With the early signing day approaching tomorrow, December 15, it certainly seems like things have gone wacky. Gone are the days when teams lost and hired new coaches around the New Year, giving those staffs five or six weeks to come together and sign players in early February. Welcome to the days of coaches being fired or jumping ship so the school can have someone in place to try to salvage recruiting classes for mid-December. I won’t say it’s an unforeseen problem – plenty of us talked about it – but it has put fans, players, coaches, and schools in positions we’ve never seen.
I thought about putting together a post for each of the national awards that Michigan players have won, but that would be a bunch of different posts and a lot to keep udpated. Instead, I’ve decided to compile a bunch of national awards into one post while listing the Michigan winners and their season.
NOTE: If there are any awards you think I should add, please let me know.
I always love football season, but one thing I look forward to when it’s over is getting back to a little more reading. So here are a couple books I’ve finished recently (and one I’m reading now). Let me know in the comments what you’ve been reading.
The Poet by Michael Connelly. I just finished The Poet after skipping it a little bit earlier. I was trying to read the Harry Bosch books in order, but just before I read The Narrows, I saw that it was a follow-up to The Poet. Since Bosch wasn’t a character in it, I didn’t think it was necessary. Anyway, The Poet is about a reporter named Jack McEvoy whose brother was murdered by a serial killer. McEvoy goes on a nationwide search for the story, which ends up with him teaming up with the FBI in an attempt to find the killer. There’s no mention of Bosch anywhere, but he does end up in Hollywood at one point and a couple characters from the Bosch universe are mentioned. Now I’m looking forward to seeing how The Narrows ties in to the separate character arcs.
Dune by Frank Herbert. Some of you are going to be upset with me, but I was not a big fan of Dune. It took a long time to get into it. One of my issues with a lot of fantasy books is that authors often try to dump you into the middle of a universe about which you have no idea what the terms mean. What is Arrakis? Where is it situated in the universe? When is it supposed to have taken place? How did these people get there? How do they all speak the same language? What do all these individual words mean that Herbert seems to have created? I wanted to finish reading the book before the movie came out, but unfortunately, I just didn’t have time and missed being able to go see the movie in the theater.
I’m currently reading ‘Cane Mutinyby Bruce Feldman, which tells about the rise of Miami football. Feldman is a Miami alum who obviously has some ties to the school, and he talks mainly about the time from coach Howard Schnellenberger onward. I really like Feldman as a writer, but it’s kind of funny to me how awkward some of his writing is in this, which was his first book. He’s definitely improved as a writer since this book was written in 2004. (The title is a play on the movie The Caine Mutiny which came out in 1954.)
Merrillville (IN) Merrillville defensive tackle Kenneth Grant
Merrillville (IN) Merrillville defensive tackle Kenneth Grant committed to Michigan on September 28, 2021. Being in the midst of football season myself, I simply didn’t have time to post about him then and let it slide for a couple months. I apologize for the delay.
Grant picked Michigan over offers from Ohio State and Wisconsin, where he took official visits, and a several other schools.
Olu Oluwatimi – C – Virginia: Virginia center Olu Oluwatimi is visiting Michigan this weekend as a grad transfer. He’s a 6’3″, 310 lb. player who is a three-year starter for the Cavaliers. After redshirting at Air Force in 2017 and sitting out 2018 to transfer, Oluwatimi turned into one of the top three centers in the country, according to Rimington Award voters and Pro Football Focus. Michigan loses sixth year senior Andrew Vastardis at the position, so there’s an opening with only unproven players (Greg Crippen, Raheem Anderson, Reece Atteberry) in the pipeline at the position.
DeaMonte Trayanum – RB – Arizona State: Trayanum is a 5’11”, 235 lb. back who played his high school ball at Akron (OH) Hoban, where he was offered by Michigan and was a teammate of former Michigan offensive lineman Nolan Rumler (who is in the transfer portal). Trayanum had 78 carries for 401 yards (5.1 yards/carry) and 6 touchdowns this season. He’s a power back without much top-end speed.
2022
Darrius Clemons – WR – Portland (OR) Westview: Clemons is a 6’3″, 205 lb. prospect who took an official visit to Michigan in June. He has been all over the place and seemed to be headed to Michigan, Penn State, Auburn, and Oregon at various times. He’s a 4-star, the #30 wide receiver, and #171 overall. This is going to be an unofficial visit, so that seems to be noteworthy if the visit actually happens.
Derrick Moore – DE – Baltimore (MD) St. Frances: Moore is a 6’4″, 250-pounder with offers from Alabama, Florida, Michigan, and Oklahoma, among others. He was committed to Oklahoma until Lincoln Riley took the head coaching job at USC. He’s a 4-star, the #16 defensive lineman, and #106 overall. I was under the impression that Michigan would not be able to recruit Moore because his former head coach at St. Frances, Biff Poggi, now has an off-the-field position at Michigan; I guess I must be mistaken, but I will try to get more information on that situation.
Alex Orji – QB – Sachse (TX) Sachse: Orji is a 6’2″, 226 lb. prospect who is committed to Virginia Tech; he also has offers from Baylor, Houston, and Michigan, among others. He’s a 3-star, the #28 quarterback, and #417 overall. Orji accounted for 3,200 yards (2,000 passing and 1,200 rushing) and 52 touchdowns (28 passing, 24 rushing) as a senior. Orji is more strong and tough to bring down than quick, but he has a nice, strong arm and throws a pretty good deep ball. Virginia Tech just fired Justin Fuente and hired Brent Pry
Deone Walker – DT – Detroit (MI) Cass Tech: Walker is a 6’6″, 350-pounder with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Michigan, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #30 defensive lineman, and #243 overall. A guy who seemed like an early Michigan lean, Walker lately seems to have more buzz surrounding Kentucky. Almost 92% of his crystal ball picks are in favor of the Wolverines, but I don’t think those pickers are very confident. This is a mid-week official visit, as he will be officially visiting Kentucky this coming weekend.
2023
Jayden Limar – RB – Lake Stevens (WA) Lake Stevens: Limar is a 5’11”, 190 lb. back with offers from Arizona State, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Washington, among others. He’s a 4-star, the #14 running back, and #230 overall.
