The M Bag 5/18

Each week readers of The M Block can submit questions about the team, recruiting, or anything you are curious about and have the chance for your questions to be answered. Here are this week’s answers to selected questions that were sent. To submit a question for Coach Brown you can email questions to themblock@gmail.com or tweet questions @CoachBrown3 with the hashtag #TheMBag.

With the studs we got last year and 2 great backs in Weber and Harris next year. Do we really need a back in this class? - Dave Reese

Coach:  Right now, running back seems to be a position with pretty solid depth and with a talent like Derrick Green arriving in the Fall, hopes are high.  I think you need a lot of able running backs on the team when you are planning to use them like the coaches hope to.  I know they like to have "the guy" handle the bulk of the carries, but if that guy goes down there needs to be a competent replacement.  Right now the running back position seems to be in good shape but I think it would be good to take at least one each recruiting cycle.  That being said there doesn't seem to be a very likely option right now.  There are really only three prospects that currently have offers that I think are realistically considering Michigan.  Michigan is arguably Kalen Ballage's best offer to date but he just doesn't seem to be that high on the Wolverines.  Jonathan Hilliman is someone who consistently mentions Michigan as being a school of interest, but I'm not sure the coaches are really recruiting him that hard.  Finally, Shai McKenzie is built a lot like Derrick Green but isn't rated nearly as high, although his offer list shows that he's pretty coveted.  I still think there's a chance that Richard Wilson, high school teammate of Moe Ways, could get a late look if no one else pans out, and the coaches want to snag a running back in this class.

Quick question; any idea why the coaching staff have decided not to offer Illinois 4* LB Clifton Garrett?  He is ranked very high nationally and has offers from just about all of the major programs. - Alan Nelson

Coach:  Alan, I think this one is pretty simple.  Garrett has been very open with me that he does NOT like Michigan.  If I know that, I'm sure the coaches do too.  About a month ago one of the Michigan coaches stopped by to see him, but that's about the extent of the interest.  I do believe Garrett is a very solid player, but sometimes Michigan just isn't going to have a chance and I think that's the case with him.

Where does Michigan stand with Malik McDowell, Da'Shawn Hand and Jabrill Peppers?  Also if Malik McDowell commits will that affect Da'Shawn Hand's decision on Michigan because of all the defensive end commits? - Brad in Easpointe 

Coach:  McDowell is an interesting prospect.  I recently spoke with his trainer from HYPE, John Vickers, and he said that McDowell is wide open, with no favorites and that he plans to take all of his officials which won't be to any close-to-home schools.  This means he won't be deciding for quite a while and he really could commit to a number of different schools.  He even said that Malik is amused when he hears that Michigan is his leader because he has never said that or even hinted at it.  Obviously he's an in-state kid and he's visited multiple times, but I really do think he's pretty open to whoever.  With Da'Shawn Hand I believe Michigan is in a very close 2nd place behind Virginia Tech.  Hand is getting a lot of home-cooking from his friends and family to stay home and play for the Hokies, and he himself has said that he absolutely loves Bud Foster.  To answer your second question, I don't think McDowell and Hand will play the same position in college so neither of their recruitments/commitments should affect each other, plus you make room for talents like them.  Lastly, Jabrill Peppers is all Blue.  I was given some information a couple of weeks ago that virtually guaranteed he will commit to Michigan, which we now know will be on May 26th.  Once he enters the fold, if he tries to recruit other players like the rest of Team 135 has, anything is possible.  Great players want to play with other great players and achieve great things.

With Clint Trickett deciding to go to West Virginia and Brandon Mitchell, although considering Michigan as an option, stating that he wants to be a starter at his next school of choice, do you honestly think that Hoke and Co. will go to the JUCO ranks for another quarterback? And if so, who? Because it seems like it would be awfully late to get a player of quality (being that most quality players would have signed months ago). Thanks for taking my question, and Go Blue! - Matt Saffold 

Coach:  Honestly Matt, this is not my area of expertise.  I am not very familiar with who is looking to come out of the JUCO ranks or who might be looking to transfer for grad school or whatever other situation might be an option to find a backup QB.  I've heard Mitchell wants to start, but also played some wide receiver at Arkansas so he's intriguing, but I don't see that happening.  I know Coach Borges has said that they will be keeping their options open for JUCO kids or transfers, but any scenario where a new player comes in this late is difficult due to familiarity issues, reps, and just the logistics of getting a kid to campus and enrolled, etc.

Who do you think the 2015 quarterback targets are shaping up to be? I'd imagine Jayru Campbell, Jake Johnson. Any others you could see as potential signal callers? - Will Wallace 

Coach:  I think Campbell and Johnson are naturally on the list to watch just because they are both in-state kids, especially with Campbell being from Cass Tech.  I think the coaches have identified Kevin Dillman from La Mirada High School in California as maybe their top target at QB for 2015.  He has a very impressive offer list already and the coaches have been in pretty regular contact with him.  Other names to watch are Brother Rice (MI) QB Alex Malzone, South Fayette Township (PA) QB Brett Brumbaugh, St. Bonaventure (CA) QB Ricky Towns, Foothill (CA) QB Kyle Kearns, and Comm Dist 99 - North (IL) QB David Edwards.  To my knowledge all of those prospects have been contacted to some extent by the coaches.

2015 Names to Watch: Tyler Woodley

Position: Cornerback
Ht/Wt: 5'10"/172 lbs.
Location: McEachern High School - Powder Springs, GA
Class: 2015
Offers: None

The name Woodley should remind Michigan fans of NFL caliber talent donning the Winged Helmet.  Tyler Woodley is the cousin of former Michigan great, defensive end LaMarr Woodley and cousin LaMarr has definitely rubbed off on the young defensive back.  Hailing from Georgia, Tyler is a huge Michigan fan and he's not shy about it.  "I love Michigan!  I've been a fan since birth.  I love everything about Michigan, the academics, athletics, the diversity, just the whole atmosphere.  My father is from up there, Port Huron.  My cousin LaMarr went there too so it's only right I fall in his footsteps."  Woodley doesn't have any offers yet but he's hearing from schools like Stanford, Princeton, and Ole Miss and Michigan is showing early signs of interest being in his school and making contact.  If Michigan decides to get more involved in Woodleys recruitment won't last long.  "When Coach Hecklinski stopped by my school we didn't talk that much, it was brief, but we shook hands and smiled.  I could tell he liked what he saw.  If Michigan offered me though, I would commit right after it happened with the biggest smile on my face.  Call me crazy but that's how it would happen."   

On film Woodley looks solid to me but not special but keep in mind he just turned 16.  He describes his game as smooth and relaxed but he will gamble and break on every pass he can.  He said his coaches say he is quick off the ball and will come up and hit which I definitely agree with.  His willingness and ability to tackle are two very noticeable things when watching him.  Woodley is a kid who loves Michigan, understands what the Wolverines are about, and has family ties to the university.  Mentally he is the type of player Brady Hoke likes to bring in, it just remains to be seen if he has the talent to match.      

2014 Names to Watch: Jimmie Swain

Position: Linebacker (WILL)
Ht/Wt: 6'3"/230 lbs.
Location: Lee's Summit High School - Lee's Summit, MO
Class: 2014
Offers: Indiana, Kansas State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska

Michigan definitely wants to take at least one more linebacker in the 2014 class and with what happened with Kyron Watson it's pretty clear they want bigger WILL or SAM type.  Jimmie Swain is a highly athletic WILL linebacker out of Lee's Summit High School in Missouri who definitely fits that bill.  The Michigan coaches were just in Swain's high school a few days ago to check on the rising senior and let him know that they are indeed interested.  Swain admitted to not knowing much about the Wolverines at this point, which he said isn't a good thing or a bad thing.  He had this to say about his feelings on Michigan, "I don't have enough information to form an opinion on them at the moment.  I know they have a great academic and football tradition though.  I have no idea right now if an offer is coming but I'd be excited if it happened."  Swain currently has a pretty solid offer list but you could make a pretty strong argument that Michigan would be his biggest one if the coaches decide he's worthy.  Swain said as of right now he doesn't have a leader or a top list but that Michigan is just as in the mix as anyone else.  "I still have to do much more research, but my recruiting process is still open so, yes sir, Michigan has a chance."

Right now the linebacker situation is a bit fluid.  I still feel confident that Chase Winovich will choose Michigan when he decides and there is a possibility that Noah Furbush is still part of the equation as well.  The coaches have shown legitimate interest in Swain and I would not be surprised if he was offered regardless of what happens with Winovich and Furbush.  Swain is highly athletic and passes the eyeball test with flying colors.  He flashes great quickness and is intense in pursuit of ball carriers.  It will be interesting to see what happens with this linebacker situation.   

The M Block Shirt

A while back I put out some feelers to see who would be interested in purchasing an official shirt of The M Block. The response was very positive and I've since gained quite a few followers and traffic on the site continues to increase. I have launched a Kickstarter project to try and gain funding for the project. There is no risk involved for me this way, and if you donate at least $20 you'll receive a shirt, which is the cost of the shirt anyways. If you have expendable money and can donate $50 or more, not only will it help me out even more, you'll receive more than 1 shirt and a chance for tickets to the Michigan vs. Minnesota game on October 5th. Obviously that is the Battle of the Little Brown Jug, but it's also Homecoming and the B1G opener. I feel very blessed to have the loyal following that I do, and would be very grateful for any help I can get. If you'd like to show some support from $1 to as much as you can afford, click HERE and check it out! Thanks guys and spread the word!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brady Hoke

Weekend Visit Reaction from Chase Winovich

 

2014 LB Chase Winovich (Jefferson Hils, PA) spent a big portion of the weekend in Ann Arbor and he seemed to come away pretty impressed.  I was able to catch up with Chase last night to see how the visit went, what stuck out, and what might happen next in his recruitment.

The visit:  It went well.  I had an awesome time.  Lewan and Jake Ryan really showed me around everywhere you know, I mean they're awesome dudes.  If I went back there I wish I could stay with them again and hang out with them.  All of the people there are very down to Earth and they are just good guys you know?  Golfing with Wilton and Ferns went good.  Wilton is an actual golfer so he was pretty good but he couldn't handle my putter game. (laughs)  It was cool, it was great hanging out out there with those guys.  We had a lot of fun out there.

Michigan coaches on LB situation:  They didn't really cover the whole process.  This was a little bit ago but they told me that they would probably only take one more...but then said, 'Dang, we should take two.'"  You know, because of how the linebacker situation is, so take two more, as in three total.  But they never said one word to me like, 'If you don't come here now that spot's not going to be open.' So I assume that I'd still have that spot whether he (Kyron Watson) commits or not.  You know, if I'm not important enough to them where they're willing to wait for me, then I don't want to go there.  I can't control what other people do.  I can only control what I can control.  From what I understand they want him more as an inside guy so that wouldn't really make a difference.  If he's not playing SAM then you are speaking quarterback compared to safety to me you know?  They haven't said a word to me about that so, we'll have to see.

What's next?  I'm trying to get a Pitt visit set up.  I want to stay overnight and get a good look there.  I'm thinking it might be this Wednesday, the weekend, or the following Wednesday.  After that I'll probably have a good idea about what school I want to go to.  With Ohio State and Michigan being like a campus school and Pitt being like an urban campus it could help me decide what feels right.  I'm still trying to investigate a couple of different schools too and get some different looks.  I'm not ready to close any doors yet.  Alabama just came to my school on Friday, Stanford asked me to make a trip out there so it's going to be tough.  When that time does come to make a decision, it's going to be one of the toughest decisions I've ever made, and it's going to be a lot of phone calls. 

Will you decide by the end of May?  Anything is possible, that's all I can say to that.  Whenever it feels right, it feels right and that's when I'll decide.  I can't even say that my Pitt visit will be my last visit.  If Alabama asks me to come down I might make a trip down there or if I can get out to Stanford I might want to see them.  I'm not closing that window yet.  

Leader:  I'm going to keep that one close to my chest.  I think I have a leader in my mind, but I'm going to keep that one close to my chest until that day comes because a lot can change.  I'll leave that up to the speculators, that makes it kind of fun anyways.

Well....sorry for creating more questions than I answered.  Winovich was very hard to get a read on, probably the most difficult to date.  About two weeks ago I was very confident that he would be choosing Michigan but now I'm not as certain.  He definitely didn't say anything negative about Michigan and I think they might be the leader he mentioned, but he was very wishy-washy about who he liked and what he might do moving forward.  Wilton Speight and Michael Ferns both said they knew who the next commit would be on the heels of Winovich's visit so that might be something to value.  Gotta love recruiting!     

Lawrence Marshall Breakdown

 

Michigan fans received some good and somewhat surprising news on friday when DE Lawrence Marshall committed to the Wolverines while on campus. The former Buckeye commit and, what many thought to be a Sparty lean, becomes commit #9/10 for Team 135.  Here's the breakdown.

DE Lawrence Marshall - 6'4" 235 Lbs. - Southfield High School - Southfield, MI

The M Block Rating:  80/100 (★★★★) 4-Star

Strength:         7

Build:              8

Explosion:       8

Rush Moves:   8

Motor:             8

Height:             8

Weight:           8

Tackling:         8

Hands:            9

Offers:            8

Marshall is a kid I'm really high on for many reasons.  When watching his film I noticed a few things right away and one of them is his tackling.  Once he gets his hands on the ball carrier he drives through and finishes tackles.  He uses good technique and doesn't try to sloppily arm tackle with his hands.  He's got good size being 6'4", and at 235 pounds there's still room to put on weight.  Lawrence has good jump off the snap of the ball and great moves to penetrate and get into the backfield.  He definitely makes the most plays at weakside defensive end which is where he will probably play at Michigan.  I also like his hustle.  There are countless plays where he runs down the ball carrier even after he's gotten to the second level.  High energy guys are great for a defense.  Lawrence is a big pick up for Coach Hoke and his staff to keep building upon the great defensive line prospects they have in this class and the previous two and also because of the three team battle it came down to of Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.

Michigan Offers Hjalte Froholdt

Position: Defensive Tackle
Ht/Wt: 6'5"/280 lbs.
Location: Warren G. Harding High School - Warren, OH
Class: 2015
Offers: Arkansas, Cincinnati, Louisville, Michigan
FILM

The Michigan coaching staff continues to dole out offers to rising juniors as they most recently offered Hjalte Froholdt, a big-bodied defensive lineman.  No, that wasn't a typo, the name is Hjalte Froholdt, and he explains it like this, "Alright, it's spelled Hjalte. The H is silent and in my country our "J" sound is like your "Y" sound, and the "T" is kinda like a "D". So you would pronounce it Yelda."  Hjalte is an exchange student from Denmark who is currently staying with a host family in Warren, Ohio.  Being a sophomore currently, he's pretty sure he'll be in the United States next year for his junior year but he explained to me that the Danish school system is completely different from the American concept we are used to, so after next year the situation could get a little complicated.  He plans to live it out like this, he will finish his 10th grade year here, stay for his 11th grade year, and then return to Denmark for one final year of education before returning to the United States to attend college and play football.  I would assume there is a possibility it doesn't happen like that, but he assured me he will be going to college and playing football in the United States.  He also informed me that Denmark has football but it's not nearly as competitive as it is here in America.  He has been playing football for 5 years and he's a member of the Danish National team that competes against other nations in Europe. Hjalte currently holds 4 offers and he told me that Michigan is definitely his #1 right now and he actually has learned a lot about the university.  "I know that it is the most winning football program in the history of the NCAA, and that it is one of the best academic colleges in the world. It would be an amazing opportunity for me because I want to study sports medicine, focusing on kinesiology, which I think is very interesting."   

Hjalte told me that he plays both sides of the ball and punts for his Warren G. Harding Raiders and that he only comes off the field on kick-offs and at halftime.  He's been in the United States for less than a year, but his accomplishments on the football field have been enough to grab the attention of Coach Mattison.  The defensive headman for the Wolverines thought enough of Hjalte to contact his high school coach and offer him a scholarship last week, a message that was relayed to Hjalte after a team workout.  Hjalte told me that it was like a "surreal moment" when his coach told him the news.

This situation is obviously very unique and will be interesting to monitor over the next couple of years.  He did name Michigan his leader right now but even he said he had no idea how his commitment would happen given his arrangements with his education.  He had this to say about other schools and the recruiting process.  "I never really knew about college teams since they're not shown on TV in Europe. It's mostly NFL over there.  I knew that you had to go to college first, but I didn't know any teams.  Along with Michigan I like Notre Dame and Oregon.  I like them because I've heard about them a lot, but in my position I'm interested in the schools that are interested in me, I'm not a die-hard fan."  I learned a lot just talking to Hjalte tonight and I'm naturally curious to see how this plays out.  A situation like his doesn't come along very often so it will be cool to follow and see where he ends up.