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| Not my car exactly, but you get the picture |
Last week in my intro to Brad Hoke piece I briefly mentioned the wonders Brady and his staff have been able to work on the recruiting trail, without coaching a game yet. To recap, this class currently has 19/20ish commits with one being Kentucky S Jeremy Clark who is accepting a greyshirt offer from the Wolverines. For those of you that don't know, it means that Jeremy will spend his freshman season at Michigan minus a scholarship gaining one during his sophmore campaign. He does have full scholarship offers from other schools so to choose to come and do this at Michigan, I believe speaks volumes about the ability of the coaching staff to sell kids on Michigan.
So far many of the experts seem to be in agreement that this class is shaping up to be one of the best in the nation by National Signing Day...
Scout's Allen Trieu...
The long and the short of it is that new head coach Brady Hoke and his staff have come in, been very aggressive on the recruiting trail and had a lot of success so far in the 2012 class. The Wolverines, are actually nearing completion with this class, with only a handful of spots remaining. It has been a defensive heavy class, but we expect more offense in the remaining spots.MaxPreps, which has Michigan's class rated #1 in the country ...
Michigan fans are simply delighted with the success of Brady Hoke on the recruiting trail, culminating with Kyle Kalis' flip to the Wolverines. Defensively and on the offensive line, this class is outstanding. Add another premium offensive skill player, like former Ohio State commit Bri'onte Dunn, and this class would get even stronger.ESPN, while not as high as MaxPreps, currently has Michigan 5th overall behind Texas, Florida State, Florida, and Alabama. Also, Rivals also just released their rankings where they have Michigan rated 3rd behind Florida State and Texas.
So who composes this fantastic class Michigan has compiled so far, say you? The class...
Name | Position | State | Rivals | ESPN | Scout | 24/7 |
Kyle Kalis | OL | OH | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
Royce Jenkins-Stone | LB | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
James Ross | LB | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Joe Bolden | LB | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Terry Richardson | CB | MI | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Erik Magnuson | OL | CA | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Jarrod Wilson | S | OH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Tom Strobel | DE | OH | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
Pharaoh Brown | DE | OH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
Blake Bars | OL | TN | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Devin Funchess | TE | MI | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Mario Ojemudia | DE | MI | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
Kaleb Ringer | LB | OH | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
Matt Godin | DE | MI | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
Ben Braden | OL | MI | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Anthony Standifer | CB | IL | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Caleb Stacey | OL | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Allen Gant | S | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
AJ Williams | TE | OH | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
A few things that immediately stick out is the number of Ohio natives in this class (9). There are 9 lineman, along both lines combined in this class. This is also a very defensive heavy class with 12, 13 if you count Clark, defensive players in the fold and a few more still in the mix to become Wolverines.
Also, if you're wanting to dig a little deeper, you'd see that the Michigan staff is doing one heck of a job of not only invading Ohio, but also securing down the top recruits in the state. They've gained commitments from 7 of the top 12 players in the state and lead or are in the top group for, 3 more of the top 12 in, Farmington Hills WR Aaron Burbridge, Flint DT Danny Obrien, and Southfield TE Ron Thompson. I think the staff is going to take a WR whether or not it's Burbridge, but if he can qualify I expect him to be a Wolverine. Also O'brien is on the record of saying that the staff told him they were only taking one more DT in this class, but with MO DT Ondre Pipkins in the mix and high on Michigan, I see the staff making room for 2 DT's if they both want to come to Ann Arbor.
Border? What stinking border?
While, the state of Michigan does have a very solid group of recruits to choose from this year, that has not always been the norm, compared to states like Ohio. So to be able to get into Ohio and steal away big time recruits has to be of importance if Michigan wants to get back to competing with the likes of Ohio. Hoke has made an emphasis of this and with the impendnig NCAA infractions and media scuttlebutt surrounding the OSU program it seems, at least for the time being, the staff has been able to do that. The big name of the Ohio group was, OL Kyle Kalis, who early in his commitment was more than solid to the Buckeyes.
As of June 8th, Kalis was still committed to Ohio and had this to say about his recuitment to MGoBlog's own Tom VanHaaren...
I'm still listening to coaches. I want to go to Ohio State, but I want to know that Coach Fickell is going to be my head coach when I'm there, and if we don't have more than a two year bowl ban.A short month later on July 10th, Kalis was a Wolverine where he called Brady Hoke from the block M of stadium to tell him he was a Wolverine, he then had this to say about his recruitment to ESPN.
On Not going to OSU...
"I can't go there (Ohio State) and take penalties for something I never did," Kalis told ESPN.com on Monday. "Ohio State is a great program. I'm just not sure how long it will take them to recover. I want a solid, grounded coaching staff with a safe environment. Where there aren't such tough questions."On Michigan and the Ohio border...
"He is the type of guy I want to play for," Kalis said. "(Hoke) has an incredible amount of passion. I believe the Michigan-Ohio border is now open. I think you're going to see eight or nine guys from the state of Ohio going over to Michigan this year."Well, we've got that number of 9 so lets hope that border stays open and we can snag a couple more, maybe RB Bri'onte Dunn? I find that highly unlikely at this point with the NCAA curling up into a ball when it came time to punish Ohio for their tomfoolery (more on this to come).
So where do we go from here?
DT: Michigan is thin at DT and needs to get at least one. I've already mentioned Danny Obrien's comments and like I mentioned if both want to commit I believe the staff makes room and something in my gut tells me that both Ondre and Danny will commit to play for the Wolverines by NSD (national signing day).
Quarterback: I am not in the group that believes Michigan needs a quarterback in this class. They have already gained a commitment from 2013 prospect Shane Morris who by all accounts is shaping up to be one of the top prospects in the country. If Michigan can fill positions of need and gain a buffer qb to be between Gardner and Morris than take one, if not, I won't be losing any sleep and I don't think you should either.
Hold the line: I expect Michigan to take one more offensive lineman in this class. Michigan is at a point where they can choose to be very selective with who they accept commitments from and with 5* Jordan Diamond, and other highly regardged recruits like Zach Bannder, Adam Bisnowaty, and Joshua Garnett in the mix they should be selective.
RB: Michigan has a stable of running backs on the roster already. This factor leads me to again believe Michigan will be very selective on who they accept a commitment from. I would expect only a top guy to get this spot in the class. We Michigan fans need to keep our fingers crossed on Bri'onte Dunn, because with Ohio getting off easy that's loookin less likely, also making our chances of landing a top tier back less likely as well.
WR: Michigan has offers out to some of the top talents in the nation at WR. Most likely in this class, if he can qualify, I think is Aaron Burbridge. But, also keep an eye on OH WR Dwayne Stanford who is teammates with 5* DE Adolphus Washington, who comes across as pretty high on Michigan and they could be a package deal. Some other potential suitors to keep an eye on, are IA WR Amara Darboh, CA WR Jordan Payton, and OH WR Monty Madaris.
Dude closest to going blue? OH DE Chris Wormley, has long been thought of as a Michigan lean. How soon who knows? Hopefully before the season. His commitment, I would expect to effect Adolphus Washington, as there are already 3 DE's in this class. But again, I would love to have both.
So that's kind of where we are at. My apologies for any scatterbrained thoughts. Now I can focus on up to date material, and I am also working on getting a resident buckeye post up as well from my college roomate. So next time you read something from me (hopefully tomorrow), it won't be something you knew 3 months ago. As always, Go Blue.
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