... potential Wolverines, talking about…
• Michigan's recruiting weekend for Penn State: "I think it was a fantastic weekend. We had about 100 kids in, from what I understand. Be they seniors, even preferred walk-on players in the senior class, lots of juniors, sophomores, even some freshmen. It couldn't have been a better game.
"What can you say? We're going head-to-head with Penn State for some of these kids. We're going head-to-head with Ohio State for others. When you put on a dominant performance like that … and when you see a trend like we've seen the last three games, that really starts to make a difference. Jim Harbaugh's first two recruiting cycles, where we recruited very, very well, people were committing more on the promise of future success, and basically on the [Jim] Harbaugh name, as a proven coach before as a coach on the college level and the NFL level.
"They weren't committing on Michigan's success in the Big Ten over the last decade. Last year, the youngest Michigan team I've seen in my 50 years of following the team, we hit a major speed bump. I think we were all hoping for better than an 8-5 season. There were a lot of mistakes made. There were a lot of mistakes made by younger players, and obviously some coaching mistakes made.
"Harbaugh has done a great job of addressing the coaching issues, by really upgrading the staff across the board. You talk about strength and conditioning with Ben Herbert, an offensive line coach who is doing a magnificent job, two young, dynamic assistants, who are just recruiting like crazy in Sherrone Moore and Al Washington. Moore got a commitment from Daxton Hill, the top safety in the country.
"Washington has got us in the game, if not the favorite, for Zach Harrison. Everything is going in full gear right now. As a Michigan fan, it's really time to be excited after going through a painful 12 months."
• Seniors still possible for Michigan: "The top-rated [wide receiver] would be Kyle Ford, out of California. who we have talked about on several occasions on this podcast. He suffered a major injury and was out for the season. I think he's still planning on probably making a Michigan visit, which tells me we're probably not in his top two or three. But if we could get him on campus, there's a chance we could turn him, especially with the sort of season we're having.
"We're still actively involved with Cornelius Johnson, out of Greenwich, Conn. His mother is a Michigan alum. Stanford could be the leader there, if he get accepted to that school. I think we're right there with Stanford, though.
"Other kids we are looking at who are real burners are Khafre Brown, out of Charlotte (N.C.) West Mecklenburg, who is really one of the top young sprinters in the nation … and Jaylen Ellis, out of Round Rock, Texas, who is another burner. He's been timed in the sub-4.4 in the 40. He came up and visited Michigan for the Western Michigan game. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those four end up at Michigan, assuming we have a scholarship available.
"Offensive linemen, I think we want to bring in a pure tackle … there are two kids on our board who we are actively recruiting. The top kid on our board who we're actively looking at is Trevor Keegan, who is out of Crystal Lake in Illinois. He's a big, 6-6, 320-plus pounder, a real road grader for a tackle.
"The other kid is Danielson Ike, who is playing in Kansas City, at Kansas City Rockhurst, which is one of the powers in the Kansas City area. He's originally from Nigeria, and made a stop in Miami before winding up in Missouri. Could we take both? There's a possibility, but it would be really nice if we could get one. It would be nice to get a pure offensive tackle.
"If we don't, I'm not going to freak out, because I think we're very, very strongly positioned next year with a couple of the top pure offensive tackles in the 2020 class nationally."
• Sophomores he's projecting could become Wolverines: "To whet the fans' appetite for the next podcast, here are five sophomores I'm predicting are going to end up at Michigan. Donovan Edwards [a running back out of West Bloomfield, Mich.]; Damon Payne [a strong-side defensive end out of Belleville, Mich.]; Rocco Spindler [an offensive guard out of Clarkston, Mich.]; JC Latham [a strong-side defensive end from Waukesha, Wis.] and George Karlaftis' younger brother, Yanni Karlaftis [an outside linebacker from West Lafayette, Ind.]."
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-wolverines-football-podcast-jim-s-with-john-borton-1
• Michigan's recruiting weekend for Penn State: "I think it was a fantastic weekend. We had about 100 kids in, from what I understand. Be they seniors, even preferred walk-on players in the senior class, lots of juniors, sophomores, even some freshmen. It couldn't have been a better game.
"What can you say? We're going head-to-head with Penn State for some of these kids. We're going head-to-head with Ohio State for others. When you put on a dominant performance like that … and when you see a trend like we've seen the last three games, that really starts to make a difference. Jim Harbaugh's first two recruiting cycles, where we recruited very, very well, people were committing more on the promise of future success, and basically on the [Jim] Harbaugh name, as a proven coach before as a coach on the college level and the NFL level.
"They weren't committing on Michigan's success in the Big Ten over the last decade. Last year, the youngest Michigan team I've seen in my 50 years of following the team, we hit a major speed bump. I think we were all hoping for better than an 8-5 season. There were a lot of mistakes made. There were a lot of mistakes made by younger players, and obviously some coaching mistakes made.
"Harbaugh has done a great job of addressing the coaching issues, by really upgrading the staff across the board. You talk about strength and conditioning with Ben Herbert, an offensive line coach who is doing a magnificent job, two young, dynamic assistants, who are just recruiting like crazy in Sherrone Moore and Al Washington. Moore got a commitment from Daxton Hill, the top safety in the country.
"Washington has got us in the game, if not the favorite, for Zach Harrison. Everything is going in full gear right now. As a Michigan fan, it's really time to be excited after going through a painful 12 months."
• Seniors still possible for Michigan: "The top-rated [wide receiver] would be Kyle Ford, out of California. who we have talked about on several occasions on this podcast. He suffered a major injury and was out for the season. I think he's still planning on probably making a Michigan visit, which tells me we're probably not in his top two or three. But if we could get him on campus, there's a chance we could turn him, especially with the sort of season we're having.
"We're still actively involved with Cornelius Johnson, out of Greenwich, Conn. His mother is a Michigan alum. Stanford could be the leader there, if he get accepted to that school. I think we're right there with Stanford, though.
"Other kids we are looking at who are real burners are Khafre Brown, out of Charlotte (N.C.) West Mecklenburg, who is really one of the top young sprinters in the nation … and Jaylen Ellis, out of Round Rock, Texas, who is another burner. He's been timed in the sub-4.4 in the 40. He came up and visited Michigan for the Western Michigan game. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those four end up at Michigan, assuming we have a scholarship available.
"Offensive linemen, I think we want to bring in a pure tackle … there are two kids on our board who we are actively recruiting. The top kid on our board who we're actively looking at is Trevor Keegan, who is out of Crystal Lake in Illinois. He's a big, 6-6, 320-plus pounder, a real road grader for a tackle.
"The other kid is Danielson Ike, who is playing in Kansas City, at Kansas City Rockhurst, which is one of the powers in the Kansas City area. He's originally from Nigeria, and made a stop in Miami before winding up in Missouri. Could we take both? There's a possibility, but it would be really nice if we could get one. It would be nice to get a pure offensive tackle.
"If we don't, I'm not going to freak out, because I think we're very, very strongly positioned next year with a couple of the top pure offensive tackles in the 2020 class nationally."
• Sophomores he's projecting could become Wolverines: "To whet the fans' appetite for the next podcast, here are five sophomores I'm predicting are going to end up at Michigan. Donovan Edwards [a running back out of West Bloomfield, Mich.]; Damon Payne [a strong-side defensive end out of Belleville, Mich.]; Rocco Spindler [an offensive guard out of Clarkston, Mich.]; JC Latham [a strong-side defensive end from Waukesha, Wis.] and George Karlaftis' younger brother, Yanni Karlaftis [an outside linebacker from West Lafayette, Ind.]."
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-wolverines-football-podcast-jim-s-with-john-borton-1
