Michigan football staff not seen on the road during spring recruiting window

Michigan coaches who would normally be on the road recruiting have not been seen visiting recruits during an important window, several sources tell The Wolverine.

It is unclear if the program has self-imposed travel restrictions during the spring contact period, if this is an agreement or a mandate by the NCAA, or something else, but some recruits have indicated they’ve been told not to expect staff to visit them until the week of May 19.

Several U-M coaches were on the recruiting trail during the first week of the period in April, but we haven’t heard of any visits from the staff last week or this week. From what we have been able to gather, these travel restrictions appear to be temporary, but could last the next two weeks (given the timetable recruits have reported).

The spring contact period began on April 15 and runs through May 24. A four-day dead period will follow before recruits can begin taking summer official visits on May 29.

Earlier this week, former Michigan assistant coaches Steve Clinkscale and Jesse Minter, now with the Los Angeles Chargers, both received Show Cause penalties from the NCAA for violating recruiting rules. These violations were unrelated to the investigation of former staffer Connor Stalions and his alleged scouting operation.

Michigan self-imposed a visit ban during the 2023 season. Recruits were not allowed to visit for the team’s first two home games. The visit ban stemmed from an investigation into recruiting violations during a COVID-19 dead period, which also resulted in former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who allegedly purchased cheeseburgers for recruits during this period, serving a self-imposed three-game suspension and current head coach, Sherrone Moore, serving a one-game suspension.

According to a statement from the NCAA, those violations involved impermissible in-person recruiting contacts during a COVID-19 dead period, impermissible tryouts, and the program exceeding the number of allowed countable coaches when non-coaching staff members engaged in on- and off-field coaching activities (including providing technical and tactical skills instruction to student-athletes). 

The penalties were agreed upon last spring and included three years of probation for the school, a fine and recruiting restrictions in alignment with the Level I-Mitigated classification for the school.

Michigan now has five commits in its 2026 recruiting class — Top 100 Newberry Park (Calif.) High quarterback Brady Smigiel, On300 Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin cornerback Brody Jennings, three-star Cartersville (Ga.) Cass offensive lineman Bear McWhorter, three-star Washington (D.C.) St. John’s EDGE Tariq Boney and three-star Dallas (Texas) Parish Episcopal wide receiver Jaylen Pile.

Michigan currently has the No. 26 ranked 2026 recruiting class nationally, per the On3 Industry team recruiting rankings. Michigan’s class is also ranked No. 8 in the Big Ten.