Sure, they aren’t the Big Ten, but several Big Ten teams play at least one MAC school every year, so it may be interesting to see how the schools from the other conference in the Midwest are doing. There will also be a post-signing day edition of the MAC recruiting rankings.

New Rankings:

I actually think a couple of Central’s commits are underrated by Rivals. Redd, for example, got a pretty good look from Michigan at their summer camp. Same goes for Akuezue. He is rated low now because he is a DE who weighs about 30 pounds soaking wet, but he was virtually unblockable at Michigan’s camp. If he can add weight and maintain his explosiveness, he could be a very good player down the road.

Posted under Recruiting

Action since last rankings:
8-24-08 Illinois gains commitment from Darryl Lee.
8-31-08 Ohio state gains commitment from Jamaal Berry. Michigan gains commitment from Tate Forcier.
9-2-08 Iowa gains commitment from Bret Van Sloten.

The rich get richer as OSU and Michigan pick up a key piece each. Then the slightly-less-rich get poorer as William Campbell defects. For next week, I’ll probably take a closer look at re-ranking the teams (Michigan out of second?), but I just didn’t have the time this week.

New Rankings:

Posted under Recruiting

Conflicting sources reports that Michigan has lost a commitment from william Campbell. Campbell is the highest-rated recruit in the Wolverines’ class of 2009, but Michigan has always known that he was planning to take official visits to other schools.

If that is the case, then how could he “open up” his recruitment? It seems that to make himself any more open, he’d practically have to state that Michigan is out of the picture for him. Otherwise (as it has been all along), it would seem that he is a soft commit, with Michigan merely a leader among an elite group of schools.

Insert Thor pic here for mega-lolz.

Posted under Recruiting

The Board lives here. I was going to hold this update a little longer, but the post is filling up, and there is a ton of content to roll out over the next few days. Enjoy.

Moved to Committed:
FL RB Vincent Smith, FL RB Brandin Hawthorne. Commitment article on the pair.
CA QB Tate Forcier. Freep commit article.

Added:
NJ DB Nyshier Oliver. Tennessee decommit now considering Michigan, among others.

New Information:
FL TE Orson Charles. Georgia might not have a spot for him anymore.
VA OL Morgan Moses. He may not qualify out of high school, and could be headed to prep school for a year.
IL DE Craig Drummond. Nursing an ankle injury.
NC LB Hawatha Bell. Plans on taking a Michigan official visit.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Some fluff. Also, he might want to major in sports medicine (and Michigan has a very good program in this).

Removed:
FL LB Frankie Telfort. Michigan is out of his top (final) six.
FL RB Jaamal Berry. He’s finally done what we’ve been waiting for so long and verballed to Ohio State.

Etc.:
FL slot commit Jeremy Gallon. Fluff from the local paper.
First official 2010 offer. Chris Dunkley isn’t the only one that was sent out today, I assume. People like Devin Garndner, Ricardo Miller, and Marvin Robinson almost definitely received them as well. The board isn’t going live soon, but keep this stuff in mind.

Analysis:
Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne had pretty much been penciled in as commits to this class, even before the official announcement. The commitment from Forcier, however, was surprising, if only in the timing. He fills the void left by Kevin Newsome, and Michigan is back to being locked down on the quarterback front. From here, the next possible commit is from a DE (perhaps Craig Roh, who visited this weekend?), and then an OL or two. I’ve emotionally detached myself from Darius Winston, as I don’t think he will select Michigan on Friday (surprise us all, Jay Hopson!).

Posted under Recruiting

Though many believed Kevin Newsome would be the only top-flight quarterback Michigan had a shot at in 2009, California QB Robert “Tate” Forcier has committed to Michigan, filling the void left by the decommitment of Newsome. Forcier (6-1, 190, 4.63) is the younger brother of former UM (now Stanford) QB Jason Forcier. For the most inside of all the information on Tate, check out his family site. Forcier plans to enroll in January at Michigan.

Player Notes
Forcier is a pass-run quarterback who is a much better fit for this UM system than his brother was for the old one. Forcier switched schools entering his sophomore season to avoid starting over his older brother Chris (now at UCLA). Tate is a pass-first dual threat quarterback. For those worrying about a lack of speed, it may be comforting to know that he had more rushing yards than Kevin Newsome as a junior. Tate is a little bit short (around 6-1), and his arm strength is not elite. However, he is fairly fast (faster than his former Wolverine brother), and his arm is very accurate. For the Scouts, Inc. evaluation of Tate, check out his site. One thing to keep in mind about Tate is that he has had a private QB tutor for much of his football-playing career, so his floor is very high, but he may be close to his ceiling as a passer.

Recruiting Notes
Like his older brother before him, Tate Forcier grew up a fan of the Michigan Wolverines. This gave Rich Rodriguez and company a leg up in his recruitment. However, with a family member leaving the program just a couple of years before Tate would enroll, it was unclear whther there would be hard feelings towards the Michigan program. Forcier was offered early in the process, when Russell Shepard and Kevin Newsome were the only other signal-callers holding offers from Rich Rodriguez. Speaking of offers… Tate posted all of his online (and it was really annoying to Google him every day and see that another hack columnist around the country had noticed). However, Tate said he wouldn’t start trimming his list until the Pryor situation was resolved. When Pryor picked against Michigan, many thought Pryor’s other “finalists,” Penn State and Michigan, were among Forcier’s top schools (along with Oregon). Before Kevin Newsome committed, he and Tate talked on Myspace about attending school together. When Shavodrick Beaver also gave his word to become a Wolverine, Tate was not to be dissuaded, still speaking highly of Michigan. When Kevin Newsome decommitted, Forcier was almost immediately in town for an official visit to the Utah game. Shortly after, Forcier made the decision to pull the trigger and commit to Michigan.

Video

Junior year part 1

Junior year part 2

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A weekly look at how Michigan’s football commitments performed in their high school games. Check back throughout the day, as there may be updates. Also, high school news isn’t particularly easy to come by in all cases. If you were there, or have an article/video that can give more insight, I encourage you to share in the comments.

TX QB Shavodrick Beaver Rider’s season hasn’t started yet, but here’s some preseason fluff.
MI RB Teric Jones Cass Tech wins 37-0. Can’t find an article with stats, but have heard Teric Jones was over 100 yards in the first half, and didn’t play in the second.
OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint Liberty defeats Niles 48-9. Toussaint racks up 209 rush yards and 4 TDs.
FL RB Vincent Smith Pahokee loses to Olive Branch 48-47. Smith ran for 135 yards and 2 TDs on 17 carries. He also was in and out of the game with cramps. More info.
MN WR Bryce McNeal Breck defeats Concordia 27-20. Can’t find any stats for McNeal.
FL Slot Jeremy Gallon Apopka defeats Seabreeze 39-0. Gallon ran for nearly 200 yards in one half.
IL OL Michael Schofield Sandburg wins 17-14. Can’t find any stats for the game.
MI DT William Campbell Cass Tech wins 37-0. Can’t find an article with stats, but DTs rarely rack up big numbers anyway.
LA DT DeQuinta Jones Bastrop dominates a pair of scrimmages. No mention of Jones.
IN LB Jordan Barnes Homestead loses to Warsaw 29-22. No stats article.
FL LB Brandin Hawthorne Pahokee loses to Olive Branch 48-47. No specific mentions of Hawthorne, but “Several defensive players were angry with themselves over missed tackles, the worst of which happened on Olive Branch’s go-ahead touchdown.” Hmm. More articles.
FL S Mike Jones Edgewater’s season starts Friday.
OH S Isaiah Bell Liberty defeats Niles 48-9. No stats given for Bell.
OH CB Justin Turner Washington loses to Jordan (UT) in the Herbstreit Classic. Turner finished with 128 rushing yards. UPDATE: Article here. 17-14 loss (under somewhat sketchy circumstances), Turner had 128 on 23 carries.
TX CB/WR DeWayne Peace South Grand Prairie lost 38-0. Peace had 7 receptions for 78 yards, ad one rush for a loss of 7.
TX K Anthony Fera Pius wins 38-20. Fera kicks a 39-yarder and hits 5 extra points.

Well, that’s what I found. Time to help out, readers. If you happen across an article about any of these guys’ games, drop a link in the comments.

Posted under Recruiting

Action since last rankings:
8-23-08 Iowa gains commitment from Brandon Wegher.
8-26-08 Illinois gains commitment from Hugh Thornton.
8-29-08 Michigan gains commitments from Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne.

Also, a programming note: Friday Night Lights might be delayed until Sunday this week because I’ll be working at the game all day today. Shouldn’t matter much, especially since Michigan’s newest commits don’t play until Saturday anyway.

New Rankings:

Posted under Recruiting

Pahokee, FL teammates Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne have both announced their intentions to sign letters of intent to Michigan in February. The duo announced their respective decisions today, instead of their original plan, which had them announcing at their team’s game against Olive Branch (MS) tomorrow. Smith is a 5-9, 170-lb running back, and Hawthorne is a 6-0, 185-lb linebacker who boasts a 4.7 40-yard dash.

Recruiting Notes
Michigan fans first became aware of Pahokee High School when slot receiver Martavious Odoms joined the class of 2008 in February. They quickly learned of Odoms’s younger teammates, including WR Nu’Keese Richardson (Florida commit) and Smith and Hawthorne. Smith was the first of the two added to the board, when he reported in March that he was about to receive a Michigan offer. That offer became public in June, and Hawthorne was added to the recruiting board shortly thereafter, when he placed Michigan in his top two, despite not reporting an offer. In early July, Brandin stated that he wouldn’t make a school decision until after he had taken his official visits. However, in the middle of July, both he and Smith stated that they would announce their college decisions on August 30th at their game against Olive Branch. At the end of July, the duo started dropping none-too-subtle hints that Michigan would be the choice for both Blue Devils. Towards the end of August, both Hawthorne and Smith announced that they had set up 5 official visits, though they still planned to announce on August 30th (an announcement that they subsequently moved forward by one day). With the final choice of Michigan, it is unlikely that they will have spots reserved for them in the class if they still intend to take officials to schools other than Michigan. The runners-up for Smith were Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Tennessee. finishing in second for Hawthorne was Louisville.

Player Notes
Both players may be considered slightly undersized for their positions, though Rich Rodriguez has focused on adding speed to the team first, and will likely worry about size and speed in future classes. Smith projects as yet another RB/Slot combo, with his diminutive stature and decent quickness. Hawthorne is probably going to end up as a weakside linebacker unless he has a pretty significant growth spurt. He will have to add a ton of mass to play linebacker, and hopefully he won’t lose too much speed doing so in Mike Barwis’s program.

Video

Pahokee’s spring game, courtesy of our friends at SoFLAFootball.com. Unfortunately, the video quality is a little too low to get any great detail.

The Vincent Smith Story from PrepTicket.

Etc.
With a pipeline to Pahokee High School now firmly established, Michigan is likely to go after Doral Willis, a top defensive tackle/offensive line prospect in the class of 2010. In addition, Nu’Keese Richardson, who liked Michigan early in the process but is a Florida commit, has expressed interest in visiting Ann Arbor with Smith and Hawthorne this year. Both Smith and Hawthorne have stated that plan to enroll at Michigan in January.

Posted under Recruiting

The board can be found here. I’m still trying to decide which days/how often to post recruiting updates. Until I settle into something of a rhythm during the season, I’ll just post them as the post fills up.

New Information:
MI WR Cameron Gordon. He is in no hurry to make a decision. I wonder ig Michigan will pursue him a little stronger now that they want his 2010 teammate Devin Gardner.
TN WR/DB Marsalis Teague. He may take a Michigan visit.
MI TE Dion Sims. Still hasn’t made up his mind, but his current choice is basketball over football.
GA TE Terrell Mitchell. Michigan is outside his top 3 (SoCar, WVU, Kentucky). With the Wolverines not really planning on taking a pure TE, he may be close to removal from the board.
CA OL Michael Philipp. USC starts showing some interest.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Michigan will make his next cut (Sam Webb Audio). Sounds like Michigan made quite an impression on his visit.
NJ DE Anthony LaLota. No longer planning an early decision, Michigan official tentatively scheduled for Wisconsin game (Sam Webb Audio, same as above).
AZ DE Craig Roh. Sam Webb fluff from the Detroit News. Remember, Roh is officially visiting this week.
SC S David Sims. Michigan out of his top 5. It’s unclear from the article whether that is “top” or “final,” so he remains on the board for now.
Also: Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne have moved up their announcement(s) from their game Saturday to tomorrow.

Removed:
KY DE Trevor Foy. He is down to a final 2 of Purdue and Louisville.
MD OL Brennan Williams. Down to a final 3 that doesn’t include Michigan.

Etc.:
MI DT commit William Campbell:Uh… yeah.
IN LB Commit Jordan Barnes. Fluff from the hometown paper.
Plantation, FL guys all plan to graduate early, take the info just in case Michigan nabs one of them.

Etc.:
If anyone manages to catch the Miami (Oh) game against Vanderbilt tonight, e-mail me your thoughts. I’s on ESPNU and I won’t be able to make it somewhere to watch.

Posted under Recruiting

Programming Note: Yesterday’s podcast should be fully operational now. Check it out here.

We’re halfway through the recruiting year, and Michigan’s class is already starting to shape up. Let’s take a look at needs filled and remaining, and who is left on the board. This should be used in tandem with the eligibility chart, which reveals how many scholarships Michigan is likely to be able to give out (about 18-20).

Quarterbacks
Need – 2
Commits – 1
After the decommitment of Kevin Newsome, Michigan has need for one additional quarterback to Shavodrick Beaver. Beaver is a tall athlete who is a raw QB prospect with high upside.
Prospects
Michigan needs one more, and a recommitment from Newsome, or a pledge from Tate Foricer or Eugene Smith seem to be the most likely scenarios.

Running Backs
Need – 2-3
Commits – 2
Fitzgerald Toussaint and Teric Jones are speedsters, and Jones was a star at the Army All-american combine last year. Toussaint is a shifty little dude. Both of the current commits are likely to be mixed RB/slot types.
Prospects
Floridian Vincent Smith is announcing his college decision on August 30th, and all signs point to a Michigan hat being pulled out of the bag. If it does indeed come to fruition, Michigan would likely be done recruiting at this position unless a superstar wanted to commit to Michigan as well. Smith has mentioned a desire to enroll early at the school of his choosing.

Wide Receivers
Need – 2-3
Commits – 2
Bryce McNeal is a big, fast gamebreaker on the outside. His highlight tape is very impressive (taking into account the important caveat that almost all highlight tapes are, indeed, impressive). He can go vertical, and has a lot of ability after the catch. Jeremy Gallon is a little guy who is a wishbone QB in high school. He has a ton of speed and moves, and will likely fit in the slot at Michigan.
Prospects
Michigan doesn’t really need another wideout, but if someone the caliber of Shaquelle Evans or Rueben Randle wanted to commit to Michigan, they would make room for him.

Tight Ends
Need – 0-1
Commits – 0
Prospects
Dion Sims from OLSM is a TE prospect, but I think if he committed to Michigan it is likely that he would move to defensive end. Same goes for any other TE commit. This isn’t a position of need at all, since there are several TEs already on the roster, and only one graduating after this season.

Offensive Line
Need – 2-3
Commits – 1
Michael Schofield is a good inside-outside prospect who will probably end up at tackle in Ann Arbor. He has played tight end as well, and shows off his athleticism by running hurdles.
Prospects
Travis Bond has mentioned that he’d like to take an official to UM, and a few other guys like Brennan Williams have expressed strong interest. Michigan would like to get at least one more O-lineman, but if they don’t, it won’t be the end of the world, since none are leaving the team after this year.

Defensive Tackle
Need – 2
Commits – 2
William Campbell is a game-breaking DT, and has a lot of potential. He is explosive and strong. DeQuinta Jones plays DE in high school, but has been putting on enough weight to shift inside in college.

Defensive End
Need – 2-3
Commits – 0
Prospects
Craig Roh is a good-looking strongside defensive end who seems to be genuinely interested in spending the next four years in Ann Arbor. Michigan also needs a speed rusher off the edge, and someone like Keenan Graham could go a long way toward assuaging the fears of Wolverines fans. Someone like Craig Drummond is a possibility as well, but it sounds like he might have trouble qualifying.

Linebacker
Need – 1-3
Commits – 1
Jordan Barnes is currently Michigan’s only true linebacker commit (they have a couple safeties who may move down), and I even think he would look pretty good on offense as a MAX back. However, he is a linebacker for now, and he has athleticism at the position, if not polish.
Prospects
Vincent Smith’s teammate Brandin Hawthorne is also deciding on August 30th, and there is a similar confidence that he will pick Michigan. Beyond that, Michigan would likely hold out for a top-rated (on their board, if not the recruiting sites) linebacker.

Safety
Need – 1-2
Commits – 2
Mike Jones might be a candidate to move to linebacker, and there is a similar sentiment about Isaiah Bell. However, I think that the new system doesn’t emphasize adding bulk, and at least one of them will stay at safety. Bell has the athleticism to also return punts on a team that features Fitzgerald Toussaint, and Jones is used frequently as a blitzer in high school.
Prospects
There are a couple guys left on Michigan’s radar if they decide that one of the current commits would be better served to move down to linebacker. No top prospects are left on the board, but there are some solid lesser-ranked guys.

Corner
Need – 1-3
Commits – 2
Justin Turner is a big, physical corner. though many think he might move to safety, he could be very successful on the boundary in Shafer’s cover-2 schemes. DeWayne Peace is a high school WR/DB who seems to be primed for a full-time move to defense at the next level. He has very quick feet, if not top end speed.
Prospects
Darius Winston and Dre Kirkpatrick are both nominally open to Michigan, though Winston seems primed to pick either Arkansas or Ole Miss on September 5, and Kirkpatrick is thought to be all but delivered to Nick Saban and Alabama. If neither of these guys ends up a Wolverine, there are a couple other prospects, such as Florida’s Mywan Jackson, that could end up in blue.

Kicker
Need – 1
Commits – 1
Anothony Fera, who has a huge leg and the nation’s #2 ranking at the position, is Michigan kicker for the class of 2009.

Analysis
Following the commitments of Smith and Hawthorne (either to Michigan or elsewhere), I expect Michigan to slow down on the recruiting front, and not pick up any lesser-rated players for a while. If a five-star wants to commit, so be it, but they won’t heavily pursue 2-star prospects. After the season, they’ll kick back into high gear, and grab top commits and lesser-rated guys alike as the top players are pulled off the board. xpect an exciting finish in January.

This does tell me o
ne thing: The Michigan coaches, whether they want to admit it or not, are probably pretty confident about how the team will be this season. A successful 2008 might show top recruits that Michigan isn’t as down as people think, and the strategy of holding out for top guys until after the season shows they think they’ll be able to grab those top prospects.

Posted under Recruiting