The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/641955
2016 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE the difference between a good team and a national title contender. PLAN IN MOTION A player as highly regarded as Gary is going to have plenty of suit- ors. He had more than three dozen offers during his recruitment, from programs as diverse as Rutgers (the hometown school offered him when he was still in the eighth grade); aca- demic powers like Boston College, Notre Dame and Stanford; football titans Alabama, Clemson, Miami and Ohio State; and just about everyone in between. Michigan got on board relatively early, offering Gary when he was just winding down his sophomore year of high school. The Brady Hoke coaching staff seems a world away by now, but they laid the ground- work for Gary's ultimate decision to become a Wolverine. "The interest is just like everybody else," Gary said at the time of the offer. "I like Coach Roy Manning, he's cool, and I can relate to him. I feel like the program is the same as all of them, and I have high interest. I was thinking about a visit. Coach Roy wanted me to get out there. I've talked to my mom about it to see if we can do it." After a 5-7 season saw Hoke de- part, Michigan managed to reel in Gary was rated as the best defensive tackle of the Rivals era, from 2002-16, which covers 15 recruiting classes. PHOTO BY TIM SULLIVAN