Tag: 2012 eligibility

Scholarship Count for 2012

Players are listed in order of remaining eligibility.  With 73 scholarships allotted and 13 seniors scheduled to graduate, Michigan’s recruiting class of 2013 should be around 25.

TOTAL SCHOLARSHIPS ALLOTTED FOR 2012 = 73

– Jerald Robinson left the program

– Stephen Hopkins left the program

– Ricardo Miller left the program

– Tamani Carter left the program

– Terrence Talbott left the program

– Chris Rock left the program

– Ricardo Miller moved from TE to WR

– Michael Cox, Rocko Khoury, George Morales, and Terrence Robinson will not return for their fifth year senior season

– Isaiah Bell left the program

– Brennen Beyer moved from LB to DE

– Jordan Paskorz moved from LB to TE

– Jibreel Black moved from DE to DT

– Chris Eddins moved from DE to TE

– Added class of 2012 signees

– Wide receiver Darryl Stonum has been dismissed from the team

REDSHIRT SENIORS = 8 (Final season 2012)
WR Roy Roundtree

TE Brandon Moore

C Ricky Barnum

OG Elliott Mealer

OG Patrick Omameh

LB Kenny Demens

CB J.T. Floyd

S Jordan Kovacs

QB Jack Kennedy

QB Steve Wilson

WR Jordan Barpal

TE Mike Kwiatkowski

DT Alex Schwab

LB Paul Gyarmati

S Matt Cavanaugh

S Floyd Simmon

SENIORS = 5 (Final season 2012)
QB Denard Robinson

RB Vincent Smith

DE Craig Roh

DT William Campbell

LB Brandin Hawthorne

REDSHIRT JUNIORS = 9 (Final season 2013)

RB Fitzgerald Toussaint
WR Jeremy Gallon

OT Taylor Lewan
OT Michael Schofield
DT Quinton Washington

LB Cameron Gordon
LB Mike Jones

S Thomas Gordon

K Brendan Gibbons

RB O’Neil Swanson
WR Jordan Owens

WR Joe Reynolds
OL Erik Gunderson

DT Nathan Brink

CB Al Backey

S Charlie Zeller

LS Jareth Glanda

LS Kurt Graman

K Seth Broekhuizen

K Kris Pauloski

JUNIORS = 7 (Final season 2013)

QB Devin Gardner

WR Jeremy Jackson

WR Drew Dileo

DT Jibreel Black

CB Courtney Avery

S Marvin Robinson

P Will Hagerup

REDSHIRT SOPHOMORES = 5 (Final season 2014) 
TE Jordan Paskorz
DT Richard Ash
DT Ken Wilkins
LB Jake Ryan

S Josh Furman

RB Jihad Rasheed

TE Nate Allspach
TE Chris Eddins
TE Dylan Esterline
OL Joey Burzynski

OL Kristian Mateus

K Jeremy Ross

SOPHOMORES = 8 (Final season 2014)

RB Thomas Rawls

DE Brennen Beyer

DE Frank Clark

LB Desmond Morgan

CB Blake Countess

CB Delonte Hollowell

CB Raymon Taylor

K Matt Wile

REDSHIRT FRESHMEN = 6 (Final season 2015)
QB Russell Bellomy
RB Justice Hayes
OG Chris Bryant
C Jack Miller
DE Keith Heitzman
LB Antonio Poole
QB Ben Fry
QB Alex Swieca
FB Joe Kerridge
WR Jonathan Keizer
OL Graham Glasgow
K Christopher Smith

FRESHMEN = 25 (Final season 2015)
RB Drake Johnson
RB Dennis Norfleet
FB Sione Houma
OL Blake Bars
OL Ben Braden
OL Kyle Kalis
OL Erik Magnuson
WR Jehu Chesson
WR Amara Darboh
TE Devin Funchess
TE A.J. Williams
DE Matt Godin
DT Willie Henry
DE Mario Ojemudia
DE Tom Strobel
DE Chris Wormley
DT Ondre Pipkins
LB Joe Bolden
LB Royce Jenkins-Stone
LB Kaleb Ringer
LB James Ross
CB Terry Richardson
S Jeremy Clark
S Allen Gant
S Jarrod Wilson

Cullen Christian, ex-Wolverine

Cullen Christian made a brief appearance on the Michigan football team

Like so many others before him, Michigan defensive back Cullen Christian has departed before ever making an impact in Ann Arbor.  The 6’0″, 187 lb. cornerback told Superprep, “I came here to be a part of something big and it has all fallen apart.  Part of you feels like you failed, while another part of you wants to go prove them they were wrong.  I need to move on now and do what is best for me.”

When Christian says “prove them they were wrong,” he’s of course talking about the two coaching staffs who had him lower on the depth chart than lightly recruited fellow freshman Terrence Talbott and walk-on Tony Anderson, among others.

Christian played in ten games as a freshman and made 6 tackles.  However, he was beaten badly on a couple plays and often looked a step or two slow.  There were some questions about his speed coming out of high school, and the biggest question I had was about his tackling.  Despite those apparent faults, he was a top-six cornerback to both Rivals and Scout.  And as a senior in high school, he was selected for the Army All-American Bowl.  I’m not sure that many people expected he would be an instant star at the college level, but I don’t think many people expected him to be buried on the depth chart, either; in addition to the aforementioned Talbott and Anderson, he also seemed to be behind fifth year senior Troy Woolfolk, redshirt junior J.T. Floyd, and classmate Courtney Avery.

Christian is the eighth (or ninth, depending on where you slot 2010 quarterback/defensive back Conelius Jones) defensive back to sign a National Letter of Intent for Michigan from 2007-2010 and then transfer or fail to qualify.  In other words, there are nine defensive backs floating around the free world (or the imprisoned world, in Boubacar Cissoko’s case) who could be playing out their eligibility for the Wolverines right now.  He’s also the seventh player of the 27-member class of 2010 to depart prior to the end of his freshman year.  Rich Rodriguez looks like less and less of a recruiting expert as more than 25% of his class disappears in less than a year.

This probably doesn’t hurt Michigan in the short term.  Christian was likely a third-string cornerback, and that doesn’t even take into account the incoming freshman class, which includes a few talented corners.  But it does potentially hurt Michigan in the long run, especially if other defensive backs continue to flame out at similar rates.  James Rogers essentially defaulted into a starting cornerback job as a senior in 2010, and continued departures could provide more opportunities like that in the coming years.

On the plus side, the Wolverines’ small 2012 recruiting class just increased by one.  A class that looked to be 16 should now be able to take 17 players, and I would not be surprised if that number continues to grow.

I would bet a nickel that Christian ends up transferring to Pittsburgh (UPDATE: You owe me a nickel.).  He’s from the Pittsburgh area, the Panthers were one of his finalists coming out of high school, his former position coach Tony Gibson latched on at Pitt, and he also has a former high school teammate and good friend, Brandon Ifill, who plays defensive back there.  Fellow ex-Michigan defensive back Ray Vinopal transferred to Pitt in recent weeks as well.

For summaries of other departures, check out the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia button at the top of the page.