To many University of Michigan football fans, the clock officially just started ticking. Second-year coach Rich Rodriguez, coming off an un-Wolverine-like 3-9 season that many Michigan fans were willing to write off as a mulligan, can no longer say he’s playing with someone else’s hand. These players are his now.
With the passing of National Signing Day – and the Wolverines again loading up with high school talent that most major scouting firms rank in the top 15 in the country – Michigan fans won’t show the patience they did in Rodriguez’s first season after leaving West Virginia to come to Ann Arbor.
Wolverine fans will expect results, and while most will stop short of demanding a national title, or even a Big 10 crown, they’ll certainly expect more from a Rodriguez-run offense than they saw last fall. Terrell Pryor is a distant memory, only to resurface when the Wolverines meet Ohio State for their final game of the season. Rodriguez may have found the player to make Blue fans forget Pryor when he scored prep standout Denard Robinson, an athletic quarterback from Deerfield Beach, Florida. Robinson, along with incoming Tate Forcier of San Diego, will be in competition for snaps this season.
Throughout the state of Michigan, much has been made of the fact that Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio won the in-state recruiting battle by landing more Michigan prospects, but did he? U-M and Rodriguez still claimed the top prize when they nabbed defensive tackle William Campbell of Detroit Cass Tech, unanimously ranked the top prep player in the state.
In all, Rodriguez got commitments from four players from Michigan, seven from Florida, and two from the Buckeyes’ backyard in Ohio. Here is the complete list of 22 players who committed to the University of Michigan this week:
Issiah Bell (6-0, 209) linebacker, Youngstown, OH
William Campbell (6-5, 317) defensive tackle, Detroit, MI
Vladimir Emillen (6-0, 186) defensive back, Lauderhill, FL
Tate Forcier (6-0, 184) quarterback, San Diego, CA
Jeremy Gallon (5-8, 165) slot receiver, Apopka, FL
Brendan Gibbsons (6-0, 202) kicker, West Palm Beach, FL
Cameron Gordon (6-2, 211) wide receiver, Inkster
Thomas Gordon (5-10, 199) safety, Detroit, MI
Brandin Hawthorne (6-0, 181) linebacker, Pahokee, FL
Mike Jones (6-2, 200) defensive back, Orlando, FL
Teric Jones (5-8, 186) running back, Detroit, MI
Anthony LaLota (6-6, 260) defensive end, Princeton, NJ
Taylor Lewan (6-7, 272) offensive line, Scottsdale, AZ
Denard Robinson (6-0, 179) quarterback, Deerfield Beach, FL
Craig Roh (6-5, 230) defensive end, Scottsdale, AZ
Michael Shofield (6-6, 272) offensive line, Orland Park, IL
Vincent Smith (5-6, 159) running back, Pahokee, FL
Je’Ron Stokes (6-1, 178) wide receiver, Philadelphia, PA
Fitzgerald Toussaint (5-10, 185) Youngstown, OH
Justin Turner (6-2, 186) defensive back, Massillon, OH
Quinton Washington (6-4, 320) offensive line, St. Stephen, SC
Adrian Witty (5-9, 175) defensive back, Deerfield Beach, FL
Click here to see the 2008 recruits who committed prior to Rodriguez’s first season.
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