One of the best things that happens during a coaching change when recruiting in college football is that some players may follow the old coach to the new school. And for Michigan football, that was the case for Kyle Whittingham.
Whittingham further completed the Wolverines‘ existing roster rather than revising it, bringing in Utah players such as edge rusher John Henry Daley, cornerback Smith Snowden, defensive lineman Jonah Lea’ea and wide receiver JJ Buchanan.
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He also brought in other impact players, like safety Chris Bracy, receiver Jaime Ffrench and linebackers Aisea Moa and Max Alford, but those — along with true freshman Salesi Moa — are the highlights.
So, it wasn’t a top-notch portal class, no. But it had an impact. And On3’s JD PicKell is excited about what that means for maize and blue this season.
“Michigan brought in the No. 66 ranked transfer portal class. Not Top 25, not Top 10, No. 66 in all of college football,” PicKell said. “But when you look at it, I think my voicemail guy is pretty on point with his approach. Hey, JJ Buchanan, I know he’s a young guy, I know he’s not going to be at the top of a lot of these lists as far as rankings in the transfer portal, but just keeping the pulse. Five players from Utah are following Kyle Whittingham to Michigan. Now, that’s cool in itself. The volume is nice. That would be one thing if these players were following Kyle Whittingham from Utah to Michigan, and they won like seven games last year, they’re a 10-win football team And like if you take a step back from what I just said a second ago, that’s kind of what Michigan football is when they’re at their best.
“Like Michigan, I think, it’s kind of the grilled chicken and rice of college football. It’s not very trendy, it doesn’t excite you when you see it in the fridge or on the menu, but you know what it is? It’s good for you. It’s filling. It’s going to bring out the best in you. It’s the good fuel that you put in your body. It’s not something that influencers talk about. It doesn’t make every Instagram photo, but It’s stuff. And you know what? Chicken and rice by itself is really only as good as what you pair it with. Like exercise, good sleep, all those things, I think what you pair this list with is exactly what this list chooses to follow in a second. But Kyle Whittingham, after coaching for 20 years and winning almost 70% of his games at Utah.
Offensive additions seem to overshadow defensive additions in many ways, because of their potential. Although Ffrench is a former high-ranking four-star, Buchanan has had more time on the job and has shown what he is capable of. The impact of having them alongside Moa and Bryce Underwood up front is enticing for PicKell, as it creates all kinds of mismatches and options.
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“If your question is, well, JD, how powerful is this offense? Personnel-wise, we’ll see,” PicKell said. “Like Bryce Underwood, I think his second year of college football, you’ve seen flashes of the RPMs that he brings to the table, but I can’t sit here and tell you that I think JJ Buchanan is going to be a John Matthew Award winner. Talking to Kato before we started here, I can’t promise you he’ll be Colston Loveland or Jake (Butt), but I think he’s going to be good. I think he’s going to be good. I think that he’s going to be raised by a system that he knows I think he’s going to be raised by a system that’s going to put some defenses in a blender as far as the rules that they have to follow to defend your RPO system.
“How good will Salesi Moa be? I don’t know. This guy will be a true freshman. I know he’s super talented. I think he’ll be elevated by teams that also have to defend Andrew Marsh. That’s just kind of all that’s going on here.”
Ultimately, PicKell believes the pieces fit together and should elevate the Wolverines. And ultimately, that’s what matters most.
“I love the contributions as we sit here in February,” PicKell said. “So yeah, those guys aren’t in the top 10 for us as it stands right now as far as impact transfers go. But you’re talking about Daley and what he could be, paired with a Jason Beck offense on the other side of the ball, paired with a JJ Buchanan, who hopefully takes the next step from a freshman to sophomore season, paired with Bryce Underwood. Football is a complementary sport. It’s the greatest sport of team that exists, one of the main reasons why I like I think this team, the staff and the continuity will complement each other very well during this season. So we’ll see what happens there.
This article was originally published on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football transfer class: Why it’s ‘grilled chicken and rice’
