Brian Cole, Ex-Wolverine

Brian Cole

Rising sophomore safety Brian Cole has been released from Michigan’s football program. He played in three games this past fall, mustering 1 reception for -1 yard against Utah when he was still playing offense. Later in the year – after a stint in the doghouse and a move to safety – he started earning some hype with his play in practices.

Cole was from Saginaw (MI) Heritage as part of the 2015 class and was a jack of all trades for his high school team. He ran the ball, caught the ball, played safety, returned kicks, punted, etc. His athleticism was good enough that he was ranked as a 247 Composite 4-star, the #5 athlete, and #74 overall. That made him Michigan’s 38th-best recruit in the Rivals era (LINK), which is no small feat. He was an Under Armour All-American and enrolled early at Michigan last winter.

Hit the jump for more on Cole and the state of the roster.

There were red flags in high school. Sometimes I try to be careful with what I say about high schoolers, but in retrospect, I should have weighed those red flags more heavily. I gave him an 84 rating (LINK) when he committed, but he was suspended multiple times during his high school career for behavior-related issues. In my experience following recruiting, those players don’t often pan out, at least not at Michigan. There have been others that I have downgraded due to similar issues, and frankly, I have not seen any of them overcome their earlier weaknesses. People can change, but the saying “A tiger doesn’t change his stripes” is often pretty appropriate.

Cole is the first signee from the 2015 class to leave Michigan. While he was originally a wide receiver, he leaves the safety position pretty thin for the future. Michigan returns two guys with starting experience going into 2016 (Delano Hill and Dymonte Thomas), while rising sophomore Tyree Kinnel got a little bit of playing time last year. Other options include redshirt sophomore Jabrill Peppers – the starting nickel corner – and fifth year senior Jeremy Clark, who played safety for a few years before moving to corner last season. The incoming freshman class has Josh Metellus and Khaleke Hudson. There’s a good chance that four of those aforementioned players will be gone after 2016 (Hill, Thomas, Peppers, and Clark), so the 2017 depth chart could realistically be Kinnel, Hudson, and Metellus. Michigan might need to do some reshuffling of its defensive backfield, aim to look for transfers, or bring in some guys who can contribute early in the 2017 class.

Steve Lorenz from 247 Sports says Arizona, Arizona State, Kentucky, and Pitt are all potential landing spots for Cole.

Michigan is down to 88 scholarship players for 2016 (LINK). At least 3 more players need to depart for the fall, and that’s not accounting for some more commitments to come next week.

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