Michigan football: 3 Huge in-state recruiting battles for Wolverines

Michigan football is at war for several in-state recruits, battling the likes of Ohio State, Michigan State, and many other prominent programs.

The Wolverines will always have the difficult task of keeping the most talented kids from Michigan in-state. Michigan football sometimes wins, and sometimes they lose.

They lost with the King brothers.

Kalen and Kobe King are brothers that play for Cass Tech in Detroit. Kalen is ranked slightly higher than his brother at 10th in MI, and his brother sits at 13th in-state. They are at different positions; Kalen is the 24th best CB, and Kobe is the 20th ILB.

Both brothers sit outside of the top 300. Both brothers picked Penn State over UM.

That’s not the only mitten state athlete to decide to go elsewhere. There’s another whose sting is felt even stronger than that of the Kings. Jaylen Reed, 8th within Michigan, also chose the Beavers.

It could be a situation where the fit just isn’t right. It could be a recruiting issue. But it’s most likely UM is looking elsewhere for talent. The Harbaugh administration is well known to target nationally known high schools to pillage their best guys. St. Francis Academy in Maryland is a frequent target for the Wolverines, among many others.

Defensive Coordinator Don Brown is rooted in the east coast after coaching there for so long that he continues to recruit at a high level in his old stomping grounds.

While it’s imperative that UM creates a stronghold in the state with the 2021 class, there’s still an entire season before any of those athletes will be able to take a snap on campus. Winning three key battles will go a long way in securing the state and keeping the snakes away.