Michigan Football: Impact of the Coaching Carousel on Wolverines
USC hires Lincoln Riley
This one has huge recruiting ramifications for teams all over the country.
Riley is known as one of the most recruiting-focused head coaches in the nation and he has prioritized the West Coast with some success at Oklahoma.
He will likely try and turn the trend of top-end talent leaving the state of California around back to where it used to be when USC was at its peak during the early 2000s.
Domani Jackson is the player this most impacts in my estimation.
The five-star defensive back from national powerhouse Mater Dei in USC’s backyard recently decommitted from USC, leading many to predict that he was ready to join up with fellow five-star cornerback Will Johnson in Ann Arbor.
Then he took an official visit to Tuscaloosa, AL, when the Crimson Tide took on LSU and the crystal balls began to pour in for Nick Saban to do what he always does, and that is stealing a five-star at the last minute because he can.
The Wolverines still feel good about their chances at this point, even though the experts don’t, but Lincoln Riley coming to USC has to be the worst-case scenario for the Wolverines in the Domani Jackson recruitment.
Another California kid that Riley could look at is four-star safety Zeke Berry from Concord, CA.
Berry is uncommitted but is considered a heavy Michigan lean, and would be an excellent addition to the 2022 defensive class for the Wolverines.
A late riser, Berry has been connected to West Coast teams like Oregon, Arizona, UCLA, and Oregon State along with Michigan, maybe Lincoln Riley pushes late for an in-state Top100 prospect that USC probably expects to get nine times out of 10.
A few former Oklahoma commits that the Wolverines might check in on are running backs Raleek Brown and Gavin Sawchuk, and cornerback Gentry Williams.
Brown is rated a five-star by 247Sports and had some interest in Michigan early in his recruitment, mostly due to his relationship with former Michigan wide receiver Giles Jackson.
I would be surprised if anything materializes there and many are predicting him to follow Lincoln Riley to Southern California.
Sawchuk was much more interested in the Wolverines before ultimately deciding on the Sooners.
Hailing from Valor Christian in Colorado, the same school that produced former Wolverine signal-caller Dylan McCaffrey, Sawchuk was the top-rated running back in the 2022 class at one point.
He has fallen a bit from there but is still in the Top100 according to 247Sports and has received several crystal balls to stay at Oklahoma with Raleek Brown likely departing for USC.
The ties to his high school are strong and could get a foot in the door for Michigan, but this one also seems like a longshot.
Lastly from this group, five-star cornerback Gentry Williams out of Booker T. Washington high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is the same high school that current star Wolverines’ safety Daxton Hill attended.
Like Sawchuk, it could give Michigan football a crack at Williams but any significant movement seems slim, especially when you consider how crowded Michigan’s defensive back class already is and could be with multiple additions potentially on the horizon.
Domani Jackson remains the biggest fish out West.