The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN RECRUITING opened his recruitment back up. The 6-3, 198-pound Kendall hopes to visit Auburn in April, and Florida and Michigan are two other programs he will take into consideration. Potomac (Md.) Bullis School pro- style quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. and Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic dual-threat quarterback Jarrett Guar- antano also hold Michigan offers but are likely leaning away from the Wolverines at this time. Haskins is ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 68 overall player nationally, while Guarantano is listed as a four- star recruit and the No. 91 overall player in the country. RECRUITING CALIFORNIA, FLORIDA AND TEXAS Jim Harbaugh and his staff have shown that they do not care where a recruit is from, what his recruiting ranking is, or whether he is commit- ted to another school already or not. If they want a player they are going to offer him and recruit him. Even though the coaches will try and pluck talent from everywhere, there is a definite focus on recruiting California, Florida and Texas. Add in Michigan and Ohio, and the new staff has dubbed that group of five the "core target states," and they will spend a lot of time recruiting in these areas. These are the states where they feel they should have the most suc- cess based on a combination of prox- imity, relationships built and talent. Harbaugh spent the last 13 years in the state of California as the quarter- back coach of the Oakland Raiders, and then as the head coach of the University of San Diego, Stanford University and the San Francisco 49ers. While at Stanford, Harbaugh also enjoyed a lot of success recruit- ing the state of Texas. Offensive coordinator Tim Drevno started his coaching career in 1991 at Cal State Fullerton and eventually spent time with Harbaugh at San Di- ego, Stanford and San Francisco, and was still in California last year coach- ing the offensive line at USC. Special teams coach John Baxter was at Fresno State from 1997-2010 and then spent the last four years at USC. Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin spent the last five years of his career coaching at the University of Flor- ida, and the three years before that coaching with Harbaugh at Stanford. Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator Jedd Fisch started his coaching career in 1999 at the University of Florida and had stints in Texas with the Tex- ans, and in Florida again as the offen- sive coordinator for the University of Miami and Jacksonville Jaguars. The connections to California, Texas and Florida are considerable and can be supported by the number of offers that have gone out in those states. When looking at the state of Cali- fornia, the top dog with an offer from the Wolverines is Caleb Kelly out of Clovis West High in Fresno. Kelly is listed by Rivals.com as a five-star prospect, the No. 1 player in the Golden State, the No. 2 outside