The Wolverine

March 2017 Recruiting Issue

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/787035

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 43 of 115

44 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2017 2017 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY BRANDON BROWN Pinson (Ala.) Clay-Chalkville four-star wide receiver Nico Col- lins visited Michigan multiple times throughout the recruiting process and always seemed like a U-M lean. When National Signing Day arrived, he proved that he was indeed a Wol- verine. "Michigan was really the best place that I saw throughout the whole recruiting process," Collins said. "When I visited I enjoyed it so much and I was just like, 'Yeah, this is the place for me.' I felt really comfort- able. I just knew that it was the best place to be to help me after football and also the best place while I'm in college for football. "Michigan was pretty much always my leader. Georgia tried to come in a little bit at the end and I liked them, but between those two schools I still knew I was going to pick Michigan. I definitely really knew after my Geor- gia visit." Collins' head coach Jerry Hood was involved in the process from the beginning and saw first hand what Michigan and Jim Harbaugh were all about when it came to recruiting his star receiver. "Coach Harbaugh's teams perform really well and he has really mar- keted Michigan in such a way that the young kids feel an attraction to the program," Hood explained. "I don't know if it's quite the upset it used to be for a school like Michigan to come into Alabama and grab a kid, but he's done a great job of market- ing the program to younger players and those kids want to play there. "And they win. You can't stink and have cool flyers. That's not go- ing to work. Coach Harbaugh is very engaging and his staff is very hard working from what I've seen. They came in and threw their pitch and got Nico up there a few times, and he fell in love with the place." Hood has been to Ann Arbor and got a chance to see where Nico will live in person. He believes it'll be a great place for Collins to mature. The fact that Collins has family in the Detroit area also helped the 6-4, 201-pounder make his decision. "Having family up there in that area was a part of it, too," Hood explained. "I was up there once to speak at the coach's clinic a couple years ago, so I've seen the area. "Nico utilized his opportunities and connections to get up there and see some of his folks while he was on visits, and that helped with his comfort." Collins is one-fifth of arguably the best wide receiver haul in the country. Collins, Rivals' No. 17 wide receiver and No. 120 overall pros- pect in the country, comes in at No. 3 among U-M's receivers behind five- star Donovan Peoples-Jones (No. 12 overall player nationally) and four- star Tarik Black (No. 76), and ahead of four-star Oliver Martin (No. 206) and four-star Brad Hawkins (No. 235 in 2016). He couldn't be happier about the opportunities that will be available in Ann Arbor. "All of them guys are talented re- ceivers," Collins said. "Going up to Michigan knowing that they're on my team just makes me think that we're going to have a lot of fun. I know we're going to make some plays. I know we're all going to go up there and have fun together. "Having talented guys like that on my team is big. They are big-time recruits and I expect us all to go out there and ball out. I just expect us to do big things each Saturday and I expect us to win a lot of games." Success will make things fun as well and Hood believes Collins has everything it takes for his time under Harbaugh's tutelage to be very fruit- ful. The veteran coach isn't naïve and Michigan Snags Nico Collins Out Of SEC Country Collins, who hails from Alabama but has family in the Detroit area, picked the Wolverines over Georgia. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Wolverine - March 2017 Recruiting Issue