The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN RECRUITING national talent. A "new-coach bump" would apply mostly to that class, and the Wolverines have already opened recruitments with a number of top prospects. One of them is the nation's top running back, Wayne (N.J.) DePaul Catholic five-star Ka- reem Walker. "I met him, and he's a nice guy," Walker said of Hoke. "I'm sorry to hear he's fired now. I want to see who they bring in now. "I'll be talking to [freshman corner- back and close friend] Jabrill Peppers to see how it's going." Just down the East Coast, Hyatts- ville (Md.) DeMatha four-star offen- sive lineman Terrance Davis shares a similar view. He plans to pay close attention to the Wolverines no matter who the coach is. "Whoever Michigan hires will hopefully lead them back to the glory days and make a huge comeback," Davis said. "No coach can take away Michigan's legacy and tradition and education. That's what I'm interested in." The 2017 class is even farther down the road, but Michigan has opened recruitments for a number of key re- cruits around the nation and right within its home state. St. Joseph (Mich.) High defensive end Corey Malone-Hatcher already holds an of- fer from the Wolverines, and a coach- ing change shouldn't affect his re- cruitment in the long term. "We were pulling for Hoke to succeed," said his father, Orlando Malone. "He's a standup guy. Michi- gan remains very high to us. We're confident that a top-notch hire will be made. "When that person is named, we'll have to start building that rapport." Recruits considering Michigan at this point do so in a state of unknown. RANKINGS UPDATE The Rivals.com post-season rank- ings update saw a number of Michi- gan commits — and recent decom- mits — move up (or in some cases down). Avon (Conn.) Old Farms tight end Chris Clark moved down from No. 56 to No. 67 overall nationally, but moved up to the top tight end in the country. Clark saw his ranking drop slightly after a senior year in which he showed he can be a dif- ference-maker, but a year that also ended early due to an injury. Fellow decommit Mike Weber made a sizeable leap, going from No. 104 overall nationally to No. 71. Weber has another chance to prove himself at the U.S. Army All-Ameri- can Bowl in January. Saginaw (Mich.) Heritage athlete/ wide receiver Brian Cole dropped two spots from No. 89 to No. 91, thanks in part to Weber moving past him to take over the mantle as the top player in the state. Players outside the Rivals100 but inside the Rivals250 — New Jersey offensive lineman Grant Newsome and Ohio defensive back Tyree Kin- nel — both dropped 14 spots. New- some now ranks as the No. 215 player in the nation, while Kinnel comes in at No. 211.