The Wolverine

March 2017 Recruiting Issue

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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82 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2017 2017 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY BRANDON BROWN Sometimes in recruiting, fans see recruits only as massive football play- ers and totally forget that they are someone's son. It's particularly easy to do with Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County five-star defensive tackle Aubrey Sol- omon. At 6-3 and 305 pounds, he plays and looks like a grown man among boys — but his mother, Sabrina Caldwell, has been a staple in his life since he was far smaller. She could barely con- tain her emotions on National Signing Day after he pledged for U-M. "I feel pride and relief today. I can actually sleep now," she said with a laugh. "My phone used to ring a lot and now I'm sure it won't be ringing anymore. I'm really happy about all of that, but I'm ultimately happy that my son made his decision." Solomon himself was happy to put an end to the process as well. "I'm very glad to get it over with," he said. "I just prayed about it and asked God to show me the way, and he showed me." Asking God for help wasn't the first time Solomon requested guidance. Caldwell remembers a time when the stresses of being recruited almost overcame her five-star son. He origi- nally pledged to U-M in June 2016, but decommitted just two months later after receiving a thank-you let- ter for a recruiting event he did not attend. "At one point he actually said, 'Mom, can you just make my decision for me?' I told him, 'Nope. When you first committed I wasn't there, but now I am so when you decide I won't be your crutch,'" Caldwell explained. "It was a hard decision for him, and with the final four schools he really lost sleep over it." It came down to Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Michigan for Solomon, with the Wolverines winning out over the traditional SEC powers. Sol- omon's head coach at Lee County, Dean Fabrizio, was also actively in- volved in the process and knew that Michigan would be a serious player until the end, even after the mid-sum- mer decommitment. "Michigan was in it the whole way," Fabrizio said. "I think a lot of people made a bigger deal out of the decommitment than it actually was. He just wanted to step back and take his time and make sure he and his family really vetted everything to find the best fit for him, both academically and athletically. "A lot of people took that as Michi- gan wasn't in it, but that was never the case. He wanted to look at all of the schools and make sure he was get- ting it right. Michigan was the place that his family felt the best about." Despite re-committing on National Signing Day, Solomon knew that Michigan was the right place for him for some time. Even when he opened things back up, U-M was pretty much in the driver's seat from wire to wire. "The family values at Michigan put them over the top," he said. "I decom- mitted from Michigan, but my heart was always with Michigan the whole time." Michigan was also in Caldwell's heart and that proved to be huge in Solomon's final decision. A lot of times in recruiting, if coaches and support staffs can win over mom, they'll win over the player. That's ex- actly how it played out with the No. 2 defensive tackle and No. 31 overall prospect in the country. "I have had great interactions with Devin [Bush, a U-M defensive ana- lyst]. I know I'll have no problem be- cause he's going to make sure Aubrey is good," Caldwell explained. "Coach [Jim] Harbaugh is the real deal as far as he means what he says and he says what he means. He doesn't hold any- thing back. "They know me well and they know how I am. They are very direct and I like that. They don't go around the mulberry bush, they just pretty much tell me what the facts are, and they are more than willing to ask questions and answer questions." Solomon's comments about Har- baugh were very consistent with his mother 's, supporting exactly what she said about U-M's head coach. "He's a really chill dude," Solomon said of Harbaugh. "He's been to the biggest stage of them all, but it re- ally doesn't seem like it because he's cool with it, he's collected and all that. He's my type of guy." Solomon picked up his fifth star during one of Rivals.com's last up- dates and of course that makes U-M fans even more excited about his po- tential in Ann Arbor. Fabrizio has seen it for Solomon's entire prep career and thinks he'll have the chance to make an early impact. "There aren't a lot of guys with his size — he's about 290-295 pounds — who have his flexibility and ability to play with natural leverage like he does," Fabrizio said. "He also has great first-step quickness. Those are the things that separate him from a lot of guys his size. It's a special com- bination." Solomon expects to play early and can't wait to line up alongside former five-star defensive lineman Rashan Gary — he actually gives the top pros- pect from 2016 a lot of credit in pick- ing Michigan as well. "Rashan said that the coaches will make you very accountable, hold you responsible and mature you into a man," Solomon explained. "I'm big on that. Everything I say is about be- coming a man." Solomon knows he made a few mis- takes along the way, but he couldn't be happier about being a Wolverine. His message to the fan base is simple. "Let's get to work," he said. "That's all I have to say — let's get to work and let's do this thing." ❏ Michigan Wins Over Mom And Lands Five-Star Aubrey Solomon Solomon recorded 77 stops, 16 tackles for loss and 12 sacks during his senior cam- paign at Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County High. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM

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