Tag: Ex-Wolverines

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.

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Jordan Elliott, Ex-Wolverine

Jordan Elliott (image via Scout.com)

Houston (TX) Westside defensive tackle Jordan Elliott decommitted from Michigan on Wednesday night. He is expected to commit to Texas sooner or later.

Like Elizabeth Taylor, Elliott has been “committed” several times. He was a Baylor commit and a Houston commit before he pledged to Michigan. At some point in there, he was rumored to have silently committed to Texas. Now he will probably sign with Texas next Wednesday. Unless the wind is blowing north, in which case he will end up at Boise State. If he wakes up and sees his shadow on Wednesday morning, he will sign with Punxsutawney Community College. If he doesn’t see his shadow, he’s a vampire. According to NCAA bylaws, vampires are ineligible.

Hit the jump for more.

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Rashad Weaver, Ex-Wolverine

Rashad Weaver

Cooper City (FL) Cooper City defensive end Rashad Weaver decommitted from Michigan on Monday. He had been committed to the Wolverines since June after being offered during one of Michigan’s satellite camps in Florida. Here’s his post on Twitter, which I think sounds appropriately bitter:

Decommit…. pic.twitter.com/lQAKijMzyW

— ▲Shad▲ (@R_Weaver80) January 26, 2016

As you can see if you like, I was not high on Weaver when he committed (LINK). I gave him a TTB Rating of 45, which is/was the lowest of Michigan’s 2016 recruiting cycle. Then Weaver went out, and no doubt through hard work, made me eat some of my words. I thought he took some tremendous steps forward as a senior, and I was no longer regretting Michigan’s decision to offer him a scholarship. (Certain recruiting insiders were saying that Michigan viewed him as a top-5 defensive end in the class when they initially offered.)

Hit the jump for more.

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Allen Gant, Ex-Wolverine

Allen Gant (#12)

Rising fifth year senior linebacker Allen Gant has chosen to move on from Michigan. He will “explore other options,” which often means attempting to transfer to another school. After four years in Ann Arbor, he should be eligible to play immediately as a graduate transfer.

The son of former Michigan safety Tony Gant, Allen committed to Michigan in May 2011 (LINK) as a part of the class of 2012. He was recruited as a safety, but he never really contributed in the secondary. During his four years, he was mostly a special teamer and occasionally contributed as a backup linebacker in mop-up situations. He redshirted in 2012 and went on to make just 7 tackles in the next three seasons. He played SAM linebacker this past season, a position that was not used often since the Wolverines spent a lot of time in a nickel package. Theoretically, the SAM spot opened up with the graduation of James Ross III, but Gant probably wouldn’t have been the one filling that role, anyway.

As you can see, I was not much of a fan of Gant’s game when he committed. I gave him a TTB Rating of 58 initially and bumped that up to a 63 at the end of the recruiting cycle. Even those relatively low ratings were overestimations. He also had offers from a couple MAC schools, Cincinnati, Illinois, Kentucky, Stanford, and West Virginia. Like other former Wolverines, perhaps he can move on to the MAC and make some kind of impact. This departure had been expected for a while, and it should not hurt Michigan going forward.

Antwaine Richardson, Ex-Wolverine

Antwaine Richardson

Delray Beach (FL) Atlantic cornerback Antwaine Richardson decommitted from Michigan on Thursday. He had committed to the Wolverines back in June after participating in one of Michigan’s satellite camps (LINK).

Richardson was working on a torn ACL when he camped, which made it even more impressive that he earned a Michigan offer. The Wolverines coaching staff initially thought he could enroll early, take advantage of the rehab facilities/strength and conditioning program, and be ready to play by the fall. That plan changed a month or two ago when Richardson tweeted out that he would no longer be enrolling early, and that he would come to campus in June. That presumably happened because Michigan was filling up with the other seven early enrollees, but now it appears he won’t even be coming in June.

From Michigan’s standpoint, this is not a huge loss. I gave Richardson a 72 rating, and he didn’t even get to play and hone his skills as a high school senior. Without enrolling early, he would have missed out on yet another opportunity to develop. Even if Michigan strikes out on other cornerback targets, such as Lavert Hill, and athlete Jordan Fuller, it’s not too difficult to replace someone of Richardson’s talent level. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #85 cornerback, and #901 overall, and much like Erik Swenson, that ranking may have been propped up a bit by his status as a Michigan commit. Now that the rankings are done or almost done for the cycle, he probably won’t drop much; the rest of his offer list is decent but nothing special, including Florida Atlantic, Iowa State, Miami, South Florida, and Wisconsin, among others.