The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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transfer regulations, Michigan has met its 85-man limit for scholarships in 2015 (assuming also that fifth-year senior walk-on Graham Glasgow will possess a scholarship for the third straight year), thus the only way U-M can add additional graduate transfers is with attrition. And it's coming. This shouldn't be a stunning sur- prise or viewed with disdain. During a 10-year span from 2005-14 (cover- ing the recruiting classes of 2002-11), Michigan experienced 7.9 departures per year. Even eliminating the 2010 class, which saw 16 of 27 recruits leave U-M before completing four years of eligibility, the average attrition is still 7.0 players per season. Since Harbaugh took over Dec. 30, we've already seen running back Justice Hayes, quarterback Russell Bellomy, center Jack Miller, offensive guard Kyle Bosch and tight end Keith Heitzman decide to move on from Michigan, and with the conclusion of the winter semester and spring prac- tice, there could be four to eight more Wolverines that decide to leave Ann Arbor. In most cases, these are players that have not seen the field during their careers and are eager to hit the reset button at a new school. There may be a player or two that cannot continue because of career-ending injuries, and there may be a few that simply do not want to continue to play football. We have culled names from our sources, but because of the stigmati- zation associated with exiting before exhausting one's eligibility we have chosen not to speculate on who those players will be until they make an announcement. How will U-M's recruiting continue to unfold under Jim Harbaugh? The Wolverines have landed four recruits in the 2016 class and one — in-state tight end Carter Dunaway — in the 2017 class since Harbaugh became the head coach in late De- cember. Michigan received a post-spring bump, landing four-star quarterback Brandon Peters on the eve of the spring game, three-star linebacker Da- vid Reese the day of the spring game, three-star tailback Kingston Davis two days after the spring game and four-star running back Matt Falcon April 8. The coaches will soon participate in satellite football camps in six states from June 4-14, and will then host their own summer football camp June 14-17, lending another opportunity for interested prospects to commit. While the pool of potential recruits will narrow over the next few months, the size is enormous presently, with Harbaugh offering 98 2016 recruits, 58 2017 prospects, four 2018 players and one 2019 talent already from Feb. 10-May 6. In a little more than three months, this new staff has almost equaled the amount of offers to 2016 prospects that Brady Hoke offered in the en- tirety of his final full class (106 offers in 2014). At Stanford from 2007-10, Har- baugh offered 264 prospects in his final three seasons in Palo Alto, or an average of 88 recruits per recruit-