Michigan Football: Updating pursuits of Walter Nolen, Domani Jackson

Despite some staff changes, Michigan football is still in the mix for five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen, plus more on Domani Jackson. 

When Maurice Linguist left the Michigan football coaching staff to be the head coach at Buffalo, it raised concerns among some recruits, simply due to the turnover.

It’s hard to blame Michigan or head coach Jim Harbaugh for the fact that the Buffalo job came open, or that Linguist, who he hired in January, just happened to work previously at the school.

Coaches can’t be expected to pass on head-coaching opportunities and once that came about, there was nothing Harbaugh could do. Instead, he did the only he could and hired a really good replacement in Steve Clinkscale.

Clink is such a good hire, you can make a strong argument he’s an even better long-term fit than Linguist.

And according to Adam Gorney of Rivals, the departure of Linguist hasn’t impacted a top target of Michigan football’s in 2022 and that’s five-star defensive tackle, Walter Nolen. Here’s what the Rivals’ recruiting analyst wrote in his latest roundup about Nolen and U-M:

"“The coaching turnover at Michigan has concerned some prospects and maybe slowed them from taking visits to Ann Arbor, but the five-star defensive lineman is not one of them. The rumor is that the Cordova (Tenn.) St. Benedict standout has the “same interest” in Michigan as before co-defensive coordinator Maurice Linguist left, which is a great sign for the Wolverines.”"

To be fair, Gorney did say his sources expected Nolen to wind up in the SEC, but the recruit out of Tennessee still has ties to Michigan and the Wolverines can’t be counted out just yet, especially since Nolen is taking an official visit to Ann Arbor.

Less optimistic news about Domani Jackson

As far as Michigan’s pursuit of another five-star prospect, Domani Jackson, Gorney has some less than positive news for the Wolverines.

Michigan had been pushing for Jackson to take an official visit to Ann Arbor. He’s really close to Will Johnson and his father, who is from Ohio, grew up as a Michigan fan. But according to Gorney, it looks like the only visit Jackson will take is to Alabama. Here’s his tidbit:

"“The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei recruit will go to Alabama on June 18-20 and it’s always been a school held in high regard by Jackson. Other visits were considered, and close friend and Michigan commit Will Johnson was trying to get Jackson back to Ann Arbor, but it seems if USC can dodge a flip to Alabama then the Trojans should keep Jackson in this class.”"

You never want to say never in recruiting, but it seems like Jackson is really solid to USC. Alabama could have a shot at flipping that commitment. Yet, it doesn’t sound like it’s a realistic possibility for the Wolverines.

If U-M gets an official visit, that could change. But for now, it’s probably time to give up on the dream of Will Johnson and Domani in the same class.