The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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M BY JOHN BORTON the Sugar Bowl champs in a sweet follow-up. It's no mistake that nearly half of them will dig in where the big boys meet. Including tight ends, U-M's class features a dozen offensive and defen- sive linemen, seven of them already on the north side of 270 pounds. Brady Hoke & Co. are gearing up to pound some people and make no apologies for it. ichigan's 2012 National Signing Day list features 25 names, all newly minted Wolverines eager to join back, but he can't do anything if those guys up front aren't blocking at the line of scrimmage. It's the same thing defensively, if we don't have guys who can be aggressive at the line of scrimmage." He has more of both, now. Two Ri- 2012 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE "We've got a tremendous quarter- vals.com five-star talents highlight the haul of big men, one on each side of the line of scrimmage. Kyle Kalis, a 6-5, 305-pound offen- a plan to get bigger and better. Rivals.com recognized Michigan's recruiting efforts on a position group basis, rating the offensive line as the nation's No. 3 haul, the defensive tackle signees as the country's No. 4 unit, the defensive ends as tied for 12th-best nationally and the tight ends knotted with several schools for the 10th-best group in the country. "Every year, the emphasis is always STOCKING UP sive lineman out of Lakewood, Ohio, brings northward a college-ready body and built-in bad mood when it comes to Michigan-Ohio State. He ab- Brady Hoke And His Staff Add Size And Muscle For Future Battles up front," Hoke said. "Just think about the pounding of the game of football. Most of it is at the line of scrimmage. We've always got to be recruiting three or four, five offensive linemen a year. It's the same thing with defen- sive linemen. Are we replenished? No. But we're making progress." Rating services across the nation "We're always going to take guys sorbed incessant abuse from Buckeye fans following his commitment switch from OSU to Michigan, following the Buckeyes' cheating scandal. On defense, Ondre Pipkins, a 6-3, sis is going to be on getting kids who are going to help us win up front. "We're going to talk about this same He knows what he has on hand, at least in the way of raw materials. The num- bers are going to look a whole lot bet- ter than what he saw 12 months ago. "When we got here, we had eight hailed the haul, regardless of its par- ticular position makeup. Rivals.com judged Michigan's class the seventh- best in the nation, while ESPN also pegged the Wolverines No. 7. Max- Preps placed Michigan at. 4. Hoke doesn't care about any of that. 320-pound defensive tackle, could throw his considerable bulk right into the void left by U-M's attrition up front. The Kansas City native proved a mauler who could move at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San An- tonio this year. While those are the headliners, Michigan's brute squads certainly don't end there. Other offensive line- men include 6-6, 319-pound Ben Braden out of Rockford, Mich.; 6-5, 275-pound Blake Bars from Nashville, Tenn.; and 6-6, 275-pound Erik Mag- nuson out of Carlsbad, Calif. Michigan's other defensive line guys on the offensive line on schol- arship," Hoke noted. "Usually, that number is 14 to 16. Going to a 4-3 [de- fensive front], I think we had seven guys on scholarship on the defensive line. Usually, that's 12 to 14. "Our numbers have been down there, for one reason or another. We tried to address that. That's where the game is played. Hoke's 25-player class for 2012 was ranked as the No. 4 group in the country by MaxPreps.com, and as the No. 7 unit nation- ally by both Rivals.com and ESPN, PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN thing next year. There are going to be offensive linemen and defensive linemen in every class. Michigan foot- ball is won up front. Our emphasis is on the toughness of our lines. That's where we truly believe football starts, where winning football starts." Even Michigan's skill-position per- going to be on the lines of scrim- mage," recruiting coordinator Jeff Hecklinski vowed. "Big Ten football, Michigan football, has always been won up front. Every year, the empha- formers are bigger in the 2012 class. U-M signed 6-3, 175-pound Jehu Ches- son out of St. Louis and 6-2, 200-pound Amara Darboh from West Des Moines, Iowa, to man the receiver spots. It wasn't all about size, either. signees include 6-6, 265-pound defen- sive tackle Matthew Godin from Novi, Mich.; 6-3, 273-pound defensive tackle Willie Henry out of Cleveland; 6-2, 220-pound defensive end Mario Oje- mudia from Farmington Hills, Mich.; 6-6, 265-pound defensive end Tom Strobel from Mentor, Ohio; and 6-5, 250-pound defensive end Christopher Wormley from Toledo, Ohio. Add in 6-6, 275-pound tight end A.J. Williams from Cincinnati, and 6-4 tight end Devin Funchess of Farm- ington Hills, Mich. (listed at 205, but closer to 220 now, Hoke noted) and the Wolverines clearly demonstrated The Wolverines' class of linebackers doesn't feature anyone particularly mammoth, but the group is tied with Virginia Tech for the No. 4 national ranking from Rivals.com. It consists of 6-3, 230-pound Joe Bolden from Cin- cinnati; 6-1, 225-pound Kaleb Ringer out of Clayton, Ohio; 6-2, 215-pound Royce Jenkins-Stone from Detroit and 6-1, 215-pound James Ross from Or- chard Lake, Mich. No less than 14 of the newest crew of Wolverines have been initially as- signed to the defensive side of the football, demonstrating a clear empha- sis there. In addition to the big bodies up front and a very talented quartet of prep linebackers, U-M restocked its secondary. Defensive backs signing with the MARCH 2012 THE WOLVERINE 21