Michigan Football: What Dillon Tatum’s delay means for Wolverines

One of Michigan football’s top targets in the 2022 recruiting class is Dillon Tatum, who has decided to delay his decision. Here’s what it means. 

There’s no doubt that Dillon Tatum is one of the most talked about Michigan football recruits in the 2022 class.

The four-star prospect from West Bloomfield is obviously one of the state’s top recruits in the class, but he’s also the center of an intense recruiting battle between Michigan and Michigan State.

Tatum is a recruit both programs desperately want. For the Spartans, he would be one of their centerpieces for 2022, while he would be another key piece to the puzzle for the Wolverines, who are actively trying to shore up their in-state recruiting pipeline.

In the last few years, Michigan has signed Donovan Edwards, Cornell Wheeler, and Makari Paige from West Bloomfield, as well as hiring former head coach Ron Bellamy.

Those relationships are playing a huge role in Tatum’s recruitment and without them, Michigan State might be the leader, as Tatum is buying into Mel Tucker’s message. He even took a self-guided visit to the Spartans’ spring game.

And in light of Maurice Linguist leaving the program, Tatum decided to push back his decision. Here’s what he told Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider:

"“This past Wednesday I wanted to actually drop my (commitment) video, but (Steve Clinkscale) hire kind of slowed it down. I want to actually talk to him and have that relationship built with him before I make a final decision.”"

Reading the tea leaves with Dillon Tatum

There was talk that Tatum didn’t have the best relationship with Steve Clinkscale, the newest hire as passing-game coordinator and cornerbacks coach. Plus, with all the shuffling of coaches — Michigan has had multiple safety coaches recruiting Tatum — it’s not the best look.

But, Bellamy is doing his best to get Tatum in the fold, and here’s what Tatum said the message was from his former head coach:

"“Coach Bellamy said, ‘remember man, I’m going to be your main guy’. If I go to Michigan, I will play nickel. So I will split time with both coaches. (Bellamy) was like, ‘75% of the time you’re going to be in my room, Dillon. Believe and trust in me!’ (Laughter). I said, ‘Coach, I believe and trust in you, but I’ve got to spend time with (Clinkscale) also. Okay, Coach… I’m going to give him another chance (to) turn things around.”"

Those quotes from Tatum give you the impression that he’s not a fan of the hire. Will Johnson and other recruits love it, but not everyone was going to and Tatum appears lukewarm about Clink.

However, that doesn’t mean that can’t change. Yet, with the Wolverines as the crystal ball leader, it’s easy to guess Tatum was going to pick Michigan football before all this went down.

Now, that feels like more of an open question.