Tag: Ty Isaac

Ty Isaac, Wolverine

Ty Isaac

USC transfer running back Ty Isaac has announced his intentions to take his talents to Washtenaw County. His mother has an illness that does not allow her to fly from their home in Joliet, Illinois, so the roughly four-hour drive to Ann Arbor is easier on her. He was also considering Illinois and Notre Dame with other teams like Northwestern, Northern Illinois, and Ohio State also showing interest.

Isaac is a 6’3″, 225 lb. player who was a 247 Composite 4-star, the #8 all-purpose back, and #54 overall in the 2013 class. As a freshman at USC, he carried the ball 40 times for 236 yards (5.9 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns.

I wrote a scouting report on Isaac when he was in high school and considering Michigan (LINK).

Isaac was a backup for the Trojans last year, but they had a stacked backfield. He would have been a bit player once again this season, but he enters a Michigan backfield that is waiting for one of many players to emerge at the position. The two front-runners for the position had been sophomores De’Veon Smith and Derrick Green, both of whom were also in the 2013 class with Isaac. Isaac automatically enters that conversation as long as the NCAA waiver comes through that will allow him to play immediately, based upon his mother’s illness.

The depth chart will sort itself out. The best player(s) will play, but I have a hard time imagining all three players finishing out their careers at Michigan. Assuming that Isaac’s waiver is granted and he is eligible to play in 2014, I would not think that redshirting him would be a great idea. If he’s not immediately the best runner, he offers some value as a pass receiver out of the backfield and perhaps in an H-back type of role.

I won’t assign a TTB Rating to Isaac because it’s a little unfair, given that we’ve already seen him playing against FBS-level competition. However, I did say during the recruiting process that I would have ranked him above Green (and Smith), so I probably would have rated him somewhere in the 90’s.

Michigan will probably continue recruiting running backs for the 2015 class because they did not address the position in the 2014 class. It’s less dire of a need, but going two consecutive years without a running back (even if you got three in 2013) is not a good long-term strategy. By seniority, here’s the running back stable as it stands right now:

1. Justice Hayes, RS Jr.
2. Drake Johnson, RS So.
3. Derrick Green, So.
4. Ty Isaac, So.
5. De’Veon Smith, So.
6. Ross Douglas, RS Fr.

The last player to come from Joliet (IL) Catholic to Michigan was Mike Kolodziej, an injury-addled offensive lineman in the 2002 class.

Thoughts on the Ty Isaac situation

Former USC running back Ty Isaac could end up in a Michigan uniform.

In case you missed it, USC rising sophomore running back Ty Isaac has been granted his release to leave and return closer to home, reportedly due to an ill mother. The most important thing in this story is that he has a sick mother, and while the details are unknown to me at this point, I certainly hope she regains her health. As a member of the 2013 class, Isaac was afraid of moving away from his Illinois home for family reasons, so it’s unfortunate that he has to go through this transfer/recruiting process again so soon.

As for the football aspect, Michigan made Isaac a top priority when he was coming out of Joliet (IL) Catholic and only started to press for Derrick Green after Isaac started to drift away from the Wolverines. Michigan ended up getting Green and De’Veon Smith in the 2013 class, both of whom played as freshmen and will be true sophomores this fall. Meanwhile, Isaac had 40 carries for 236 yards (5.9 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns for the Trojans. He was behind a couple older players as well as fellow freshman Justin Davis, but while Isaac had the fewest carries, all of them performed well while sharing time.

My scouting report on Isaac (LINK) indicated that he has good size, speed, and vision but lacked the power you might expect from a back as big as he is (6’3″, 225 lbs.). Green and Smith have failed to separate themselves from the competition of Justice Hayes and Drake Johnson, so in my opinion, the presence of Isaac would help Michigan’s backfield. Early reports say that Illinois, Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Northwestern have all made contact and have a decent chance; Notre Dame, another front-runner in his high school recruitment, might also be in the mix, but they could be nixed by USC since they’re on the Trojans’ schedule.

Michigan has scholarships to give after the 2014 class was signed, and Isaac could very well earn a waiver to play in 2014, much like Tennessee-to-Michigan State receiver DeAnthony Arnett did last year. If Isaac were to decide on wearing a winged helmet, he could conceivably be a starter by this fall. I don’t do TTB Ratings for players who don’t commit to Michigan, but I would have ranked Isaac higher than both Green and Smith in the 2013 class. He’s a more natural runner than Green and has more breakaway ability than Smith.

The Wolverines have historically struggled to pull in transfers (Alabama center Chad Lindsay being a cautionary tale for getting up hopes), partly because of their admissions department. But unlike getting a grad year transfer, Isaac is just a rising sophomore, so getting him into an undergrad program should not be a huge issue. I am skeptical that anything in Michigan’s favor happens, but I do believe he would be a highly desirable addition to Michigan’s program from a football standpoint.

Schools in the News: Washington, USC

Southern California hired Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian away from the Huskies, which opens up recruiting season in the Pac-12. Michigan doesn’t typically compete with Washington for recruits, but here’s a look at the players and commits for each program that were recruited by Michigan.

WASHINGTON
2014 commits: None
Current players: TE Darrell Daniels, DE Joe Mathis, DT Elijah Qualls, S Sean Parker*, WR John Ross, WR Da’morea Stringfellow, S Shaq Thompson

USC
2014 commits: None
Current players: Hit the link.

USC’s coaching/recruiting situation was addressed in the link above, which included a couple guys who thought seriously about Michigan. If they don’t like what Sarkisian brings to the table, they could look to transfer. However, Sarkisian’s history at USC and his relatively similar style of play to what the Trojans have been running will probably result in very little change of direction for the program.

As for the Huskies, we’ll see whom they hire. Parker very nearly signed with Michigan several years ago, but that’s water under the bridge. Mathis was very high on Michigan at one point, but he supposedly had some grade issues that scared off some teams, and he was also prone to saying very nice things about every school. Qualls was a part-time high school running back and seemed like another kid with fairly high interest in Michigan, but he never visited. Thompson, a 5-star safety, made some noise about visiting but was never a serious option, and the rest of the guys never showed much interest.

I do not expect this coaching development to have any effect on Michigan, but the guys to look at most closely would be Washington’s Mathis and Qualls, plus USC’s Ty Isaac and Leon McQuay III.

*Senior in 2013

School in the News: USC

Leon McQuay III may have made a poor choice.

The news came out this morning that Lane Kiffin, head coach of the USC Trojans, is now . . . well . . . the ex-head coach of the USC Trojans. The Trojans lost to Arizona State on Saturday by a score of 62-41 and dropped to 3-2 on the year. It’s open season on their recruits, one of whom (2014 linebacker Derik Calhoun) has already opened up his recruitment. They have just six remaining commits in the current class, and none of them had been offered by Michigan. La Jolla (CA) Country Day offensive tackle Jordan Poland talked at one time about being highly interested in Michigan, but the Wolverines haven’t reciprocated that interest up to this point. And on a side note, class of 2015 quarterback David Sills – who committed to Lane Kiffin a few years ago – is the teammate of 2014 Michigan commits Freddy Canteen and Brandon Watson, which may be something to watch as the Wolverines search for more quarterback targets in the next class.

Transfers might be unlikely in the future, but here’s a list of the current USC non-seniors who held offers from the Wolverines at one point:

WR Nelson Agholor (So.)
S Dion Bailey (RS Jr.)
S Su’a Cravens (Fr.)
RB Justin Davis (Fr.)
LB Lamar Dawson (Jr.)
WR Jordan Farmer (Jr.)
CB Chris Hawkins (Fr.)
C Cyrus Hobbi (RS So.)
LB Michael Hutchings (Fr.)
RB Ty Isaac (Fr.)
WR Marqise Lee (Jr.)
S Leon McQuay III (Fr.)
LB Jabari Ruffin (RS Fr.)
CB Joshua Shaw (RS Jr.)
DT Delvon Simmons (Jr.)
OG Jordan Simmons (RS Fr.)
TE Randall Telfer (RS Jr.)
OT Max Tuerk (So.)
OG Aundrey Walker (Jr.)

Running Back Recruiting

Cordova (TN) St. Benedict’s Jordan Wilkins

Yesterday’s announcement by Joliet (IL) Joliet Catholic running back Ty Isaac that he would be playing football at USC stunned some Michigan fans.  With his recent behavior, it was not surprising that heading to Southern California would be his choice.  Isaac started to withdraw from publicity a little bit, and it seems that when kids start to weary of the process, that’s often because they’re headed somewhere that won’t necessarily be well received publicly.  A kid from Illinois spurning Notre Dame, Michigan, and other midwest schools is going to get a little blowback.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Isaac’s recruitment is over, because schools will probably continue to make a push for him.  But for now, Michigan fans should operate under the assumption that he’s permanently off the board.

Isaac was clearly the top running back prospect on the coaches’ board, so where do the Wolverines go from here?  Well, they already have Warren (OH) Howland running back DeVeon Smith and Novi (MI) Catholic Central jumbo running back Wyatt Shallman.  Both are solidly considered 4-star recruits, they can both play a role at Michigan, and both seem to be strongly committed to Michigan.  What Michigan seems to lack in those two guys is a gamebreaker.  They’re both grind-it-out types who can break tackles or score near the goal line, but neither appears to have the speed and agility to go 80 yards on any given play.

The two names that pop up most frequently are Richmond (VA) Hermitage running back Derrick Green and Cordova (TN) St. Benedict tailback Jordan Wilkins.  While Green claims 4.37 forty speed, that kind of acceleration and explosion isn’t apparent on his highlight film.  The 6’1″, 215-pounder looks more like a between-the-tackles power guy than a big play guy.  With Smith and Shallman already in the fold for 2013, taking a commitment from Green would seem a bit redundant.

Wilkins, on the other hand, looks a lot more like Isaac.  The Tennessee product has more lateral agility than Green, can catch the ball out of the backfield much like Isaac, and has the ability to break the big one.  While I don’t know that I can justify saying that Wilkins is faster than someone who claims a 4.37 forty, comparing junior film of Wilkins and Green makes the former look like the big-play guy that Michigan should be seeking.

Outside of those two guys, who both have offers, the pickings get a little slim.  There aren’t a great deal of options in the midwest, and reaching outside of the midwest is always a tough pull.  Chelsea (MI) Chelsea tailback Berkley Edwards is a Michigan legacy and the younger brother of wide receiver Braylon Edwards, but he’s small and probably not the feature back that Michigan really wants.  Otherwise, he would have been offered already.  Pickerington (OH) North’s Godwin Igwebuike is the teammate of 2013 tight end commit Jake Butt and has an offer from Wisconsin, but again, he’s not a threat to take it the distance.  The only other big-time running back prospect in the Big Ten imprint appears to be Philadelphia (PA) Imhotep’s David Williams, who has offers from Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Penn State.  Williams doesn’t have a Michigan offer and it could very well be too late to get a foot in the door.

It seems most likely at this point that Michigan will once again go without an elite level running back in the 2013 class, which continues the trend that arguably started in the 2010 class.  Fitzgerald Toussaint, a 2009 recruit, was somewhat highly touted but not really a national recruit.  One might even make the argument that you would have to go all the way back to 2008, when Michigan snagged the highly sought after Sam McGuffie, to find an elite running back in a Michigan recruiting class.