The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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10 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MARCH 2024 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Placekicker was supposed to be one of the 2023 Michigan team's big ques- tion marks heading into the season, and for good reason with Jake Moody leaving. Enter James Turner, who spent four years at Louisville before return- ing home. The Saline, Mich., native isn't fond of interviews or being in the spot- light, but he earned them all in convert- ing 18 of 21 field goals with a 50-yard long and a perfect 12-of-12 mark inside 40 yards. The second-team All-Big Ten selection scored 119 points, seventh- most in single-season history at Michi- gan and second-most among kickers, and he converted a single-season-record 65 extra points. He also had a stretch of 13 straight made field goals (tied for the fourth- longest streak in Michigan history). We sat down with him during the postseason for this Q&A. The Wolverine: You were at Louisville when you heard of the opening at Michigan and en- tered the portal. How did you end up back in Ann Arbor? Turner: "Coach [Jim] Harbaugh called me and was like, 'Hey, do you want to come to Michi- gan?' And I said, 'Yeah. For sure.' "It was cool, for sure. This whole season has been a full circle kind of moment." The Wolverine: You had one of your best games and came up huge against Ohio State (field goals of 37, 38 and 50 yards) in the win to earn Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, and you were also part of a team that beat Michigan State in East Lansing, 49-0. What stands out about those moments? James Turner: "I never thought I would do that in that [Ohio State] game, for sure, so that was awesome. It was just crazy — surreal. "My dad went to Michigan State, so … I had wanted to go to Michigan State, but it didn't end up working out. I had a preferred walk-on offer to Michigan, but someone committed here before me, so that spot was filled. I had to go elsewhere, then come back later." The Wolverine: How'd your dad take it all being a "Sparty?" Turner: "He was excited [laughs]. He wears Michigan stuff now. I don't think he's going back. I think he's a Michigan fan now, for sure." The Wolverine: How did you end up at Louisville before coming to Michigan? Turner: "I didn't have too much opportu- nity coming out of high school. The PWO to Michigan fell through, so coach Stu Holt gave me a chance at Louisville. I went down there, and it just kind of worked out from there pretty much. I have nothing bad to say about Louisville, at all." The Wolverine: How would you sum up your experience here? Turner: "This has just been really cool. The Rose Bowl … I said in a recent interview it's kind of a Midwest kid's dream to go to the Rose Bowl … ev- eryone looks forward to the Rose Bowl, and I was always watching. But all of it … it's all been great." — Chris Balas ❱ Sitting Down With Michigan Kicker James Turner Michigan won the 2023 national championship with a magical 15-0 season. The Wolverines join the Georgia Bulldogs (2021, 2022), Alabama Crimson Tide (2020), LSU Tigers (2019) and Clemson Tigers (2018) as recent champs, but they didn't recruit like the others leading up to their title season. In the five recruiting cycles prior to the 2023 cam- paign (2019-23), 67 of the 119 recruits Michigan signed were blue-chip recruits — which are defined as four- and five-star prospects — per the On3 Industry Ranking. That 56.3 percent ratio is lower in a five-year average ahead of winning the champi- onship than any other champion in the 10 years of the College Football Playoff era (since 2014). Every other title winner was at 60 percent or higher, and five posted percentages better than 78. The Athletic writer Ari Wasserman has coined the phrase, "stars matter," a simple theory founded on the principle that the teams with the most talent win the most games and compete at the highest level of the sport. Michigan tested the hypothesis, though, by winning with lower-rated players who had a lot of experience, particularly on the CFP stage, and a coaching staff that developed at an elite level. Wasserman wrote that Michigan "proved that in today's college football, stars aren't the only thing that matters. Michigan did something I've repeatedly said is impossible. Michigan proved me wrong. As a result, it has forever changed how I view the sport. "For the entire College Football Playoff era — dating back to the 2014 season — the four-team field has been dominated by super teams that have consistently destroyed their peers on this stage, year after year, game after game, title after title. Until Michigan. "That may sound odd given Michigan was an undefeated Big Ten champion and a 2.5-point fa- vorite over Alabama heading into the Rose Bowl. But it's true." Wasserman pointed out that Alabama — whose 2019-23 recruiting classes possessed just 10 re- cruits that weren't blue chips — was the "second- most talented roster, on paper, in the modern re- cruiting era, dating back to 2002." Yet, Michigan still knocked off the Crimson Tide, 27-20, in overtime, before beating Washington in the national title game, 34-13. The next-lowest blue-chip ratio among a CFP title- winning team was Clemson in 2016 (60 percent). — Clayton Sayfie MICHIGAN'S BLUE-CHIP RATIO AN OUTLIER AMONG CFP CHAMPIONS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS IN CFP ERA Season Team Blue-Chip Ratio* 2023 Michigan 56.30% 2022 Georgia 78.40% 2021 Georgia 79.34% 2020 Alabama 80.80% 2019 LSU 64.17% 2018 Clemson 67.02% 2017 Alabama 81.10% 2016 Clemson 60.00% 2015 Alabama 79.37% 2014 Ohio State 67.62% * Five-year class average in On3 Industry Ranking MICHIGAN BLUE-CHIP RATIO LAST 10 CYCLES Class 4/5-Star Total Blue-Chip Recruits Signees Ratio 2024 14 26 53.8% 2023 9 25 36.0% 2022 12 22 54.5% 2021 12 22 54.5% 2020 16 24 66.7% 2019 18 26 69.2% 2018 8 21 38.1% 2017 24 30 80.0% 2016 14 30 46.7% 2015 6 14 42.9% Total 133 240 55.4% Turner, a second-team All-Big Ten selection, converted a single- season school-record 65 extra points in 2023. PHOTO BY GABRIELLA CERITANO