Observations on Michigan Football Recruiting 2020 (Updated May 18, 2021)

Michigan had another "up and down" recruiting year. As of February 3, 2021, the Wolverines survived a couple of decommitments on December Signing Day by Branden Jennings and Quintin Somerville along with drama from signees Donovan Edwards, Jaydon Hood, and Ja'Den McBurrows, and then ended with "flips" from Rayshaun Benny and Ike Iwunna to end up ranked 12th by Rivals and 12th by 247 after losing Xavier Worthy on April 16, 2021.

Michigan's title drought is the longest in Wolverine history, and Harbaugh's first six seasons haven't changed the dilemma. As a Michigan football fan, I've experienced two of these droughts, and this one is much worse than the one that ended in 1964. The Big Ten competition continues in its intensity, and the path to the top continues to be a great challenge in a 14 team conference. Warde Manuel and Jim Harbaugh have negotiated an extention through 2026 with a reduced salary and incentives; this may be a "band-aid" approach to the problem that may not be resolved through the current coaching staff to restoring the Wolverines to be a Big Ten and National power.

On Offense, Harbaugh offered at least 13 quarterbacks; Harbaugh and his Quarterbacks coach, Ben McDaniels, got the pledge of 5 star recruit, J.J. McCarthy on May 11, 2019. Wolverine fans have to feel good about the quarterback recruiting. Harbaugh dismissed McDaniels on January 12; he hired Matt Weiss on February 22 to coach Quarterbacks after Joe Milton and Dylan McCaffrey transferred on January 31 and February 18. Other quarterbacks that Harbaugh coveted were Miller Moss (USC), Drake Maye (North Carolina), Kyle McCord (Ohio State), Jake Rubley (Northwestern), Aaron McLaughlin (North Carolina State), Christian Veilleux (Penn State), Brock Vandergriff (Georgia), Tyler Buchner (Notre Dame), Caleb Williams (Oklahoma), Preston Stone (SMU), Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (Florida), and Shedeur Sanders (Jackson State). Michigan Quarterbacks

At Running Back, Jay and Jim Harbaugh offered at least 19 prospects, and came away with commitments from Donovan Edwards and Tavierre Dunlap. Wolverine fans have to be pleased with the results as both prospects give Michigan a solid stable of running back threats. Harbaugh hired former Wolverine, Mike Hart, to coach running backs on January 13; this should help in recruiting as well performance. Jay Harbaugh returns to coach Tight Ends/H-Backs, and stays as Special Teams Coordinator. Others they had genuine interest in were: Camar Wheaton (Alabama), Corey Kiner (LSU), Phil Mafah (Clemson), Cam'Ron Valdez (Texas Tech), TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State), Evan Pryor (Ohio State), etc. Although Wolverines fans should be well pleased with the running back recruiting, there is also a glaring problem facing Michigan in 2021: they are without a H-Back/Fullback to replace Ben Mason, and this staff hasn't recruited or developed anyone who can immediately fill this need for short yardage and goal line situations. Ben Vansumeren transferred to Michigan State rather than accept a position change back to running back from linebacker where the team needs a H-Back. It looks like Hassan Haskins will be the short yardage option. Michigan's Greatest Running Backs

At Wide Receiver and Tight End, Michigan offered at least 60 prospects from Josh Gattis and Sherrone Moore, and gained signees, Louis Hansen, Cristian Dixon, and Andrel Anthony; both Anthony and Dixon enrolled in January. Harbaugh surprised many with hiring former Wolverine, Ron Bellamy, to coach Wide Receivers on January 23; however, Harbaugh had to switch Bellamy to Safeties Coach after Brian Jean-Terry abruptly left his staff for Tennessee. Harbaugh moved Bellamy to coach Safeties on February 22 after hiring Matt Weiss to coach Quarterbacks, and moved Gattis to coach wide receivers specifically. Others that Michigan missed on include: Lorenzo Styles (Notre Dame), Jayden Thomas (Notre Dame), Emeka Egbuka (Ohio State), Marvin Harrison (Ohio State), Thomas Fidone (Nebraska), Brock Bowers (Georgia), Sam Hart (Ohio State), decommit Markus Allen (Wisconsin), etc. Xavier Worthy decommitted on April 16, 2021 after signing a letter of intent in December; he was disappointed that admissions wouldn't let him enroll in January. The coaching staff wanted to get a second Tight End for blocking, but was unable to secure one; the team lacks a true H-Back for 2021, and will count on the edge blocking of tight ends. Michigan Ends (Wide Receivers, Tight Ends and Wingbacks (Slots)

On the Offensive Line, Ed Warinner offered over 50 prospects, and signed Raheem Anderson, Tristan Bounds, Greg Crippen, Giovanni El-Hadi, and Transfer Willie Allen. Michigan whiffed on in-state giants, Rocco Spindler (Notre Dame) and teammate, Garrett Dellinger (LSU). Michigan slow played Drew Kendall (Boston College), Caleb Tiernan (Northwestern), and David Davidkov (Iowa) while waiting on Spindler and Dellinger; it cost them all three recruits. Harbaugh replaced Warinner, and promoted Tight Ends/H-Backs Coach, Sherrone Moore, to be Co-Offensive Coordinator, Run Game Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach on January 23. Warinner moved to Florida Atlantic. Willie Allen only lasted a few months on the roster, and transferred for the 3rd time to Massachusetts. Others that Michigan were "hot" for included: Nolan Rucci (Wisconsin), Landon Tengwall (Penn State), Blake Fisher (Notre Dame), Cullen Montgomery (Oklahoma), Pat Coogan (Notre Dame), James and Tommy Brockermeyer (Alabama), J.C. Latham (Alabama), etc. Raheem Anderson claims he will be a future Outland Trophy Winner, but my bet is that Greg Crippen will be the best future lineman for the Wolverines; after Spring Drills, Crippen moved up to backup Center. Michigan Offensive Line

This class has 10 January offensive enrollees: Raheem Anderson, Andrel Anthony, Tristan Bounds, Junior Colson, Greg Crippen, Cristian Dixon, Tavierre Dunlap, Donovan Edwards, Giovanni El-Hadi, and J.J. McCarthy plus Transfer Willie Allen.

On Defense, Michigan needed to get several immediate impact players who can come in to start plugging needed holes in their sieve. Coach Don Brown had one of his worst defenses in his coaching history in 2020; he was dismissed on December 22 after signing day, and hired Mike MacDonald, Baltimore Ravens Linebackers Coach, on January 17 to revamp the defense in 2021. MacDonald played at Georgia so this should help recruiting in that key state. Brown landed at Arizona as Jedd Fisch's Defensive Coordinator for the Wildcats; Fisch was Harbaugh's former Wolverine Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach.

On the Defensive Line, Shaun Nua offered at least 50 prospects, and signed T.J. Guy, Dominick Giudice, George Rooks, Rayshaun Benny, Ikechukwu Iwunnah, and Kechaun Bennett. Nua went from the "Outhouse" to the Penthouse as it looked liked he wouldn't be retained for 2021, but he then signed George Rooks, Ikechukwu Iwunnah, and Rayshaun Benny after he was retained. Nua missed out on: Damon Payne (Alabama), Dallas Turner (Alabama), Tywone Malone (Mississippi), Rodney McGraw (Indiana, then Penn State), Jason Onye (Notre Dame), Jack Sawyer (Ohio State), Michael Hall (Ohio State), Aaron Armitage (Stanford), Jay Toia (USC), Victory Vaka (Colorado, then ), Quintin Somerville (UCLA), etc. According to the State's Top Prospect and Five-Star Recruit, Damon Payne of Belleville, Michigan didn't even recruit him. Nua then offered at least 10 Grad Transfer prospects; it looks like he may land Jordan Whittley of Oregon State. Michigan Defensive Linemen.

At Linebacker, new coach Brian Mary-Terry lassoed Junior Colson, Jaydon Hood, and Tyler McLaurin; he then left to coach at Tennessee after interviwing with Urban Meyer at Jacksonville, and Harbaugh moved Safeties Coach, George Helow, to Linebackers. Helow, a former Mississippi Safety, should help with recruiting in the South, and he will also help out coaching special teams. Michigan missed out on decommit Branden Jennings (Maryland), Jamari Buddin (Penn State), Bryce Steele (South Carolina, then Boston College), Kobe King (Penn State), decommit Casey Phinney (Boston College), etc. Michigan tried to land a transfer linebacker with at least 3 offers, but was unable to secure any transfers. Michigan Linebackers 

In the Defensive Backfield, Mike Zordich offered over 50 prospects; he was not a good recruiter, and spends little time on the road observing and establishing relationships. As a result, Zordich didn't get enough talent that is desperately needed; also, the lack of having a safeties coach due to the "leave of absence" of Bob Shoop also catastrophically hurt recruiting in 2020. Harbaugh replaced Zordich with Maurice Linguist on January 19 as Defensive Backs Coach and Co-Defensive Coordinator; unfortunately, his tenure was just over 100 days as he accepted the Head Coach position at Buffalo on May 7. Harbaugh then signed Steve Clinkscale from Kentucky to coach Defensive Backs on May 11. Michigan signed Jaden McBurrows and Rod Moore, but missed out on their most coveted prospects: Ceyair Wright (USC), Kamonte Grimes (Nebraska), Kalen King (Penn State), Jaylen Reed (Penn State), Omarion Cooper (Florida State), Ryan Barnes (Notre Dame), Ty Chappell (Texas A&M), David Daymon (Oregon), etc. Michigan Defensive Backs

December 16, 2020 Signees

February 3, 2021 Signees

On Special Teams, Michigan got a Preferred Walk-on commitment from Punter Tommy Doman. Michigan Placekickers/Punters/Specialists

Preferred Walk-On Offers

All NCAA Division I Football squads have 85 scholarships and 35 walk-ons for a roster of 120 players; there are continual offers for potential walk-on players.

In all, Harbaugh offered approximately 310+ scholarships in 37 states; he offered 330+ prospects in 2016, 250+ in 2017, and 310+ in 2018, and 340+ in 2019. Michigan offered the most prospects from Florida (40+), Georgia (27+), Texas (30+), California (26+), Ohio (15+), Michigan and Maryland (17+), Virginia (11+), North Carolina and Pennsylvania (14+), Massachusetts and New Jersey (10+), Illinois (9+), Tennessee/Washington (7+), Indiana (5+), Connecticut, Iowa, and Missouri (4+), Colorado, Louisiana and Utah (3+), Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia (2+), and one each from Arkansas, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. Nearly 30% of the prospects we are now offering are in the South!

Michigan has 23 Signees as of February 3; our top prospects in the class are J.J. McCarthy and Donovan Edwards. All teams have until April 30 to sign recruits for the 2020 season, and grad transfers can be accepted anytime through Summer until the Fall semester begins. There are nearly 1.1 million high school football players each season in American, but only 6.7% have a shot at playing college football with only 2.6% having a shot at Division I; each ranking service has approximately 5,000 prospects in their database with ratings from one to five stars. Recruiting talent in any endeavor is a matter of perception and hope; the hard work, competition, and improvement is unmeasurable so time will tell over the next 3-5 years as how these young men will develop under the tutelage of Harbaugh's staff. Over the past 6 seasons, many Wolverine fans agree that Harbaugh and his staff have not been able to gain the most of the talent that they've recruited.

Losing Recruiting Battles in the State of Michigan

Michigan continues to lose battles within its own state as other schools have dominated recruiting; the Wolverines were only able to sign 4 of the state's top 15 prospects according to ESPN ratings. Penn State plucked 4, Northwestern 2, Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, Louisville, and Nebraska signed one each. Other out of state schools are actively involved in the state with its best prospects including Indiana, Purdue, Iowa, Kentucky, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, BYU, and all the MAC schools which leaves Michigan with less preferred walk-on prospects. The hiring of Ron Bellamy from West Bloomfield may help recruiting in Michigan.

Losing Recruiting Battles in the Midwest and Other Big Ten States

In the Midwest and Big Ten states, Michigan also gained zero recruits this season in Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, or Pennsylvania, but did gain J.J. McCarthy and Tyler McLaurin from Illinois plus Dominic Giudice from New Jersey. Since Chris Partridge left for Mississippi, we have lost our valued New Jersey and Eastern connections other than what Don Brown has in Massachusetts. New Jersey's top prospect, Tywone Malone signed with Mississippi due to the influence of Partridge. The hiring of Mike Hart could help recruiting in the East.

When Jim Tressel took over at Ohio State in 2001; he instituted a "policy" that encouraged Ohio Football Recruits to sign with the Buckeyes or go elsewhere other than Michigan, and this policy has had a real negative effect on Michigan's ability to sign recruits in the State of Ohio. This "Tressel Effect" continues to hurt Michigan in 2020; the Wolverines were only able to secure one commitment from talent-rich Ohio, Rod Moore. The recruits that Michigan signed this season with Ohio State offers include: J.J. McCarthy, Greg Crippen, Louis Hansen, and Ja'Den McBurrows.

Michigan has chosen to emphasize recruiting in the last decade in the Deep South which a dramatic shift from 30-40 years ago when it was the Midwest; they offered at least 67 prospects in Florida and Georgia. The competition for those highly skilled prospects is intense; this season, Michigan only managed to gain two commitments of the 67 offered: Ja'Den McBurrows and Junior Colson, both from the same high school. The hiring of Steve Clinkscale, Mike MacDonald, Ron Bellamy, and George Helow should help recruiting in Florida, Georgia and the rest of the South. Here is a list of the tough competition in this recruiting region, and how they fared:

The Big Ten has transcended into a much more competitive recruiting conference; in addition to Ohio State and Penn State, the Wolverines are getting a lot more competition from Wisconsin, Iowa, Maryland, Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Indiana.

Offers by Team 2020

There has to be something said about "economy of effort" in the recruiting process. Some teams make significantly fewer offers due to regional as well as academic differences as they pursue football prospects. Michigan no longer recruits its owns state as hard as it recruits other states particularly in the South; other schools have a bevy of talent nearby, and don't have to utilize long distance national recruiting particularly the Florida, Texas and California schools who comprise 27 of the 130 (nearly 21%) NCAA Division I Football competitors.

Obviously, Stanford and Clemson are the leaders nationally in economy of effort. In the Big Ten, Rutgers, Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin are the leaders along with Ohio State; in my opinion, Michigan should be putting more effort into this "economy of effort" strategy. In the West, few of the PAC-12 Schools need to offer athletes outside their region due to the talent-rich California are so Washington, California, USC, and other teams don't need to offer as many athletes. In Texas and the Midlands, the same is true with many of the Texas schools as there are so many athletes in Texas to offer so Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and others utilize "economy of effort" effectively, and many of these schools also capitalize on Community College transfers as well. In Florida, the host schools, Florida, Florida State, and Miami-Florida have a great advantage, but many schools including Michigan put forth a great effort to influence these athletes to go elsewhere.

National and Major Conference Football Recruiting Leaders for 2020