The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2016 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Orange County at Santa Margarita Catholic School, both grew up in Pasadena, and they played alongside each other as youngsters with the Pasadena Junior Panthers. One of the two had developed a soft spot for the Maize and Blue growing up, thanks to one of the school's marque players. "It's definitely a school that I've kept an eye on since I was younger," Long explained. "It's really because of Charles Woodson; I was a big fan of his. That's just something that's always, always appealed to me about Michigan." Despite the childhood affinity for U-M, Long appeared destined to suit up for the team that was on the other end of that 49-0 beating in the inau- gural Rose Bowl. Before getting the opportunity to even take his visit to Michigan, he pledged to Stanford in August. With Long and his high school quarterback at Santa Margarita Catholic, K.J. Costello, headed to The Farm, it seemed natural that Craw- ford was leaning toward Palo Alto, as well. That began to change in a pub- lic way when Long and Crawford headed to Ann Arbor together to take their official visit and see the Maize and Blue square off against rival Michigan State. Although Long was still committed to the Cardinal at the time, the Wolverines began to tip the scales. Even a last-second loss to the Spartans didn't diminish the experience. "I still consider myself committed to Stanford," he said in the wake of that trip. "But Michigan gave me a lot to think about, and they'll be a serious option." The uncommitted Crawford had an even better time. Though an offer from his childhood favorite, Oregon, would arrive just days after return- ing to Los Angeles from the Great Lakes State, the Maize and Blue built a buffer. "It was a good time," he said of Michigan. "Especially being able to experience it with one of my good friends [Long] and a lot of other top recruits. They didn't get the W, but I still had a great time." Crawford would go on to take of- ficial visits to Miami and Oregon over the course of the next month, but no- body was able to knock U-M out of his top slot. Long's internal battle be- tween remaining committed to Stan- ford and flipping to Michigan became less a matter of "if" and more "when" over the course of the process. Both prospects participated in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio Jan. 9 — and had out- standing performances throughout the week of practice and in the game itself. Crawford caught three passes for 30 yards, and Long made one tackle and returned an interception 27 yards for a West team (that also in- cluded future teammates quarterback Brandon Peters, offensive lineman Michael Onwenu and cornerback La- vert Hill) that won a 37-9 blowout over the East. Crawford also made his Michigan commitment official during the first