Michigan Football: New defensive staff is hot on the recruiting trail

Some new faces on the defensive coaching staff, along with some old ones, have Michigan football making some noise on the recruiting trail.

Michigan football was able to pick up four-star defensive tackle George Rooks the week before signing day to get the ball rolling in what would be a busy, but big two weeks in Ann Arbor on the recruiting front.

On signing day the Wolverines made some major noise. They were able to flip a pair of defensive tackles. It started with stealing in-state four-star Rayshaun Benny who was committed to Michigan State and three-star Ikechukwu Iwunnah who was committed to Colorado.

Defensive line coach Shaun Nua was a big reason why Benny and Iwunnah decided to flip. Although Nua has been recruiting them all along, a major push and maybe a new message now that Don Brown is gone, made them change their minds.

A few days after signing day, the Wolverines picked up a pair of 2022 four-star recruits from Tennessee, safety Taylor Groves, and ATH Kody Jones.

The state of Tennessee seems like a priority to the coaching staff in the 2022 cycle as the Wolverines offered quite a few players from the state this past week.

Breaking down the latest offers by Michigan

Maurice Linguist, the new cornerbacks coach and co-defensive coordinator, has also made a recent connection with rising 2023 cornerback Jamel Johnson out of Texas.

The Wolverines offered him on January 24th. Johnson is picking up offers more frequently every day now, Obviously it is still very early, but an early connection could give the Wolverines an edge.

Not to mention the staff is still pursuing and picking up steam with 2022 in-state cornerback Will Johnson and landing him could mean flipping current 2022 USC commit Domani Jackson as the two have said they want to go to the same college.

Landing Johnson will be a huge addition to the 2022 class even if Jackson doesn’t flip. Johnson has multiple crystal ball picks to Michigan, not to mention his father was a safety wore the winged-helmet from 19991 to 1994.

Even after grabbing three defensive tackles late to cap off the 2021 class, safeties coach George Helow is pushing hard for 2022 three-star DT Hayden Schwartz out of Florida who has picked up a lot of steam from many schools around the country as of late.

Schwartz has gotten to talk to a handful of coaches from Michigan already via Zoom. He had talked to Macdonald, Nua, Helow, and recruiting coordinator Matt Dudek all together.

To continue with the defensive tackle push, Nua has recently gained ground with 2022 three-star Peter Taoipu out of Washington. Taoipu is seen as a run-stuffer more than a penetrator. His recruitment is still fresh and feels like it will be a long one.

To round out the recent hot streak on the defensive side of the ball from a recruiting standpoint, co-defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald has recently offered 2022 four-star outside linebacker Lander Barton out of Utah.

Barton is the number one rated player in the state according to 247Sports and has two crystal balls already in, both have him going to Utah. Macdonald is just starting his relationship with Barton at this time, but expect to see a bigger push coming in the future.