The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543210
28 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MARCH 2026 2026 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY ETHAN MCDOWELL McHale Blade scheduled trips to USC and Notre Dame for the second half of June. Both schools were pushing for the three-star edge rusher, but he saw no reason to take the visit after spending a couple of days at Michigan. He found his collegiate home — the best place for him on and off the field — at Michigan. The coveted pass rusher out of Chicago Simeon Acad- emy picked up 27 Power Four offers during the course of his recruitment. The Wolverines stood out above all of them. Blade shut down his recruitment June 9, right after returning home from Ann Arbor. The Fighting Irish and Michigan battled at the top of his recruitment for months. He told Rivals that the Wolverines offered "the best of both worlds." Michigan felt like the right school for him to continue his academic and ath- letic journey, and those feelings per- sisted through signing day, even during the coaching change. Blade never wa- vered. Just hours after U-M fired Sher- rone Moore, the pass rusher signee publicly reaffirmed his commitment. "At the end of the day, it's still Mich- igan," Blade said. "I chose this school for reasons far beyond football. I'm not really too worried about the things that are going on." Blade fell in love with the Wolver- ine program during his recruitment. He sees a clear path to the NFL through the program's history with development. The Michigan signee was still process- ing the news when he spoke with The Wolverine, but he didn't waver. He committed to the program for reasons that go beyond the coaching staff. Moore's firing still produced plenty of questions though. He trusted U-M to make the right hire after the signees met with interim head coach Biff Poggi after the news broke. Michigan hired Kyle Whittingham a couple of weeks later, and Blade moved to Ann Arbor soon after that. "I'm really excited for the future," Blade said. Michigan hired Lewis Powell from Utah to coach Blade and the rest of the edges. Powell reached out to him in the days leading up to the incoming fresh- man's move-in date. The Wolverines also retained defensive line coach Lou Esposito, maintaining some continuity on the staff Blade originally commit- ted to. Esposito, however, accepted a coach- ing position with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens in early February. McHale moved up to Ann Arbor the first weekend of January. There were some welcome, familiar faces around Schembechler Hall. Assistant defensive line coach David Denham, director of on-campus re- cruiting Kayli Johnson and director of player development Chris Bryant were still on staff. Ishmel was excited to see the people they spent months build- ing relationships with during his son's recruiting process. Highly Coveted Edge Rusher McHale Blade Stays Blue Blade received scholarship offers from 27 Power Four schools, including USC and Notre Dame. PHOTO BY ETHAN MCDOWELL