The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 47 ❱ COMMIT PROFILE BY ETHAN MCDOWELL B rady Smigiel committed to Michigan over South Carolina, UCLA and a laundry list of prestigious Power Four offers. He's the highest-ranked commit of the 2026 cycle as the No. 92 recruit in the country and the No. 9 quarterback nationally. Michigan's class sits at No. 28 in the On3 Industry Team rankings. Smigiel is going to be one of the leaders of the cycle, and he plans on embracing that role. He will join fellow commits Jaylen Pile and Bear McWhorter as vocal recruiters for the Wolverines. The Top 100 quarterback took a wind- ing road before committing to U-M, but he always loved the school. He's ex- tremely passionate about the program now that he's less than a year away from moving to Ann Arbor. "I think I'm going to be able to be de- veloped in every single factor of my life at Michigan, and I think it starts with the people they recruit," Smigiel said. "They recruit not only really amazing football players but really amazing human beings that are willing to work hard every single day and get better. "Obviously, you want to surround yourself with the best, and I think that's what you get at Michigan." The Los Angeles Times Player of the Year and the Southern Section Division II Offensive Player of the Year, Smigiel completed 219 of 336 passes for 3,521 yards and 49 touchdowns with just 3 in- terceptions last fall. He heads into his se- nior season with 11,222 yards passing and 147 career touchdown passes, according to MaxPreps, which selected him to its first-team all-state squad. His Newbury Park (Calif.) team ended 2024 with a 14-1 record, winning the CIF Southern Section Division 2 champion- ship before falling in the regional final. Smigiel made his commitment public April 26. He has been working hard with his Newbury Park squad during spring workouts, and he now feels ready to turn his attention to assembling this class. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to make this class right," Smigiel said. The quarterback has taken it upon himself to convince priority offensive targets to join him in Ann Arbor. The four-star junior wants to team up with a playmaking running back and build a strong offensive line class. He also has an interesting connection with Top 100 tight end Matt "Moose" Ludwig. Smigiel's uncle is Ludwig's of- fensive coordinator at Billings (Mont.) West High. Smigiel knows the tight end is very interested in the Wolverines. "I'm working on Moose really hard right now because he's obviously a stud at tight end," Smigiel said. Ludwig has a June 20 Victors Weekend official visit set with Michigan. Smigiel has not locked in his OV date yet. Still, he fully plans on making frequent trips to campus before enrolling in January. He has already talked to head coach Sher- rone Moore about that. "I love it in Ann Arbor," Smigiel said. "We loved it the first time, and we love it even more now. I said, 'However many times you need me to come up there, I'm willing to.' And he said, 'We're going to have you up more than just one weekend to help recruit.' … When I'm off of prac- tice, I'm going to be up in Ann Arbor." Smigiel also is in contact with one of Michigan's elite receiver targets — Calvin Russell. The 6-5½ pass catcher from Opa Locka (Fla.) Northwestern High is the No. 46 recruit nationally, and he vis- ited the U-M campus this spring. A mutual connection put Smigiel and Russell in contact with each other, and the Michigan commit wants to team up with the nation's No. 5 wide receiver. "He's obviously a stud, and he has se- rious interest in Michigan," Smigiel said. Thanks to his strong bond with the U-M program and coaching staff, Smi- giel already has a recruiting pitch for Ludwig, Russell and many others. "If you want to get developed in every single aspect of your life, I think that's what Michigan brings the most out of anywhere," Smigiel said. "I think there's a lot of schools that do it like Michigan, but nobody like Michigan. "I think Michigan is S-Tier [best of the best] when you talk about just develop- ment, just the way they handle things with their nutrition, their weight room, their education. They just do everything right. There's no shortcuts, and you're going to be a man when you graduate and leave from Michigan. And that's just my pitch because it's the truth." ❑ QB Brady Smigiel Is Ready To Help Build U-M's 2026 Class PLAYER EVALUATION STRENGTHS: "Brady Smigiel is a polished, developed, productive quarterback prospect who has a lot of experience at the high school level so far. He's advanced relative to the amount of snaps he's seen. Playing for his dad at Newbury Park, he has a really good grasp for what they run on offense. He has put up good, raw passing numbers throughout his career. I thought we saw some improvement from him as a junior — particularly with the mobility. He's worked hard at adding movement skills to his game. That should be commended." — On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT: "Smigiel is an interesting prospect. He has a great body type and arm strength in order to generate quality velocity on the football to push the ball vertically and throw it into tight windows. He had great production this past season. The big question is overall upside and athletic ability. He's older for the cycle and should technically be a 2025 prospect. The mobility issues are ap- parent when navigating outside of the pocket and escaping pressure. He tends to lose his mechanics when forced to throw on the move." — On3 national scout Cody Bellaire PLAYER COMPARISON: "Tyler Van Dyke (Miami, Wisconsin and now SMU quarterback)." — On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power Smigiel is rated as the No. 92 player and No. 9 quarterback nationally and as the No. 14 player in California, per the On3 Industry Ranking. PHOTO BY CHAD SIMMONS/ON3