The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530730
38 THE WOLVERINE ❱ JANUARY 2025 ❱ FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY EJ HOLLAND M ichigan made the Col- lege Football Playoff for three straight years and took home the national championship just a year ago. On-field success often comes with a big bump on the recruiting trail, but that wasn't necessarily the case for the Wolverines. During its historic run, Michigan struggled to lure high-end talent to Ann Arbor and produced subpar recruiting results. The 2023 class finished ranked No. 18 and featured zero On3 Industry Top 100 recruits, while the 2024 class finished ranked No. 16 with just one On3 Industry Top 100 recruit (running back Jordan Marshall). While J.J. McCarthy was dazzling with his arm, Blake Corum was bowling over defenders and Will Johnson was return- ing interceptions for touchdowns, a dark cloud hung over Michigan football in the form of a potential talent drop-off. What would happen when the stars of the 2019-2022 classes — which all finished Top 15 with three in the Top 10 — left Ann Arbor? Michigan fans got a glimpse of that this year when the Wol- verines suffered from poor quarterback play and entered their November bye week with a 5-5 record. At that moment, the 2025 recruiting class also appeared to be heading towards another cycle outside of the Top 10. Enough was enough. Michigan flipped Belleville (Mich.) quarterback Bryce Underwood, the nation's No. 1 recruit, from LSU in November, leading to a top-10 class on early signing day in December. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL FLIPPIN' FLIPPIN' SUCCESS SUCCESS Michigan Secures Its First Top-10 Recruiting Class Since The 2022 Cycle