Mike Cox, a running back from Avon, Connecticut, has reportedly committed to become a Wolverine. Cox is a sleeper who impressed coaches at the Michigan summer camp. When they offered him this weekend, he did not hesitate to pull the trigger for the maize and blue.

Cox picked Michigan over Duke, BC, UConn, and Maryland, though he had been picking up interest from some bigger programs (i.e. Penn State) lately. He is a north-south runner with good size, who is a likely “Mr. Inside” compliment to Sam McGuffie’s “Mr. Outside,” though neither runner is incapable of going the other way. From reports, Cox sounds like a taller, less elusive version of Mike Hart.

With this commitment, Michigan is full at the true RB position for this recruiting class (Say goodbye to your Michael Shaw, Jonas Gray, or Darrell Scott pipe dreams). They will likely pick up an H-Back (Christian Wilson) to polish off the offensive backfield.

9:30 Update: Scout confirms commitment.

Posted under Recruiting

Per Jim Carty, Lloyd Carr is considering the return of Carson Butler to the Wolverines.

Butler was acquitted of assault charges in the St. Patrick’s Day incident (the other defendant, Chris Richards, was convicted). In light of his legal troubles being cleared, Carr has decided to rethink Butler’s expulsion from the football team.

This will definitely have an effect on the field for Michigan this year, as Butler will be a second option with experience at the TE position to Mike Massey’s perpetually-injured shell of a body. This would allow for both incoming freshmen to likely redshirt.

However, there is a potential negative effect on recruiting, as Michigan recruited two top tight ends to make up for their dearth of bodies at the position. While a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, both Brandon Moore and Kevin Koger are phenomenal athletes, and it would be a shame to lose either of them.

Posted under Personnel, Recruiting

MGoBlue has posted the 2007 football roster.This means we know all the incoming freshman numbers, not just those that were available from the spring game (or able to be guessed).

The freshmen are numbered thusly:

Warren #6
Mallett #15
Clemons #17
Hemmingway #21
Babb #26 (WR)
Woolfork #29
Rogers #30 (DB)
Helmuth #32
Evans #33
Horn #34
Chambers #38
Williams #40
Molk #50
Van Bergen #53
Herron #58
Webb #80
Watson #81
Slocum #91
Sagesse #95

Mallett, Chambers, and Helmuth were already known from the spring game; it had been rumored Warren would be #6 and Clemons #17.

Other item of note: Absent are Schifano, Patilla, and McKinney. Are they off the team? They will remain on the eligibility chart pending further confirmation.

Posted under Personnel

…for 25 years. This is a sort of mixed blessing. If nothing else, it gives us a “name” program on our non-conference schedule in perpetuity, even if Notre Dame isn’t actually as good as their unnecessarily good reputation would imply.

On the other hand, it means we won’t be seeing a variety of non-conference foes who are high in the prestige factor. It will be the same old Notre Dame, over and over again, with the occasional foray into middle-of-the-pack BCS programs, with maybe a power here-and-there.

Used to playing Notre Dam,e always, I call this a net wash.

Posted under Misc.

McGuffie’s Myspace page has gone all-out “Go Blue” mode.

Commitment video can be found here:

http://www.click2houston.com/video/index.html
Click “Most popular” in the box on the right, and the video is in there. I’ll see if I can get someone smarter than me to rip it and put it on Youtube.

Don’t forget, McGuffie’s Cy-Fair team takes on rival Cy-Falls October 18th on ESPN2.

Posted under Personnel, Recruiting

Shocker of the Century!

As expected, Sam McGuffie announced his intention to become a Michigan Wolverine tonight on television. McGuffie is on of the most electrifying players in the class of 2008.

Like fellow Texan Darryl Stonum, there is a chance that McGuffie may enroll for the Winter term at Michigan.

Posted under Recruiting

Jamar Adams, Michigan safety ordinaire, has been named to the preseason watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to the best defensive back in the country.

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Posted under Personnel

Bruce Feldman from ESPN has some impressions from the annual Elite 11 quarterback camp. Going along with consensus, he finds Blaine Gabbert (Neb) the best in attendance, followed closely by ND-bound Dayne Crist.

Michigan’s John Weinke has been stated to be in the next tier of campers, above such players as FSU’s E.J. Manuel (who Tom Beaver of GBW calls vastly overrated by Scout at #5).

The best arm in attendance? Counselor Chad Henne. Feldman says his arm stands out far above such other players as Chase Daniel of Mizzou and Colt Brennan.

Posted under Personnel

Sam McGuffie, he of the perpetually-delayed announcement, is set to announce at his school this Friday. McGuffie will not be announcing on television, so as to avoid the same sort of good-natured (or maybe not-so-good) that Darryl Stonum was subjected to when he announced.

UPDATE: Or maybe he doesn’t mind being harassed on TV. He’s announcing on Sunday.

Obligatory Video Action

Posted under Recruiting

Soon, I’ll be starting a series about things that I think need to be improved for the home field advantage and general atmosphere on Michigan gamedays to be improved. There will be a lot of overlap, so bear with me.

Michigan’s current home field advantage is lacking, not only behind traditionally great stadiums like The Swamp and Death Valley, but also Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Wisconsin, and even Notre Dame.

While much of the blame is placed on the stadium’s structure, there is much more to it than that. Notre Dame Stadium is a carbon copy of the Big House, but much smaller, and the advantage there is much better. It’s a general attitude within the stadium and the fanbase in general that could be improved to help out.

Part One, featuring the band, will come tomorrow (unless there is some real news). The other parts will come whenever there is nothing more pertinent to post about.

Posted under Blog News