Michigan Tuesday: More Help For The Perfect Vision Class

I'm a big fan of building your football team with strong offensive and defensive lines.   I believe having a strong offensive line can make your running back look great and your QB an accurate passer.   A strong defensive line can make the opposing offense struggle for first downs and scoring points.


Michigan has also struggled in recruiting these two areas for the last 10 years or so.  The offensive line has gotten 4 and 5 star guys that didn't work out.  The defensive line (tackles) for awhile was full of 3 star guys that Greg Mattison turned into NFL players. 


That is why I get excited when OT's and DT's commit to the Wolverines.  Last night, Michigan took a peek into the future when DT Denver Warren committed to the 2020 class.  He is 6'2 and 318 pounds and hasn't played his junior year of high school football yet.   He is listed as a 4 star to 24/7 composite with early offers from  Michigan State, Penn State, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Duke and more.


Welcome Big Man and enjoy your high school experience for two more year and we will see you in Ann Abor soon!


That is 3 commits for the Wolverines in the last two days.   Is it over?





Nope!  Quinten Johnson is expected to announce today at Nike's Opening.  He is a 3 star Safety from DC.

• Michigan is in the final 5 for 2020 five-star OL Myles Hinton.  Myles of course is the brother of 2019 commit Chris.   Georgia, Clemson, Stanford and Northwestern round out the 5.

Michigan Friday: News and Notes

• 2016 WR signee Nate Johnson who was thrown off the team last September for a domestic abuse charge (he was sentenced to 4 days in jail and 6 months probation in December) will continue his football career at Arizona Western which is a junior college.

• The Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL have signed Michigan QB Devin Gardner.

• Michigan QB commit Cade McNamara is planning to recruit at the Opening this weekend.  A great performance from him could attract some skill players to Ann Arbor.

• Michigan will pay $4.6M to play and not play non-conference games this season.  Michigan was scheduled to play Arkansas in the season opener before cancelling to restart the rivalry against the Fighting Irish. Michigan paid Arkansas $2 million for cancelling.
  
  The Wolverines athletic department, led by athletic director Warde Manuel, is set to pay Southern Methodist $1.4 million for the game on Sept. 15 and Western Michigan $1.2 million for the Sept. 8 in-state showdown.  I love the ND rivalry but to force it and to pay Arkansas  $2M for a $400,000 game seems like a bad business move. I also hate opening on the road against a big time opponent.

• 2019 3-star athlete Giles Jackson has Michigan in his final 4 including USC, Oregon, and Oregon State.  I would guess the Beavers are an under-dog at this point.

• If you haven't heard Moe's Sporting Goods after 103 years in Ann Arbor is closing for good.  MDen purchased them last year.

Wolverine Wednesday: No Commits on Tuesday?

Commit-a-Palooza is over for now, but Michigan of course is not done with this class.    Michigan has 5 offensive lineman committed and would still like to add a one more high profile tackle.


Michigan has 3 DE's committed with Herron's commitment still a little shaky with a potential Stanford flip still possible.   I expect the Wolverines would want at least one more and two if Herron does jump.   Mazi Smith is the only DT and Michigan for sure needs another one. 


LB is another area where the Wolverines could add a player, both Thomas and Velazquez are listed as LB commits but Velazquez is a Viper/Safety.  Michigan will need one more LB with some size.


WR depth is deep right now on the team but there is only one slot guy (GJ3) committed, wouldn't be surprised if Michigan added a couple outside WR's to the class.


QB is probably done, but we know how Jimmy likes QB depth.  I still believe the Wolverines will stick with just one. 


TE and RB seems to be in the same spot, Michigan picked up both spots this weekend and will probably add one more each.


Michigan has 16 commits right now, with the estimate of 9 spots left.  Here is what I believe the Recruiting Board looks like:


OT = 1
DT=  1
DE = 1
WR = 2
TE=  1
RB = 1
LB = 1
DB = 1

• Safety Quinton Johnson who was a visitor last weekend and is also heading to Nike's Opening this weekend. Has decided he will commit while he is there. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Michigan Loses a Big Piece From the 2017 Class

Nike Opening

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Fourth of July Holiday!


Corey Malone-Hatcher enrolled in January and was expected to make an impact on field this fall.  He was a 4 star DE from St. Joseph, Michigan.    Yesterday, instead of enjoying fireworks with his family and friends, he announced he was retiring from football.   As he said on Twitter, he hurt his Achilles in September 2015 and it hasn't responded like it should have.   He met with the Michigan trainers and Doctors and they made a joint decision to take a Medical Redshirt.   Which means he can stay on full scholarship and get his degree but he can never play for the Wolverines.   If your wondering what type of prospect CMH was, he had offers from the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, ND and many more programs.


This comes as shock as I wasn't hearing anything close to this.   Many players are hurt after spring ball and this is a real loss for the Wolverines and for this young man.   Don Brown even said," he was banged up" after the Spring Game and CMH also confirmed he played on a leg 1/2 his entire senior year of high school.  I congratulate him on making a very difficult decision as a true freshman and I hope he knows that the Michigan fans and faithful support him!


From the deep 2017 class Michigan will now look to Vilain, Paye, Irving-Bey, and Jeter as DE's that will either look to redshirt or see the field next season as a Freshman.  A couple of those guys are probably heading towards a DT then a DE.

• Mark Snyder from the Freep is leaving journalism and will be doing something else from here on out.  

• Watch a few clips of Michigan commit Emil Ekiyor at Nike's Opening

.

• Derrick Walton is averaging 10 points per game, with 3 boards and 3 assists in the Summer League.  Hopefully, he is turning heads with the Magic and other NBA Scouts.

• The nation's top-ranked 2019 TE Jeremy Ruckert has a final 4 of Michigan, Wisconsin, ND and OSU.  He will announce his decision in a week or two.

Michigan Monday: Wonders If That Staircase Has A Weight Limit?

This has been a good weekend if you like staircases.   The #1 golfer in the world, slips on the stairs of one in a rental house in Augusta, hurts his back and has to withdraw from the Masters.   Then Coach D decides to have a cook out at his house!

Big smiles by the O-Line after some big steaks! #olinecookout pic.twitter.com/j8QJmDsvUo

— Tim Drevno (@CoachDrev) April 8, 2017

I love this, it only helps with team morale and deepens the coach player relationship!   I'm betting that grocery bill was a bit expensive!  :-)

• Gary was the #1 draft pick in the Spring Game draft

• 2019 DT Jacob Lacey will visit Michigan this week

• Commit Aidan Hutchinson was at The Opening camp in Cleveland this weekend.

• Columbus LB Brian Asamoah enjoyed his visit to Ann Arbor this weekend, he is expected to announce a week from Friday on the 21st.  Lets see if he keeps that timeline.

• After his visit a week ago, Michigan has been gaining a number of crystal ball predictions for 3 star GA RB Christian Turner.      

• Former Wolverine Brian Cole is now with Mississippi State after originally transferring to East Mississippi C.C.  Looks like Brian is going to stick at Safety for the Bulldogs.  His position coach is former Michigan DC Ron English.           
   

Michigan Tuesday: Hops On A Bus

With all the flight issues the Michigan Wolverines have had the last week, Coach B has decided to take a bus to Indy this weekend.   Michigan plays OK State who has the #1 offense in the nation on Friday afternoon and if they get past them, will most likely face Louisville.  As you know, Louisville is about 2 hours from Indy and I'm sure it will feel like a road game for the Wolverines if they make it to Sunday.  No matter what happens this weekend, the Wolverines have had a strong year.   

Coach B is resting the legs of the Wolverines this week as they prepare for start of the NCAA Tournament.   Hopefully, the long bus ride will help with the legs as well.

• Michigan Basketball finished #23 in the AP Poll.

• The top prospect on Michigan's board, Dorian Thompson-Robinson was named the MVP at the LA Nike Opening/Elite 11 Event.   DTR won the QB MVP and received an invite to the Elite 11.

• A few guys making some noise in winter conditioning include: Big Mike Onwenu and DPJ.

Your Tuesday moment of reflection:

Lets hope Oklahoma State's outside shooting on Friday is like this house from the winter storm hitting the East Coast right now:

Michigan Tuesday: The Opening Finds a WR From Iowa

One of the things I was looking for when researching for yesterdays post was how Nico Collins and DP-J played.  It seems both had minor injuries which limited their playing time. 

With the loss of those big weapons, Ambry Thomas played WR and did quite well.    Another name to pop out was 3 star Iowa WR Oliver Martin, who seemed to have very good chemistry with McCaffrey.  So much so that Michigan quickly offered along with Oregon, Iowa, Michigan State, Indiana, Wisconsin, BYU and Illinois.  Oliver showed at the Opening that he has great hands, runs great routes and is a very good athlete at 6'1 and 190 pounds.   Oliver had mostly MAC offers before attending the Opening Finals.

Oliver has an interesting background, he is also a very good competitive swimmer and baseball player. Taking those athletic intangibles to another level, Martin’s father Jeff was a talented swimmer and his mother Lisa shined in track and field. His little sister Ruby damn near just made the Olympic Team as a rising junior in high school placing fourth in the 200 butterfly at last week’s Olympic Trials. Martin was able to drive to Omaha with some buddies to catch her sister in the finals before returning home for his baseball responsibilities while also training for The Opening.

Expect Oliver to receive a bump to a 4 star WR by most recruiting services in the near future.

• Speaking of recruiting services, it seems Scout is having some serious issues.   We may see some consolidation in recruiting services. 

Michigan Monday: Wolverine Opening Re-Cap

The 7-on-7 team with the most Wolverines were called Hypercool.   They had a nice run in the tournament but didn't make it to the finals. 




Here is some other buzz from the Opening:

• Sam Webb was blowing up twitter on Ambry Thomas who played WR mostly.  Could be a two way threat at the next level?  Ambry continues to be one of Michigan's top priorities in the class.

• Michigan just offered Iowa WR Oliver Martin who was on team Hypercool.

• Team Hypercool did knock out Team Alpha Pro which was mostly OSU commits

• 24/7 ranked McCaffrey 5th in the Elite 11 QB ratings

• Sam Webb had this funny write up.  (bold is the funny part)  Kai-Leon Herbert had really good day. He was matched up Hunter Echols and won two of three reps showing good feet and great lateral quickness. The key for Herbert moving forward as told by his coaches -- is technique. On the couple of times we saw him beaten came when he overset and allowed a pass rusher to get to the inside. A minor technical flaw, according to his coaches, that is easily corrected. You can’t teach his length his length, and his can’t teach his athleticism. And right now, at just 285-pounds, he has room to add 20 to 300 pounds of muscle. This kid is just scratching the service of how good he can be.   He is 285 pounds and if he adds 300 pounds of muscle, he is going to be un-stoppable! :)

• Benjamin St. Juste continued to impress at the Opening and had a very high SPARQ score.  Most people tweeted about his coverage skills for being a 6'3 corner.  Remember when he was a sleeper that nobody had heard about when he committed this time last year? He has to be on this way from not ranked to 4 stars.

• Cesar Ruiz was a top performer in the lineman drills.  He was considered on the top offensive lineman at the event.   His top two are Alabama and Michigan.  Some are saying that the Crimson Tide might have taken over the top spot in his recruitment.

• I was able to catch one game with ESPNU where Alpha Pro played.   OSU Tate Martell had issues with accuracy throwing the ball.

• Detroit OL Jordan Reid announced he will be attending MSU at the Opening.

Jourdan Lewis attended the Opening (left) to support his friends

Michigan Friday: Feels Hyper Cool

As an add on the to the "who to watch" post for the Nike Opening that I did a couple of days ago, you might want to keep an eye on 7-on-7 team Hypercool. 

You might recognize some of these names on team Hypercool:

• Dylan McCaffrey
• O'Maury Samuels
• Nico Collins
• Donovan People-Jones
• Josh Falo
• Josh Ross
• Benjamin St-Juste
• Ambry Thomas
• AJ Dillon

-Detroit OL Jordan Reid will announce his decision at the Opening.  He will choose between Michigan, Pitt, MSU, Florida and Tennessee.   Insiders expect this OG from Cass Tech is heading to East Lansing.

-Moritz Wagner showed up on campus last year at 211 pounds.  He is now up to 238. 

-Jimmy tweeted at Drake thanking him for his Michigan shout out on SNL.

-Michigan cancelled the American Samoa satellite camp due to the Zika virus.  This was the last camp scheduled.

Wolverine Wednesday: Wolverines and Prospects at The Opening

Nike's Opening Event which invites some of the best high school players in the nation will kick off in less then a week on July 5th.   The Opening is always scheduled on Nike's campus and the prospects that have made the finals, get the royal treatment with Nike gear, talks from famous players, first class instruction and a 7 on 7 tournament for 5 days.   It's pretty much the event you want to be invited to. 

ESPN will cover some to events on national TV and you will need a list of players to watch:

Here you go:

• Athlete Markquese Bell a 4 star from NJ. 
• LB Baron Browning considering Michigan
• WR Nico Collins has had Michigan as his leader 
• RB AJ Dillon committed to UM
• TE Matt Dotson being recruited by Michigan
• OT Obinna Eze - just offered by Michigan
• WR KJ Hamler - instate prospect going to IMG
• RB Najee Harris committed to Bama - showed at Michigan satellite camp
• OT Kai-Leon Herbert just visited A2
• WR Jeremiah Holloman once committed to Michigan
• CB Darnay Holmes recruited by Michigan
• CB Donovan Johnson from Cass Tech
• S Jaylen Kelly Powell instate guy high on UM
• QB Tate Martell committed to OSU
• QB Dylan McCaffrey committed to UM
• LB Dylan Moses 5 star LB from IMG
• WR DP-J Instate 5 star
• LB Josh Ross committed to UM
• C Cesar Ruiz #1 Center in the Country at IMG
• RB O'Maury Samuels committed to UM
• LB Antjuan Simmons from Pioneer committed to OSU
• LB Drew Singleton from Paramus Catholic
• CB Ben St.Juste committed to UM
• CB Ambry Thomas instate high on Michigan
• OT Jedrick Willis high on Michigan

Michigan Monday: Another Future Wolverine Heading To The Opening

Michigan is having another strong recruiting class and many guys are heading to Nike's Opening this summer.   If you don't know, the Opening is a Nike event made for the elite football prospects high school seniors (and some juniors).  Nike does regional combines/camps to identify the invitees and brings them on the Nike's campus in July to learn from some football legends, train, and play in a 7 on 7 tournament. 

The latest future Wolverine to get an invite to the Opening and Elite 11 is 5 star QB Dylan McCaffrey.  He got an invite at the Oakland Nike event this past weekend.   He is the 5th Wolverine commit heading to Oregon this summer.   The others include:

• A.J. Dillon
• Josh Ross
• Benjamin St-Juste
• O'Maury Samuels
• Dylan McCaffrey

Of course other prospects attending the Opening include: WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, OG Jordan Reid,  TE Matt Dotson, CB Ambry Thomas, and CB Jaylen Kelly-Powell.

• Sam Webb got a gut feeling from a recruit on campus this weekend.   Which means someone has silently committed.

• One of those visitors was Alexandria (Va.) Episcopal 4-star DE Luiji Vilain who know has Michigan in his top 3.  Love the name!

Michigan Monday: A Couple Recruiting Bullets

• Welcome to the Opening.  These (hopefully) instate future Wolverines made the Openings final at the Chicago regional this past weekend: Josh Ross and Jaylen Kelly-Powell.

• Speaking of Jaylen Kelly-Powell, he also visited Wisconsin this weekend.

• 5 star WR DP-J visited Ann Arbor again this past weekend.   Please visit every weekend!  

• Four-star CA C Brett Neilon, has a top 3 schools of Michigan, USC, and Washington

Michigan Friday: News and Notes Edition

• Rick Leach beat Jimmy in a softball home run derby for charity yesterday.  Highlights made Sports Center.   Rock Star head coach.

• Urban Meyer didn't recognize Bruce Judson a 4 star commitment from Florida on a visit and he quickly de-committed.   OSU is saying it was a joke because he was wearing a blue shirt.  On a side note, Urban doesn't recognize the sky or the ocean.

• Michigan currently leads for 2017 WR from Waxahachie (Tex.) Kenedy Snell

• News is breaking in the Sandusky Appeal that JoPa had received reports as early at 1976 that Jerry was molesting children.    What is there to appeal here? 

• Nike's Regional Opening camp is in Columbus this weekend.   Will this be in Ann Arbor next year?   I'm sure we will hear about a number of Michigan prospects or commits.

• For you sneaker heads out there, Nike is re-releasing these Michigan classic shoes:

Michigan Dunk Highs

Michigan Tuesday: A Few Recruiting Nuggets

• CT LB/FB Ben Mason is making his announcement tonight at 6:30, Michigan seems in very good shape to receive his verbal.

• I had mentioned AJ Dillon received his invite to the Opening, what I failed to mention is long time Michigan CB commit also showed well:   Michigan cornerback commit Benjamin St-Juste tested off the charts at 6-foot-3, 189-pounds running a 4.64 laser-timed 40-yard dash with an outstanding 3.93 shuttle and a 34-9 inch vertical. St. Juste is strong, fluid and in the competition portion of the camp got his hands on a few footballs.

• Flint Southwestern 2017 defensive end Deron Irving-Bey is expected to visit A2 today.

• Five-star NY OT Isaiah Wilson is down to six schools: Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, USC and Rutgers.

• Non-Recruiting Update:  It's now confirmed that Michigan will play two night games on the road:  Rutgers and Iowa.

Update:  Spike to Purdue for his graduate year.

Michigan Tuesday: Basketball Recruiting Is An Ugly Business

I'm sure you heard by now that Tyus Battle committed to Syracuse.   That has a coach that is retiring and a program heading for probation.  Tyus said that Syracuse is just closer to his home and the reason he picked them over the Wolverines.  "Michigan is a great school, and I love the people, the staff and Coach Beilein," Battle said. "But the key was the distance."

So what's the issue with a 17 year old kid changing his mind?   Nothing really, he has every right to.  The issue is with his original decision. Michigan was looking at two highly ranked players Tyus and SF Josh Langford.  Tyus committed to Michigan to "hold his spot" and to make sure Josh didn't grab it.    Michigan stopped recruiting Josh and he committed to MSU.  Tyus bails on Michigan and leaves a big hole in that class. 

In football, you can recover from things like this when you are recruiting 25 kids.   When your recruiting 2 or 3 kids in basketball it's very tough.   Michigan will never be a Kentucky or Duke when it comes to these one and done kids, so don't expect a ton of 5 star guys in the future unless they have the personality of a Mitch McGary. 

I'll stick with a coach with that operates with honesty and class over a one and done superstar.  Keep finding under the radar that you can develop into 1st round draft picks, Coach!

• The Elite 11 confuses me.  Earlier in the week they reported Brandon Peters wasn't in the top 11 and then the final 11 comes out and he is on the list.   Congrats Brandon on a great week.  I really like his upside!

• Sounds like Oklahoma is standing out for 5 star CA LB Caleb Kelly right now.

Michigan Thursday: A Couple Nike Opening Notes

Instate WR and 2017 prospect Donovan Peoples-Jones won the Nike Sparq Title at the Opening.  He is the first junior to win the award with a combined score of 149.49.  He ran a 4.42 40 yard dash and a vertical over 42 inches.   DPJ has to be a very high priority for the Wolverines.

• 24/7 like Michael Onwenu's performance:  Michael Onwenu, Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech: The 6-foot-3, 365-pound Michigan commit is stronger as a run blocker on tape but he was pretty much impossible for the defensive tackles to move on Wednesday. He had the entire offensive jumping up and down when he threw a defender to the ground like a rag doll

• FL 2016 TE Isaac Nauta wants to take an official visit to Ann Arbor this fall

• NC 3 Star DE Jimmie Taylor was in Ann Arbor this week for a visit

Wolverine Wednesday: Has Quick Hitter Recruiting Updates

With the Nike Opening in full effect we will be getting some nice recruiting "snacks"
 the next few days.   Not enough for a meal, just a quick healthy snack! 

• OL EJ Price says Jimmy is recruiting him personally.  He recently de-committed from Georgia and still has the Bulldogs #1 on his list.

• OL Landon Dickerson has a official visit set to Michigan on 9/12

• OL Terrance Davis still has Michigan atop of his list

• DB Lamar Jackson says Michigan is in his top 5

• LB Devin Bush Jr almost pulled the trigger on a commitment on July 4th but will wait until August now .

• Brandon Peters continues to impress at the Elite 11 Finals:  Per 24/7: Quietly, Peters continues to be one of the most consistent performers in this Elite 11 group. There was never a doubt on any of his throws, he spun it well and put it on the money for every throw. Rarely do you see Peters throw a wobbler or skip a football.

• Michigan in the top 7 for LB Caleb Kelly

• GA Athlete Mecole Hardman said he would like to visit Michigan (he does have a Michigan offer.

• OL Johncarlo Valentin says he is planning a Michigan visit in August

Michigan Tuesday: Hits the Big House Bullets

• The rumor amount of the Nike contract is $10M+, which would be double what they are paying their highest contract in FSU.   Financial figures will be out next week.

• Utah CB Dominique Hatfield has be suspended indefinitely, I would assume that means he would miss the Michigan game.

• Brandon Peters is at the Elite 11 Finals and seems to be doing well, here is Scouts take:  Was one of the most consistent passers all morning. Was just hot from the get-go on day one. Looked athletic and threw the ball with very little effort. The Michigan commit really dropped the ball into the basket for receivers and it looks like the Wolverines have a lot to be excited about.

• Michael Onwenu and Naseir Upshur are also at the Nike Opening Event this week.

• Three-star WR Chase Claypool from Canada who visited weeks ago is expected to announce his decision at the Opening.  Expect an ND or Oregon decision.

Wolverine Wednesday: Welcomes You To July

This isn't a great time of year for football news.  We have the July 4th holiday coming up this weekend and most coaches are taking a break before the grind of the season starts which starts in about a month.   Jimmy is throwing out the first pitch at the Tigers game and waiting to hear if he picked up a WR on Friday.  (he probably already knows if he did or didn't).   The top recruits in the country are preparing to head out to Nike's HQ for The Opening after the 4th holiday.

We also wait on the Nike/UA/Adidas decision from Mr. Hackett as well.  He said, he would give us a decision around July 1.   Rumblings have been toward Nike as Adidas has dropped to third in US sales behind Nike and UA.  Nike does over 11 Billion in the US, Adidas does less then 2 Billion.  

• Per Scout's message board: Rashan Gary's mom was quoted about the Michigan trip:  "Michigan hit every detail," Jennifer Coney said.  "EVERY detail."  Reports of an OSU and Michigan battle now seem to be an Auburn - Michigan battle for the #1 player in the nation.

• Another WR high on Michigan and vise versa is Ahmir Mitchell who is taking his time and thinking through a decision.  Most believe this to be an OSU and Michigan battle for this talented WR.   If Brad Hawkins pops for the Wolverines on Friday, don't be surprised if Ahmir makes a quick decision as the space in this class is getting very tight.

• Speaking of Nike News:  Phil Knight announced he is going to retire next year.  Will it be with or with out the Wolverines?

Michigan Monday: Wolverine Shoe Wars Update

The topic of Michigan's official gear is getting pretty hot.   Michigan has now visited all 3 vendors (UA, Nike and Adidas) and will accept bids from each vendor.   Adidas is feeling pretty confident they will stay with them after a recent visit to their US HQ in Portland:

"It was a good meeting, very positive," Chris McGuire, Adidas director of sports marketing, told The Detroit News. "They're doing their due diligence, as we would expect. It went well, and we really like the direction Jim has Michigan going. We have a sense of Jim's vision, which is exciting."
McGuire said Adidas is confident in its relationship with Michigan since the two became partners in 2007 after Michigan moved from Nike.

"Michigan will continue to be the flagship," McGuire said. "We have great partners in the college sector, like Miami and UCLA, but we look to Michigan to drive our brand. Michigan is still the crown jewel.

"There is a play globally for Michigan. We like what they have to offer and the strength of the Block M resonates. We have a global reach and can help enable the school to grow globally."

Under Armour is obviously new to this process and it will be interesting to see if they will "over pay" to try to get the Michigan brand.   They just did that with Notre Dame.   Nike feels they are the preferred vendor and might "under pay" to use the leverage they have in the market and with the student athletes.   Adidas seems ready to continue to pay big dollars to get Michigan as one of their partners.    Michigan's contract won't go down, so I expect this is probably a UA vs. Adidas battle.   The big question remains will Nike pay up to become Michigan's partner again?  

I expect a decision in July.  It could be drawn out until the end of the year, but I believe there will be a decision by the end of the summer.

• Maize it!  Another note from the above story is that Michigan is moving away from the highlighter yellow and back to the deeper Maize.  "The sentiment was to go back to the mustard -- for lack of a better term – away from the sun (color)," he said. "It takes a way to get that evolution, but that's a positive for us. We're pretty much full-go right now."

• The rumor mill is spinning again that Michigan might be looking at another graduate DB transfer to replace The Count.  Transfers are now a big part of college football.

• Ann Arbor Skyline LB Daelin Hayes got an invite to Nike's Opening.