Jay Harbaugh Touts Recruiting Ability Of Michigan Coaches

While the coronavirus quarantine has spelled recruiting trouble for many schools, Michigan has thrived during this dead period with a whopping 14 commits in the 2021 class since March 23. Over that time period, U-M has risen to the No. 5 position nationally in terms of 2021 recruits.

According to U-M running backs coach and special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh, the Wolverines have experienced such a profound degree of success recruiting thanks to the team’s leadership in that department.

“A lot of it goes back to the beginning of this whole deal,” Harbaugh said. “Coach [Jim] Harbaugh and Matt Dudek really had an awesome vision for how long might this last, how is it going to impact recruiting and how are we going to separate ourselves and be different, do a great job, what’s the plan? What’s the day-to-day plan, so it all started with that, and they presented an awesome vision. We all bought into it and then stuck to it day in and day out.”

During a recent podcast with Sam Webb, U-M director of recruiting Matt Dudek touched on how the school is approaching the lack of on-campus visits, especially since coaches are not allowed to visit prospects either. Dudek touched on how Michigan is using Zoom and FaceTime to keep a visual connection with recruits, and a recent rule change allows for current U-M players to join in on these sessions as well.

“All these coaches, they do such an awesome job connecting with players, connecting with coaches, finding ways to keep things interesting,” Harbaugh said. “I think as time goes on, some of these players, they are getting a little bored of being recruited the same way. They can’t go on campus, and there are certain things they aren’t able to do, so the staffs that have been able to keep things engaging are kind of feeling the benefits there.”

And for players like new Michigan commit Kechaun Bennett, Michigan is a familiar destination that he has visited before, so he’s already familiar with the campus. When Bennett committed this past week, he mentioned that his prior trip to Ann Arbor played a large role in his decision.

“I think it’s a mixture of things,” Harbaugh said. “I think some of these guys have been on campus before, so there’s a comfort level there. Some of the guys that haven’t spent as much time on campus with us, that’s the beauty of technology is they’re able to do the virtual tours. They’re able to see things on Google Maps and Street View. They’re able to reach out to the players and talk about things. ‘Hey, what’s it like day to day?’ So, I think these recruits, they’re going through this whole thing like everybody else. They’re having to adapt.”

Overall, prospects are tasked with the challenge of finding out as much as possible about their future school in some cases without stepping foot on campus. This can be a difficult, if not daunting, task to tackle, but Michigan is bringing the information to the recruiting targets, which has yielded positive results thus far.

“I think that’s kind of the way recruiting is right now,” Harbaugh said. “You have to go off, gather all the information you can, talk to the people you need to talk to from each school, the players, the staffs. You watch the virtual tours. You go on the virtual tour, whatever it is. Virtual visits and all that stuff, and you make the best decision that you can.

“What I think that it really speaks to is the quality of the product that we have here,” Harbaugh said. “I think high school guys that we are recruiting, they feel the family atmosphere, the fact that our coaches care about the players and really the fact that you can have everything here. You can get an elite degree with tremendous earning potential in pretty much any field you want to.”

Harbaugh also touted the statistics of how often Michigan starters in the Jim Harbaugh era make it to the next level and play professional football, and the numbers are well above 90%. That is a compelling recruiting tidbit that does not require a prospect’s physical presence on campus to understand. Ann Arbor also regularly receives marks as one of the premier college towns in America, so convincing players to pick Michigan has not been a difficult sell over the past two months.

Now, Michigan is venturing into territory where the team has limited space remaining for its ’21 class. Michigan has a player committed at nearly every position (save for running back, fullback and defensive tackle), and with 16 commits total the Wolverines are quickly filling up. The wide receiver position is expected to land multiple commits, and U-M is looking to take one if not two running backs, so spots are running out, which also underscores the team’s success recruiting during the pandemic.

Currently, the recruiting period is set to extend through the end of July, so Michigan's acumen in this area will continue to be put to the test. But so far, the Wolverines are grading out as well as anyone. 

What aspects of the team’s virtual recruiting process would you like to see carryover once in-person visits are allowed? Can Michigan gain a regular tool to use in recruiting moving forward? Let us know!