The latest edition of INSIDE THE FORT, including plenty of football and basketball information, lots of recruiting and more …
Starting with Michigan football …
Everyone is curious to know who the spring standouts have been, and we’ve got a good idea at this point. We’ll start up front where freshman guard Zak Zinter is (many say undoubtedly) the best offensive lineman, just a big guy who moves extremely well and plays with a mean streak. He could probably play any of the interior line positions well, though he’s at right guard as of now, playing next to redshirt junior right tackle Andrew Stueber.
Stueber is having his typical solid spring, and you can pencil him in to start.
We told you yesterday sixth-year senior Andrew Vastardis is working with the ‘ones’ at center, but the other three positions on the line aren’t set in stone. Redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes has been working at left tackle while redshirt junior Chuck Filiaga and redshirt frosh Trevor Keegan have been battling at left guard.
Redshirt frosh Karsen Barnhart has been banged up, but most believe there’s a spot for him when he returns. They’ll take the best five linemen and make it work, so he could play tackle or guard.
We won’t know how good this group can be until Barnhart gets back and they all have a chance to work together for a while, which obviously won’t be this spring with the session about to wrap up.
Speaking of which … media and fans will not be allowed at the Spring Game, so we’re going to have to get our news from sources to report on how it went. They are doing a game format this year, so it will be a blast from the past rather than scrimmage situations and drills.
One more note up front — transfer Willie Allen has a long way to go to get in the type of shape he needs to be in to compete for even the two-deep. He has potential, but there’s a lot of work to do here. At this point, we wouldn’t expect to see him in the lineup this fall.
The running backs have been good, with Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards providing a really nice trio of different styles. All will play. Junior Ronnie Bell has had a nice camp and been the best of the receivers, while sophomore Cornelius Johnson has also been good.
It’s tough to tell how good each of them has been, however, because the quarterbacks have been inconsistent (at best) according to a few sources. We told you recently the expectation for redshirt frosh Cade McNamara is to be an Ian Book (former Notre Dame) type, and we saw him put it together for a drive or two against Wisconsin and then at Rutgers, but he is just not a great practice quarterback.
As we’ve also reported, McNamara had a chance to win the right to start a few games down the stretch last year, but he couldn’t earn it. The hope is that he’s a gamer, that “this is just spring ball,” etc., but there’s work to do here.
The same could be said of freshman J.J. McCarthy, who has a lot of work to do to be in the conversation. He “absolutely” has the tools to be a good quarterback down the road — “he looks like a Michigan quarterback of old” is how one long-time veteran described him — but isn’t anywhere near ready, still getting familiar with the playbook.
So yes, there is a chance for Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman when he gets on campus. It will be a wide-open race coming out of spring.
The young guys have done a nice job at receiver, but it’s hard to tell just how good they are because the QBs have been inconsistent. “They’ve had their moments” is the phrase most frequently used.
And finally, the run defense continues to be a work in progress, to be polite. There have been times redshirt frosh Mazi Smith has been very good in that area, but they need others to step up. Sophomore Chris Hinton needs to play lower — there are times he’s even been running with the twos — and they need to be more physical, period, to avoid being run on this fall.
****
Some more potential big news on the basketball front …
We told you yesterday we think it’s probable now (if not very likely) senior guard Eli Brooks comes back for another year. It now appears he might not be alone.
Senior Chaundee Brown has had his talk, too, and expressed a desire to return for another season. He was set to pursue his pro career, but he loves Juwan Howard and the thought of playing another year for him might be too good to turn down.
This one bears watching very closely. He’d be another experienced body coming back, and he was clearly a difference-maker off the bench this year.
We also believe strongly that Brandon Johns is going to stick around for his senior year. There had been some rumblings he might look to leave, but he’s really come on and gotten more comfortable.
We have just started making calls for our basketball recruiting issue, but we can tell you the 2022 interest is sky-high. No, we don’t expect Jalen Duren, Rivals.com’s No. 2 junior nationally, at U-M (or to play college ball at all) despite rumblings. Jarace Walker (6-6, 220, No. 11) of Bradenton IMG Academy really liked North Carolina, but U-M was right there … will Roy Williams’ retirement change things?
It’s possible. We’ll have more on that soon.
But they’re lining up to play for the AP coach of the year. Juwan Howard’s biggest challenge will be maintaining the culture with the influx of talent, keeping guys happy, but that’s not a bad problem to have.
Stay tuned …
****
Some football recruiting …
The New England region was one of Michigan’s hotbeds on the recruiting trail while former defensive coordinator Don Brown was on staff here, but the targeted geographical areas seemed to change immediately once he left and head coach Jim Harbaugh made several new hires. Perhaps the biggest change centered around making the East Coast less of a priority and instead focusing on the talent-rich state of Texas, which of course is where new co-defensive coordinator Mo Linguist hails from and has numerous ties to.
We recently spoke to two mainstays in each region (the East Coast and in Texas) who have long been familiar with the recruiting scene in their respective areas, and they confirmed that sentiment.
“Michigan still has a good reputation out here [in the East], but I don’t think they’re getting as many kids as they used to,” Dan Mangari told us, who serves as the head coach at St. Joseph Regional High School in New Jersey, and who faced off with current U-M freshman defensive lineman George Rooks each of the last four years. “It’s certainly not a surprise when a kid out here commits to Michigan or anything like that, but there are a lot of other schools pursuing the local kids harder now.”
Sam Spiegelman, meanwhile, has been covering the recruiting scene in the state of Texas for Rivals.com for a little over two years, and had some encouraging words for U-M’s presence there with Linguist now on board.
No prospects who currently reside in the Lone Star State have committed to Michigan since Linguist was hired in January, but he nevertheless helped reel in Grosse Pointe (Mich.) South five-star cornerback Will Johnson and Germantown (Tenn.) High four-star safety Kody Jones while serving as a key recruiter for each.
“With Linguist now on the staff, I think other top prospects down here will start hearing from Michigan more, and I think kids are bound to take a much more serious look at them,” Spiegelman said. “U-M has always kind of been a destination for kids from the south who have never experienced cold weather or seen The Big House.
“Michigan’s name used to pop up with a lot with kids in the past from Texas, but hadn’t as much in recent recruiting cycles. A Michigan offer still turns heads for kids down here, and even does for us [at Rivals.com] as well. A kid like [Rockdale (Tex.) High four-star running back] Cam’Ron Valdez [who eventually signed with Texas Tech] from the middle of Central Texas got an early offer from Michigan two years ago, and it sparked the rest of his recruitment and really put him on the radar. We wound up having him as a four-star as a result in our first 2021 rankings.”
Back to New England for a moment …
Class of 2021 Mansfield (Mass.) High three-star defensive lineman signee TJ Guy, who is set to enroll and join the team this summer, is one who is considered a ‘Don Brown recruit.’ Guy was primarily recruited by Brown, who made him feel comfortable enough about U-M to attend school and play college football in Ann Arbor.
With that said, Brown wasn’t the only reason why Guy chose Michigan; he merely opened the door of opportunity. Like some other recruits (and probably players, though there wasn’t much opportunity for them to speak publicly about it) — early enrollee linebacker Junior Colson being the most notable — Guy was disappointed that Brown won’t be around to coach them, but they were coming to U-M regardless, with a strongly bonded 2021 class being a big reason why they wanted to see their decisions through.
“I think TJ is disappointed Donnie won’t be there, but I think that was one piece of it, just the initial attraction was Donnie coming in,” said Mansfield head coach Michael Redding, who has known Brown for many years.
“But then I think beyond Donnie’s recruiting was just the lure of Big Ten football, having a chance to play in one of the best conferences in football, with a chance to hopefully play for a national championship. And then go to a really elite academic school, for TJ I think that was a really big factor, just playing high level football and getting a great education — that combination.
“He’s still very excited about going out there.”
Guy and his team are in the middle of their season, which has been shortened and was postponed from the fall due to the pandemic. A versatile defensive lineman who also stars on the basketball court, Guy can play inside at the three-technique or move outside as a strong-side end. In preparation for the next level, Redding and Co. are moving him around to get him experience learning different positions.
“He’s done whatever we’ve asked here, and I think he’ll do the same at Michigan,” Redding said. “If they want him to put on some weight, get stronger and move inside, he’ll do it. If they like how active he is off the edge, he stays outside.
“He doesn’t come in locked in and can only play one spot. I think he does have a chance to play two or three different spots for them.”
He was facing constant double-teams a couple weeks back when our EJ Holland was in town to see him in game action.
Whichever position Guy ends up playing, he’ll be willing and ready, and wants to lead.
“He’s been great,” Redding said. “I think one of the things that’ll impress their coaches is his intelligence and his maturity. He listens, looks you in the eye, takes it in and asks good questions. This has been a completely dysfunctional year for high schools, and he’s been a great, great leader for us as a captain.”
****
Finally, a “wow” postscript from one of our recent conversations …
Kansas recently fired head football coach Les Miles after more information came out on some disturbing allegations that occurred during his time at LSU. As we’ve said, some very important people at U-M in 2007 did not want Miles getting the head coaching job following Lloyd Carr’s retirement, and Tom Lemming — who has been covering the college football/recruiting scene since the ‘70s and grew close with Carr throughout the ‘90s and 2000s as a result — recently told us an interesting story on Miles during the midst of his firing at Kansas.
“If Michigan had gotten Les Miles, they’d be on probation,” Lemming said. “Bo [Schembechler] was constantly on him [Miles] … it came out in an ESPN article a while back he was doing a lot of cheating when he was at Oklahoma State too, and then obviously at LSU.
“Les was working hard to get that job. I was doing a broadcast for the 2006 [annual high school] Army Game, and a defensive back named Jai Eugene was going to announce for Michigan at it. I talked to him the night before and he was telling us how much he loved U-M and [running backs] Coach Fred Jackson. Three days later, Eugene switched to LSU."
Bo and Miles had somewhat of a falling out after that, even though Schembechler had been like a "surrogate father" to Miles. That situation likely "had a lot to do" with Miles not getting the Michigan job soon after.
He'd be right. But that’s just more confirmation of the story that’s been told here many times.
Starting with Michigan football …
Everyone is curious to know who the spring standouts have been, and we’ve got a good idea at this point. We’ll start up front where freshman guard Zak Zinter is (many say undoubtedly) the best offensive lineman, just a big guy who moves extremely well and plays with a mean streak. He could probably play any of the interior line positions well, though he’s at right guard as of now, playing next to redshirt junior right tackle Andrew Stueber.
Stueber is having his typical solid spring, and you can pencil him in to start.
We told you yesterday sixth-year senior Andrew Vastardis is working with the ‘ones’ at center, but the other three positions on the line aren’t set in stone. Redshirt sophomore Ryan Hayes has been working at left tackle while redshirt junior Chuck Filiaga and redshirt frosh Trevor Keegan have been battling at left guard.
Redshirt frosh Karsen Barnhart has been banged up, but most believe there’s a spot for him when he returns. They’ll take the best five linemen and make it work, so he could play tackle or guard.
We won’t know how good this group can be until Barnhart gets back and they all have a chance to work together for a while, which obviously won’t be this spring with the session about to wrap up.
Speaking of which … media and fans will not be allowed at the Spring Game, so we’re going to have to get our news from sources to report on how it went. They are doing a game format this year, so it will be a blast from the past rather than scrimmage situations and drills.
One more note up front — transfer Willie Allen has a long way to go to get in the type of shape he needs to be in to compete for even the two-deep. He has potential, but there’s a lot of work to do here. At this point, we wouldn’t expect to see him in the lineup this fall.
The running backs have been good, with Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards providing a really nice trio of different styles. All will play. Junior Ronnie Bell has had a nice camp and been the best of the receivers, while sophomore Cornelius Johnson has also been good.
It’s tough to tell how good each of them has been, however, because the quarterbacks have been inconsistent (at best) according to a few sources. We told you recently the expectation for redshirt frosh Cade McNamara is to be an Ian Book (former Notre Dame) type, and we saw him put it together for a drive or two against Wisconsin and then at Rutgers, but he is just not a great practice quarterback.
As we’ve also reported, McNamara had a chance to win the right to start a few games down the stretch last year, but he couldn’t earn it. The hope is that he’s a gamer, that “this is just spring ball,” etc., but there’s work to do here.
The same could be said of freshman J.J. McCarthy, who has a lot of work to do to be in the conversation. He “absolutely” has the tools to be a good quarterback down the road — “he looks like a Michigan quarterback of old” is how one long-time veteran described him — but isn’t anywhere near ready, still getting familiar with the playbook.
So yes, there is a chance for Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman when he gets on campus. It will be a wide-open race coming out of spring.
The young guys have done a nice job at receiver, but it’s hard to tell just how good they are because the QBs have been inconsistent. “They’ve had their moments” is the phrase most frequently used.
And finally, the run defense continues to be a work in progress, to be polite. There have been times redshirt frosh Mazi Smith has been very good in that area, but they need others to step up. Sophomore Chris Hinton needs to play lower — there are times he’s even been running with the twos — and they need to be more physical, period, to avoid being run on this fall.
****
Some more potential big news on the basketball front …
We told you yesterday we think it’s probable now (if not very likely) senior guard Eli Brooks comes back for another year. It now appears he might not be alone.
Senior Chaundee Brown has had his talk, too, and expressed a desire to return for another season. He was set to pursue his pro career, but he loves Juwan Howard and the thought of playing another year for him might be too good to turn down.
This one bears watching very closely. He’d be another experienced body coming back, and he was clearly a difference-maker off the bench this year.
We also believe strongly that Brandon Johns is going to stick around for his senior year. There had been some rumblings he might look to leave, but he’s really come on and gotten more comfortable.
We have just started making calls for our basketball recruiting issue, but we can tell you the 2022 interest is sky-high. No, we don’t expect Jalen Duren, Rivals.com’s No. 2 junior nationally, at U-M (or to play college ball at all) despite rumblings. Jarace Walker (6-6, 220, No. 11) of Bradenton IMG Academy really liked North Carolina, but U-M was right there … will Roy Williams’ retirement change things?
It’s possible. We’ll have more on that soon.
But they’re lining up to play for the AP coach of the year. Juwan Howard’s biggest challenge will be maintaining the culture with the influx of talent, keeping guys happy, but that’s not a bad problem to have.
Stay tuned …
****
Some football recruiting …
The New England region was one of Michigan’s hotbeds on the recruiting trail while former defensive coordinator Don Brown was on staff here, but the targeted geographical areas seemed to change immediately once he left and head coach Jim Harbaugh made several new hires. Perhaps the biggest change centered around making the East Coast less of a priority and instead focusing on the talent-rich state of Texas, which of course is where new co-defensive coordinator Mo Linguist hails from and has numerous ties to.
We recently spoke to two mainstays in each region (the East Coast and in Texas) who have long been familiar with the recruiting scene in their respective areas, and they confirmed that sentiment.
“Michigan still has a good reputation out here [in the East], but I don’t think they’re getting as many kids as they used to,” Dan Mangari told us, who serves as the head coach at St. Joseph Regional High School in New Jersey, and who faced off with current U-M freshman defensive lineman George Rooks each of the last four years. “It’s certainly not a surprise when a kid out here commits to Michigan or anything like that, but there are a lot of other schools pursuing the local kids harder now.”
Sam Spiegelman, meanwhile, has been covering the recruiting scene in the state of Texas for Rivals.com for a little over two years, and had some encouraging words for U-M’s presence there with Linguist now on board.
No prospects who currently reside in the Lone Star State have committed to Michigan since Linguist was hired in January, but he nevertheless helped reel in Grosse Pointe (Mich.) South five-star cornerback Will Johnson and Germantown (Tenn.) High four-star safety Kody Jones while serving as a key recruiter for each.
“With Linguist now on the staff, I think other top prospects down here will start hearing from Michigan more, and I think kids are bound to take a much more serious look at them,” Spiegelman said. “U-M has always kind of been a destination for kids from the south who have never experienced cold weather or seen The Big House.
“Michigan’s name used to pop up with a lot with kids in the past from Texas, but hadn’t as much in recent recruiting cycles. A Michigan offer still turns heads for kids down here, and even does for us [at Rivals.com] as well. A kid like [Rockdale (Tex.) High four-star running back] Cam’Ron Valdez [who eventually signed with Texas Tech] from the middle of Central Texas got an early offer from Michigan two years ago, and it sparked the rest of his recruitment and really put him on the radar. We wound up having him as a four-star as a result in our first 2021 rankings.”
Back to New England for a moment …
Class of 2021 Mansfield (Mass.) High three-star defensive lineman signee TJ Guy, who is set to enroll and join the team this summer, is one who is considered a ‘Don Brown recruit.’ Guy was primarily recruited by Brown, who made him feel comfortable enough about U-M to attend school and play college football in Ann Arbor.
With that said, Brown wasn’t the only reason why Guy chose Michigan; he merely opened the door of opportunity. Like some other recruits (and probably players, though there wasn’t much opportunity for them to speak publicly about it) — early enrollee linebacker Junior Colson being the most notable — Guy was disappointed that Brown won’t be around to coach them, but they were coming to U-M regardless, with a strongly bonded 2021 class being a big reason why they wanted to see their decisions through.
“I think TJ is disappointed Donnie won’t be there, but I think that was one piece of it, just the initial attraction was Donnie coming in,” said Mansfield head coach Michael Redding, who has known Brown for many years.
“But then I think beyond Donnie’s recruiting was just the lure of Big Ten football, having a chance to play in one of the best conferences in football, with a chance to hopefully play for a national championship. And then go to a really elite academic school, for TJ I think that was a really big factor, just playing high level football and getting a great education — that combination.
“He’s still very excited about going out there.”
Guy and his team are in the middle of their season, which has been shortened and was postponed from the fall due to the pandemic. A versatile defensive lineman who also stars on the basketball court, Guy can play inside at the three-technique or move outside as a strong-side end. In preparation for the next level, Redding and Co. are moving him around to get him experience learning different positions.
“He’s done whatever we’ve asked here, and I think he’ll do the same at Michigan,” Redding said. “If they want him to put on some weight, get stronger and move inside, he’ll do it. If they like how active he is off the edge, he stays outside.
“He doesn’t come in locked in and can only play one spot. I think he does have a chance to play two or three different spots for them.”
He was facing constant double-teams a couple weeks back when our EJ Holland was in town to see him in game action.
Whichever position Guy ends up playing, he’ll be willing and ready, and wants to lead.
“He’s been great,” Redding said. “I think one of the things that’ll impress their coaches is his intelligence and his maturity. He listens, looks you in the eye, takes it in and asks good questions. This has been a completely dysfunctional year for high schools, and he’s been a great, great leader for us as a captain.”
****
Finally, a “wow” postscript from one of our recent conversations …
Kansas recently fired head football coach Les Miles after more information came out on some disturbing allegations that occurred during his time at LSU. As we’ve said, some very important people at U-M in 2007 did not want Miles getting the head coaching job following Lloyd Carr’s retirement, and Tom Lemming — who has been covering the college football/recruiting scene since the ‘70s and grew close with Carr throughout the ‘90s and 2000s as a result — recently told us an interesting story on Miles during the midst of his firing at Kansas.
“If Michigan had gotten Les Miles, they’d be on probation,” Lemming said. “Bo [Schembechler] was constantly on him [Miles] … it came out in an ESPN article a while back he was doing a lot of cheating when he was at Oklahoma State too, and then obviously at LSU.
“Les was working hard to get that job. I was doing a broadcast for the 2006 [annual high school] Army Game, and a defensive back named Jai Eugene was going to announce for Michigan at it. I talked to him the night before and he was telling us how much he loved U-M and [running backs] Coach Fred Jackson. Three days later, Eugene switched to LSU."
Bo and Miles had somewhat of a falling out after that, even though Schembechler had been like a "surrogate father" to Miles. That situation likely "had a lot to do" with Miles not getting the Michigan job soon after.
He'd be right. But that’s just more confirmation of the story that’s been told here many times.
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