, Coach B left for the CAVS.   What a bad decision that was and I can't believe he didn't know that before he took that role.  

• Did you know that Jimmy has hired a former Navy Seal to help players become better team leaders? I didn't and love that.  

• Don Brown went on Jon Jansen's podcast and talked about current players stepping up.

The SEC Won't Let Jimmy Be

The backlash on the NCAA's decision on Satellite Camps and prohibiting visiting coaches from other programs at camps, continues to get hit hard nationally.   I hope all this noise will make a difference and they at least change the rule.   Like I mentioned yesterday, limit the number of "off campus" camps and let other program coaches participate.   The only people this new rule is helping is million dollar coaches that don't want to work hard in the summer.     The smaller division school coaches and many high school prospects are the ones that are getting hurt by this new rule.

With that said, can you believe the difference Jimmy is making not only in Ann Arbor but in college football as a whole?  His celebrity rating is higher then Saban and Meyer and now the NCAA is making rules to limit his creativity.   Many are calling this new rule the Harbaugh rule.  (Penn State's Head Coach James Franklin was really the first one to do a satellite camp when he did one a few years ago in Atlanta)  It's only a matter of time before the NCAA shuts down the Spring Break trips to Florida as well. 

How things have changed in the last year and half.   Michigan went from making headlines for QB concussions, poor AD management and missing a Bowl.   To making positive impacts in college football.    It's a night and day comparison.  It's the difference of being a leader in college football or a follower.   Michigan has been a follower for too long and were finally back in a leadership position.   The winning on the field is coming but the leadership as a program is back where it belongs.  

Thank you Jimmy for coming home and loving your job in Ann Arbor!

• 5 Star Instate basketball prospect Josh Jackson picked Kansas over MSU and others.  Josh never really seriously considered Michigan. 

• Manuel names Doug Gnodtke the executive associate director of athletics and chief of staff. 

• 2018 Asante Samuel Jr. has Michigan in his top 10.  You might recognize his name. 

• Jimmy will be the commencement speaker at Paramus Catholic in June

NCAA Puts A Stop To Satellite Camps, I Think

The NCAA came out today with this statement that seems to me leaves more questions then answers.

From the USA Today:

"The Council approved a proposal applicable to the Football Bowl Subdivision that would require those schools to conduct camps and clinics at their school’s facilities or at facilities regularly used for practice or competition. Additionally, FBS coaches and noncoaching staff members with responsibilities specific to football may be employed only at their school’s camps or clinics. This rule change is effective immediately."


I don't understand the highlighted statement above: does that mean it has to be at Michigan's facilities used for practice or competition or at any location in the US that is regularly used for practice or competition?  My guess is, the intent is for coaches to hold camps and clinics only on their own campuses.  

This could kill very valuable camps like Sound Mind and Sound Body in Detroit as well.

Update:  Yes, the NCAA means you can only hold camps at your "own" campus facilities and you can't have other programs coaches come to those camps.   Which is really going to hurt the Michigan MAC schools.  When Michigan holds a camp, they usually get coaches from the likes of EMU, Western and Central.   Only a couple kids are going to get offers from U of M but many might get offers from those MAC schools.  

Not sure the NCAA thought this rule out, as it seems to be getting hit pretty hard nationally.   The players that can't afford to travel from Alabama to Michigan are the ones that are being hurt here.   Not Michigan picking up a couple of new players from doing 10 Summer camps around the country.

Michigan Friday: Michigan vs. ND in NYC

It was the early season football match-up we all looked forward to every year.  That is no longer the case, because ND has a time share agreement with the ACC for a condo in Hilton Head and prefers to keep the Purdue tradition alive rather then play Michigan every year. 

So what we have left is Michigan vs. ND in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.   Michigan as you know played a First Four game in Dayton to earn the right to play in this game, ND earned the right by going 11-7 in the ACC and 21-11 overall. 

I don't know much about ND but reading a bit they sound a lot like Michigan, where they can be very good on offense but very bad on defense.   Like most college games, the team that gets stops and shoots the ball the best should win.  Michigan is very familiar with Barclay's Center and should feel comfortable playing there.  ND is favored by a basket.

It's on at 9:40 CBS.   Go Blue!

• Jimmy and Art Briles are doing a joint satellite camp this summer at Baylor.   Its for Juniors or Seniors and it's scheduled for June 12th.

Wolverine Wednesday: Exposure U Seems To Be A Success

Today is the last day for Michigan's Ann Arbor camp named Exposure U by Jimmy and staff.   The QB camp this weekend will have a number of NFL QB's coming to Ann Arbor to work with future QB's including Tampa Bay's Jamis Winston, Chicago's Jay Cutler and former Harbaugh QB  San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick.

This week Michigan has also hosted 31 coaches from 23 programs across the country.  Some of the top programs that attended includes: Arkansas State, Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kansas State, Northwestern and Ohio.

With the "tour" and local Ann Arbor camp, the Michigan coaches will have seen roughly 1400 athletes.   That is a pretty good June in my book!

• Delano Hill keeps recruiting his brother and PSU commit Lavert Hill to Michigan.

• The decision on an early signing period for football has been tabled for another year.

• The Big Ten has 6 QB's at the Elite 11 Finals

Michigan Tuesday: The Commits Keep Coming!

The commit train keeps running through Ann Arbor:

Sean McKeon a 6'5 230 pound TE from Dudley (MA) Shepherd Hill committed to Michigan on Monday after performing well at Michigan's camp.   Sean again falls into one of those Michigan recruits that the services don't have a ton of information on.   He is rated 3 stars by Scouts and 247 but only 2 stars to Rivals. 

His offer list has some familiar schools on it Air Force, Boston College, Colorado State, Columbia, UConn, Harvard, UMass, Pitt, Syracuse, Temple, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Yale.   Another smart kid in the Maize and Blue!  The Air Force academy must be reeling after the last two days.  :-)

The book on Sean of course he is a big target with nice speed and runs a good route.    He naturally needs to work on blocking and getting stronger in the weight room.   Pretty typical stuff for a soon to be high school senior.

As you can tell, this is another "big smart" athlete that fits the Harbaugh system.   Jimmy is looking for specific types of players no matter where they are from or where they are ranked by the services.

The second player to commit is "Hail to" Victor Viramontes a dual threat QB from Norco (CA).  VV impressed the coaches last week at the Fresno camp and got offered the next day.   This dual threat prospect had offers from the likes of Colorado, Colorado State, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Nevada, San Diego State, Washington State, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.  As you can tell,  Nebraska and GT like very mobile run first QB's.  

Victor is much more then that and has been proving it this summer and recently was named the top QB at one of Rivals 5 star camps.   All the services consider him a 3 star prospect at 6'1 205 pounds.  The kid can play QB, RB or even LB on defense. 

With Michigan already with Brandon Peters in the class why did they need another QB?  Because Harbaugh would prefer a roster full of nothing but QB's and ...................

“I’m coming in as an athlete,” Viramontes said. “I trust the coaches so wherever they want to play me, I’m fine with. I worked out at quarterback and got great feedback from the staff. They said I remind them of Kap (Colin Kaepernick) because of how I can run and throw but we’ll see where I end up.
“It’s really not an issue for me, I’ll play wherever they want me. This is such an exciting time for me and it feels great to have the decision out of the way. My goal all along was to commit sometime in the summer so I can focus on Norco football and having a great senior year with my brothers on the team.

#'s: Michigan now is at 14 commits and it seems the Wolverine coaches are looking for a class in the 20's range.  I expect we are going to hear about som attrition or medical redshirts in the next few weeks. 

Michigan Thursday: Jimmy Loves QB's!

Jimmy is taking the off season to another level.  You already knew about the country wide rock tour, now he is doing Band Camp for QB's in Ann Arbor. 

ExposureU teams w NFL QBs & trainers for a 1 day Aerial Assault. First ever 2016, 2017, 2018, & 2019 QB Cage Match! pic.twitter.com/Kw93lkmjlQ

— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) May 13, 2015

Did you see some of the names on that list?  I expect this to be very well attended and a great recruiting camp for the Wolverines. 

Jimmy is a freaking wizard.  I hope all this stuff equates wins on the field!!

Michigan Monday: Gets A Pair of Commits

I was surprised that a couple of teammates picked up offers at Michigan's Camp a couple of weeks ago.  I thought the coaches were comfortable with the numbers and current prospects for the 2014 class.   I was wrong and I wasn't surprised that these teammates committed this weekend.

On Saturday, Elkton (MD) Eastern Christian Academy teammates Brandon Watson (CB) and Freddy Canteen (WR/Slot) committed to the Wolverines.   Eastern Christian Academy/High School is a new football program and only played 3 football games last year, so many of their prospects have to attend camps and combines to get noticed.  Canteen and Watson did that and got offered and now they are part of Michigan's 2014 class.  

Watson is 5'11 185 pounds and probably a pure CB prospect.   He is rated 3 star prospect to Rivals, not rated by Scouts or ESPN and a 2 star by 24/7.  These ranking are a clear example of not enough film on this young man.

The scouting report on Watson is that he is a physical CB that has a nose for the ball.  He is hard to beat and either intercepts or knocks the ball down.  Those instincts are nice to see for a CB going into his senior year of HS.

Canteen gets a bit more love from the services minus ESPN who hasn't rated him at all.  He is a 4 star to Rivals and a 3 Star to Scouts & 24/7.    He currently is 6'3 and 175 pounds (get thus guy to an all you can eat buffet!).   He is expected to be a slot WR at Michigan. 

Canteen is known as a very good route runner that is quick out of his breaks.  Which obviously caught Big AL's eye and will be a nice large target for Shane Morris moving forward.

What does this mean for the rest of the class?

Michigan now has 13 commits and maybe as low as 16 spots available right now.  That gives them 3 spots but with expected attrition I would expect at least 18.    These commitments also means that Artavis Scott is off the board, with his expected commitment to Clemson coming any day.

The rest of the 2014 class looks like a couple defensive lineman, one offensive tackle, one safety, another LB and WR if numbers allow.

*Don't forget Michigan is still recruiting 2015 WR George Campbell who are teammates with Artavis Scott and Mason Cole.  George said he will make his own decision on where he is attending.

• Camp Star Drue Tranquill tweeted his final four of Michigan, ND, Purdue and Cincinnati.  He hasn't been offered by Michigan or ND yet.   Michigan is interested and continue to talk to Drue but they have told him they offered another LB and waiting for a decision before they offer him.   Most believe that player is Dwight Williams who isn't expecting to make a decision until January, he is planning a Michigan official this Fall.  So we might have a long wait here.

Michigan Thursday: 2 More WR's In The 2014 Class?

With a number of spots filled in the 2014 class the Michigan coaches really don't have the luxury this year to offer some "under the radar" prospects that they could develop.   Still the Wolverines offered two players (and high school teammates) from Michigan's Summer Camp this week in 2014 WR Freddy Canteen and 2014 DB Brandon Watson.  It makes sense for the DB offer but a WR?  Many had thought Michigan would add one more WR and that is penciled in for Artavis Scott. 

Then Freddy told this to his local NJ paper:  "Rutgers is still high with me," said Canteen, who was told the Wolverines would be taking two additional receivers in the class of 2014. "I don't know why people don't think that. You could still say Rutgers is my favorite school. There are a lot of mixed emotions when I really think about everything, but the top three are Rutgers, Michigan and Tennessee.

This class maybe near or at 20 players by the time it's done.  There are also some rumors floating around about a current LB that could be done playing due to an injury. 

• Walk-On Alert! 2013 QB Garrett Moores (Catholic Central) will be joining the Wolverines as a preferred walk-on this Fall.  Garrett was high school teammates with Wyatt Shallman and WR Jack Wrangler last year.

• A potential 2014 offer is Safety prospect Drue Tranquill who preformed well at the SMSB Camp last week and also did well at Michigan's camp yesterday.   The buzz is that the Michigan coaches like him at LB.  We also know they are looking for one more LB as well.  No offer yet, but it could be in the works.  Having a hybrid guy that could play Safety or LB is a nice option for the coaches.  Side Note:  Drue was offered by Purdue on Wednesday.

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Wolverine Wednesday: Targets Legacy Players

John Beilein has been successful building Michigan's Basketball program by recruiting kids that have a great bloodline from a father that played in the NBA.   Michigan's Football recruiting 2015 class might be filled with familiar names that you might recognize and also make your feel pretty old.   The latest camp offer has gone out to:


2015 OL Jon Runyan Jr.  who came to Michigan's camp at 6'4 250 pounds as a high school sophomore.   Jon couldn't hide his excitement in a quote he gave to ESPN:  "I have just always loved Michigan my entire life, since I grew up watching it," he said. "Today is the day I've been waiting for since I started playing football. I've always wanted to play for Michigan and want to keep that tradition going."   Look for big Jon to be Michigan's first commit in the 2015 class as soon as this weekend or maybe early next week.

I also mentioned on Monday that these players are looking good for a Michigan offer as well:

• 2015 TE/DE Ty Wheatly Jr. who has an offer.  
• 2015 DB Tyler Woodley (Lamarr's cousin) has been at camp this week  
• 2017 LB Joshua Ross (brother of current Wolverine LB James) and has plenty of time to earn an offer.

Some other somewhat surprising 2014 offers from camp yesterday include:

• 2014 DB Brandon Watson is a 3 star prospect to Rivals and has offers from BC, Temple and UConn.  The Michigan coaches must of liked what they saw.

• 2014 WR Freddy Canteen is a 4 star WR and is 6'3 and 170 pounds.  He has offers from UConn, Temple, Tennessee, Maryland and Hawaii.

A name to keep an eye on at camp today is:

• 2014 DB Drue Tranquill who lite it up at the SMSB camp last week and will see if he can earn a Michigan offer today.   His offers include Minnesota, Indiana, Cincinnati and the MAC.  Drue is mostly a Safety prospect and will show up to camp at 6'2 and 205 pounds.  Update: Early reports from camp today is he is working out at LB

4 Star 2014 TE/DE Garret Dickerson has a final 3 of Stanford, Michigan and Northwestern.  Neither TE or DE is a need for Michigan right now in the 2014 class, I'm assuming the Michigan coaches are still recruiting Dickerson but his commitment would be a luxury at this point.

Michigan Tuesday: A Couple Camp Offers

With only a few spots left in the 2014 class, Michigan is now spending a lot of time on the 2015 class.    Which is also the focus on the this years summer camp which just kicked off yesterday.   Some players come in for a day, others will stay for the entire week.  

We heard yesterday that two players were offered: 

• 2015 Canadian Sophomore Patrice Rene was offered after he had a very nice performance at the Sound Mind and Sound Body.  He showed us at Michigan Summer Camp on Monday and must of preformed well and got an offer.  Rene is reported at 6'2 and the size that the Michigan coaches like.  

• 2015 LB from Cincinnati Justin Hilliard was also offered.  He already has 20+ offers and was at camp on Monday as well.   Some of his offers already include: Oklahoma, Miami, South Carolina, ND and Ohio State.  Justin is 6'2 and 230 pounds/

ESPN released their new top 300 rankings for the 2014 class.  Drake Harris made the biggest jump up to #71 player in the country.   He flew up 25 places in the rankings.   Also Mo Ways got his 4th star from ESPN.  Now every player in Michigan's class has at least one 4 star ranking from ESPN, Scouts and/or Rivals.

Michigan Friday: RR Love Fest in AZ

As we get closer to 9/1 there is a lot of excitement building around the country for a fresh new start with each college football program.  In the SEC, they are talking about Alabama and LSU re-loading for another title run.   There is also excitement about how good both South Carolina and Arkansas can be. 

In the ACC, they are all about FSU and getting them back on top of college football while Clemson continues to have a solid team.   Virgina Tech seems to be a bit under-rated after a strong performance against the Wolverines in the Sugar Bowl. 

The Big 12 welcomes West Virgina to the league and they will get to fight it out with the regular powers Oklahoma and Texas.   Oklahoma State continues to be a top 20 team and they hope to continue their momentum from a strong 2011 campaign.

The Big East is just happy to be here and looking to sign a new TV contract with NBC's new sports channel. 

The new PAC 12 seems to be a two horse race between USC and Oregon.   Either could play for the BCS Championship at the end of the year.  In fact, USC gets Stanford in just week 3 so we will see early how good USC really is.    Some Michigan fans will be interested to see how Rich Rod does in year 1 at Arizona.   Michigan football fans expect their head coaches to retire vs. getting fired.   Gary Moeller and Rich Rod are exception to that rule.  Gary had a short interim head coaching gig for the Lions and now you can find him most Saturday afternoons walking around the press box at the Big House.  Rich Rod on the other hand is still young and now takes over his 3rd BCS program.   He is 1-1 with his overhauls and this time has the band back together in Tucson.

I took a look at Arizona's schedule and found two games that are pretty ironic.   During RR's first year at Michigan he played both Utah and Toledo.  Michigan lost both games.  The Rockets might have been one of his most embarrassing losses he ever.  It also happened to be the only time Michigan has lost to a MAC team.   Well, RR gets them again and this time it's his first game of the year.  They will also travel to Utah in November.    If RR gets by Toledo in week 1 they will host #19 ranked Oklahoma State in week 2.  Should be fun to keep an eye on Tucson this year. 

Fun Fact:  RR won 15 games in 3 years at Michigan.  Brady Hoke won 11 in 1 year.

• Here is the transcript from another "not much information" Hoke press conference.   Highlights:  Team nowhere near ready for 9/1 yet, no word if Fitz will play in Dallas, Wormley hasn't had surgery yet, but will.  

Update:  Freshman Ondre Pipkins was taken to the hospital this morning via ambulance with a potential neck injury.  He has movement in all extremities and was taken to the the hospital as a precaution.   Let's hope this is nothing serious.

Michigan Friday: Nook Gets a Ring

I have no idea how Juwan Howard got the nickname Nook or Big Nookie  is what we used to call him during his Fab 5 days.  The scoreboard used to put up his nickname when he made a basket and I'm not 100% sure what it was, but it was something close to Big Nook?

With that said, I couldn't be happier for him that he finally is getting a Championship Ring.   Sure he was a role player at best and mostly a "locker room" vet to help the Heat from getting to up or down with the Big 3 in town.   Juwan is a class act and deserved a championship after all he went through at Michigan and 18 years in the NBA.   I'm sure he will play "until they kick him out" but the end is near and whether he retires this summer or next, he will leave the game a Champion!  Congrats!

• There were two Wanglers at Michigan's camp this week.  Jared and Jack, I assume they are brothers and son of former Michigan QB John Wangler.  Can anyone confirm?  Jack is a 2013 WR and Jared is a 2014 Safety.

Michigan Thursday: Will the Wolverines Have #22 Today?

Michigan Blog Tremendous is reporting that 2013 CB and recent camper Channing Stribling will commit to Michigan today.   Channing camped at Michigan this week and most of impressed the coaches because he got a scholarship offer to the almost full 2013 class.

Channing is 6'2 and 170 pound from Mathews, NC.  He is what you would call an under the radar recruit with his only other offer from Ball State.  He is not rated by Rivals and a 2 star recruit to Scouts (most services have him rated as a WR).

"I was getting ready to do some more defensive back drills when one of the assistant coaches pulled me aside. I went up to Coach Hoke's office and he offered me a scholarship. He said they think I have a special game and to be honest I don't really remember what he said after that because I couldn't believe what was going on". 

"I was going to wait for about a week and go over it with my family, but my mother said she prayed on it and gave me her blessing, so I decided that I am going to commit tomorrow". 

Welcome to the team Channing and Congratulations!

Update:  It's official he is Blue.