Grosse Pointe (MI) South cornerback Will Johnson committed to Michigan on Sunday afternoon. He picked the Wolverines over offers from LSU, Ohio State, USC, and a bunch of others.
Johnson is listed at 6’3″ and 190 lbs. He’s a
RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 87 grade, #4 CB, #29 overall
Rivals: 5-star, 6.1 grade, #4 CB, #13 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 95 grade, #6 CB, #33 overall
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Quavian Carter – S – Leesburg (GA) Lee County: Carter is a 6’4″, 200 lb. prospect with offers from Penn State and Tennessee, among others. I’m very surprised he doesn’t have a ton of other big offers, because he’s big and fast and aggressive. He might end up growing into a linebacker at the next level.
Jaylen Lewis – CB – Brownsville (TN) Haywood: Lewis is a 6’2″, 175-pounder with offers from Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, and Ole Miss, among others. He’s a 3-star, the #46 cornerback, and #462 overall. Michigan has sensed a weakness in Tennessee with the Volunteers facing trouble from the NCAA, so the Wolverines are offering every decent prospect in the state to try to take advantage.
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Reigniting the look at past recruiting classes, here’s a gander back toward 2008. Remember that 2008 was Michigan’s transition class between Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez. The roster had promising players at safety (Brandon Harrison, Stevie Brown, Michael Williams) but no real standouts.
It turned out that Michigan’s best safety would come from the 2008 high school graduating class. But the great Jordan Kovacs would not join the team until 2009 as a walk-on.
THE ROSTER
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Michigan linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary is headed to Tennessee.
As I mentioned back in December – and previously – I have not been a big fan of what I’ve seen from Jean-Mary (LINK). He was in my bottom five coaches on Michigan’s staff, and four of those five have now departed (with defensive line coach Shaun Nua the only holdover).
I hope this does not have a negative effect on Junior Colson or Jaydon Hood, who were both recruited by Jean-Mary. Kids generally seemed to like him as a recruiter. I just don’t know how good he is at developing guys once they’re on campus. The linebacker play took a step back last year, and a bunch of linebackers transferred or left early and shouldn’t have.
This move seems to indicate that new co-defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald will take over coaching the linebackers. Previously, Macdonald said he would not coach a particular position and would “get in where he fit in” from practice to practice.
Normally I wouldn’t devote a whole post to the commitment of a former Michigan Wolverine to another school, but this one is special. Because former Michigan fullback/running back/linebacker Ben VanSumeren committed to transfer to the Michigan State Spartans.
Is it okay to dislike VanSumeren now?
Yes. Yes, it is.
Sports are built around rivalries and competition, and VanSumeren could have gone to 127 other programs without much of an issue, anywhere except Michigan State or Ohio State. Instead, he chose to go to the in-state rival. It’s understandable to an extent that an in-state kid (VanSumeren is from Garber High School in Essexville, MI) would want to stay close to home, but if you’re truly a proponent of the University of Michigan, you don’t transfer to Michigan State or Ohio State.
VanSumeren was a man without a position in Ann Arbor. He should have been a fullback, except Michigan basically got rid of that position with the hiring of offensive coordinator Josh Gattis in 2019. Michigan tried him at running back, but 9 carries for 20 yards and 1 touchdown didn’t show much. Michigan tried him at linebacker (7 tackles in 2020), but he was lost. Maybe he would have been better if he hadn’t played three different positions in three seasons.
I don’t wish ill upon Ben VanSumeren or his family, but I do hope he loses every remaining game of his college career.