The best players in Michigan go to…not Michigan? In the last few seasons, the Wolverines have missed on key in-state recruits, and it’s primarily why they have the quarterback situation they do today:
The Bryce Underwood saga has taken many twists and turns. But over the weekend, the Michigan Wolverines were embarrassed on social media when Underwood, a Belleville product and the No. 1 recruit in the country, reposted the following.
After publicly and aggressively recruiting Underwood, whether this is “just a troll” or not, Michigan has unequivocally failed to recruit its home state over the last four classes. This is most painful at the quarterback position.
In the history of the 247Sports database (back to 2000), only six of the top-100 high school recruits out of Michigan have been quarterbacks. With such scarcity at the position, you’d think the Wolverines would have plenty of success bringing them to Ann Arbor. Three of those six quarterbacks have come in the past three classes, and the Wolverines are on the brink of striking out. While J.J. McCarthy was at the top of the depth chart and Michigan had a starter for at least two seasons waiting in the wings behind Cade McNamara, some top in-state quarterbacks went elsewhere.
First was Dante Moore. It was apparent towards the end of Moore’s recruitment that the Wolverines were not going to get his talents. Instead, he verbally committed to Oregon and then later flipped to UCLA before his recruitment ended. Even after entering the transfer portal, Michigan was in contact with him AGAIN before losing to Dan Lanning and Oregon.
Three other of Michigan’s top-15 recruits in the 2023 class attended Martin Luther King, and the Wolverines failed to bring any of them to Ann Arbor. Cole Cabana and Amir Herring committed to Michigan, and both were in the top-five in the state, but Herring has already transferred and Cabana has yet to make an impact. Those were the only two out of the top-10 in-state recruits the Wolverines brought to the Big House that year.
In their process of pursuing Moore, the Wolverines hardly even bothered with fellow four-star in-state quarterback Brady Drogosh. He was the No. 5 player in Michigan, 2022’s Mr. Football in Michigan, and didn’t include Michigan in his final list. The Wolverines also failed to recruit Darius Taylor well, who is now one of the top running backs in the country for Minnesota. Michigan State out-recruited the Wolverines in-state, earning three of the top-10 commitments in the class.
The second was maybe the most painful. C.J. Carr, the grandson of legendary Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, elected to go to South Bend and play for Notre Dame . Carr was the No. 38 ranked prospect in Michigan history, the No. 45 player in his class, and the top recruit in the state. When he committed, he told 247Sports , “I’ve known for awhile where I want to go…I’m excited to get this out there and start recruiting for that school.”
The result for the rest of the class? Michigan earned only one commitment from a top-five player in the state. Wide receiver Nick Marsh, who was nearly a top-100 player, didn’t even include Michigan on his top list and promptly committed to Michigan State. The class was one of the strongest in recent memory with 11 four-stars. Only two are now at Michigan — safety Jacob Oden and tight end Brady Prieskorn.
Looking at this 2025 class, a similar story is being told. Michigan is in the dog house in Underwood’s recruitment, despite offering him $10.5 million. For the last several years, the chorus of maize and blue fans singing that NIL was the problem have egg on their face if Underwood doesn’t commit. He’s the No. 3 ranked player in Michigan state history and the top overall player in the country. Once again, it feels like the Wolverines have begun their work a little too late.
The impact on the rest of the 2025 class is just as obvious. While simultaneously being aggressive with Underwood, Michigan is focused on his high school teammate, four-star safety Elijah Dotson. Flip picks are in, but Michigan should consider itself fortunate to still be in the running after Dotson committed to Pitt in April. Alex Graham, a four-star corner committed to Colorado, is also being courted by the Wolverines and may end up in the class as well, but it’s clear that Michigan had other plans before Graham.
Once again, the Wolverines only claim two commitments from the state’s top-five: four-star offensive lineman Avery Gach and three-star defensive lineman Bobby Kanka.
Looking into the on-field 2025 Michigan roster, there’s a growing feeling there won’t be much to be excited about. The fall back down to mediocrity after winning a national championship has been swift. And seemingly every successful major player is headed to the NFL this offseason.
Maize n Brew posed the question internally: What position groups should fans be excited about for 2025? We came up with only two, running back and tight end. That’s not acceptable after being at the peak of college football less than 365 days ago.
It starts at quarterback, both on the field and in the recruiting cycle. This season has been a reflection Michigan failing to land any of those talented in-state quarterback recruits and reap the benefits of the rest of the class, and it appears we are on the brink of that happening again with Underwood. With how scarce top quarterback recruits have come out of the state of Michigan in the last 25 years, who knows when an opportunity like this could come again for the Wolverines?