Wilton Speight: A Michigan Man?

The Michigan coaching staff would like to take one quarterback every recruiting cycle and while they didn't land one in 2012, in 2013 they reeled in 5-star Shane Morris.  Since Morris has been Blue for so long the coaching staff is being very picky about which signal callers will receive an offer from the 2014 class.  Over the last few weeks Michael O'Connor (FL), David Cornwell (OK), Travis Smith (MI), and Caleb Henderson (VA) are the names that have risen to the surface of the quarterback pool.  Tonight I found out that Henderson is probably not the Virginia quarterback the coaches are most interested in.  Wilton Speight contacted me tonight with pretty big news and we talked at length about what has been transpiring over the past couple of weeks.  It went a little something like this:

Wilton told me that his area recruiter, Coach Montgomery, has been recruiting him since last Spring and has talked to him within the past couple of weeks.  Coach Montgomery actually told Wilton that if they offered him they would like him to commit on the spot.  That seems a little pushy but with Shane Morris in the fold and several other big time QB's legitimately interested, Wilton understands and agrees with the approach.  I think most of us know the plan is for Michigan to only take one quarterback, but Wilton told me that they plan on only offering one.  Coach Montgomery has also been in contact with Wilton's high school coach, Mark Palyo, very recently.  Yesterday Coach Palyo told Wilton the Michigan coaches wanted to see him throw very soon, which was news to the quarterback.  In fact, Coach Montgomery was planning a visit to his high school today but it just didn't work out with Coach Palyo being out of the building.  As we wrapped up our conversation Wilton told me he might even give Coach Borges a call tonight to satisfy his curiosity and find out what they should do moving forward.  No more then 10 minutes later, Wilton was calling me back to let me know that he was going to be throwing for Coach Borges this Friday morning at 7 am.  Later that Friday evening he will be playing a big basketball game in front of the coaches from Virginia Tech and maybe Michigan to see what kind of a competitive streak he has on the hardwood.  This is all happening pretty fast for Speight as, up until yesterday, he didn't know anything about throwing for the Coach Borges.  I asked Speight if committing on the spot was a possibility if an offer came after the throwing session and he said in a very well-mannered tone, "With all due respect, that is a decision I will discuss with my parents and my coach."

That well-mannered tone was present throughout our entire conversation which found us discussing things like his recent trips to Los Angeles to work with a trainer to ready himself for throwing sessions, his realization of the importance of social media and self promotion in the recruiting game, and his desire to compete against the best (Shane Morris mentioned specifically) no matter where he commits.  He doesn't currently have an offer but he is in regular contact with Alabama, West Virginia, Georgia, and USC who, along with Michigan round out his Top 5.  He was a pleasure to talk to and seemed to be the exact type of kid that could receive a Michigan offer and lead the Wolverines someday. 

FILM