Matt Weiss on Michigan QB recruiting: 'I'm figuring it out and learning fast'

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss has been a big topic of offseason discussion. On top of adding play-calling duties along with co-coordinator and offensive line coach Sherrone Moore, the Wolverines also missed on a pair of talented in-state quarterbacks in 2023 five-star Dante Moore (Oregon) and 2024 four-star C.J. Carr (Notre Dame).

Weiss reeled in a pair of Michigan freshman quarterbacks — Jayden Denegal and Alex Orji — three- and four-star recruits, respectively. But after the success of last season, which included winning the Big Ten title and appearing in the College Football Playoff, Michigan hasn’t capitalized with signal-callers in the forthcoming cycles just yet. They are in on elite 2024 quarterback Jadyn Davis, though, the No. 13 overall player in his class per the On3 Consensus.

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Truth be told, Weiss is still trying to find his recruiting touch, and he admitted as much while meeting with reporters Sunday. He was in the NFL, working with the Baltimore Ravens, from 2009-20 and was focused more on developing players than anything.

“Recruiting is really important, because we all understand that the quality of your players is the biggest input to your program,” Weiss said. “So that’s something that we all have a responsibility to do, and it’s something that I take pride in. It’s also something that I’m learning a lot about.

“It’s not something that I did. For the last 15 years, I was coaching football and trying to get better at that — and that’s what I invested in. If I was in college football, I’d have 15 years of recruiting experience, and I’d be a lot better at that, just like any job. I think I’m figuring it out and learning fast.”

Michigan’s short-term outlook at quarterback is really strong, which is why the Wolverines aren’t panicked about missing on some high-profile recruits. Senior Cade McNamara is back after leading the team to great success in 2021, and sophomore J.J. McCarthy is “going to be really, really good,” weiss said. Both have three years of eligibility remaining including this fall.

“With the quarterbacks, yes, that’s what I’m focused on in recruiting,” Weiss continued. “We’re fortunate, too — we’re not in a position where, because of Cade, J.J., other guys who are really talented. We’re not looking to take a transfer like some other programs or anything like that. We’re in a good place. I’m happy with where things are.”

One of the biggest things Weiss has come to find out since joining the Michigan program in 2021 is that relationships are more important in recruiting than he originally thought. Weiss is known for his accumen in schematics, analytics and developing players — all important things, of course — but he’s trying to build better bonds with recruits now, too.

“That’s one thing I’m learning about recruiting. I thought that’s what it would all be about, right?” Weiss said when asked about if Michigan attempts to create an attractive offense for prospective quarterbacks to play in. “In the NFL, guys want to go where — certainly, money is a factor, but usually the money is pretty close, and they pick between the place that is going to utilize them the best, where they’re going to have the best opportunity to win. And that’s where they go. So I certainly thought coming in here, OK, if we can get the offense really good, recruiting will be easy.

“One thing I’ve learned is there is a lot of the relationship element to it. If an NFL free agent signed with a team and went to the press conference and said, ‘I’m just here because I love this position coach, and we have a great relationship; we’re up playing Fortnite every day at two in the morning and this guy is awesome and that’s why I’m here,’ everybody would be like, wow, what’s wrong with this guy?

“But in college, that’s kind of what happens. That’s not the only thing that things are based on, but it matters. I’m learning how to do that, and certainly I’m not playing Fortnite with anyone at two in the morning, but just like I tell the recruits, though, ‘The guy that’s playing video games with you at 11 o’clock at night or whatever, that’s what he’s going to be doing when he should be trying to help you become a better player or he should be game planning or finding ways to make the offense go. He’s going to be playing Fortnite with some 16-year-old.’”

While Weiss acknowledges relationships are important, he doesn’t want to bend too much of his philosophy. And he wants his quarterbacks to fit what Michigan is all about.

“We have a great culture here, we have great guys on the team,” Weiss said. “And a lot of it is a credit to [head coach] Jim [Harbaugh] and the program he built, obviously, but it’s self-select. The guys who do well here are the guys who like football. The guys who are good guys who just want to play football and that’s what they want to do, this is a football cathedral. It’s all the football you can handle, and more.

“Those are the guys that this place self-selects for that. The guys who are into other stuff, whether it’s a locker that turns into a bed or a flatscreen TV in their locker — whatever it is — those guys usually don’t do well here if they come here, and they usually don’t come here. So it’s the same thing with the quarterbacks. We get our types of guys. They want to come here.”

By all accounts, Davis seems like the type who wants to come to Michigan and appreciates the way Weiss and the Wolverines do things. And no fan will complain — in fact, the opposite will occur — if he winds up playing for the Maize and Blue.