The season is almost upon us but recruiting is still a huge priority — first, some 2018 notes…
Michigan has landed four defensive backs in the 2018 class in Atlanta Westlake four-star cornerback Myles Sims, DeSoto (Texas) High four-star cornerback Gemon Green, DeSoto (Texas) High three-star safety German Green and Naples (Fla.) High three-star cornerback Sammy Faustin. Even with those four in the fold, expect other secondary players to remain on Michigan’s recruiting board.
Cheshire (Conn.) Cheshire Academy four-star safety Josh Jobe is atop that board as one of Michigan’s top overall targets. The 6-0, 176-pounder has been committed to Miami forever but the U-M staff absolutely loves him. He’ll continue to be pursued aggressively by Don Brown now that he’s in Brown’s stomping grounds.
The Michigan staff also loves Marrieta (Ga.) Lassiter four-star safety Derrik Allen. The 6-1, 204-pounder has been a Notre Dame commit for some time but another rough season on the field could give Allen second thoughts.
Atlanta Hapeville Charter four-star cornerback Christopher Smith is another Peach State product that Michigan will continue to pursue. At 6-0, 165 pounds he’s built very different from U-M’s other commits but the staff loves his “stickiness”. He’s impossible to shake and makes up for his lack of height with long arms and very good body control.
Even with four DB commits, the Michigan staff is looking at their secondary recruiting as a “grey area”. They do love the players they have committed but will never stop recruiting good players. If things don’t go well at Notre Dame, or if Jobe realizes that playing the north isn’t so bad, you never know. Maybe the Green twins decided they’d rather play close to home. Nothing indicates that they’re feeling that way but in recruiting, nothing is certain until pen meets paper. Keep an eye on how things play out on the field in 2017 and also who gives whom attention in both directions between staffs and players.
Defensive tackle is another grey area. There have been some semi-recent offers to defensive tackles in 2018 but the real list of targets is short. St. Louis Parkway North four-star Michael Thompson and Concord (N.C.) High four-star Rick Sandidge are it. The staff would take both and hopes to land both. It’s going to be tough to pull to get either of them, and both would be a dream scenario, but the staff is putting a lot of effort into each young man’s recruitment. Thompson was just in Ann Arbor for U-M’s BBQ and things went well. The 6-4, 273-pounder doesn’t say much but by all accounts, he felt very comfortable in AA.
Now on to 2019…
The staff really wants to prioritize the state of California in 2019. It’s unfortunate that things played out the way that they did with Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei five-star quarterback JT Daniels but it is what it is — sack up and move on.
Daniels’ classmate and teammate, 6-3, 205-pounder Bru McCoy, is one of the staff’s top overall targets in 2019. He plays multiple positions in high school, including safety, wide receiver, and sort of a hybrid linebacker, and Michigan earnestly likes him at all three. With his size, flexibility, speed off the edge, and ability to translate that speed into power, the staff sees him as one of the best players in the entire country and will prioritize him moving forward. He has the type of skills that earned him a legitimate offer from U-M for both sides of the ball.
There is a sense of urgency for the staff in the state of California in 2019. They desperately want to get some traction out west and will put a lot of time and energy into doing so.
Finally a very early prediction on a huge — literally and figuratively — 2020 prospect…
Millis (Mass.) High offensive tackle Kevin Pyne will end up at Michigan.
I realize it’s super early, but U-M is definitely going to have better than a good chance at landing the rising sophomore. Pyne is going to be one of the top recruits in the entire country once rankings are released for his grade and could very well be a five-star prospect. At a verified 6-8 1/4 and 274 pounds, with offers from schools like Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, UCLA and Wisconsin among others, he’s already well on his way.
Why do I have such early optimism? Because Don Brown is involved already and has a GREAT rapport up there and at Millis specifically. Millis head coach Dana Olson has been friends with “Donnie” for more than 20 years and says that he’ll probably have close to a monopoly on New England products. Pyne would be a good one to have a monopoly on.
The rising sophomore has two older brothers who have gone through the recruiting process and is a member of the first three-generation NFL family in the history of the league. His great grandfather, grandfather and uncle all played in the league. Granpda was a Patriot and his uncle, Jimmy Pyne, is a nine-year vet and played for our? beloved Detroit Lions for a season.
Olson said that Michigan will “definitely be in there,” when it came to Pyne’s ever-evolving recruitment. It’s early, but Brown is already building bridges, which could prove invaluable whenever Pyne decides to make a decision.
Michigan has landed four defensive backs in the 2018 class in Atlanta Westlake four-star cornerback Myles Sims, DeSoto (Texas) High four-star cornerback Gemon Green, DeSoto (Texas) High three-star safety German Green and Naples (Fla.) High three-star cornerback Sammy Faustin. Even with those four in the fold, expect other secondary players to remain on Michigan’s recruiting board.
Cheshire (Conn.) Cheshire Academy four-star safety Josh Jobe is atop that board as one of Michigan’s top overall targets. The 6-0, 176-pounder has been committed to Miami forever but the U-M staff absolutely loves him. He’ll continue to be pursued aggressively by Don Brown now that he’s in Brown’s stomping grounds.
The Michigan staff also loves Marrieta (Ga.) Lassiter four-star safety Derrik Allen. The 6-1, 204-pounder has been a Notre Dame commit for some time but another rough season on the field could give Allen second thoughts.
Atlanta Hapeville Charter four-star cornerback Christopher Smith is another Peach State product that Michigan will continue to pursue. At 6-0, 165 pounds he’s built very different from U-M’s other commits but the staff loves his “stickiness”. He’s impossible to shake and makes up for his lack of height with long arms and very good body control.
Even with four DB commits, the Michigan staff is looking at their secondary recruiting as a “grey area”. They do love the players they have committed but will never stop recruiting good players. If things don’t go well at Notre Dame, or if Jobe realizes that playing the north isn’t so bad, you never know. Maybe the Green twins decided they’d rather play close to home. Nothing indicates that they’re feeling that way but in recruiting, nothing is certain until pen meets paper. Keep an eye on how things play out on the field in 2017 and also who gives whom attention in both directions between staffs and players.
Defensive tackle is another grey area. There have been some semi-recent offers to defensive tackles in 2018 but the real list of targets is short. St. Louis Parkway North four-star Michael Thompson and Concord (N.C.) High four-star Rick Sandidge are it. The staff would take both and hopes to land both. It’s going to be tough to pull to get either of them, and both would be a dream scenario, but the staff is putting a lot of effort into each young man’s recruitment. Thompson was just in Ann Arbor for U-M’s BBQ and things went well. The 6-4, 273-pounder doesn’t say much but by all accounts, he felt very comfortable in AA.
Now on to 2019…
The staff really wants to prioritize the state of California in 2019. It’s unfortunate that things played out the way that they did with Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei five-star quarterback JT Daniels but it is what it is — sack up and move on.
Daniels’ classmate and teammate, 6-3, 205-pounder Bru McCoy, is one of the staff’s top overall targets in 2019. He plays multiple positions in high school, including safety, wide receiver, and sort of a hybrid linebacker, and Michigan earnestly likes him at all three. With his size, flexibility, speed off the edge, and ability to translate that speed into power, the staff sees him as one of the best players in the entire country and will prioritize him moving forward. He has the type of skills that earned him a legitimate offer from U-M for both sides of the ball.
There is a sense of urgency for the staff in the state of California in 2019. They desperately want to get some traction out west and will put a lot of time and energy into doing so.
Finally a very early prediction on a huge — literally and figuratively — 2020 prospect…
Millis (Mass.) High offensive tackle Kevin Pyne will end up at Michigan.
I realize it’s super early, but U-M is definitely going to have better than a good chance at landing the rising sophomore. Pyne is going to be one of the top recruits in the entire country once rankings are released for his grade and could very well be a five-star prospect. At a verified 6-8 1/4 and 274 pounds, with offers from schools like Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, UCLA and Wisconsin among others, he’s already well on his way.
Why do I have such early optimism? Because Don Brown is involved already and has a GREAT rapport up there and at Millis specifically. Millis head coach Dana Olson has been friends with “Donnie” for more than 20 years and says that he’ll probably have close to a monopoly on New England products. Pyne would be a good one to have a monopoly on.
The rising sophomore has two older brothers who have gone through the recruiting process and is a member of the first three-generation NFL family in the history of the league. His great grandfather, grandfather and uncle all played in the league. Granpda was a Patriot and his uncle, Jimmy Pyne, is a nine-year vet and played for our? beloved Detroit Lions for a season.
Olson said that Michigan will “definitely be in there,” when it came to Pyne’s ever-evolving recruitment. It’s early, but Brown is already building bridges, which could prove invaluable whenever Pyne decides to make a decision.
