Is Michigan About to Land Big Targets?

[What’s going on, Michigan fans? Welcome back to another episode of The Breakdown. Today, we’ve got Allen Trieu, who covers all of Midwest recruiting for Rivals and On3. Has a weekly column at Detroit News and appears twice a year on Big Ten Network. Allen, man, how you doing, buddy?

Hey, I’m good. a little busy, a little scrambled this time of year, but all is well.

Hey, I hear you, man. Well, I appreciate you coming on. Want to talk some recruiting. Obviously, May has been a very big month for Michigan, but I kind of want to go take a step back and really talk about the recruiting operation that Kyle Whittingham and his team have had really put together. And I remember one of the things that I was I was looking at was even in the midst of everything that was happening in the previous regime, Michigan’s recruiting was still seemed pretty solid to me, right? The recruiting operation seemed pretty solid to me. parents always raved about how every day everyone was attentive and it was efficient. What have you seen the big difference between last year’s staff and the staff that Kyle Whittingham has put together?

The word that I keep getting back is professional. Yeah, I do think that and I think you know I think when it comes to recruiting staffs, you look at both sides of the spectrum and I think you have coaches who know how to recruit. You have head coaches who are very involved. To me, I think there’s been a real big difference in terms of the support staff and just in numbers. I mean, there was a period of time there where they were announcing a new addition to the recruiting personnel staff seemed like every day. And then I think when you talk professional, you have a GM in Dave Peloquin who has worked both in the recruiting space at Notre Dame, but then also done it from the other side of things with you know, marketing and agencies and all that. And then I think when you bring someone like Ron Bellamy back into the fold, he’s such an asset on the operations and recruiting and personnel side of things because he knows what it’s like from the perspective of a high school coach who had a lot of colleges recruit his high school. Then he knows it from being a position coach. He knows what he needed from the support staff. He knows what he got. He knows what he didn’t get. And Ron can help the assistance now from a standpoint of having been in their shoes. And so I think when you add all of that together, that’s why I think you’re hearing those things about it being this very professional and smooth operation.

Yeah. And I remember u there was a little bit of a little apprehension whether or not Kyle Whittingham could and his staff could recruit at this level, right? Were they going to be really good recruiters? And me personally, I think they’ve knocked it completely out of the park as far as on the recruiting side. Now I’m Yeah, of course it started off slowly, but the month of May like really took off where it seemed like they were getting a recruit every few days. What do you think? What was the message that recruits were hearing that were making them feel comfortable committing at that time?

Yeah. So, first of all, that just shows to me and this is not limited to just Michigan’s fan base, every fan base around the country. the thing we always preach is you gotta you got to stay patient especially when there’s a staff change. It was like you know early March and people were going well how come we haven’t gotten many new recruits yet? And so I think you needed to give them time and then they did that. So, I think first of all when they got there right away like towards the end of January, I remember them they were going out and seeing recruits and they weren’t just your position coach is going to show up which is would have been an easy thing to do for a new staff to just sort of try to spread out but they were sending like the entire staffs were showing like Charles Woodson Jr. for instance, the whole staff showed up. You know, Ricardo Kitchen, who was already committed that at that time, they could have sent one coach to make sure he was good. Whole staff shows up in Muskegon, Michigan. And I think the seeds of that ended up kind of germinating into May where a lot of the kids who committed into the class at that point had remembered and they sent a whole bunch of coaches to my school. I heard I heard or several coaches were coming repeatedly. contact was constant. And so I think that the build of that relationship over time, but those seeds were planted back in the winter when they took over and they really prioritized these kids. And then I think there’s just a the thing about coach Whittingham is you’ll you’ll always you hear real a lot and recruiting can be extremely fake. There’s a lot of you’re the absolute best thing and we don’t want anybody else and then next week it’s oh we found somebody else. [laughter] That’s recruiting. It’s a little fake sometimes. And I think when you have coach Whittingham, he’s he’s recruit He is who he is. He’s recruited that way. And I think he’s been able to come to Michigan, add the pieces like Dave Peloquin, Ron Bellamy, those guys to help, you know, push recruiting along, but not compromise in the values that he’s always recruited and coached with. And I think that’s that’s how why the kids are feeling that and seeing that and choosing Michigan.

and that recruiting footprint, Allen, has really branched out, especially in the state of Texas, which I mean, they’ve landed a few guys out of the state of Texas, some highly ranked guys out of Texas. What has been the emphasis in going into Texas?

Yeah. I mean, I think it’s a it’s it’s a good football state and Michigan has had some success there in the past and so I think they’re just again using some relationships and also having the philosophy of this is Michigan. If we identify a player who we like, who fits our system and our philosophy, we should be able to go anywhere and get these guys. So, we’ll go into Texas and we’ll battle Texas and Texas A&M and those schools down there. And so, you know, I think that’s what it is. And Xavier Muhammad from down there in Texas was one of those guys where when I spoke to his family and him after you know he committed they were very much admitted Michigan was not a factor until this staff got there and then again it was not just one coach a whole bunch of coaches came down here whole bunch of coaches were reaching out to us got us on campus did an amazing job and so I think that’s I don’t know that it’s like specific to just they really want to win Texas. I think they’re trying to find the best players they can anywhere and they will not be afraid to go into someone else’s backyard and take some of those and try to win some of those recruitments, which they can because they have the name, tradition, and resources behind them.

Yeah, I think that was pretty evident in the recruitment of Tyson Robinson out of Mississippi. I got to admit, I watched one of his highlights. I don’t I don’t know who put together the highlight, but it wasn’t necessarily the most exciting highlight that I’d seen. I was like, I just don’t get it. And then I watched another highlight of him and I was like, “Okay, I get it.” Talk to me a little bit about that recruitment and how Michigan was able to win that recruitment.

Yeah. You know, had a chance to talk to him and also some of the staff at that school. And again, it was once they identified him as a guy they wanted, once they zeroed in on it, Coach Alford did a really great job there. Again, this is a kid from Mississippi. prior to that, Michigan was not on the radar. It’s not like a kid who was growing up hoping to go to Michigan or even once he started getting recruited thought, I’m going to go way up north and play my college football. That developed very quickly because of the way the staff recruited him, the way that Coach Alford recruited him, and the way that they were again prioritized him. There were some other running backs on the board at that point, but I think the way Michigan really said, “Hey, you’re the you’re the guy in this class that we really want.” Also, were very honest with him about taking two. They ended up, you know, they have two running backs in the class. And I think Michigan was very straight up and straightforward with him, the fact that they were going to take more than one running back.

So, let’s talk about the this class so far. Allen, you talked about, you know, we talked about Tyson Robinson and the idea of them bringing in another running back, London Hampton, who could potentially be a linebacker, right? I’ve seen like he has a lot of versatility, but I like him at running back, but I can also see him probably switching to linebacker. What are your thoughts on that?

Yeah, so I think, you know, every almost every other school recruited him as a safety hybrid, probably growing into a linebacker eventually. Michigan was the one that you know some of those schools mentioned offense but Michigan was the one who came and said fully offense and you know as I understood it that was Tony Alford you know saw the tape and said whoa how come we didn’t know about this guy turned out he had camped at Michigan as a receiver so he had been categorized on the board as a receiver and then I heard that Fred Jackson watched it too and after a couple minutes said turn the tape off we’re good let’s let’s go get this guy. So, Coach Alford wants him and Freddie J wants him as a running back. I don’t think you’ll see him move. Although, it is nice to have that possibility. we’ve seen that happen before. Honestly, like a guy like Kalel Mullings, I think, you know, a lot of people thought he came in as a linebacker. So, I think with London, I think inclined to keep him as a running back. Brings a lot of different things to the table. Brings some versatility, catches the ball well. I’m with you. I mean, and I keep hearing more and more people who have like yourself know the position, have played the position, have evaluated the position, say, “This guy’s kind of a hidden gem.” So, I think, you know, Michigan could have, if you look at how the running back recruiting was going, Michigan had a pretty good board going for a minute there. They had a lot of guys who wanted to visit, they’d gotten a lot of guys on campus. They really zeroed in on Tyson and London as like, “These are the two guys we want.” And so I think that speaks highly for what they think of him and his chance to be a running back in college.

Yeah, I really enjoyed watching his tape. I he kind of reminded me a little bit of a Chris Perry slash I know Michigan fans may not like this, but an Eddie George type of running back. Like just physical, can run, catches the ball really well out of the backfield. Like I really enjoy watching this tape. Allen, let’s talk about the tight end that flipped up from Alabama. Was that seemed out of the blue? I didn’t even know Michigan was recruiting him and then all of a sudden he flips from Alabama.

Yeah. So, first of all, I want to go back one too when we try to put comps on the pages of all of these kids. And so, they said, you know, you know, London Hampton the best. I actually live in my kids go to Ken Hills. So, you know, I’ve seen a lot of London. And they said, you know, who would you comp him to? And I kid you not, Chris Perry was the first name that I thought of. So when I heard that you said the same thing, I was like that I thought of that and I said, can I really put this on his page? First of all, I’m like a lot of our readers who may be on the younger side, do they even remember what Chris Perry ran like? And then am I really about to compare this to a first round pick? So I think I ended up not putting it on there. But when just looking at his body type and the way he ran, Chris Perry was the honestly the first the first guy that I thought of. And then yeah with Cole Lumpus the tight end that flipped. I mean obviously Michigan had been it seemed out of the blue to all of us but they had been working on that one and I think that’s that’s another kind of like feather in the cap when you talk about this staff like they don’t go away on guys that they want. So they stayed on top of that one continued to work with him continued to kind of keep in touch and make sure he knew he was wanted and then were able to get that flip done. So yeah, it kind of seemed like a surprise to a lot of people who maybe from the outside, but Michigan had been keeping in contact on that one.

And what are the biggest needs that Michigan needs to address at this point?

Yeah. So, you know, looking at the class, I think one of the biggest ones still I love Quinton Burrell, but got to have another receiver or two in the class. And I know there’s some big fish still that people are going to ask me about Dakota Grant and some of those guys. And so I think you know wide receiver is still in the class. I mean I know they have couple guys coming up soon. Another edge guy is a possibility/linebacker if AA he’s going to come up this weekend. I wouldn’t say that’s as much of a need though based on where the class is looking currently. They have a pretty good class up front. So, for me, I would say if you had to I bet if you asked most Michigan fans, if we can add a guy at a position in the rest of this class, a big-time guy, what would it be? I would think most would say wide receiver.

Yeah, I ended up watching a little bit of Dakota’s film and he’s legit, man. He’s probably one of the best wide receivers I’ve seen come out of Michigan in some time. Full package. I mean, he’s already got a collegelike body, great speed, runs really crisp routes. So, I’m hoping that we get him. Allen, let’s talk a little bit about the linebacker position because, you know, I know we recently got a kid out of Buford, hasn’t played a lot of football, but from the film that I was able to watch, he’s he’s legit and he I see him play a really good assignment football at every position I’ve seen him play at, whether it was linebacker, whether it was tight end, he has the skill set to play multiple positions. And I feel like Michigan is recruiting guys who have versatility like that.

Yeah, they are. And I think also, you know, around the country, this is the this is the profile of guys who are now coveted at the linebacker position. Linebackers have a hard job in today’s game. You know, it’s not just tackle to tackle, fill a gap, and stop the run anymore. These guys are that these guys have to be able to match up on running backs and tight ends. Sometimes slot receivers play way out in space. So that’s where you see these guys who are maybe converted from other positions or have some offensive film, have some safety film. And so when you look at Braden, first of all, the frame 6’3, you’ll add to the 200 lb. But kind of like what you said, I think the most kind of to me the most interesting part of his evaluation is what he does on the offensive side of the ball when they ask him to run routes and catch the football. and you translate that over to the defensive side where he’s going to be potentially matched up on a guy like that standing up in the slot or being able to cover a tight end, still blitz and come forward. He’s a guy that I think you like because in theory this is a guy who’ll never have to come off the field.

I agree with that. And then lastly, Allen Camden Leott, I don’t think he did very well or performed very well at the Elite 11. And I think there’s got some people probably a little scared about that, but there have been plenty of guys who performed extremely well at the Elite 11 who not performed well at the college level. So, I don’t I don’t want to put a lot into that valuation. What do you think about him as a prospect and does Michigan go out and get another quarterback in this recruiting cycle?

Sure. So, you know, first of all, yeah, I think we always have a debate, a little bit of a debate every year about how much do you adjust rankings based on the Elite 11. I think we’ve arrived at you can’t you can’t do it based just on that. So you have to be able to watch that and decide what did we just see actually applies to the evaluation and what of it is you know just kind of drill work and you know non-applicable type things. I would say remember when they used to do that NFL quarterback challenge. Do you grow up I grew up watching that. Yeah. and they would, you know, they would throw at those targets and they would, it was like a version of the Elite 11. And you know, the best quarterback in the league never won that thing, right? Whoever the best quarterback in the league, I don’t remember Dan Marino and John Elway and those guys ever winning those things. And so that’s what how I take the Elite 11 a little bit. Sure, it’s good. It helps to be able to see guys throw and compete and that kind of thing, but especially a guy like Camden where a lot of his game too is based on like his mobility and things that get taken away in a camp setting. I don’t think I don’t think that you can use that to say, you know, we’re concerned at all about it. So, I really like his game. I think it fits very much what Michigan’s going to want to do, what Jason Beck’s going to want to do. And again, I go back to, you know, they had a quarterback commit in the class. Things got reset. they could have gone anywhere in the country and gotten and at least tried on any single one of these quarterbacks and they offered very few at that point. It got the board was very narrow at that point and Camden was very clearly in the like this is this is again this is the guy that we want that’s the other thing about the guys they don’t throw out just a bunch of offers and see who throw a bunch of mud at the wall and see what sticks like they identify the guy that they want and so this is the guy they want. I think it is. It makes sense when you look at what they want to do system-wise. I do think that it’s possible they’ll take another quarterback. I think that they’ve kicked around the idea of taking another quarterback. It would be sounding like more of a depth guy than it would be someone that is, you know, at Camden Leott’s level. Mhm. So, we’ll we’ll see what happens there. I it wouldn’t it’s not out of the question, but I don’t think it’s a certainty either that a second quarterback will end up in the class.

Well, we’re already in June. July is right around the corner. Allen, do you see any commitments happening in maybe the rest of this month or in July? Like, who are you who are you keeping your eye out on?

Yeah, so I mentioned Fam Adoboe, pass rusher out of Indiana. He’s the one right away. I mean, he was supposed to come up Victors Weekend and he ended up moving his visit to this coming weekend. That’s usually a good sign, you know. So, I don’t know if he’s ready to announce, but I would think I would think that one is trending in a good direction for Michigan. Michigan leads on our predictions for offensive lineman out of California, Lincoln Maggio. He’s another guy from out west who I think Michigan is in really, really good shape for. I’m trying to think of who else. You know, those are the guys I think right now that we have on most like on commitment watch. So, I know, you know, there’s been some questions about Josh Dobson, five-star quarterback. I think that’s still a little bit of a long shot, but Michigan’s going to Michigan’s going to keep trying on that one. He comes up this weekend. But, I would say those other two that I mentioned are probably the biggest ones to watch. Thatcher, you talked about taking a second quarterback. He would be right now the one who’s probably the leader in the clubhouse, although some other schools have kind of come in and really started to recruit him a little bit harder. So Thaddius is coming up supposed to be coming up that Victors Weekend as well.

There you have it, Allen Trieu. Man, I appreciate you coming on the breakdown, man, and breaking down the recruiting and yeah, man. We got to have you back.

Yeah, we’d love to anytime. Thank you. I appreciate it. Allen Trieu.]