Newsstand: Michigan coaches blitz the country on recruiting trail
Tweets Of The Day
The Michigan Wolverines football coaching staff hosted important recruiting visitors last weekend, before hitting the road and blitzing the country all week. There are just two weeks until the late National Signing Day, and the 2023 cycle is also ramping up.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh and linebackers coach George Helow were at Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln, which is home to four-star Michigan linebacker commit Raylen Wilson, On3.com’s No. 68 overall player in the class of 2023. He’s rated as the No. 4 linebacker and No. 15 player in Florida.
Harbaugh has continued to conduct business as usual despite NFL rumors running rampant. He’s reportedly a candidate for the Las Vegas Raiders head-coaching job, but there are no public indications that he’s received an offer or has had contact and expressed his own interest. That, of course, could change as the coaching cycle continues. As of now, Harbaugh is hammering away on the recruiting trail for Michigan.
Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was in the Dallas area to check in on On300 edge rusher Anthony James. The Wylie (Texas) East product has been committed to Texas A&M for some time, but the Wolverines are continuing to pursue. He made his first trip to Ann Arbor for the win over Ohio State Nov. 27, and may be due for a return trip at some point.
Macdonald certainly has a lot to sell, after completely flipping Michigan’s fortunes on the defensive side of the ball last season. The Wolverines were dismal in 2020, before finishing top 30 in a slew of major categories in 2021, when they won the Big Ten title and made a College Football Playoff appearance.
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New Michigan defensive line coach Mike Elston was only officially announced on Monday, and has hit the ground running on the recruiting trail. A former Wolverine player in the 1990s, Elston feels he will be able to connect with recruits much better than he did at Notre Dame, his previous employer for the last 12 seasons (though he was considered an elite recruiter with the Irish).
“I think it’s very valuable, and not that it’s more valuable than anybody else, but at least there’s a perspective,” Elston said on the In The Trenches podcast. I can tell a kid why I chose Michigan over Notre Dame and over Ohio State. Where, when that conversation came up when I was at Notre Dame — ’hey coach, where’d you go to school?’ ‘Well, I went to Michigan.’ ‘Well, why?’ It’s not great when shining a light on the school that you’re already at.
“Now, I can say with pride and I can let them know exactly why I chose it. It was nothing negative on anybody else or any other school, but I can express the positives of Michigan. I think it’s valuable in recruiting.”
Quote Of The Day
“Hutchinson isn’t on the same level as the Bosa brothers — he doesn’t have the same bend or arc skills. However, there are similarities when you talk about their quickness, power and skilled hand play to defeat blockers and disrupt the pocket. Hutchinson can win in multiple ways and is wired in a way that will appeal to head coach Dan Campbell.“
The athletic draft analyst Dane Brugler on michigan de Aidan Hutchinson
Headlines Of The Day
• Anthony Broome, The Wolverine: Three Wolverines go in first round in latest mock from The Athletic
• Tim Verghese, The Wolverine: ITB Extra: Notes on three recent Michigan offers, four-star DB target
• Anthony Broome, The Wolverine: Caleb Houstan discusses rediscovery of shooting stroke vs. Maryland
