The latest edition of INSIDE THE FORT, including plenty of football, basketball and recruiting information.
Starting with football …
Not many are giving Michigan a chance Saturday night in Happy Valley, and that’s put a big chip on the collective shoulder of the Michigan team (Note: if they don’t play well and end up losing, please don't say, ‘but the mods said they had a chip on their shoulder!’ We’re just the messengers here).
They feel very confident that this is going to be a tight game that comes down to a play or two. And as we’ve reported, there are some very intelligent PSU alums (former pros) who believe Penn State’s offensive line is going to get eaten alive by the Michigan defensive line.
That, of course, would give the Wolverines a shot, so long as they hold PSU’s playmakers in check. And there are several.
Jim Harbaugh likes being an underdog. There’s an ‘us against the world’ mentality right now … they know all of their goals are on the line this season. Beat PSU and there are three very winnable games coming up before the Wolverines travel to Wisconsin. Some have indicated it’s not out of the question that starting quarterback Wilton Speight could return for that one, and he has made it his mission.
As for the starting quarterback situation … many have wondered why redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Peters doesn’t get a shot, and why he often appears disinterested, emotionless, etc. Folks close to him say that’s just who he is … a quiet kid who likes to keep to himself, and this was on full display after a recent practice.
A group of seven or so Wolverine teammates were spotted walking into Schembechler Hall laughing, joking, and having a great time with each other, acting like typical college students. Peters, on the other hand, trailed five yards or so behind them the whole time, and kept to himself.
It’s harder for a quarterback to earn a team’s trust that way. But of course, it’s not the only reason he’s not playing. Again, if he were the best option, he’d be playing. And he’s not (yet).
Brandon Brown’s article on Peters from early 2015 dives into this a bit more.
https://michigan.rivals.com/news/coach-peters-is-a-great-kid-and-a-hard-worker
Those close to it, however, say freshman Dylan McCaffrey is the real deal. We won’t see him this year, but he’ll be right there next year competing with fifth-year Wilton Speight. He’s from an elite football family, of course, and he acts like it. He can make all the throws, is picking up the playbook and has the ‘it’ factor you can’t teach.
He’s got an extremely bright future here.
As for Peters, the expectation was he would compete this year. That didn’t happen, of course, and many wonder (rightfully so) how much better this team would be had the QB from that class (Peters or anyone else) been year-two ready. And it’s a fair question.
Another who appears to have a bright future is one many had written off — redshirt freshman running back Kareem Walker.
“He went from a kid who screwed everything up to one who’s done everything right. Elite teammate. He will be a great player here,” one source said.
He has really turned a corner, and the coaches wanted to make him earn it. It wasn’t a sure thing that he’d be back that first year (see: Ahmir Mitchell), but he’s grown so much.
He’s also recovering from an injury that was kept on the down low during his senior year in high school, according to folks in his hometown. There was a concern that it could even be a lingering, degenerative thing, but he’s looked really good. Some who saw him in fall camp said he looked like U-M’s best runner on many occasions.
Look for him to have an increasing role after the Penn State game.
****
To football recruiting now …
Two, four-star targets are set to decide today and Michigan is going to bat .500 on the decisions.
Long-time Michigan lean Mustapha Muhammad is going to announce his decision tonight just before his football game and barring some last second, unforeseen changes, he’s going to pick U-M. The 6-5, 240-pounder out of Missouri City (Texas) Ridge Point has been pretty open about how much he’s feeling Michigan throughout his process and nothing has happened to change that.
One-time tight ends coach and current running backs coach Jay Harbaugh has been instrumental in Muhammad’s recruitment and despite the position change has continued to recruit the talented tight end. New tight ends coach Greg Frey also picked up with Muhammad as soon as he was hired and hasn’t missed a beat in terms of recruiting the Texas native.
Muhammad has seen many, many schools and is ready to make his decision. Michigan checks all of his boxes and should win out over programs like Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA and USC, the rest of his top group. Going into the state of Texas and pulling out a top talent like Muhammad with an offer list like that should be viewed as a huge win for U-M should things play out that way.
In the 2019 class, West Lafayette (Ind.) High four-star strongside defensive end George Karlaftis is also announcing today but he’s going to stay home and commit to Purdue. New head coach Jeff Brohm has the Boilermakers playing much better football than in recent years and that obviously resonated with Karlaftis. The 6-5, 240-pounder has been to Purdue many times and has family connections to the university.
Michigan already has two defensive ends committed in the 2019 class in Stephen Herron and Christopher Hinton so missing on Karlaftis won’t be a big deal. The Wolverine staff did a good job with Karlaftis but the hometown love and connections are always tough to overcome.
If and when Muhammad does commit to Michigan later today it will immediately make things interesting for Norcross (Ga.) Wesleyan three-star tight end Tommy Tremble. The newly offered 6-4, 225-pounder is still being recruited by Michigan and would still consider U-M even with Muhammad and Hamden Hall (Conn.) Hamden Hall Country Day School three-star tight end Luke Schoonmaker in the fold.
Tremble is an intriguing, big, strong athlete. He’s a tight end but there’s a lot that he can do that traditional tight ends can’t. He’ll continue to be evaluated and recruited and things will work out. As is always the case, all parties involved are apprised of each situation and things are done in a way now with new staffers to avoid all confusion.
****
Finishing with basketball now …
Michigan is done recruiting the 2018 class, as we’ve noted, and the haul was outstanding. If it matches this year’s trio in terms of intelligence — and it appears it should — it could be one of Beilein’s better ones.
We continue to hear great things about freshman combo guard Eli Brooks. He was underrated and under-recruited, and he’s going to be a very good player here. Frosh forward Isaiah Livers is going to play a key role.
So what about shooting guard Jordan Poole? Many believed he was a shoo-in to play key minutes at the two or three, but while he’s been shooting the ball well in drills, he hasn’t been great against live competition … and that dates back to the summer.
Head coach John Beilein said as much in New York, but he also said he fully expected it to come. It goes back to a problem he had at times in high school … shot selection. He has great range, and he can shoot with a hand in his face. He just settles too often rather than waiting for a better look.
Beilein expressed zero concern about this aspect of his game heading into the fall, saying he fully expected him to come around. However, that’s one aspect of his game that really needs to be clicking for him to see early playing time.
Meanwhile, the point guard competition is as intense as advertised. Jaaron Simmons is still picking up the offense, and sophomore Zavier Simpson made four of six triples the other day in a scrimmage. His shot has come a long, long way.
One Big Ten guard said there was only one guy who ‘scared’ him with his defense last year … Simpson. And that was in limited minutes. He is relentless on that end of the floor and has elevated his game in all areas. If he loses the right to start, it won’t be for lack of effort. He had a great summer and is off to a great start this fall.
Brooks, too, is competing and shooting the ball very well.
Beilein raised eyebrows in the early portion of yesterday’s Big Ten media day when he said his team “might not have scored on anyone in yesterday’s practice,” indicating the Wolverines would have some ups and downs offensively. He did clarify that it was only one practice, and that it wasn’t indicative of the way things had been going this fall.
U-M coaches are still evaluating their options at the four, however. Beilein is talking about playing junior Moritz Wagner at power forward, but he needs more out of his second-year bigs in order to do that. Sophomore Jon Teske is still too passive at times and needs to realize he can play at this level, be more aggressive.
Redshirt freshman Austin Davis made huge strides last year, and now he’s taking baby steps. Some describe him as “a big mechanical right now,” also not trusting his newly chiseled body. He’s still U-M’s best catch and finish guy, however, and plays very physical basketball.
We’ll see how minutes are divided at that position.
Finally, one former Michigan assistant coach recently confirmed what everyone else already knew (and what we’ve told you ) … Beilein has no worries when it comes to being investigated by the FBI, like Louisville and several other programs have been recently.
“He’s in the wrong profession, probably,” he said. “Nicest guy I’ve ever worked with, and the cleanest. He should probably be a Saint, not a basketball coach.”
That’s as it pertains to the recruiting aspect, of course. Beilein is extremely intense on the court and demands the most out of his players. This group is one of his toughest, and they’ve responded well.
Starting with football …
Not many are giving Michigan a chance Saturday night in Happy Valley, and that’s put a big chip on the collective shoulder of the Michigan team (Note: if they don’t play well and end up losing, please don't say, ‘but the mods said they had a chip on their shoulder!’ We’re just the messengers here).
They feel very confident that this is going to be a tight game that comes down to a play or two. And as we’ve reported, there are some very intelligent PSU alums (former pros) who believe Penn State’s offensive line is going to get eaten alive by the Michigan defensive line.
That, of course, would give the Wolverines a shot, so long as they hold PSU’s playmakers in check. And there are several.
Jim Harbaugh likes being an underdog. There’s an ‘us against the world’ mentality right now … they know all of their goals are on the line this season. Beat PSU and there are three very winnable games coming up before the Wolverines travel to Wisconsin. Some have indicated it’s not out of the question that starting quarterback Wilton Speight could return for that one, and he has made it his mission.
As for the starting quarterback situation … many have wondered why redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Peters doesn’t get a shot, and why he often appears disinterested, emotionless, etc. Folks close to him say that’s just who he is … a quiet kid who likes to keep to himself, and this was on full display after a recent practice.
A group of seven or so Wolverine teammates were spotted walking into Schembechler Hall laughing, joking, and having a great time with each other, acting like typical college students. Peters, on the other hand, trailed five yards or so behind them the whole time, and kept to himself.
It’s harder for a quarterback to earn a team’s trust that way. But of course, it’s not the only reason he’s not playing. Again, if he were the best option, he’d be playing. And he’s not (yet).
Brandon Brown’s article on Peters from early 2015 dives into this a bit more.
https://michigan.rivals.com/news/coach-peters-is-a-great-kid-and-a-hard-worker
Those close to it, however, say freshman Dylan McCaffrey is the real deal. We won’t see him this year, but he’ll be right there next year competing with fifth-year Wilton Speight. He’s from an elite football family, of course, and he acts like it. He can make all the throws, is picking up the playbook and has the ‘it’ factor you can’t teach.
He’s got an extremely bright future here.
As for Peters, the expectation was he would compete this year. That didn’t happen, of course, and many wonder (rightfully so) how much better this team would be had the QB from that class (Peters or anyone else) been year-two ready. And it’s a fair question.
Another who appears to have a bright future is one many had written off — redshirt freshman running back Kareem Walker.
“He went from a kid who screwed everything up to one who’s done everything right. Elite teammate. He will be a great player here,” one source said.
He has really turned a corner, and the coaches wanted to make him earn it. It wasn’t a sure thing that he’d be back that first year (see: Ahmir Mitchell), but he’s grown so much.
He’s also recovering from an injury that was kept on the down low during his senior year in high school, according to folks in his hometown. There was a concern that it could even be a lingering, degenerative thing, but he’s looked really good. Some who saw him in fall camp said he looked like U-M’s best runner on many occasions.
Look for him to have an increasing role after the Penn State game.
****
To football recruiting now …
Two, four-star targets are set to decide today and Michigan is going to bat .500 on the decisions.
Long-time Michigan lean Mustapha Muhammad is going to announce his decision tonight just before his football game and barring some last second, unforeseen changes, he’s going to pick U-M. The 6-5, 240-pounder out of Missouri City (Texas) Ridge Point has been pretty open about how much he’s feeling Michigan throughout his process and nothing has happened to change that.
One-time tight ends coach and current running backs coach Jay Harbaugh has been instrumental in Muhammad’s recruitment and despite the position change has continued to recruit the talented tight end. New tight ends coach Greg Frey also picked up with Muhammad as soon as he was hired and hasn’t missed a beat in terms of recruiting the Texas native.
Muhammad has seen many, many schools and is ready to make his decision. Michigan checks all of his boxes and should win out over programs like Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA and USC, the rest of his top group. Going into the state of Texas and pulling out a top talent like Muhammad with an offer list like that should be viewed as a huge win for U-M should things play out that way.
In the 2019 class, West Lafayette (Ind.) High four-star strongside defensive end George Karlaftis is also announcing today but he’s going to stay home and commit to Purdue. New head coach Jeff Brohm has the Boilermakers playing much better football than in recent years and that obviously resonated with Karlaftis. The 6-5, 240-pounder has been to Purdue many times and has family connections to the university.
Michigan already has two defensive ends committed in the 2019 class in Stephen Herron and Christopher Hinton so missing on Karlaftis won’t be a big deal. The Wolverine staff did a good job with Karlaftis but the hometown love and connections are always tough to overcome.
If and when Muhammad does commit to Michigan later today it will immediately make things interesting for Norcross (Ga.) Wesleyan three-star tight end Tommy Tremble. The newly offered 6-4, 225-pounder is still being recruited by Michigan and would still consider U-M even with Muhammad and Hamden Hall (Conn.) Hamden Hall Country Day School three-star tight end Luke Schoonmaker in the fold.
Tremble is an intriguing, big, strong athlete. He’s a tight end but there’s a lot that he can do that traditional tight ends can’t. He’ll continue to be evaluated and recruited and things will work out. As is always the case, all parties involved are apprised of each situation and things are done in a way now with new staffers to avoid all confusion.
****
Finishing with basketball now …
Michigan is done recruiting the 2018 class, as we’ve noted, and the haul was outstanding. If it matches this year’s trio in terms of intelligence — and it appears it should — it could be one of Beilein’s better ones.
We continue to hear great things about freshman combo guard Eli Brooks. He was underrated and under-recruited, and he’s going to be a very good player here. Frosh forward Isaiah Livers is going to play a key role.
So what about shooting guard Jordan Poole? Many believed he was a shoo-in to play key minutes at the two or three, but while he’s been shooting the ball well in drills, he hasn’t been great against live competition … and that dates back to the summer.
Head coach John Beilein said as much in New York, but he also said he fully expected it to come. It goes back to a problem he had at times in high school … shot selection. He has great range, and he can shoot with a hand in his face. He just settles too often rather than waiting for a better look.
Beilein expressed zero concern about this aspect of his game heading into the fall, saying he fully expected him to come around. However, that’s one aspect of his game that really needs to be clicking for him to see early playing time.
Meanwhile, the point guard competition is as intense as advertised. Jaaron Simmons is still picking up the offense, and sophomore Zavier Simpson made four of six triples the other day in a scrimmage. His shot has come a long, long way.
One Big Ten guard said there was only one guy who ‘scared’ him with his defense last year … Simpson. And that was in limited minutes. He is relentless on that end of the floor and has elevated his game in all areas. If he loses the right to start, it won’t be for lack of effort. He had a great summer and is off to a great start this fall.
Brooks, too, is competing and shooting the ball very well.
Beilein raised eyebrows in the early portion of yesterday’s Big Ten media day when he said his team “might not have scored on anyone in yesterday’s practice,” indicating the Wolverines would have some ups and downs offensively. He did clarify that it was only one practice, and that it wasn’t indicative of the way things had been going this fall.
U-M coaches are still evaluating their options at the four, however. Beilein is talking about playing junior Moritz Wagner at power forward, but he needs more out of his second-year bigs in order to do that. Sophomore Jon Teske is still too passive at times and needs to realize he can play at this level, be more aggressive.
Redshirt freshman Austin Davis made huge strides last year, and now he’s taking baby steps. Some describe him as “a big mechanical right now,” also not trusting his newly chiseled body. He’s still U-M’s best catch and finish guy, however, and plays very physical basketball.
We’ll see how minutes are divided at that position.
Finally, one former Michigan assistant coach recently confirmed what everyone else already knew (and what we’ve told you ) … Beilein has no worries when it comes to being investigated by the FBI, like Louisville and several other programs have been recently.
“He’s in the wrong profession, probably,” he said. “Nicest guy I’ve ever worked with, and the cleanest. He should probably be a Saint, not a basketball coach.”
That’s as it pertains to the recruiting aspect, of course. Beilein is extremely intense on the court and demands the most out of his players. This group is one of his toughest, and they’ve responded well.
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