Here is some more detailed Michigan-related info from my first day at the AFCA Convention in San Antonio. I had a chance to speak with several Michigan coaches, a former Michigan player, a Texas coach, a person very closely connected to Rashan Gary and several high school coaches who provided Michigan-related info, so here goes.
First Rashan Gary. Further expanding on what I posted earlier today, a source very closely connected to Gary (I am certain of this) had the following to say about him. Remember, this is him talking, not me. I am just trying to pass his comments along as unfiltered as possible without giving away the source:
"Gary is a better prospect than Clowney and Jabrill Peppers. Did you see his perfomance in the Under Armour game? Three sacks. Clowney never did that. Plus Clowney can't play inside and out. Rashan can play ANYWHERE on the line. He's freak. I think that he will eventually be a 315-pound three-tech when all is said and done. He is better than Peppers because really great skill athletes come and go, but a great big man like Gary just does not come along very often."
"Rashan really likes Ole Miss". When I asked him if he was close to Greg Little he responded "Yes, they developed a close relationship on the camp circuit" He went on to add "His mother slightly favors Michigan and then Auburn (more on Auburn from a Michigan coach later in this post), but she is not as strong in her choice of schools as you would think. His mother is not as close to Chris Partridge as you would think. While Partridge was at Paramus Catholic she was actually a bit indifferent to him. The relationship, however, has improved since then due to some of the things Gary has gone through since Chris left PC."
When I asked him why Rashan favored Ole Miss he responded: "Lets just say they know how to do official visits like no other." So I asked him if he had a gun to his head where did he think Gary would end up he said "Michigan, but this one is close."
Here are some interesting observations he had on some other New Jersey prospects heading to Michigan:
Kareem Walker: "The day before his decision he was indeed headed to FSU, as one of the published reports was suggesting. The reason he chose Michigan is actually because of something he did not like about the language/wording in the offer letter from Florida State. That is the reason...........As a player, Walker has not improved since his sophomore season. His body has not changed since then and he now runs more tentatively than he did as a sophomore. What he does well is hit the hole hard with a nice initial burst, so he should be a good fit in Harbaugh's offense. Once he is at Michigan the de-recruitment process will start and he will be just another back on campus. THEN we will see if he improves and can take his game to the next level."
Ahmir Mitchell and Brad Hawkins: They were both underachievers as seniors. Mitchell wasn't even the best player on his team, Bo Melton was (Melton, a '17 RB, was just offered by Michigan after impressing at the Army Combine in San Antonio the other day). Still, he is a good athlete and a big kid who is still growing. He could even end up as a flex TE or even OLB down the road.
'18 Michigan QB offer Allan Walters: "He had a lousy soph season but has a nice offer list, including several SEC schools."
Moving on to some comments from a Texas coach:
"Dontavious Jackson is a kid we are recruiting real hard. He is a quiet kid so we don't know where he will end up and sure, Michigan has a chance, but we like our chances as he has visited our campus on several occasions and will be back on camous for our huge recruiting week-end next week-end. We are not recruiting his teammate Chris Brown."
"We were very pleased to beat out Michigan for Jean Delance. He pronounces his name the American, not French way, despite being originally from Haiti."
"Michigan surprised us Jordan Elliott. We thought we had him, but he made it clear at the U.S. Army Bowl that he has shut down his recruitment and is no longer talking to any other staffs, including Texas."
I had a very brief chat with South Florida coach Willie Taggert, who is a Jim Harbaugh protege and sponsored the Michigan satellite camp in Tampa this past summer. His team lost an offensive shootout to his alma mater, Western Kentucky, in the bowl game. I mentioned to him that there were rumors that Harbaugh may hold a week of spring practice at IMG Academy. He was not aware of this but he said that it did not surprise him as Harbaugh is very competitive and will do all possible within the rules to win, always looking for ways to push the envelope.
From an unnamed source on future Michigan coaching changes:
"Partridge to position coach is not yet a done deal. There may still be some questions as to what position he coaches..........Also, I hear that they have someone in mind to replace Partirdge, once he moves to a field coach, with a new Director of Player Personnel. This person is NOT Devein Bush Sr.. They have two openings and Bush would be for the other spot."
From Michigan coaches (I took notes after each conversation so will just post them in the order that I had them in my notebook, so they may jump around a bit):
"We are getting David Long and Levert Hill"
When I asked whether we would be successful landing quality LBs in this class, especially Dontavious Jackson: "Any (high school) linebacker who doesn't want to play behind the DL we will have in 2016 is crazy"
"O'Korn was the best QB on the roster in 2015"
"Ryan Glasgow won't be ready for spring ball. We are going to hold him out until summer practice."
"We will be fine at LB. Anybody we put in will be better than what we had this year."
On Rashan Gary: "His mom really likes the athlete dorms at Auburn. We are telling her that it is better for his overall college growth experience to network with other students who will future successes in business than to be stuck with athletes for four years."
"Jonathan Jones? We really like him. He's a stud. We are in a close battle with Notre Dame."
"Dontavious Jackson is not very talkative so he is hard to read. I really like Chris Brown a lot."
"Antwaine Richardson is a super. We think that he's going to be a great player."
"I really like Pie Young"
When I asked about the status in the class of Rashad Weaver, Kiante Enis and Sir Patrick Scott and suggested that there were "rumblings" that they would not be part of the class he gave no comment other than to say that "coach Harbaugh just wants to get the best players possible."
On the defensive linemen: "Willie Henry is an inside guy. Chris Wormley is still getting bigger so I'm not sure if he will play inside or outside next season. Ryan Glasgow will probably miss spring ball. He probably won't be ready and it is prudent to hold him out. Shelton Johnson-I love this kid. He is really adding weight and is going to be a monster."
On the linebackers: "Chase Winovich will be an OLB. Devin Gill will be an OLB. Devin Bush is talented. Mike McCray was physically healthy enough to play in the Bowl but we wanted to be prudent with him."
"Brian Cole-Love him! The kid is just an athlete who could play numerous skill positions. A mini-Jabrill Peppers."
"Ty Wheeatley Jr. had bloated up a bit to about 290 after being injured, but he impressed in Bowl practices and has gotten his weight down to game shape in the 270s. He could be a force at TE."
"Zach Gentry is just a great athlete, He is very competitive and loves competing with the other QBs and improving his game. He will compete for the spot. Will he start? You just never know with the way Jim Harbaugh develops QBs. He looked real good on the scout team." When I asked about him playing TE in bowl practice he responded "He is a great athlete he could play QB, TE, split our wide, heck he could even be a safety."
"O'Korn is the real deal"
"Don't forget Wilton Speight"
"I really like Ahmir Mitchell and Brad Hawkins as WRs."
From an Olney Good Counsel high school coach (former school of Blake Countess):
"Blake is actually only 5-8 and the reason he transferred, at least as far as we understand, is because Harbaugh does not like short cornerbacks."
That's all for tonight. It's amazing how coaches open up when talking to other coaches. Hope to have more tomorrow, but not so sure how much will be Michigan-relevant.
First Rashan Gary. Further expanding on what I posted earlier today, a source very closely connected to Gary (I am certain of this) had the following to say about him. Remember, this is him talking, not me. I am just trying to pass his comments along as unfiltered as possible without giving away the source:
"Gary is a better prospect than Clowney and Jabrill Peppers. Did you see his perfomance in the Under Armour game? Three sacks. Clowney never did that. Plus Clowney can't play inside and out. Rashan can play ANYWHERE on the line. He's freak. I think that he will eventually be a 315-pound three-tech when all is said and done. He is better than Peppers because really great skill athletes come and go, but a great big man like Gary just does not come along very often."
"Rashan really likes Ole Miss". When I asked him if he was close to Greg Little he responded "Yes, they developed a close relationship on the camp circuit" He went on to add "His mother slightly favors Michigan and then Auburn (more on Auburn from a Michigan coach later in this post), but she is not as strong in her choice of schools as you would think. His mother is not as close to Chris Partridge as you would think. While Partridge was at Paramus Catholic she was actually a bit indifferent to him. The relationship, however, has improved since then due to some of the things Gary has gone through since Chris left PC."
When I asked him why Rashan favored Ole Miss he responded: "Lets just say they know how to do official visits like no other." So I asked him if he had a gun to his head where did he think Gary would end up he said "Michigan, but this one is close."
Here are some interesting observations he had on some other New Jersey prospects heading to Michigan:
Kareem Walker: "The day before his decision he was indeed headed to FSU, as one of the published reports was suggesting. The reason he chose Michigan is actually because of something he did not like about the language/wording in the offer letter from Florida State. That is the reason...........As a player, Walker has not improved since his sophomore season. His body has not changed since then and he now runs more tentatively than he did as a sophomore. What he does well is hit the hole hard with a nice initial burst, so he should be a good fit in Harbaugh's offense. Once he is at Michigan the de-recruitment process will start and he will be just another back on campus. THEN we will see if he improves and can take his game to the next level."
Ahmir Mitchell and Brad Hawkins: They were both underachievers as seniors. Mitchell wasn't even the best player on his team, Bo Melton was (Melton, a '17 RB, was just offered by Michigan after impressing at the Army Combine in San Antonio the other day). Still, he is a good athlete and a big kid who is still growing. He could even end up as a flex TE or even OLB down the road.
'18 Michigan QB offer Allan Walters: "He had a lousy soph season but has a nice offer list, including several SEC schools."
Moving on to some comments from a Texas coach:
"Dontavious Jackson is a kid we are recruiting real hard. He is a quiet kid so we don't know where he will end up and sure, Michigan has a chance, but we like our chances as he has visited our campus on several occasions and will be back on camous for our huge recruiting week-end next week-end. We are not recruiting his teammate Chris Brown."
"We were very pleased to beat out Michigan for Jean Delance. He pronounces his name the American, not French way, despite being originally from Haiti."
"Michigan surprised us Jordan Elliott. We thought we had him, but he made it clear at the U.S. Army Bowl that he has shut down his recruitment and is no longer talking to any other staffs, including Texas."
I had a very brief chat with South Florida coach Willie Taggert, who is a Jim Harbaugh protege and sponsored the Michigan satellite camp in Tampa this past summer. His team lost an offensive shootout to his alma mater, Western Kentucky, in the bowl game. I mentioned to him that there were rumors that Harbaugh may hold a week of spring practice at IMG Academy. He was not aware of this but he said that it did not surprise him as Harbaugh is very competitive and will do all possible within the rules to win, always looking for ways to push the envelope.
From an unnamed source on future Michigan coaching changes:
"Partridge to position coach is not yet a done deal. There may still be some questions as to what position he coaches..........Also, I hear that they have someone in mind to replace Partirdge, once he moves to a field coach, with a new Director of Player Personnel. This person is NOT Devein Bush Sr.. They have two openings and Bush would be for the other spot."
From Michigan coaches (I took notes after each conversation so will just post them in the order that I had them in my notebook, so they may jump around a bit):
"We are getting David Long and Levert Hill"
When I asked whether we would be successful landing quality LBs in this class, especially Dontavious Jackson: "Any (high school) linebacker who doesn't want to play behind the DL we will have in 2016 is crazy"
"O'Korn was the best QB on the roster in 2015"
"Ryan Glasgow won't be ready for spring ball. We are going to hold him out until summer practice."
"We will be fine at LB. Anybody we put in will be better than what we had this year."
On Rashan Gary: "His mom really likes the athlete dorms at Auburn. We are telling her that it is better for his overall college growth experience to network with other students who will future successes in business than to be stuck with athletes for four years."
"Jonathan Jones? We really like him. He's a stud. We are in a close battle with Notre Dame."
"Dontavious Jackson is not very talkative so he is hard to read. I really like Chris Brown a lot."
"Antwaine Richardson is a super. We think that he's going to be a great player."
"I really like Pie Young"
When I asked about the status in the class of Rashad Weaver, Kiante Enis and Sir Patrick Scott and suggested that there were "rumblings" that they would not be part of the class he gave no comment other than to say that "coach Harbaugh just wants to get the best players possible."
On the defensive linemen: "Willie Henry is an inside guy. Chris Wormley is still getting bigger so I'm not sure if he will play inside or outside next season. Ryan Glasgow will probably miss spring ball. He probably won't be ready and it is prudent to hold him out. Shelton Johnson-I love this kid. He is really adding weight and is going to be a monster."
On the linebackers: "Chase Winovich will be an OLB. Devin Gill will be an OLB. Devin Bush is talented. Mike McCray was physically healthy enough to play in the Bowl but we wanted to be prudent with him."
"Brian Cole-Love him! The kid is just an athlete who could play numerous skill positions. A mini-Jabrill Peppers."
"Ty Wheeatley Jr. had bloated up a bit to about 290 after being injured, but he impressed in Bowl practices and has gotten his weight down to game shape in the 270s. He could be a force at TE."
"Zach Gentry is just a great athlete, He is very competitive and loves competing with the other QBs and improving his game. He will compete for the spot. Will he start? You just never know with the way Jim Harbaugh develops QBs. He looked real good on the scout team." When I asked about him playing TE in bowl practice he responded "He is a great athlete he could play QB, TE, split our wide, heck he could even be a safety."
"O'Korn is the real deal"
"Don't forget Wilton Speight"
"I really like Ahmir Mitchell and Brad Hawkins as WRs."
From an Olney Good Counsel high school coach (former school of Blake Countess):
"Blake is actually only 5-8 and the reason he transferred, at least as far as we understand, is because Harbaugh does not like short cornerbacks."
That's all for tonight. It's amazing how coaches open up when talking to other coaches. Hope to have more tomorrow, but not so sure how much will be Michigan-relevant.
