Michigan Football: Wolverines land two key commitments and aren’t done

Michigan football landed commitments from tight end Colston Loveland and EDGE Mario Eugenio this week, plus another verbal appears to be on the way. 

The holiday weekend for some concluded on Monday and for Michigan football, it was another good day on the recruiting trail as the Wolverines landed a commitment for the second straight day.

On Sunday, the Wolverines got a pledge from fast-rising tight end Colston Loveland from Gooding, Idaho. It’s been a while since Michigan landed a kid from Idaho, but Loveland is legit. He’s a three-star in the composite rankings and a four-star according to 247 sports.

He was also offered recently by Alabama, LSU, and Auburn, so enough with the three-star comments, and besides, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was a four-star in the composite when it’s all said and done.

With Loveland, the future at tight end is really bright. Louis Hansen was a top-100 recruit according to Rivals in the last cycle and he’s one of the 2021 signees that doesn’t get talked about enough.

Matthew Hibner was another recruit I really liked in 2020 and in my eyes, Michigan football has hit a home run at the position here in Loveland — not to mention Marlin Klein — another kid with upside and good offers who chose the Wolverines.

The Wolverines won over Loveland, in part, because of the way that they use their tight ends. Michigan is definitely adding a lot of size and athleticism at the position and we’ll see if it pays off in the years ahead.

Now, let’s take a look at huge addition on Monday in the way of four-star defensive end Mario Eugenio.

Another super Mario

Guys with the name Mario have fared pretty well with Michigan football, at least the name of Mario Manningham comes to mind. Hopefully, this Mario (Eugenio) will have similar success.

And the staff obviously thinks that he’s going to be a really good prospect. According to the analysis of Steve Lorenz, Eugenio was one of Michigan’s top overall targets in the class and even though Iowa State was probably the only true contender at the end, he’s a really good get for the Wolverines. Here’s some of what Lorenz wrote on Eugenio:

"“The commitment from Eugenio gives Mike Macdonald and company one of the first top targets the revamped defensive staff identified after coming to Ann Arbor. Eugenio is a pass-rushing specialist with elite skills on the edge, getting to the quarterback consistently.”"

During his past two seasons of high school ball, Eugenio has racked up 38 tackles for loss and 30 sacks, as well as 123 tackles, eight pass breakups, and six forced fumbles. Obviously, he has a knack for finding the ball and his way into the backfield.

The addition of Eugenio should also help with in-state defensive tackle Deone Walker. The two have a budding friendship and during Eugenio’s announcement on Instagram, Walker said, “Congrats teammate.”

Walker has been trending with expert projections to the Wolverines and it looks like the massive defensive tackle is on board with the latest addition to the 2022 class.

Another decision coming soon

There seems to be more good news coming on the recruiting trail for Michigan football. Soon after Eugenio made his announcement, Myles Pollard, a top cornerback target for the Wolverines, announced a top three of Michigan, Auburn, and Oklahoma.

He also announced that he would be making his announcement on Wednesday. The Wolverines have been in the pole position for Pollard, especially since the addition of Steve Clinkscale to the coaching staff.

Pollard has been projected to Michigan by EJ Holland of Rivals for some time and on Monday night, Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider added a crystal ball projection with a confidence level of six on a scale of 1-10. Four other analysts from Rivals have also put in Futurecast picks for U-M.

Five-star cornerback commitment, Will Johnson, who teased that July would be a good month for Michigan, tweeted that the “Duo would be nice.”

That refers to Johnson and Pollard, who is 6-foot-2 and rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals, as well as a three-star by the 247 sports composite rankings.

Either way, his commitment would be huge and right now, all signs are pointing to Wednesday being another good day for the Wolverines.