Michigan Football: Impact of the Coaching Carousel on Wolverines

LSU hires Brian Kelly

This hire could bring the best news for Michigan football, which makes sense considering Notre Dame’s proximity to Ann Arbor.

As mentioned above, current Notre Dame commit Amorion Walker seems to be on the way out of the 2022 Fighting Irish recruiting class and headed to Ann Arbor.

Things have been trending that way for a while and this move only strengthens that notion.

Other players the Wolverines could look to poach from Notre Dame’s class include CJ Williams, Joshua Burnham, Nolan Ziegler, and Ashton Craig.

Starting with Williams, a Top100 receiver at Mater Dei in California, the Wolverines have a need at wide receiver and he has shown a willingness to leave the West Coast already, what’s another couple hundred miles?

Michigan football was his first offer way back at the beginning of his recruitment so they have a special connection here.

Next on the list is in-state linebacker Joshua Burnham from Traverse City, MI, a four-star according to 247Sports.

Burnham was thought to be a Michigan lean at one point but spurned the Maize and Blue for the Fighting Irish in a disappointing turn of events earlier this year.

Now, Michigan is in the midst of a Big Ten title run and in pursuit of its first berth into the College Football Playoff while Notre Dame is replacing its head coach.

Time to kick the tires on Burnham again, and bring him home.

Next is another in-state defender, hybrid safety/linebacker Nolan Ziegler from Grand Rapids.

Ziegler is a four-star according to 247Sports and had a lot of interest in Michigan early on but the Wolverines didn’t quite reciprocate the love and he chose to side with the Fighting Irish.

Like I said, the defensive back class is becoming more and more crowded and the Wolverines already have two somewhat undersized linebackers in the class in Aaron Alexander and Deuce Spurlock, so Ziegler might be a bit redundant.

Nonetheless, Ziegler is a name to keep an eye on.

Lastly, offensive tackle Ashton Craig from Lawrenceburg, Indiana, could be on Michigan’s radar as optimism has faded a bit with five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly.

Craig is rated a three-star by 247Sports and has a big, projectable frame at 6-5, 283 lbs.

He is the third lowest-rated recruit in Notre Dame’s class but could be a quality backup plan should things fall through with Conerly.