Wolverine Wednesday: Well.... We're Waiting Big Ten

If you're too young to know who Judge Smails is, find a copy of Caddy Shack on the Internet and watch it.  

Reports seem to be trending positive that the Big Ten is coming back and announcement can come at any moment.   Nebraska's President even thought it would be Tuesday night, while having a private conversation on a hot mike.  

ESPN thinks the decision will be announced today.   I just hope Michigan doesn't start with some crazy difficult game, like a trip to Wisconsin or something.  Did I just jinx this?

Update: Big Ten Football is Back 10/23-24.  No Schedule yet 

Update #2:  SI is reporting that Nico will opt out and McCaffrey is looking at transfer options.  Can't we have good news for at least a damn hour?   With Nico out this should do it for Michigan's NFL eligible players.  Your not going to beat OSU with your best players not participating. 

Update #3:  Big Ten will play 8 games +1 game during Championship week, for example if your not in the Championship game, #3 vs. #4, etc.   Schedule will be out later this week. 

• Seems from all reports that Joe Milton is QB1.  

• I wonder what will happen with the guys that have opted out for the season if Michigan starts playing in a month?   My guess is they are gone and there really isn't a path back.  

• Coach Warinner Tweeted out that Vastardis and Hayes have been working with the 1st team offensive line. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Jalen Mayfield Heads To The NFL

Raise your hand if you knew (until recently) that Jalen Mayfield was even eligible for the NFL Draft?  I have my hand raised, which makes it very hard to type.  Jalen was expected to come into the year as an NFL prospect but with the season cancelled or re-scheduled this seems like a good decision.   A winter/spring season will not be at all interesting to NFL grade prospects.  Nick Saban yesterday, called it a JV season.  

When you lose your best offensive lineman, that is not a positive thing, but there is a positive spin on this announcement.   Mayfield has only been in the program for a few years as he would have been a red-shirt sophomore this season.  Coach Warriner has already turned him into an NFL prospect.   That alone is going to be very good for recruiting as it usually takes along time to develop NFL grade offensive lineman. 

Expect more announcements soon.  Kwity Paye and Ambry Thomas seem to be locks and I heard that Nico is practicing so maybe not him?

If there is any Big Ten season, the young guys are going to get a huge opportunity.  

• NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee sent a proposal for a 12-hour weeks for programs not playing this fall.   This is expected to be approved this week.  

• App. State suspends football practice after students are on campus one day.  

• MSU has gone to 100% online instruction this fall

Nike's latest Michigan Fall shoe release is happening on Friday, 10:00 AM at MDen: Air Zoom Pegasus 37

Michigan Friday: That Was A Close One

Michigan needed OT to beat Iowa "who was playing with house money" on Thursday afternoon.   The Wolverines went dead cold from the 3 point line and needed some strong defense and Duncan Robinson to pull out this win.   It was also nice to see Charles "In Charge" Matthews as the leading scorer again with 16 points. 


The Wolverines have a difficult match-up today against Nebraska who is the #4 seed but also playing for their NCAA Tournament lives.   They need a Q1 win and that could come today against Coach B's squad.   Michigan traveled to Nebraska a few weeks ago and left with a 20 point loss.   Michigan will have to hit some 3's and stay out of foul trouble to win this game and move on at MSG. 


2:25 Tip - BTN again.

• Don Brown has offered NC 3 star 2019 CB Jalen Frazier.

• How can Ed Warinner make a good first impression?  Land Rice transfer Calvin Anderson.  Calvin has a good relationship with Tim Drevno and recruiting director Matt Dudek.  We know Drevno is gone and Warinner is taking his place.  Ed will need sell Calvin on his past successes and getting guys to the league.   Calvin is also interested in working against Gary in practice everyday, which of course will make him even better.

Michigan Monday: Don Brown Speaks

Don Brown had a presser on Friday after the first day of spring ball and a couple of interesting sound bites:

The next walk-on starter?: (bold is mine)  “The Sam-Mike-Will thing: getting Mike McCray back. (W)robo, Mike Wroblewski, there’s another guy where I’m watching him in practice last year [and] just can’t even believe it’s the same guy. You talk about a self-made football player, but a guy who knows it all. Here’s—I’ve never had to do this before. He’s telling the secondary, making their on-rights and lefts call, he’s making the tight call, he’s making the detach call for the outside linebacker and it’s finally like, ‘Hey Robo, you need to shut up and let those guys make those calls themselves.’ ‘Oh yeah, Coach, yeah, yeah, yeah.’ That’s how well he knows the scheme. So him and Devin Bush and Mike McCray. Furbush was good.


Who is going to replace Peppers?:  Khaleke Hudson was our VIPER today. Arrows up; really excited about him. Glasgow was a VIPER today.  Josh Metellus as well.

Who is going to replace the seniors at CB?: Obviously they (Hill and Long) get first dibs and if they can hold onto it, great. They’re such young guys, just let ‘em compete and it’ll take care of itself. I’m really not—you know, I joked around last fall and said I’m not afraid.
“We’ll get it, we’ll be settled, we’ll have our packages down, and we’ll have a very, very solid group that’ll be able to compete at a high level despite the age. I’m not worried about that at all. I’d rather be talented and young than not, than the alternative; have a bunch of veterans and you’re going, oh my god, what am I gonna do? I’ll take the alternative and be happy with it.

• Michigan on Friday also lost another guy to transfer when Kingston Davis decided that the RB position was full and he isn't interested in playing FB.    If the rumors on Shelton Johnson are accurate, this would get Michigan back to 85 scholarship players.    The loss of Kingston doesn't really hurt the program but would have loved to see him stay and play some FB.   

• The Michigan offensive line is far from cemented but on the first day of spring practice, one configuration was moving Cole back to LT (from center), LG Bredeson, C Ruiz (true early enrolled freshman and could still be a HS senior),  RG Onwenu, and RT JBB.

One a side note, I guess Oregon was better then I thought.  I thought you were going to have to be Golden State to beat Kansas in KC, I was really wrong.

Michigan Thursday: Wolverine Faces In New Places

Ohio University has been known to take Michigan transfers and graduate transfers.  Keith Heitzman and Tom Strobel both transferred to the Bobcats in recent times.    Ohio is one of the better MAC teams and coached by former Nebraska head coach Frank Solich.  The latest is RB Wyatt Shallman who announced yesterday that he will attend Ohio U for his final year of eligibility as a U of M graduate transfer.   Good Luck Wyatt!

• Former Michigan offensive analyst Jimmie Dougherty who left for Oregon to be the WR coach a couple of months ago, has decided to work for Jedd at UCLA as it's Passing Coordinator.   I wonder where I have heard that title before?

• On Jimmy's staff, Chris Partridge has added Special Teams Coordinator to his current role of LB coach.

• In Todd McShay latest Mock Draft.  He has Taco #11 and Peppers #17.  He also says that the Patriots might take Jake Butt with the final pick in Round 1 or Early in Day 2.  

• There are some rumors that there might be some big name departures from Michigan State.   These are just rumors at this point and we will see if anything comes out of it.

• Michigan offered 2018 Iowa DL John Waggoner yesterday.

• Greg Frey will get paid $500,000 a year for 3 years.  That is a $124K raise over what he was making at IU. Damn, Michigan is paying its assistant coaches these days!

Michigan Monday: Tom Brady is the GOAT

Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports           

It's hard to have watched last nights Super Bowl and come away with words to describe what our eyes saw.  That game was over at 28-3 with the Falcons defense playing well and rushing Tom Brady.   The key to beating New England and Tom Brady has always been, get pressure with the front four.  

That was exactly what was happening for two + quarters last night.  Until it wasn't.   An unbelievable Super Bowl for an unbelievable QB.   It feels so good that he is a Michigan Man!

(For those of you that might not understand GOAT - it stands for Greatest of All Time)

• Breaking News: It looks like Brady Hoke is heading to The University of Tennessee as their defensive line coach.   Which is a good hire and a good spot for Brady.  We all know that is his sweet spot.  He is also a good recruiter.    The down side, Brady just took a job as the Oregon DC a year ago with a head coach on the hot seat.  Butch Jones is clearly on the hot seat as well and this will probably be his last year if he doesn't make it to the SEC Championship game. (Bruce Feldman is source on the Hoke to UT)

• Now some bad news, many BHB readers have been wondering where the Michigan roster will loose a few players.  I believe with the 2017 recruiting class, Michigan is +3 over the 85 scholarship limit for next year.   We might have our first surprise and disappointing reduction to the roster.   The name is Freshman TE Devin Asiasi from California.   It seems Devin is having some serious family issues and has been back home for a couple of weeks.   Now it's expected that Devin will transfer to another school in California so he can be closer to his family.   There are more important things then Michigan football and I hope his family issues get resolved.   

• Devin is a talented young player that played in 12 games this year and even caught a TD.  Michigan is deep at that position but will feel the loss of this talented young TE.  There are also some rumors that Michigan could lose another offensive lineman.   There hasn't been any names tied to this rumor but it comes from a reliable insider source.    This loss could be a devastating one as Michigan is very thin at all offensive line positions.

• If your wondering about Scout's bankruptcy.   It seems 24/7 was the highest and only bidder for the recruiting service. It's likely Sam Webb will end up at 24/7 over the next 6 months as many of the Scouts contracts will be picked up by 24/7.    This would be a good match as Sam is the #1 insider and 24/7 is one of the best recruiting services for Michigan Football.  Update: Looks like 24/7 is going to keep Scout's a separate brand from it's 24/7 service.  So Sam is probably staying where he is at currently.

Michigan Thursday: Still Has Some After Glow

Michigan had a nice NSD and finished strong.  They didn't get everybody they wanted but that rarely happens on NSD.   Michigan did drop a few spots in ESPN's national rankings as FSU and USC really landed some big fish late in the day. 

Here are the final standings 

Rivals #4 Team
Scout #3 Team
24/7: #4 Team
ESPN: #6 Team

4.25 average across all the services.

Some other Big Ten and ND team rankings on 24/7:
ND: #11
PSU: #15
Maryland: #18
Nebraska: #23
MSU: #34
Wisconsin: #40
Iowa: #41
Rutgers: #42

Durkin is doing some good recruiting at Maryland and PSU did a nice job after their strong finish to the season.   It's funny, I saw one of Penn State's recruit start to question his interest in Happy Valley after the Michigan game this year.   He said, he was happy on how the team finished.


Also if you missed it, Nico's LOI did make it to Ann Arbor last night.  New punter commit, Brad Robbins LOI has not been confirmed by Michigan yet.   I wouldn't be surprised if he took a visit to Ann Arbor and hand delivered his LOI to the coaches. 

• Michigan also got another PWO commitment from Ryan Veingrad yesterday. He's a 6'3" 230lbs DE from Boca Raton, FL. 

• Michigan and Mississippi is not a good match.  Michigan has pulled one recruit out of Mississippi and it's Jeremy LeSueur.   There must be a curse.   That is why many thought Willie Gay would never make it to Ann Arbor.

• It seems crazy, its now time to start looking at 2018 recruits.

• 2017 RB Cordarrian Richardson who had MSU in his final group, committed to Maryland via Weather Balloon on Wednesday and signed with UCF on Thursday.   Got to love recruiting!

• Last point of the day, I wonder if Jimmy banked a scholarship for that Clemson offensive line transfer Jake Fruhmorgen?

Wolverine Wednesday: Hires Greg Frey

mgoblue

Sam Webb is reporting that Greg Frey will re-join the Wolverines as the Tight Ends and Tackles coach/Run Game Coordinator.   He is replacing the slot left by Coach Wheat leaving for the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars.  Greg was at Michigan previously and was known as a very good recruiter in Florida and per Sam Webb has a very good eye for recruiting the offensive line.  He was known as the best assistant on RR's staff while at Michigan.   As soon as RR was fired, Greg was hired by IU.

This is another "Harbaugh" unique position (like Passing Coordinator) where Greg will be focusing on Tackles and Tight Ends (which sounds more like a reality show).   Your first thought might be how are those positions similar?  They are actually and both positions have similar blocking schemes and skills.   Michigan is going to have very young tackles next year and having a coach focusing on them will help their development.

Jay Harbaugh will now become the full time RB coach. 

I believe this hire gives us a little insight into Jimmy's mind and where the Wolverines lacked last year.   It was clear that the difference in Michigan being undefeated in the regular season and two losses was the offensive line.   Greg comes back to Michigan from being the Indiana offensive line coach, he also coached that same position group at Michigan when he was here.

• Jay Harbaugh in his new role visited O'Maury Samuels at home yesterday.

• Don Brown was also in Utah to visit DT Jay Tufele.  Would love to land this guy but most expect him to stay out west.

• Jimmy will be in home with Oliver Martin on Wednesday.   The goal is to get Oliver to do an official visit this weekend to Ann Arbor.   It seems everyone and their brother is after Oliver right now including OSU, ND, Florida, and MSU is trying to get that last official.   Where he goes will be an big indicator. 

Michigan Monday: Could This Recruiting Class Have A Big Hole In It?

I'm sure you have heard by now that FL OT Kai-Leon Herbert has de-committed from the Wolverines.   This wasn't a surprise as Kai-Leon had been dating other schools for some time now.   He is most likely going to stay close to home and attend a Florida school.

That leaves Michigan with the following commits on the offensive line (at OG or OT):  Chuck Filiaga, JaRaymond Hall, Joel Honigford, and Andrew Stueber (Ruiz of course is a Center prospect).  Which in normal years would seem like plenty of recruits.  This is a unique year for the offensive line recruiting and Michigan probably needs/prefers to have two more prospects and probably tackle prospects. 

So who is left?

• VA OT Mekhi Becton is now trending strongly to Virginia Tech. 
• FL OG TJ Slaton may have some admission issues and is a HS teammate of Kai-Leon.
• PA OL CJ Thorpe who was planning an official to A2 for next weekend, re-confirmed his commitment to Penn State on Sunday.   He is a legacy Penn State kid and was a huge long shot of signing with Michigan anyway.
• Clemson OT transfer Jake Fruhmorgen is interested in Michigan but would have to sit out a year.  He would also take up a scholarship if he did transfer to Ann Arbor.
• OH OT Thayer Munford from Massillon, OH is 6'6 325 with a number of big offers including Alabama, Penn State, Louisville, Kentucky, Tennessee, MSU and others.  He really wants an OSU offer and doesn't have one yet.   There are some reports that Michigan is interested but hasn't offered yet.

It doesn't look great for any of those guys on the above list outside of Jake.   Thinking these guys probably wouldn't play next year, might help ease your mind on Jake jumping on board and he could be a ready starter in a year. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan tried to get a new name 3 star OT on campus this weekend and tried to flip them before a week from Wednesday.    Also Michigan will need to be busy with some raw preferred walk-on's on the offensive line.

If your wondering about any instate guys that Michigan might like to steal, here are a couple names (I'm just pulling these players off the 24/7 top in state players list, I have no information if Michigan is interested in these guys)

-Mustafa Khaleefah from Dearborn, 6'6 282 pounds MSU commit.  No Michigan offer and mostly MAC offers outside of State.

-Larry Borom from Brother Rice, 6'5 338 pounds and a Mizzu commit.   Missouri seems to be his only offer, which is strange.

-Emani Mason from Detroit, 6'4 268 pounds has a Louisville and Cincinnati offer, is not committed anywhere and has taken an un-official to Ann Arbor a year ago.

-Robert Hudson from Walled Lake, 6'8 320 pounds committed to Iowa State, mostly MAC offers.

- Kelvin Ateman Jr. from Cass Tech, 6'5 300 pounds, committed to Toledo

All the above guys are 3 stars on 24/7 and probably too long of a shot to get an offer.

• WR Oliver Martin was planning a quick visit to Columbus this weekend and then cancelled it.   If he comes to Ann Arbor this weekend or week for a quick visit, I think Michigan has a fighting chance. 

• Jimmy will do an in-home with Nico Collins this week.

• RB commit O'Maury Samuels visited A2 this past weekend and seemed to have a good time.  Hopefully, he will stick with his commitment and sign on 2/1.

• Jimmy is expected to visit VA LB Ellis Brooks on Tuesday.

• Jimmy visited with Syracuse S commit Ifeatu Melifonwu at his basketball game on Saturday.   He is another guy that might visit and could be on flip watch.  Update: He will visit Ann Arbor on Tuesday.

• The rumor mill is spinning that Michigan is heading to Rome for a Spring Football trip.

• Update: Reports are Jeremy Clark isn't getting a 6th year and will now look to the NFL.  Michigan will have a very young secondary next year.  

Michigan Tuesday: Coach Wheat To The Jaguars

Detnews

We had questions yesterday that were answered later in the day.   Coach Wheat is now heading back to the NFL to coach Denard Robinson and the other Jacksonville Jaguars running backs.   Jacksonville doesn't have an OC, so maybe Coach Wheat's responsibilities will expand in his new role.   Mgoblog suggested yesterday that when Coach Wheat signed his contract to come back to Ann Arbor that is was only going to be a two year deal as he was looking to get back to the league. 

This is a loss for the Wolverines from a recruiting and a coaching stand point.  Michigan will have to look for new candidates pretty quickly.   Also get used to other programs and NFL teams fishing from Jimmy's pond.   This will happen every year. 

Good luck to Coach Wheat!

So who is next?  Mike Hart and Cass Tech head coach Thomas Wilcher are the obvious candidates.   Mike has coached RB's at Eastern and Western Michigan and is now at Syracuse.   He does have a bit of bad blood with Harbaugh that may or may not have been resolved.   There are also a few questions if he is a top recruiter.

There seems to be some "smoke" around the Thomas Wilcher "fire" coming to Ann Arbor.   We are not sure if Jimmy's interest is in the RB role or to join his non-coaching staff.  This would for sure check the Detroit recruiting box that would be lost from Coach Wheat.

• Jimmy, Don Brown, and Coach Partridge visited Aubrey Solomon yesterday.   Jimmy brought his daughter so he could play with Aubrey's sister.   Aubrey's mom called it the best visit ever!   Some Georgia insiders also added crystal balls to Michigan yesterday.   At this point, it seems to be an Alabama - Michigan race.   Still hard to believe after that video came out. 

• 4-star Penn State OG commit C.J. Thorpe is planning to visit Ann Arbor this weekend.  I wouldn't hold my breath on this one, CJ's father played at Penn State, though he did play with Michigan DB coach Mike Zorich, who did an in home visit with Coach Drevno last night.   We will see if Jimmy can flip this talented offensive lineman.

• If you didn't hear, the visit from Brandon Sebastian CB was cancelled last weekend.  Not sure which side cancelled or the reason.   Hopefully, this means that Michigan is going to fill his spot on one of the offensive or defensive lines.

Michigan Monday: Loses a Senior and Recruiting Updates

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the OSU blowout loss against Clemson on Saturday night.   What we were watching was a replay of the Michigan game minus Watson keeping the Buckeyes in the game.  

Here is a classic photo from an OSU fan worrying about the wrong opponent:



Here is a better sign:

- Dressing up like a 3rd grader on Halloween when your 45 at a football game: $0

- Using a joke from 2006: $0

- Spending a ton of money to watch your team get hit with an historic, blowout/shutout loss = $3000

(I guess he should have watched it on TV?)

-------------------------------

With all the coaching changes in the NFL that happened on Sunday and I'm sure a few today.   I wonder if Urban might take a few calls.  You never know!


More bad news on the offensive line as David Dawson has decided to take a graduate transfer year next season.   David came to Michigan as offensive lineman with high expectations to be a starter around his sophomore year.   He struggled with injuries and playing time behind a few under preforming guys.   I don't know if it was his injuries or technique but Dave Dawson wasn't seeing the field enough to keep either him or the coaches happy.  

His departure is another hit to next years offensive line depth chart that loses a guy that was expected to start as a 5th year senior at the guard position.   The only guy left and now officially #1 on the depth chart at guard is Mike Onwenu.  This has to be a great selling tool for Jimmy to convince a few recruits in the last month of the 2017 recruiting cycle to jump on board.

His departure doesn't increase the number of players expected to sign for the 2017 class.  Right now it's looking like around 30 guys. 



Here are a few recruiting updates:

• The UA game was yesterday and Michigan had a few guys playing but one guy really stood out, as Rivals named him one of the top 10 players of the game:  Luiji Vilain: Michigan needs Vilain to be a pass rusher off the edge, and that’s exactly what he did on Sunday. He didn’t end up with any sacks, but he had three hits on the quarterback and forced some bad throws. Vilain also made some athletic plays towards the sideline, keeping ball carriers from turning the corner and getting down the field.

• The latest rumblings on Aubrey Solomon are that he is heading to Alabama.  Not great news  for a guy that was once committed to Michigan.

• The news on OT Chuck Filiaga has been all over the place, reports were early yesterday that he is heading to Oklahoma and then we got some news maybe it was looking good for Michigan later in the day.   The word on Chuck is that he could be a "ready to play" level OT that might not be a future superstar but could fill a hole next season.   Still no word on when he is announcing.  Michigan needs this guy badly at this point.

• Najee Harris is expected to finalize his decision between Alabama and Michigan this week at the Army All American game.  My guess is the TV producers would prefer that he share that decision during the game.

• I know these deals are in place probably for weeks, but Don Brown signed a new 5 year contract at over a $1M a year.   It was just bad timing to announce that contract a day after his unit has its worst performance of the year.

Wolverine Wednesday: A Couple New Names on the Recruiting Trail

Michigan is preparing to meet FSU in Miami on Friday night.  If you worried about the heat and the Wolverines, the next couple days will be a high of 82 in Miami, on Friday the high will be 74 and probably in the low 60's at game time.    That should help squad from A2!

The other thing that is going on is that the Under Armour All American game practices have begun in Orlando.   Michigan commits Kai-Leon Herbert, Jaylen Kelly-Powell, Luiji Vilain, Cesar Ruiz, Drew Singleton (probably sitting out) and Kwity Paye are all participating in this game.  The UA game is at 1:00 on 1/1.

With the loss of Wilson (who is also in Orlando), Michigan still needs a couple of offensive line recruits.   A new name on the radar is Penn State commit OG CJ Thorpe who could be open to taking an official visit to the Wolverines in January.

Another new name is BC commit CB Brandon Sebastian who is also expected to take an official to Ann Arbor before signing day.

Not a new name but OL Mekhi Becton is now becoming a priority for the Michigan coaches as well.  There is also concern that Kai-Leon Herbert's commitment could be a bit shaky with his visit to Florida and some other closer to home schools.   So getting a few offensive lineman on campus is going to important to a strong finish.

If there is a chance for anything to go wrong with the 2017 class it could be the offensive line recruiting down the stretch.   I was worried with WR recruiting early but that has been replaced with the offensive line.

• John Calipari has a podcast and his latest interview is with our own Jim Harbaugh.  Coach Cal asked about Jimmy's approach to negative recruiting:  “As far as the negative recruiting, a lot of that comes from people that have been saying that for six months or a year. They’re our enemies, they’re our competition. They try to manipulate a youngster and their family any way they can. My philosophy and thought on it – if you have to talk about somebody else and somebody else’s program and negative recruit them or their situation, then you’re really not concentrating on your own program and the situation you have at your school. That’s what you should be presenting and that’s what you should be encouraging a youngster to look at, not the negative side of recruiting. Definitely people use that against you and they use that against me and I’ve long referred to those type of people as jive turkeys.”

• Michigan's long snapper Scott Sypniewki won't be back for his 5th year and will look for a school as a graduate transfer.

Michigan Monday: Hail Cesear!

I agree with some of the recruiting insiders, that one of the most important recruits in this class is IMG's 6'3 320 pound Center Cesar Ruiz.   He is a 4 star center across the board and is considered one of the best centers in the country.   Michigan needs a center and Cesar with a strong spring and fall camp, could move right into the starting position.  He has been a strong Michigan lean for nearly a year and is expected to pick the Wolverines around 12:00 today.

His offer list includes: Florida, Alabama, Auburn, FSU, Clemson, Miami, Pitt, Oklahoma, Texas AM, Penn State, MSU and plenty of others.   Cesar is also a Under Armour All American.

This could be a great way to start the week!

Here is his answer!

I Have Officially Committed To 🙏🏾💯 ... pic.twitter.com/zgUjbNUPyL

— S A U C Y ™ (@_OverCees) December 19, 2016

Cesear's IMG teammate LB Jordan Anthony is also expected to announce this week on Thursday.

• Update: Flint Southwestern's DE Deron Irving-Bey is going to announce today at 4:00.  A Michigan Monday Multiple Commitment Day?

• We all wait to hear what Najee Harris is thinking.   The rumor mill is he has sent in his early enrollment paperwork to both Michigan and Alabama.   Which means he can enroll at either school in January.

• The offensive line is now a bit of a concern for the Wolverines, the next important commit after Cesar's announcement is Texas OT Chuck Filiaga.  He could announce this month or wait to the Army All American game. 

• Dylan McCaffrey won the Golden Helmet award.  He will also be the next the McCaffrey to play a college football game as his brother Christian is skipping the Sun Bowl.

• Jimmy's coaching pipeline continues:  Jimmie Dougherty a Michigan analyst on Harbaugh's staff just took the WR coaching position at Oregon. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Updates Some Recruiting News and Notes

• Seems that Aubrey Solomon and his mom enjoyed last weekends visit to Ann Arbor.  Of course, Jimmy put Momma Gwen on Aubrey's mom as she was the first to do a questionnaire for her son's recruitment.   It seems they hit it off and Aubrey already loves Michigan as he committed here before.   He is a great prospect but I think every visit he goes on will be great and he will end up staying close to home.   It seems Mom holds a lot of the cards in this decision.

• I want some Wide Receivers! It seems Oliver Martin's recruitment is coming down to Michigan and MSU.   I wish he would just pull the trigger for the good guys.

• Michigan continues to be the leader for Alabama 4 star WR Nico Collins who took his official last weekend with his family.   This is another recruitment that the longer it goes, the worse it is for the Wolverines.   Too much time for the SEC and their recruiting practices to take effect.

• Michigan insider Sam Webb is saying that Michigan might take up to 5 LB's in this class.   Some of the top guys the could join the 2017 class include, IMG's Jordan Anthony, Mississippi Willie Gay and Paramus Catholic's Drew Singleton.   Michigan already has two LB's committed in Ben Mason and Josh Ross.

• Want to know how serious Grant Newsome's knee injury is?  He just left the hospital after 38 days. 

• Wilton was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

• Since I want WR's in this class so much, I am going to add Brad Hawkins back on the commit list.  Brad as you know committed to Michigan last year but is in prep school now.   I believe he is still planning to enroll in January, which would allow him to use a scholarship from his original class or 2017.

Wolverine Wednesday: Updates Visitor List For Illinois

Michigan doesn't have a ton of high profile recruits coming in for the Illinois game but there are some important recruits coming to town.   Here's  a look at the guys that are scheduled to be in Ann Arbor this weekend:

• Jay Tufele, 4 star DT taking his official visit to Ann Arbor

• Robert Porcher IV, 3 Star DE committed to Nebraska.   His dad was of course is the former Detroit Lions DE. 

• Wille Gay, 4 star LB who is committed to Ole Miss

• Martin Andrus, 3 star DT from California

• Kai-Leon Herbert, OL commit from Florida

• Matt Hankins, 3 star CB who is committed to Iowa

Herbert has been looking around at the Florida schools, so this is an important trip to try to keep him in the class.   Tufele is a guy the coaches are very high on and this trip is important if they want to get him to come all the way from Utah to Ann Arbor for college.   

Michigan Tuesday: Jimmy Speaks and a Few Recruiting Updates

Jimmy had his regular Monday press conference.   Not much came out of it, but I did grab these two nuggets to share with you:

• The offensive lineman are now all wearing knee braces after Grant's injury.   It's mandatory now.  

• Jimmy expects Drake Johnson to play this year.  Which would rule out a 6th year.

Recruiting:

We all know Michigan was busy last week on the recruiting trail.   Here are some notes:

• Michigan offered two new Safety prospects for 2017 in Bubba Bolden and Isaiah Pola-Mao.  Michigan has one Safety already committed in Woods who is taking visits but seems pretty committed to Michigan and is also very high on instate prospect Jaylen Kelly-Powell.  It looks like Michigan might take 3 safeties in this class.  Which is a bit of a surprise.

• Momentum is very high on offense line recruiting.   Wilson is planning an official to Michigan in November and will bring his entire family.   Filiaga is also still saying good things about Michigan and Leatherwood wants to visit A2 again on his own dime.   Willis who before his Michigan visit seemed like an Alabama lock really enjoyed his visit and may have Michigan up there next to Alabama at #1.  Michigan would be quicker trip for his family to watch games from KY.  

• Seems the ship has officially sailed with Aubrey Solomon , which is too bad. 

Michigan Tuesday: No Chase in 2017

Michigan lost another player from the 2017 recruiting class as Chase Lasater has de-committed from Michigan.   He is a 3 star FB and will now re-open his recruitment.   As you might imagine, this is not a huge blow to the class and the Michigan staff probably needs the slot for other players.   So this separation is probably mutual.  The rumor mill is saying there might have been an admission issue.

• We know Jimmy is planning on heading out to California this week to watch the #1 player in the nation in Najee Harris.  Najee doesn't speak to the services to often but had this to say to the USA Today recently:  “I’m going to take my five visits, but I just don’t know where,” Harris said. “Let’s say this: My mind isn’t set on Alabama. I’m not 100 percent set on Alabama. I’m trying to see what else is out there for me. I’m using my visits to see. As much attention as I’ve gotten, I feel like I have helped my teammates get some offers, too.”

• Rutgers visitor and huge OL recruit Isaiah Wilson is saying that he has been talking to Alex Leatherwood, Cesar Ruiz, Jedrick Wills and Chuck Filiaga.  They are talking about calling themselves the Fab 5 and all going to Michigan.   Will that happened?  It will be hard to pull all 5, but love the conversation!

• With the news above, Three-star GA FB Tory Carter will take his official for the IU game.

Michigan Monday: Likes Steak

The most exciting news from the 78-0 win on Saturday was that Ann Arbor's Ruth's Chris Steak House was offering a discount equal to Michigan's winning margin.  So 78 points should equal 78% off.   Well, they capped it at 50% and until Thursday.   It made the Mike and Mike ESPN Radio show this morning and on ESPN front page.  Those who got a seat, eat well!  That is a very good steak house!

Bye weeks are great for resting injuries and doing a little recruiting for the staff.   Not so great for blog content.   I will do my best this week to dig up information that you might find interesting.

• Oliver Martin will play in the Army All American game and will take two more official visits (Oregon and MSU) before making a decision.  The Wolverines like their chances with this talented WR.

• Jimmy liked how Jabrill and Chris Evans played on Saturday and felt those two broke the game open. 

• A few Michigan targets were scheduled to visit Rutgers on Saturday.  LB Drew Singleton and OT Isaiah Wilson.  I wonder how that worked out for Rutgers?

• DP-J visited OSU over the weekend, he was scheduled to go to Florida but that game was cancelled due to the hurricane.

• Michigan at OSU will kick off at Noon

• Jimmy is expected to watch the #1 player in the nation RB Najee Harris game this week.  Harris is committed to Alabama but many insiders feel he will end up somewhere else.  He doesn't really talk to the recruiting services so not sure who if anyone has the most recent information.

• I'm hoping we start to see Peppers jump into a number of Heisman conversations this week.

Wolverine Wednesday: Has Updates On A Few Things

• One of the guys, I haven't mentioned to much is last weekend visitor 4 star OT Chuck Filiaga from Texas.   As you know, it's traditionally difficult to get recruits out of Texas.   There are so many solid programs closer to home for those kids.  Some of his top schools are Oklahoma, Oregon, USC which are all struggling and two of three are probably changing coaches.  Not to mention the issues that LSU, Texas, and Baylor are having as well.   Chuck called the trip to Ann Arbor "great" and a 24/7 national recruiting analyst just predicted he will eventually sign with Michigan.   Sounds like distance is not an issue and that he likes the stability of the coaching staff at Michigan and Coach Drev's background.

• Brad Hawkins signed an LOI in the 2016 class but didn't qualify and headed off to prep school.   It seems Brad is still committed to Michigan and the staff seems to be holding a spot for him.  I wonder if he is planning on attending the game on Saturday?  Hence, Hawkins says he's firmly committed to Michigan."Right now, I'm still committed. I'm still committed to Michigan, right now. Things are going well with them," he said. "So nothing has changed. I'm still committed, I'm still loyal to them."
  But Hawkins is still, at least, open to hearing from the multiple suitors to come through Suffield. And he admits that Rutgers is the team recruiting him hardest.
  "They are just saying they would love to have me and they need receivers," said Hawkins.
  Hawkins says he's contacted by Rutgers wide receivers coach Jafar Williams every other day, while he hears from Iowa and Michigan coaches a couple times per week.
  According to Hawkins, Michigan will still take him despite him not qualifying initially. Hence, when he speaks to passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Jedd Fisch, they discuss other things.
  "I already know where I stand," said Hawkins. "That's been discussed, so we just talk about how I'm doing."

• I'm also expecting that Michigan is planning on accepting Dytarious Johnson in January if he has taken care of his academic issues.

• Hurricane Matthew is not expected to hit NJ directly but could bring some rain to the Michigan game.  If your remember last year, Michigan was planning to play Maryland at night and that game got moved to noon for the threat of bad weather from a hurricane.

A Recruiting Thought...................

Michigan feels good about where they are at with WR recruiting for the 2017 class.  Which is great and I hope they are right.  Michigan loses two senior starters and had two misses with Hawkins and Mitchell from the 2016 class.  Drake Harris continues to not play much, McDoom has a nice upside, and Perry is a solid slot receiver.   Nate Johnson who got some nice camp buzz hasn't played much and I assume has burned his red shirt. 

That leaves a lot of potential playing time for the 2017 recruits including: 5 star Donovan Peoples-Jones, 4 star Nico Collins, Tarik Black and Oliver Martin.  I would love nothing better then Michigan getting all 4 guys   The issue is, all these guys have big time offers and could make other decisions.  I'm worried that some of these decisions will come at All Star games or on NSD. Which could bring the Wolverines a ton of risk on timing.   Right now Michigan has a huge hole in their 2017 class and it's at WR.   I would feel much better if a couple of these guys were committed to the Maize and Blue!

Michigan Tuesday: Has A Crazy Idea and Updates the Leatherwood Recruitment

Scout.com

The highest ranked prospect to visit Ann Arbor this weekend was FL 5 star offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood.   This 6'6 330 pound OT prospect has been committed to Alabama for over a year.  Last night, he posted on Twitter that Michigan was the best visit he has been on and he will definitely be back.  He also removed "Alabama Commit" on his Twitter profile.    As you know, many recruits feel that way right after a visit.   If that feeling continues as the season progresses and as he takes more visits, we will see.   Don't hold your breath but keep an eye on this recruitment.  

On a side note, Alex's Dad was not a big fan of visiting Michigan.   He felt his son is in the best position at Alabama and was skeptical of other schools before he arrived in Ann Arbor this weekend.   It seems Mr. Leatherwood also came away impressed with the visit and even bought a bunch of Michigan gear to wear.  They both stayed through the weekend and flew back home on Monday.

• As expected, Grant Newsome is done for the year. Bushell-Beatty will continue to get a shot at left tackle and Cole could also move there from center.  

• Quinn Nordin is getting healthy and could enter the kicking competition this week at practice if he is 100%.

Now to my Crazy Idea:

I have liked how Wilton Speight has played in the first 5 games this season.   He has only thrown 2 picks and had one fumble.   One of the most important things a young QB can do is to protect the ball.  Manage the game and don't lose it.   At times he has won games with his arm, other times he has let the running game do its thing.   He is 5-0 and that is best record he can have.

Michigan is playing Rutgers this week, has a bye week, and then plays Illinois at home.   I think we know what type of QB Wilton is and yes, he hopefully will continue to improve as well.   I would like to see John' O'Korn get a ton of snaps and maybe even start one of the games against Rutgers or Illinois.   John can also give this offense a bit of a spark with his scrambling and running ability. 

John only got a few snaps the first few weeks of the season.   I think he needs more experience in the Michigan offense.   I also would like to see if we have a Alex Smith- Colin Kaepernick situation here (not the National Anthem issue).   Again, this is not a knock on Wilton, I think he has done a nice job managing the offense.  I would just like to see what we have in John O'Korn.   Michigan is going to need great QB play to beat OSU at the end of year, I think we need to see if John is that QB.  

Will it ever happen?  I doubt it.  Jimmy likes to play one guy and unless Wilton gets hurt I don't think we will see much of O'Korn unless its in mop up duty.