What Michigan HC Sherrone Moore said about Bryce Underwood, several 2025 signees on Wednesday

The Michigan Wolverines football program signed a majority of its 2025 recruiting class on Wednesday with several contributors singled out by head coach Sherrone Moore during his national signing day press conference.

The headlining signee is Five-Star+ quarterback Bryce Underwood, who closed out one of the biggest flips in modern history by signing with the Wolverines on Wednesday. But there were plenty of others that came up throughout Moore’s press conference.

There’s a lot to be fired up for Michigan, who currently has the No. 6 recruiting class in the country, per the On3 Industry Ranking.

RELATED MICHIGAN SIGNING DAY COVERAGE:
• WATCH LIVE: Five-star+ QB Bryce Underwood, four-star DB Elijah Dotson sign with Michigan football
• National Signing Day Central: Live Michigan football recruiting updates
• Michigan HC Sherrone Moore on Bryce Underwood: ‘He’s an exceptional leader’

To be specific, 17 names in particular were reviewed by the head coach during his session with the media. Here’s what he had to say about each sorted by offense and defense.

Michigan Offensive Signees

Five-star QB Bryce Underwood: “He’s an excellent player. Obviously, he has a great skill set, elite skill set. From the pocket, out of the pocket, deep ball, touch, intermediate, short. He’s talked to me about different things we want to do with him to expand his game and we’ll do that. But exceptional leader and he loves the game. He loves to grind. He loves to get better. First question he asked me, he’s like, coach, how late is the door open? How late can I be in the building? As late as you want, buddy. So excited, very excited to get him here and get to work.”

Three-star RB Donovan Johnson: “Donovan’s a big back. He’s big, strong, physical. Came off of an ACL last year. Came back strong. Feels good. I feel like he’s going to be… he was one of the top backs in the country the year before. Before he got hurt, and thought he was a dynamic player. And then continued to get better and started to progress. And you can see the progression now. So, he’s going to be a good player for us.”

Four-star RB Jasper Parker: “Jasper’s another guy that was under-recruited. But, he came to our BBQ at the Big House. You talk about a kid who’s dynamic, who’s got ability. I mean, he’s rushed for I think, 1,500 yards already this year. He’s got 300 yards receiving. He’s got great hands. He’s eerily similar to Donovan [Edwards]. Long strider. Quick off the ground feet. Great hands. So, really good player.”

Three-star FB/TE Eli Owens: “He’s awesome. Talk about a spark of energy. He’s like a mini-Max. He’s like a mini-Max Bredeson. Wears the same number and everything. He’s probably going to follow him around when he’s here because I think he gets here early, too. But he’s a great athlete. Played offense, played defense. He’s also a soccer goalie. So, he’s a super athlete but a great kid.”

WRs Jamar Browder, Jacob Washington and Andrew Marsh: “[Size] was an emphasis for me. I really wanted to add size and length. Really haven’t had a big 6-5 guy since Nico Collins. I’ve said really good players that have played here. Roman Wilson, CJ, all those guys. But wanted some big guys. Just your margin for error for a quarterback, it’s just easy, right? You throw to Colson Loveland and AJ Barner last year. You throw high to a 6-6 guy. It’s different than throwing high to a 5-11 guy. So wanted to have that variance in our receiving room and felt like we got that with Jamar and Jacob. And Andrew Marsh is the runt, but he’s 6-1 and he’s dynamic with the ball in his hands. I got to watch him live. He’s as good as there is in the country in the wide receiver position. Jamar was very under-recruited. Kind of happy that he was because we watched his tape, I don’t know what his rating was. I don’t really care. But he’s an elite player. And then Jacob as well. We had Jacob in camp. Great ball skills. Great runner detail. Great kid. So I feel like we got really good in that room.”

Five-star OT Andrew Babalola: “Man, he can be a first-round draft pick. He’s got all the skills because he’s got the size. He’s probably 285 right now, which is good. You don’t want him too big. He could easily be 310 like that. But he’s got great ankle flexibility, great hip flexibility. He’s strong. But always with a lineman, you never really know until they get here. But he’s got the ability to do it. He can be as good as any guy that’s played here. He’s got that ability. He’s that smart. He loves the game that much. He’s an awesome fit. He’s a great player. But he’s an outstanding kid. So, yeah, high ceiling. So, we’ll see when he gets here. He’ll be here early, too.”

U-M Defensive Signees

EDGE rushers Nate Marshall and Travis Moten: “Nate just…this recruiting game, it’s constant. You’re never losing contact with these kids, so I thought Lou [Esposito] did an outstanding job, he’s always in contact with them, and he was always coming back to them, so even when guys are committed, you still have to have that line of communication with them. If you stop recruiting them, somebody else is always recruiting them. Don’t know what happened on the other side, but we knew we were recruiting them all the time, and the relationship stuck, and we were able to get him back.

“Then Moten, man, he’s a big, tall, athletic dude. I think he led the state of Kentucky in sacks. I think it was like, 20, so he’s a super athletic dude, raw dude, but he’s huge. Quick twitchy, so those are the type of guys that you want and not a lot of publicity. Again, our recruiting staff did a really good job discovering him.”

Four-star LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng: “Fast, physical, violent, I mean, talk about a dude that’s determined. He’s told me, like, coach, I want to be the leader of that defense. I am the leader of that defense, and he’s just, he’s everything you want in that position. Physical, fast, smart, tough, very, very aware of everything, and his big thing was our alumni and the people. His family’s from Ghana. … He wants to be around those people who have been successful, not only in football, and he wants to represent his country and do things for his country, so he’s a neat kid, he’s awesome, but he’s a great player.”

Four-star DB Elijah Dotson: “Just an outstanding kid, a really good kid, hard worker, two-way player in the state, really good receiver too, one of Bryce’s top targets, actually, so he’s talked to me about playing receiver, but he’s gonna be a really good safety, nickel, he can play those. He’ll start out safety for us, and long, athletic, and loves to hit, physical kid.”

Four-star CB Shamari Earls: “Shamari, man, just long. Verified track speed, athletic, physical, I mean, he’s just everything you want, silly kid, great personality, but he’s what you want in a corner, especially with that length.”

Versatility in defensive class: “There are guys that can play inside. There are guys that can play outside. Moten’s probably an inside guy because he’s 290 pounds and he’s 6’5″. But you never know. [Four-star defensive lineman] Benny Patterson can kind of play different places. The guys in the back end, they can kind of shift all around. But probably like Shamari and [Jayden Sanders] will start at a corner. Elijah, Kainoa [Winston], Jordan Young will start at safety, nickel. And then you’ll move around and put the best guys wherever they need to be. Zeke Berry has been a safety of these playing corners. So, where the best players can play, we’re going to put them.”