The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 37 welcome to Michigan wasn't exactly Oscar worthy. "It was strictly on what Michigan is," Jan- sen recalled with a chuckle. "'Here's the hel- met. You want to wear it?' 'Yes, I do.' 'Let's go play football.'" Not that Jansen doesn't completely under- stand taking advantage of your leverage. As an old offensive lineman, he gets it. "When you think about Michigan, one of the first things that comes to your mind is the brand of the block M," Jansen said. "One of the things Harbaugh has really been able to do is capitalize on how visible that is, how much that means to not only alumni and football alumni, but how much it means to people who have had nothing to do with Michigan. They're just fans. Whether it's a fan of Har- baugh or a fan of Michigan … "You look at that first Signing of the Stars. Everybody that came to that event, they un- derstand how special Michigan is. They all want to be part of it, because they couldn't be at some point. Now all of a sudden they get to be part of the Michigan tradition. "Almost anybody would jump at that op- portunity, because of what Michigan stands for. He's really taken that to a new level in including people who aren't just Michigan people." The result? A production that Harbaugh identifies as a celebration for incoming Mich- igan football players and their parents, mark- ing a significant decision in their lives. Again, some will call it out as over the top — and U-M certainly seemed to keep things more in house the second time around — but the bottom line involves one more high- visibility instance of Michigan looking to do things bigger and better than anyone. And yes, recruits notice both the pride and the passion. "I've gotten tears talking to some of these guys," Harbaugh told ESPNU this year. "It's an emotional day, a day of celebration." 4. Recruiting Ingenuity The Signing of the Stars is simply the culmination of years of recruiting work by Harbaugh and the Michigan staff. Plenty of legwork — and a little tree climbing — has already gone into U-M's effort to put strong classes in place. It's worked. Each of Harbaugh's first two full classes has come out No. 4 in the nation in Rivals.com's evaluation of the yearly col- lege football talent haul. Although this year's group will be much smaller in numbers (and thereby lose some ranking status), the high- level athletes are still banking on Michigan. There are ways in which Harbaugh refuses to compete with other schools when it comes to recruiting. It goes right back to the healthy, fair, honest competition adhered to by his for- mer coach, Bo Schembechler, who lived by the dictum, if you cheat, you've already lost. Within the rules, however, all bets are off. Harbaugh himself wouldn't identify traveling to Rome or conducting spring practices at talent-rich IMG Academy in Florida as directly tied to recruiting. There's little ques- tion, though, that such ven- tures accrue to Michigan's benefit when it comes to at- tracting big-time football players to Ann Arbor. Satellite camps in venues across the country and as far away as Samoa? It's about teaching football, he insists, and upholding a sport he sees as increasingly under siege. When he's involved in Harbaugh's Signing of the Stars brings together celebrities, former Michigan greats, new Wol- verines and U-M fans for one joyous celebration every February. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN U-M Signees From SEC Country The Last Two Years Class of 2016 Devin Bush, LB Pembroke Pines (Fla.) Flanagan Kingston Davis, FB Prattville (Ala.) High Nick Eubanks, TE Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage Devin Gil, DB Pembroke Pines (Fla.) Flanagan Elysee Mbem-Bosse, LB Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove Eddie McDoom, WR Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange Josh Metellus, S Pembroke Pines (Fla.) Flanagan Nate Johnson, WR Thompson's Station (Tenn.) Independence Joshua Uche, DE Miami Columbus Class of 2017 Jordan Anthony, LB Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy Nico Collins, WR Pinson (Ala.) Clay-Chalkville Chuck Filiaga, OL Aledo (Texas) High Cesar Ruiz, C Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy Aubrey Solomon, DL Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County Kurt Taylor, RB Grayson (Ga.) Loganville J'Marick Woods, DB Florence (Ala.) High