Michigan football is finally 'capitalizing on the moment' in recruiting

Michigan Wolverines football has the nation’s No. 5 recruiting class, with the (strong) chance to add to it very soon. To those who don’t follow recruiting very closely, it’s no surprise. Michigan and Georgia are the only two schools to make the last two College Football Playoffs, and the Wolverines are back-to-back Big Ten champions.

However, recruiting in the 2023 cycle didn’t live up to expectations. NIL was a factor, as was having to replace both coordinators and having a slow start (recruits want to be a part of a top class, and Michigan didn’t have that throughout the cycle).

Coming off the 2021 conference championship and first of two-straight wins over arch rival Ohio State, the Maize and Blue signed the nation’s No. 18 class, their lowest since 2018 (22nd). For the first time since 2018, Michigan inked no top-100 prospects. Fans hoping to keep the momentum going were disappointed.

But Michigan has rebounded quickly in 2024, with the Wolverines already holding pledges from two top-100 recruits in four-star quarterback Jadyn Davis and four-star running back Jordan Marshall. That’s reminiscent to the 2021 class, which was led by quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Donovan Edwards and also includes plenty other impact players who’ve made their mark.

Michigan needed a top-flight quarterback recruit in a major way, after missing out on getting a top-100 player at the position in 2022 and 2023.

“Jadyn Davis choses Michigan, and so now Michigan’s got their quarterback for 2024,” FOX analyst Joel Klatt said on the ‘Joel Klatt Show.’ “Michigan desperately needed this to transition from what was a disappointing year in 2023, a year in which they did not sign a five-star player, a year in which they were outside of the top 15 in terms of national recruiting rankings. Now all of a sudden, they are capitalizing on the moment of back-to-back Big Ten championships, back-to-back wins over Ohio State, back-to-back playoff appearances.”

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This is what it’s supposed to look like. Michigan’s NIL efforts from an administrative standpoint still leave some to be desired, but there’s no question collectives like the Champions Circle and Hail! Impact, the newest organization on the block, have helped.

Current players, like McCarthy, for example, can tell prospective student-athletes about their experience with NIL. The class hasn’t signed yet, and it’s not over until it’s over, but NIL doesn’t seem like the hindrance it was in 2023. Couple that with Michigan being one of the hottest programs in the country, and kids are lining up to play in Ann Arbor.

“And now in 2024, they’ve got the No. 3 class so far [as ranked by one service], which if they can keep that up, that would be a huge win,” Klatt continued. “Remember, last year in 2023 they finished third in the Big Ten in recruiting because they didn’t even beat Penn State in recruiting. Penn State had a better class, Ohio State had a better class, and that was surprising after back-to-back Big Ten titles.

“Now, they’re putting a flag in the sand and they’re saying OK, we are gonna compete in this recruiting landscape and Jadyn Davis is a guy that seems very firm in his commitment.”

Landing Davis marked a recruiting win over Ohio State. Those have been hard to come by over the last number of years, but Michigan has had two already in the 2024 class. Marshall, a Cincinnati native, canceled his Ohio State visit after taking a trip to Ann Arbor, and shut his recruitment down with a pledge.

Michigan getting off to a hot start in the 2024 cycle is one thing. But having a signal-caller to build the class around is another important piece.

“He seems like a guy that will now go to work to help Michigan recruit other top players in 2024, which is important,” Klatt explained. “You need that kind of cornerstone piece of your recruiting class that will go out there and help you with other guys. And maybe more importantly, they have a better quarterback recruit committed for 2024 than Ohio State does, and that’s the first time you can say that in a long time.”

“But here’s Michigan, and they’re sitting there and they’ve got a better quarterback committed than Ohio State for 2024, they’re third in the country now in overall recruiting for 2024, next year’s class.

“This is a big get for Michigan and it’s something that they can build on for the future and they’ve needed this, they’ve needed a big recruiting win for a long time and they finally got it with Jadyn Davis five-star quarterback.”