Sam Webb and Steve Wiltfong Crystal Ball 5* CB Will Johnson to Michigan
Throughout the darkness comes a confusing glimmer of light in the BPONE that is Michigan Football. Sam Webb and Steve Wiltfong just crystal ball'd 2022 CB Will Johnson to Michigan.
Johnson is a legacy recruit of 1990-1994 Michigan DB Deon Johnson, and is the highest ranked in-state HS recruit since Lamar Woodley. He may also be a package deal with another 5-star (see link).
I guess things are trending up?
November 17th, 2020 at 12:36 PM ^
Harbs stinks, these recruits are committing to the Univ. of Mich., not a failed coach and staff, lets just be honest here!!
November 17th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
lmao, because of the high academic standards!
November 17th, 2020 at 12:49 PM ^
Correct, it is all about the high standards of excellence ... academics, athletics, character development, alumni network, tradition, the Big House experience, the Ann Arbor vibe.
It transcends any single football head coach or season, it is way bigger than Jim Harbaugh or even Bo Schembechler. We want football recruits that want the Michigan experience, regardless of who is the head coach.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
The staff has failed this year, absolutely. Other years we've either been somewhere between mediocre+ to borderline great. I'm not saying this is the staff to get it done, but if it's Jimmy's and Joes, we're finally set up to get the Jimmy's and Joes.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
I'm not sure what's going on but Harbaugh and his staff must be doing an incredible job of recruiting if they can still get 5 stars and high 4 stars amid this depressing losing streak.
Edit: It seems this recent surge may be recruit-driven by JJ McCarthy, Colson, DGW, and others.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
Webb's interviews with recruits were not what I was expecting. A lot recruits and current commits are really optimistic about the program. They're seeing and probably hearing something from within the program that we as fans aren't seeing or know about
November 17th, 2020 at 12:38 PM ^
There must be some inner-workings of coaching staff shake-up because I don't understand how recruits could look at the product on the field (other than early playing time), and think, "man, this is trending up. I want to be a part of this."
November 17th, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
Also if you're a cornerback interested at starting at Michigan we have openings.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
And a track record of taking Top 100-200 CB recruits and getting them to the NFL
November 17th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
Which is why I put in the caveat "other than early playing time". But the comment I responded to by njvictor seemed to indicate there something happening inside the program that we're not seeing to have these recruits speak and view so positively about Michigan.
November 17th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^
I think that is the biggest reason.
I know everybody is calling for Brown's head, but he's part of this recruiting effort.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:41 PM ^
It’s official Michael Scott was right, Urb is coming on a massive 10 year deal!
November 17th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
We need him to reclassify. 2022 is too late.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
Matt Campbell already bringing in the top recruits !!
November 17th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
Was literally about to post the same thing lol.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
HIRE HARBAUGH!
November 17th, 2020 at 12:39 PM ^
This is why we should keep Harbaugh. He didn’t just forget how to recruit or coach. He just needs to find something within himself to get more juice so it can lead to the players. Get rid of defensive coaches and I think we’ll be fine. These recruits are the difference makers we need in our program and it starts with JJ, worthy, Edwards hopefully, etc. Johnson and Jackson would be huge for us too. Wish they were a year older...
November 17th, 2020 at 1:22 PM ^
The offense is still a mess with no identity. No amount of recruiting is going to fix that unfortunately.
November 17th, 2020 at 7:11 PM ^
Offense is a mess because we have an okine with a total of what 8 starts under their belt?
Until Mayfield and hayes come back, we will struggle to do literally anything on offense regarding consistency.
You don't just roll out an entire new oline and steamroll good teams with less than 10 starts combined.
November 17th, 2020 at 8:38 PM ^
What about dumpster fire teams like MSU? They good too? This board is full of excuses for this staff.
Harbaugh hasn’t won ONE game in his tenure where the D gave up 25+ points (pretty sure I read this correctly). Let that sink in. Top 25 teams probably average 30-35 points a game in this college football landscape.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:36 PM ^
Can someone remind him how to recruit DTs?
November 17th, 2020 at 2:09 PM ^
Nope, no recruit or recruits are bigger than the coach/program. If the new coach can't recruit at an elite level or at least at the level of the previous coach, he shouldn't even get an interview.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:39 PM ^
I removed where you said they're a package deal. I thought that was a false statement reported by an Ohio State board when they visited OSU and Domani Jackson seemed to be an OSU lean. Johnson then refuted it.
Domani Jackson is much closer to Green-Warren (and Ceyair Wright). Also these are 2022s and we have a rocky year ahead so even a commitment at this point wouldn't mean much to me.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:41 PM ^
Johnson's dad saying there is a lot of truth to the package deal idea...
November 17th, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
Seth, I don't know how much insider content I'm allowed to refer to, but as a paying 247 member, I can say that Domani was being directly quoted by Michigan Insider staff as being a package deal with Will Johnson. It's straight from the horse's mouth.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
Ah, I'll put it back. Or at least I'll put a note to see the paywalled info.
I haven't insidered since the season started so I'm going off old information.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
My apologies Seth, I was going off Sam's public post on Twitter of Johnson's interview talking about him and Domani Jackson being a package deal to "change the narrative of the program". Definitely wasn't trying to take paywalled info.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:49 PM ^
Also, Sam said this is legit. Not a guarantee, but this is really being talked about and isn't the same as the Ohio State stuff from a few weeks ago
November 17th, 2020 at 12:49 PM ^
If we end up landing Wright, Jackson, and Johnson despite everything that has happened, then my opinion will start changing very fast
November 17th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
Yup!
I thought these bad losses would have a huge negative effect on recruiting, especially with harbaugh only having 1 year left.
But if recruiting is landing this level of talent...you best think twice before canning the coach that landed them.
Big changes are needed, but part of the problem with the team this year is major gaps in on-field talent at a few positions. And some of it is on harbaugh for poor recruting, but you cannot deny some has been covid-related too. But if we address that with not just any recruits but 4* and 5* recruits? Despite the last 3 terrible losses? Maybe you give Harbaugh one last shot to prove himself (meaning another 2-3 years).
I dunno. I'm glad MGoBoard posters don't make these decisions though. Cooler heads must prevail.
I do think that Harbaugh needs to get *this* team competing again. Rutgers is a must-win (and I realize how sad it is to say that, but really, if there's any chance to salvage things you gotta start with this weekend against an opponent you *should* be able to beat).
November 17th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
So what's the Board's take here? If you knew Harbaugh leaving would mean we lose Johnson and/or Jackson (but probably both as they talk about being a package deal), do you still support Harbaugh leaving?
Maybe just maybe some of these recruits are a bit more long-term and big picture than to look at one bad year? Or more importantly, maybe these are exactly the kind of confident recruits we want...guys that don't care about today because they know they are going to change things tomorrow?
November 17th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
The #3 and #8 corners in the country and they are both corners? If you could guarantee they're both coming to Michigan, you keep Harbaugh in a heartbeat. You can do some shutdown stuff on defense with that kind of talent on the outside.
Add in guys like Junior Colson coming in this year and look out.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
If we land Johnson, Jackson and possibly Ceyair Wright then you can't fire Harbaugh. You would definitely still consider moving on from Brown, but there is something we as fans aren't seeing or hearing from inside the program
November 18th, 2020 at 7:18 AM ^
Agreed. My guess (and it is a total guess) is that they know he is getting an extension. That would make the most sense, they know the HC recruiting them is going to be there when they get on campus
November 17th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
No offense intended here, because I honestly don't know, but are these guys program changing talents? Because that's what we need. And lots of 'em.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^
The arguably top player in the class and another top 10 player who both play CB could 100% change the direction of this team at least on defense
November 17th, 2020 at 3:28 PM ^
I remember seeing the data on this once, but 5-stars out of high school have a very high hit rate to top picks in the NFL draft eventually, so they can definitely be game-changers. That's why there are so few of them. The dropoff to 4-stars is quite significant I remember.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
For me, if kids are strongly considering Michigan right now, it's because they're fans of the school for some reason that doesn't necessarily include the coaching staff. They all know what might happen if (when) the team keeps losing this year. So, even if they decide to go elsewhere (which is still an option - nobody has signed an LOI), the time to move on from Harbaugh is now.
It's blatantly clear that there has been no improvement from last year. Worse, the team has noticeably regressed between games this season. Every trend over the last few years we can look at is heading down. The program has reached its apex under Harbaugh, so it's time to move on. The next coach can have a shot at getting a 2022 recruit.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:25 PM ^
"For me, if kids are strongly considering Michigan right now, it's because they're fans of the school for some reason that doesn't necessarily include the coaching staff."
This coaching staff puts players in the NFL. There were 10 in the 2020 class and 11 in 2017. Those are very high numbers (for example, Michigan was #2 behind LSU in 2020), and kids look at whether the coaching staff can get them to the NFL or not.
Harbaugh averaged 9.4 wins per year before 2020. Sure, the 2020 season is going to drag down that average (naturally, considering the season is shorter), but if you can win 9.4 games, go to the NFL, and get a great education while you're at it, that's not nothing.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:47 PM ^
Especially, as an added bonus to all that, a greater chance to start immediately given the current roster makeup.
November 17th, 2020 at 2:30 PM ^
A very good point, of which I had no data - thanks for sharing!
November 17th, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
Question is would he stay if/when we fire harbaugh. On the other hand we have Dax hill 5 star who decided to stay with us and not Alabama and we're still 1-3 this year and going to get worst! Point is you can have all the 4-5 stars ,but if your coaching is terrible your terrible!
November 17th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
If our secondary was full of Dax Hill equivalents we might have one of the top defenses in the country. That is essentially what we are looking at in the 2022 class with Johnson, Jackson, Saab, and Gould. Add in Ceyair Wright and Issac Thompson and we suddenly have a OSU looking secondary.
We really need some DT's to come over though after whiffing this year. Maybe there is still hope in Rooks.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:15 PM ^
We have more talent than msu for example ...we shouldn't be losing to them! After you see the corners getting smoked...it's on the coaches..don brown to adjust which he never did/does!
November 17th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
I dont disagree with you regarding the coaches. Brown's defense is designed for players like Dax Hill, Will Johnson, and Domani Jackson. Physical, crafty, athletic, and fast.
Dax Hill has been everything advertised this year. Unfortunately the CB recruiting has been abysmal and Brown hasn't adjusted his scheme to the lower athletic abilities of his current roster. That is totally his fault.
Gray and Green are just not fit to run in Brown's defense. They are not athletic enough (Gray might be the slowest DB i've ever seen). But Brown has proven that with premiere talent in the secondary his scheme can be great.
Do I want Brown another year? Hell no.
Do I think Brown could craft a top 5 defense with a secondary of Domani Jackson, Will Johnson, Keon Saab, Jaden Gould, Ceyair Wright and Issac Thompson? Yes I do.
November 17th, 2020 at 3:34 PM ^
I think anybody could craft a top 5 defense with that talent. Much like I think anybody could win 11 or 12 games a year with rosters that look like Alabama, OSU, or Clemson. For most other schools it takes a one-of-a-kind talent...even LSU without Burrow has been terrible. So as much as people complain about Harbaugh the reality is that if Harbaugh was the coach of any of those other programs (doing whatever they might do to "encourage" recruits), he'd probably have a national championship by now. For some reason we like to compare apples to oranges though. And no, I'm not saying this year has been awesome or that there doesn't seem to be something off in our coaching. But if recruiting is such a big part of the game, my opinion is you prioritize continuity to keep those recruits...wouldn't it be something if a bunch of five starts magically made our coaches geniuses?
November 17th, 2020 at 5:07 PM ^
There is a ceiling for teams that recruit like bonkers but don't have the coaching to back it up. See Georgia.
I really think Kirby Smart and Harbaugh are coaching equivalents except for the fact that Smart recruits a whole lot better than Harbaugh (or that he gets to recruit the south). Which makes Georgia good enough to always be in the conversation but not good enough to get over the Bama hump. The fact that they never seem to be able to figure their QB room out either speaks volumes to the similarities.
The gap between OSU, Bama, and Clemson and the rest of the nation is huge and only widening. It will take a truly special coach to knock these guys off their pedestal and I see none in sight (maybe Lincoln Riley if he can get an elite defensive coordinator). Until then, I fully expect Bama, Clemson and OSU to trade championships for the foreseeable future.
November 17th, 2020 at 4:58 PM ^
You're terrible, and your spelling is too.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
Treiu gives this kid a NFL first round grade, and says similar to Stephen Gilmore... that seems like a big deal.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:43 PM ^
Great. Can we get a 5* DT too?