Sherrone Moore is striking recruiting gold, but this territory is nothing new for Michigan:
While the Michigan Wolverines ’ 2026 recruiting class is not yet complete, the eyeball-emoji fireworks seem to be slowing down. After around a dozen high-profile prospects committed over the past few weeks, Sherrone Moore’s class is up to No. 7 in the 247Sports composite. There will be some slight movement before National Signing Day, but there is no question that this will be a loaded class — on paper, at least.
Getting as many blue-chip prospects as possible seems ideal, but plenty of highly ranked recruits (and recruiting classes) end up disappointing. So as the Wolverines are seemingly headed for their second straight top-10 recruiting class, we can take a moment to ponder what exactly success would look like for this group.
Nothing too new
Once Jim Harbaugh settled in Ann Arbor, the blue-chippers started piling in. From 2016 onward, four of his five recruiting classes landed in the top 10 nationally. The trend then fell off a bit as competitive struggles surmounted, with only the 2022 group breaking this mark. Still, the 2021 and 2023 classes were top-20 nationally, as was the transition-heavy 2024 unit.
On the one hand, this means that Moore is more or less just keeping pace with his predecessor (though reviving the recruiting from the covid downswing). On the other, Harbaugh experienced plenty of success both on the field and in terms of NFL draft picks, the two main measures of recruiting performance. For Moore’s recent excitement to live up to the standards set before him, he will have to do so as well.
Trophies and future careers
When considering on-field results, the best classes were probably those on the lower end of the rankings. 2016 had studs like Rashan Gary, Josh Uche, Devin Bush, David Long, and Lavert Hill, but their teams fell short of any hardware. Compared to classes from 2018 (Aidan Hutchinson, Hassan Haskins, Ronnie Bell, Michael Barrett), 2019 (Cornelius Johnson, Trevor Keegan, Mazi Smith, David Ojabo, Dax Hill, Mike Sainristil), and 2020 (Blake Corum, Roman Wilson, Zak Zinter, Kris Jenkins, Jaylen Harrell), it is tough to prefer the former.
The big winners have to be the groups from 2021 and 2022. 2021’s class featured J.J. McCarthy, Donovan Edwards, Junior Colson, and Rod Moore, and 2022’s had Colston Loveland, Derrick Moore, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and Will Johnson; there is no national championship without any of these players. Neither of these classes were seen as title-winning at the time, but their legacy is now cemented.
Remarkably, from the 2016 to 2022 recruiting classes, Michigan placed 11 first-round selections in the NFL Draft and another 16 players taken on Day Two. Each of these classes had at least four players taken in the first three rounds aside from 2021 (the first real drop in recruiting rankings), while the 2022 class led the way with three first rounders: Graham, Loveland, and Grant this past spring.
The bar is set
What does this tell us? Obviously, another national championship is the bar, but the 2025 and 2026 classes will need to win at least some hardware to be considered great. The aforementioned 2016 group had some big names, but they left Ann Arbor with little to show for it. Meanwhile, the 2021 class fell outside the top 10 nationally, but will be remembered forever.
Upon leaving Michigan, these classes will need to yield multiple first-round picks and four-plus players taken in the first three rounds to keep up with Harbaugh’s averages. There is enough raw talent for this to materialize, but the transfer portal makes this trickier. We will not be able to judge this outcome for a few years, though usually future NFL talent makes itself known relatively quickly.
This has been an exciting 12 months for Michigan football recruiting, and all of the pieces are there for something special in college and an impact at the next level. Still, it can be easy to forget that these are not the first impressive recruiting classes headed to Ann Arbor. Many fell short of the ultimate goal, so it will not be easy for the 2025 and 2026 groups to make their mark.