Michigan football: Jim Harbaugh dishes on 2022 defensive signees

Michigan’s 2022 recruiting class ranks ninth nationally in the On3.com rankings with 23 recruits. Several of the defensive players are ranked among the best of the best, starting with the defensive backs. 

Five-star cornerback Will Johnson is the headliner in a loaded secondary haul. 

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“We really felt like we needed that,” head coach Jim Harbaugh told Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast of the numbers. “Our starters are kind of getting up there in age, in class. This is the future, and I think a lot of these youngsters will have the license and the ability to play right away. I wish I could tell you I know right now, sitting right here, who’s better than who and who’s going to get on the field first. But it’s really take your pick. I love them all.

“Will Johnson, son of Deon Johnson who played here at the University of Michigan and was a heck of a good football player … we’ve been recruiting Will since it seems he was a freshman in high school. I think we probably offered him as a freshman, at least as a sophomore, but right down the road. 

“He’s been fantastic — been one of our best recruiters. He’s a Michigan legacy, and everything you want in a corner in terms of length and movement skills, traits. Fantastic. And I’ll also say that Will’s a signature guy in the class. He’s a 99.00 five-star, and he’s an even better guy. I can’t tell you how much he’s meant to us and this recruiting class. Everybody in the class wants to room with Will. Just a great guy, and Will Johnson’s really been the anchor to this entire class.”

There are five other defensive backs in the class, and they all have one thing in common, Harbaugh said — their athleticism.

“Enough to be corners, or at least nickels,” he continued. “When I say at least, a nickel takes at least a good combination of a safety and a corner, covering slots, but still being able to tackle in the box. And the corners are physical enough to be safeties and they move well enough to be corners and nickels. 

“Keon Sabb is a tremendous player. Kody Jones might be the best one, might be the most versatile — corner, nickel, could play safety. Zeke Berry comes from a tremendous program. You talk about a guy that could play both offense and defense — has done that in high school. A real skilled football player. I compare him a little bit to Rod Moore who was the only freshman who played for us this year in the secondary and did a tremendous job. [Myles] Pollard — just turn on the first play of his highlight tape, the very first one. He looks like Jack Tatum, coming up there to hit somebody. The movement skills are really outstanding.

“Damani Dent, he’s a guy I’ve really gotten so close to in the class. There are guys you talk to every day — they text me or I text them every day. Damani has certainly been like that … great personality. That’s Damani Dent. It’s kind of like looking in the mirror — the enthusiasm, the love of football. He just really, really stands out to me that way.”

He has great movement skills but it also extremely tough, Hargbaugh continued.  

“Tough as you’d ever want a defensive back to be,” he said. “He loves to work out. The guy’s working out — he plays the game and then goes and works out. Call him up, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Working out, or about to go workout. ‘Going to go get another one in this afternoon.’ 

“He loves running these sand hills. I’ve got pictures of him. He’s passed out, like, ‘Yeah coach, I was running the sand — I’ve got sand all over me!’ I just compare him to Erick All that way. There are guys you just know love football. Erick’s that way. You’ve got a special place in your heart for him.”

His coaches have to pull him back rather than ask him to work hard, he added, just like the team. 

“It’s just a whole roster of guys like that, and there are so many guys in this recruiting class that are exactly like that,” Harbaugh said. “Our guys on the team are going to really love these guys. They’re going to love our team, and our team’s going to love them.”

Michigan defensive line haul is impressive

Despite losing Detroiter Deone Walker to Kentucky, Harbaugh and Co. landed a solid defensive line haul. Maryland product Derrick Moore was a late, great addition. 

“I think he’s ranked up there — the experts rank him maybe the No. 1 or 2 edge guy in the country,” Harbaugh said. “He had committed to Oklahoma and like Alex Orji, the coach was leaving. The same thing happened with Derrick Moore. Their coach went to USC, and he felt that he wanted to look at his options. 

“Come to find out he really liked us and reached out. You can imagine we were thrilled … he walks through the door and he more than belongs — like he’s a junior, like he’s a senior in college already. Great physical gifts, also a 3.0 student. A heck of a good kid. 

“We were fortunate. That was a great get that we got right there at the end. Couldn’t be happier.”

Defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant will play inside, and Grant in particular is a specimen. He’s listed at 6-4, 335 pounds. 

“He’s every bit of it … there’s nobody I like more than Kenneth Grant,” Harbaugh said, noting he says that about a lot of his guys. “A ton of personality, and not in a show-off way or anything. Just a good, genuine, down-to-earth guy. He’s always got a smile on his face. 

“You talk about a position of need — 6-4, over 300-pounds. A real nose tackle, and a guy that could play the three-technique or play the one-technique. He could be a pass rusher, could be someone who pushes the pocket. Just a big, physical presence in the middle of the defense. That’s something that Shaun Nua and Mike Macdonald really felt was important to our defensive scheme. We got somebody now that’s as big as Shaun Nua. It’s nice to see that our biggest guy isn’t the coach. I really love him.”

Graham emerged late in the process and became a priority for a lot of schools. He visited USC but stuck with Michigan.

“You’re always mining for gold. You’re always out there looking, and this year was probably one of the best examples of that where guys didn’t play a lot their junior season, you weren’t aware of them,” Harbaugh added. “There wasn’t as much tape, and you flick on the film of Mason Graham, and you see this relentless motor. Then the next thing you really notice is, man, he’s playing offensive tackle, he’s playing defensive end. Which is he better at? 

“He’s really a heck of a great defensive end. He’s so athletic and stout in there, and then you watch him play offensive tackle and you say, ‘he could be an offensive tackle, too.’ So, which do you want to play him? You want to be a defensive end, you want to be an offensive tackle or offensive lineman? Because either way, we’re really interested, and we’ve got a spot for you right there in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

“He was somebody that came on the official visit and had a great visit here and really liked it and decided this is where he wanted to come to school. Really fired up about that.”

Linebacker haul bolsters the middle

Finally, linebackers Jimmy Rolder, Deuce Spurlock and Micah Pollard form an outstanding trio to help bolster a corps that needs numbers. 

“Micah Pollard, the first one who committed, he visited here in the summer,” Harbaugh said. “Marcus Pollard, Micah’s dad, and I played together in Indianapolis. Marcus Pollard, one of the all-time great guys, great teammates … he’s in player personnel, player development with the Jacksonville Jaguars, so that speaks volumes for what kind of guy he is and the son he raised.

“Again, a little closer with the parents there, but Micah’s a heck of a football player. And whether he’s going to be an edge linebacker for us or an inside the box, MIKE, WILL, remains to be seen. He’s got a real pass rush ability, but he also has a nose for the football, which makes you think he could be a MIKE backer — and he’d be a stout one. He’d be a good 6-foot-3, 235, Big Ten linebacker type of guy. 

He’ll start on the edge because it’s a position of need, but he’s versatile enough to move, the Michigan coach added. 

Spurlock and Rolder are two guys who can and will play inside. 

“I’ll paint you a picture: the Wisconsin linebackers like Leo Chenal and some of those guys that are thick, strong, stout, run-stopping guys that can really run, as well,” Harbaugh said.: “And Jimmy’s really athletic. So, he’s that tough, Big Ten middle linebacker that is going to be really good for us.

“Deuce is exactly the same way. They’re darn near carbon copies of each other. Deuce Spurlock and Jimmy — two for sure MIKE, WILLs — they’ll probably be in there next to each other. One a MIKE, one a WILL.”

Which is which is yet to be determined, but the Michigan coaches have plenty of time to figure it out.