I caught up with Mark Martin, father of 2022 Rivals250 Cambridge (Mass.) BB&N linebacker and Michigan commit Tyler Martin, to get his thoughts on the big weekend visit and more.
On his overall thoughts on the visit weekend: “I think the visit was great. I wouldn’t say that we were skeptical, but we were a little nervous being the only 2022 family. We didn’t know how we would be accepted. A bunch of these guys are going to enroll in a couple of months. But everyone was great. The 2021 commits and their parents were fantastic. They greeted us with open arms. From then, it just grew. The 2022 parents (of targets) were great. Even though we couldn’t see football, we think that it was well worth our time. It was fantastic.”
On which parts of the visit stood out the most: “There were a couple of things. One was when the kids threw the ball around on Saturday morning. They were kind of on edge. I felt like that was the first time where they let their hair down. They were just being kids, throwing the ball around, shoving each other and just being kids. I think that was the ice breaker. The campus tour was great. It was great to see The Yard, where all the freshmen players live. Tommy Doman did the tour of the entire campus, which was a big help. Although the game was awful, where was saw the game was really fun. You really got to spend a lot of quality time with the parents.”
On if he felt more comfortable with Michigan after meeting the 2021 parents: “Yes, I did. We’re kind of isolated up in the Northeast. It’s all sort of the same feel and people. When you go there, you don’t know what to expect. There is people from the West, Southeast and Midwest. We felt really good leaving there. We got along really well. We felt like the group was really tight.”
On recruiting the 2022 parents of top targets: “I hit it off immediately with Hickey Thompson. He was there with Isaac Thompson. He was the first person I saw, and he gave me a big hug. I don’t know how he knew who I was. Isaac came over and gave Tyler a big hug. Hickey's wife didn’t go out that night but came out the next day. They have an older son, Isaiah, who is a football player at Georgetown. His roommate and best friend was a teammate of Tyler’s at BB&N. It’s a small world. I actually watched the entire game with Randy Jackson (father of Domani) and the parents of Will Johnson. It was us four. We talked about football, the pros and cons of going there and building this elite class. Deon Johnson is a great guy. He played with Ty Law, who is a Patriots Hall of Famer. He’s one of our favorite players since we’re Patriots fans. We had a lot in common. It was a lot of fun. I also talked to Shirley Morris (mother of Tyler). It was great.”
On seeing Tyler do some recruiting with the 2022 targets: “For me as a dad, I know him as a strong student and great football player. I didn’t know how he would do. But he was fantastic. He had breakfast Saturday morning with Domani Jackson and was with him the entire time. I thought he stepped out of his comfort zone, but he claims that he didn’t. He said that’s exactly what he wants to do. He gets that to win, it’s more that great players. It’s great teams. He’s cherishing that role. He talked to Will Johnson and Isaac Thompson today. He reached out to Tyler Morris. He talks to Jaeden Gould almost every day. It’s really cool to see him blossom in that role.”
On his reaction to everything going on at Michigan: “I talked to Coach (Don) Brown on Sunday morning. He wanted to know about the visit. I refrained from asking him anything about how everything is going. It’s just a touchy subject. One thing that I know is that our family is locked in. We’re sold on the academics, the school, the teammates, the coaches and the brand. They’ve been on the ABC Game of the Week twice, and they are 1-3. Everything about it is strong. I would be lying if I said we didn’t wonder what’s going to happen. We hope and pray and think that the staff will stay intact.”
On his overall thoughts on the visit weekend: “I think the visit was great. I wouldn’t say that we were skeptical, but we were a little nervous being the only 2022 family. We didn’t know how we would be accepted. A bunch of these guys are going to enroll in a couple of months. But everyone was great. The 2021 commits and their parents were fantastic. They greeted us with open arms. From then, it just grew. The 2022 parents (of targets) were great. Even though we couldn’t see football, we think that it was well worth our time. It was fantastic.”
On which parts of the visit stood out the most: “There were a couple of things. One was when the kids threw the ball around on Saturday morning. They were kind of on edge. I felt like that was the first time where they let their hair down. They were just being kids, throwing the ball around, shoving each other and just being kids. I think that was the ice breaker. The campus tour was great. It was great to see The Yard, where all the freshmen players live. Tommy Doman did the tour of the entire campus, which was a big help. Although the game was awful, where was saw the game was really fun. You really got to spend a lot of quality time with the parents.”
On if he felt more comfortable with Michigan after meeting the 2021 parents: “Yes, I did. We’re kind of isolated up in the Northeast. It’s all sort of the same feel and people. When you go there, you don’t know what to expect. There is people from the West, Southeast and Midwest. We felt really good leaving there. We got along really well. We felt like the group was really tight.”
On recruiting the 2022 parents of top targets: “I hit it off immediately with Hickey Thompson. He was there with Isaac Thompson. He was the first person I saw, and he gave me a big hug. I don’t know how he knew who I was. Isaac came over and gave Tyler a big hug. Hickey's wife didn’t go out that night but came out the next day. They have an older son, Isaiah, who is a football player at Georgetown. His roommate and best friend was a teammate of Tyler’s at BB&N. It’s a small world. I actually watched the entire game with Randy Jackson (father of Domani) and the parents of Will Johnson. It was us four. We talked about football, the pros and cons of going there and building this elite class. Deon Johnson is a great guy. He played with Ty Law, who is a Patriots Hall of Famer. He’s one of our favorite players since we’re Patriots fans. We had a lot in common. It was a lot of fun. I also talked to Shirley Morris (mother of Tyler). It was great.”
On seeing Tyler do some recruiting with the 2022 targets: “For me as a dad, I know him as a strong student and great football player. I didn’t know how he would do. But he was fantastic. He had breakfast Saturday morning with Domani Jackson and was with him the entire time. I thought he stepped out of his comfort zone, but he claims that he didn’t. He said that’s exactly what he wants to do. He gets that to win, it’s more that great players. It’s great teams. He’s cherishing that role. He talked to Will Johnson and Isaac Thompson today. He reached out to Tyler Morris. He talks to Jaeden Gould almost every day. It’s really cool to see him blossom in that role.”
On his reaction to everything going on at Michigan: “I talked to Coach (Don) Brown on Sunday morning. He wanted to know about the visit. I refrained from asking him anything about how everything is going. It’s just a touchy subject. One thing that I know is that our family is locked in. We’re sold on the academics, the school, the teammates, the coaches and the brand. They’ve been on the ABC Game of the Week twice, and they are 1-3. Everything about it is strong. I would be lying if I said we didn’t wonder what’s going to happen. We hope and pray and think that the staff will stay intact.”
