The latest edition of INSIDE THE FORT, including plenty of football, basketball and recruiting.
Starting with football and the fallout of a 9-4 season.
First off … calling it fallout after 9-4 is back to mid-1990s “M stands for Mediocre” status, which means head coach Jim Harbaugh has made significant progress. No, he hasn’t won championships or beaten Ohio State … but he’s taken back the rivalry with Michigan State and continues to recruit at a pretty high level (and we’re not talking about the fool’s gold, RichRod No. 4 class overall in 2009 level).
There’s talent on this team, and potentially more on the way. The Wolverines are pursuing options in the transfer portal, and it’s likely they’ll take a few.
One who is trending away — Stanford tackle and former Michigan pledge Devery Hamilton. Hamilton visited Pitt recently, and he’s looking (essentially) for a promise that he’ll start. U-M will tell him all the right things, of course — that the opportunity is there if he earns it, that his experience will certainly give him every advantage, etc. — but at this point, it might not be enough.
U-M needs some depth at defensive tackle, too, though most believe sophomore Chris Hinton and redshirt freshman Mazi Smith could be ready to take huge leaps next year if they have strong winter conditioning and spring sessions … and they’re off to really good starts.
It would be surprising at this point if Michigan did not add one after losing fifth-year senior Michael Dwumfour to Rutgers. There was the thought that Dwumfour would wait until after the Citrus Bowl to have a procedure done, and they obviously could have used him in that game. He opted to have it earlier, and he didn’t travel with the team.
Some close to it said in the weeks before the bowl game he had expressed interest in a fifth year, but the coaches had been slow to get back to him. In the end, it seems like this one was a pretty mutual parting of the ways.
Dwumfour was well-liked and played through some pain, but there had been rumblings last year that he might shut it down due to his injury and perhaps even throw his name in for the NFL Draft. Instead, he’ll be facing Michigan next year as a member of the Scarlet Knights.
From everything we’ve gathered, while the leadership on last year’s team was really good in spots, there were still some issues with others (many of them evident before the season started with guys, again, talking of shutting down their seasons, talking about big years so they could make their money and then sloughing off when things didn’t go their way).
“It wasn’t a real strong locker room,” one source said.
Senior corner Ambry Thomas said publicly after the Bowl game that this year would be more about accountability, and there have been positive signs in the early going. Strength coach Ben Herbert has been extremely hands-on, and there’s been open discussion among the players of the “old way” (9-4) vs. the “new way” of accountability.
In some ways (opinion here), last year’s group was reminiscent of Gary Moeller’s mid-1990s teams that struggled to four-loss seasons with guys who were elite prospects, but not always great fits.
We’ll see if it changes this year. As always, preseason talk is just that, and we’re going to be as skeptical as anyone until we see the change. But that’s what’s being said, and there’s a lot of optimism.
Finally, on the offensive line, the coaches believe Chuck Filiaga is a guy who is finally starting to “get it” at offensive guard, what he needs to do to be an outstanding collegiate lineman. Filiaga has long been rumored to be a transfer risk (rumored), but it sounds as though he’s intent on winning a job this fall.
It won’t be easy. There is some great young talent waiting in the wings, and these guys are workers. The freshman class from last year, in particular, is “special,” as we’ve said a number of times.
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On the football recruiting front, Michigan likes where it stands with many of the state’s top 2021 recruits. Some feel like they lead for every one of the kids they want with the exception of perhaps Belleville four-star defensive tackle Damon Payne, with Donovan Edwards obviously being the priority.
Ohio State and others are really bringing the heat for Edwards, but U-M is doing a great job recruiting the West Bloomfield running back, Rivals.com’s No. 58 player nationally. ND and Ohio State have picked it up with Clarkston’s Rocco Spindler, too, but the lineman still has Michigan on top.
On the commitment side (signed), Tampa Berkeley Prep three-star outside linebacker Jaylen Harrell was a bit of an unknown when he committed to Michigan in mid-December, thanks in large part to the fact that he was not a regular attendee on the camp circuit.
Rivals.com Southeast recruiting analyst Rob Cassidy — who scouted the Tampa product over the last several years — explained that Harrell’s absence at camps wasn’t necessarily his choice, while also providing some interesting insight on a prospect who was on the verge of four-star status.
“I like Harrell,” Cassidy said. “He’s one of these high upside guys because he has the length, weight and all the stuff you can’t coach in a kid. I can understand why Michigan likes him, and it’s why we like him. We had him on the verge of four-star status, and he didn’t get bumped up because of the way he performed at times — he tends to go away. He plays at Berkeley Prep, which is a small private school in the Tampa area and they don’t play the toughest schedules. They’d play one or two games a year against pretty good teams, so he wasn’t exactly going up against top quality offensive linemen every night — he may have seen two during the entire season.
“I did go to one of their games when they played somebody pretty good, and he seemed to fade away when the competition level rises. He wasn’t a kid who did a lot of national events either, so we never really got to see him against other blue-chip prospects. The few times we did see him against other great kids, he didn’t overwhelm anybody. Harrell is going to get stronger though and get used to the speed of the game, so he’s someone I think could be an impact player down the road.
“I don’t think he’ll step on campus as a freshman and light the Big Ten on fire, but if he gets a redshirt year and time to adjust, I think he can be a really good player. He also covers pretty well for his size, though he still has some polishing left to do on that front. What Michigan fans are really going to like are his length and how well he closes.”
Cassidy also revealed that the reason Harrell wasn’t a regular on the camp circuit was due to his school and its head coach’s policy, and that it wasn’t necessarily his choice not to participate.
“The coach at Berkeley [Dominick Ciao] doesn’t really let his guys do camps,” the analyst explained. “If you go there, it’s kind of one of these rigid programs where he doesn’t want his guys risking injuries, and I understand that. Harrell never really got a chance to get exposed as a result. We knew who he was and we had him ranked as a 5.7 three-star very early, and that’s kind of where he stuck. He never got a chance to see other top athletes because of the program he plays for.”
Another Michigan signee who has flown a bit under the radar — but has been getting some positive buzz lately — is Burke (Va.) Lake Braddock three-star tight end Matt Hibner.
TheWolverine.com recruiting analyst EJ Holland raved about his performances after watching him for several days in person at the International Bowl practices earlier this month, and both Jim Harbaugh and tight ends coach Sherrone Moore were in to see him while on the recruiting trail earlier this week.
“The way he’s athletically big [is Hibner’s biggest attribute],” Oakton head coach Mel Morgan — whose squad fell to Lake Braddock, 40-12, this past season — said when asked to analyze the tight end’s game. “Size can be a great attribute, but you can get exposed if you’re not athletic. Matt’s hands are good and he can run well, but the fact that he’s so big and can still run well is what makes him dangerous. Does he have the most gifted hands? Not necessarily — he has good hands, but that’s not what sticks out the most about him. It’s how athletically big he is.”
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Finishing with basketball and recruiting …
The Penn State game was absolutely the day junior Isaiah Livers was expected to return — that obviously didn’t happen, and Michigan missed him. We don’t know when he’ll be back at this point, and nobody close to it seems to have a great idea, either. They were confident he’d return this week.
Michigan needs Livers to accomplish its goals — others just aren’t getting it done in his absence, and he’s probably the Wolverines’ best two-way player. We’ll continue to monitor that one.
On the recruiting front, we told you the other day to keep an eye on UCLA transfer Shareef O’Neal, Shaquille’s son. Shaq and Michigan head coach Juwan Howard know each other, of course, and there have been rumblings for a while now that the younger O’Neal and five-star shooting guard prospect Josh Christopher could end up at school together as a “package deal” if O’Neal did leave UCLA.
There are other schools down south, however, making a push for O’Neal’s services, and he’s responded positively to that. So … that one’s far from over.
Sources close to both Hunter Dickinson and Terrance Williams have said Michigan’s slump has done nothing to deter their enthusiasm for U-M, noting Howard’s personality really won them over. They’ve seen enough of how they’ll be used in the offense to know they like how they’ll be used, and they understand Livers’ absence is a big hindrance to Michigan’s goals this year.
Finally, the Wolverines will have room for at least a few more recruits, even though they’re technically one over with three-star Jace Howard’s pledge. There will be at least one player who moves on, and there’s almost always other unforeseen attrition.
Starting with football and the fallout of a 9-4 season.
First off … calling it fallout after 9-4 is back to mid-1990s “M stands for Mediocre” status, which means head coach Jim Harbaugh has made significant progress. No, he hasn’t won championships or beaten Ohio State … but he’s taken back the rivalry with Michigan State and continues to recruit at a pretty high level (and we’re not talking about the fool’s gold, RichRod No. 4 class overall in 2009 level).
There’s talent on this team, and potentially more on the way. The Wolverines are pursuing options in the transfer portal, and it’s likely they’ll take a few.
One who is trending away — Stanford tackle and former Michigan pledge Devery Hamilton. Hamilton visited Pitt recently, and he’s looking (essentially) for a promise that he’ll start. U-M will tell him all the right things, of course — that the opportunity is there if he earns it, that his experience will certainly give him every advantage, etc. — but at this point, it might not be enough.
U-M needs some depth at defensive tackle, too, though most believe sophomore Chris Hinton and redshirt freshman Mazi Smith could be ready to take huge leaps next year if they have strong winter conditioning and spring sessions … and they’re off to really good starts.
It would be surprising at this point if Michigan did not add one after losing fifth-year senior Michael Dwumfour to Rutgers. There was the thought that Dwumfour would wait until after the Citrus Bowl to have a procedure done, and they obviously could have used him in that game. He opted to have it earlier, and he didn’t travel with the team.
Some close to it said in the weeks before the bowl game he had expressed interest in a fifth year, but the coaches had been slow to get back to him. In the end, it seems like this one was a pretty mutual parting of the ways.
Dwumfour was well-liked and played through some pain, but there had been rumblings last year that he might shut it down due to his injury and perhaps even throw his name in for the NFL Draft. Instead, he’ll be facing Michigan next year as a member of the Scarlet Knights.
From everything we’ve gathered, while the leadership on last year’s team was really good in spots, there were still some issues with others (many of them evident before the season started with guys, again, talking of shutting down their seasons, talking about big years so they could make their money and then sloughing off when things didn’t go their way).
“It wasn’t a real strong locker room,” one source said.
Senior corner Ambry Thomas said publicly after the Bowl game that this year would be more about accountability, and there have been positive signs in the early going. Strength coach Ben Herbert has been extremely hands-on, and there’s been open discussion among the players of the “old way” (9-4) vs. the “new way” of accountability.
In some ways (opinion here), last year’s group was reminiscent of Gary Moeller’s mid-1990s teams that struggled to four-loss seasons with guys who were elite prospects, but not always great fits.
We’ll see if it changes this year. As always, preseason talk is just that, and we’re going to be as skeptical as anyone until we see the change. But that’s what’s being said, and there’s a lot of optimism.
Finally, on the offensive line, the coaches believe Chuck Filiaga is a guy who is finally starting to “get it” at offensive guard, what he needs to do to be an outstanding collegiate lineman. Filiaga has long been rumored to be a transfer risk (rumored), but it sounds as though he’s intent on winning a job this fall.
It won’t be easy. There is some great young talent waiting in the wings, and these guys are workers. The freshman class from last year, in particular, is “special,” as we’ve said a number of times.
****
On the football recruiting front, Michigan likes where it stands with many of the state’s top 2021 recruits. Some feel like they lead for every one of the kids they want with the exception of perhaps Belleville four-star defensive tackle Damon Payne, with Donovan Edwards obviously being the priority.
Ohio State and others are really bringing the heat for Edwards, but U-M is doing a great job recruiting the West Bloomfield running back, Rivals.com’s No. 58 player nationally. ND and Ohio State have picked it up with Clarkston’s Rocco Spindler, too, but the lineman still has Michigan on top.
On the commitment side (signed), Tampa Berkeley Prep three-star outside linebacker Jaylen Harrell was a bit of an unknown when he committed to Michigan in mid-December, thanks in large part to the fact that he was not a regular attendee on the camp circuit.
Rivals.com Southeast recruiting analyst Rob Cassidy — who scouted the Tampa product over the last several years — explained that Harrell’s absence at camps wasn’t necessarily his choice, while also providing some interesting insight on a prospect who was on the verge of four-star status.
“I like Harrell,” Cassidy said. “He’s one of these high upside guys because he has the length, weight and all the stuff you can’t coach in a kid. I can understand why Michigan likes him, and it’s why we like him. We had him on the verge of four-star status, and he didn’t get bumped up because of the way he performed at times — he tends to go away. He plays at Berkeley Prep, which is a small private school in the Tampa area and they don’t play the toughest schedules. They’d play one or two games a year against pretty good teams, so he wasn’t exactly going up against top quality offensive linemen every night — he may have seen two during the entire season.
“I did go to one of their games when they played somebody pretty good, and he seemed to fade away when the competition level rises. He wasn’t a kid who did a lot of national events either, so we never really got to see him against other blue-chip prospects. The few times we did see him against other great kids, he didn’t overwhelm anybody. Harrell is going to get stronger though and get used to the speed of the game, so he’s someone I think could be an impact player down the road.
“I don’t think he’ll step on campus as a freshman and light the Big Ten on fire, but if he gets a redshirt year and time to adjust, I think he can be a really good player. He also covers pretty well for his size, though he still has some polishing left to do on that front. What Michigan fans are really going to like are his length and how well he closes.”
Cassidy also revealed that the reason Harrell wasn’t a regular on the camp circuit was due to his school and its head coach’s policy, and that it wasn’t necessarily his choice not to participate.
“The coach at Berkeley [Dominick Ciao] doesn’t really let his guys do camps,” the analyst explained. “If you go there, it’s kind of one of these rigid programs where he doesn’t want his guys risking injuries, and I understand that. Harrell never really got a chance to get exposed as a result. We knew who he was and we had him ranked as a 5.7 three-star very early, and that’s kind of where he stuck. He never got a chance to see other top athletes because of the program he plays for.”
Another Michigan signee who has flown a bit under the radar — but has been getting some positive buzz lately — is Burke (Va.) Lake Braddock three-star tight end Matt Hibner.
TheWolverine.com recruiting analyst EJ Holland raved about his performances after watching him for several days in person at the International Bowl practices earlier this month, and both Jim Harbaugh and tight ends coach Sherrone Moore were in to see him while on the recruiting trail earlier this week.
“The way he’s athletically big [is Hibner’s biggest attribute],” Oakton head coach Mel Morgan — whose squad fell to Lake Braddock, 40-12, this past season — said when asked to analyze the tight end’s game. “Size can be a great attribute, but you can get exposed if you’re not athletic. Matt’s hands are good and he can run well, but the fact that he’s so big and can still run well is what makes him dangerous. Does he have the most gifted hands? Not necessarily — he has good hands, but that’s not what sticks out the most about him. It’s how athletically big he is.”
****
Finishing with basketball and recruiting …
The Penn State game was absolutely the day junior Isaiah Livers was expected to return — that obviously didn’t happen, and Michigan missed him. We don’t know when he’ll be back at this point, and nobody close to it seems to have a great idea, either. They were confident he’d return this week.
Michigan needs Livers to accomplish its goals — others just aren’t getting it done in his absence, and he’s probably the Wolverines’ best two-way player. We’ll continue to monitor that one.
On the recruiting front, we told you the other day to keep an eye on UCLA transfer Shareef O’Neal, Shaquille’s son. Shaq and Michigan head coach Juwan Howard know each other, of course, and there have been rumblings for a while now that the younger O’Neal and five-star shooting guard prospect Josh Christopher could end up at school together as a “package deal” if O’Neal did leave UCLA.
There are other schools down south, however, making a push for O’Neal’s services, and he’s responded positively to that. So … that one’s far from over.
Sources close to both Hunter Dickinson and Terrance Williams have said Michigan’s slump has done nothing to deter their enthusiasm for U-M, noting Howard’s personality really won them over. They’ve seen enough of how they’ll be used in the offense to know they like how they’ll be used, and they understand Livers’ absence is a big hindrance to Michigan’s goals this year.
Finally, the Wolverines will have room for at least a few more recruits, even though they’re technically one over with three-star Jace Howard’s pledge. There will be at least one player who moves on, and there’s almost always other unforeseen attrition.
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