Michigan Football aims to flip Notre Dame commitment

Back on the recruiting trail in the 2023 class, Michigan football is aiming to flip a commitment of Notre Dame’s as well as fend off Oregon for one of its own. 

Now that Jim Harbaugh has signed his contract extension and spring practice is set to start next week, all seems right in the world of Michigan football.

The coaching staff is in place for next season and at least right now, the Wolverines haven’t suffered any major losses in the transfer portal.

And armed with a new five-year extension signed by Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football should be able to get over some of the negative recruiting stemming from Harbaugh’s interest in the NFL.

Michigan is also fresh off its first 12-win season in over 20 years, a top-3 finish, a Big Ten title, and a number of other factors that it can use on the recruiting trail.

The Wolverines are hard at work in the 2023 recruiting class and one new player to know is Notre Dame commitment Peyton Bowen.

Bowen is out of Denton, Texas, and is ranked No. 61 overall in the 2023 recruiting class according to the 247 sports composite rankings, as well as being the No. 4 overall safety.

Bowen is committed to Notre Dame and there’s no reason to think that will change but Michigan football is going to push to flip him and is the first offer since Jay Harbaugh has taken over coaching the position, although co-DC Steve Clinkscale will surely be involved.

Marcus Freeman was a primary recruiter for Bowen and that’s going to make it tough for Michigan or any other big-time schools such as Texas A&M to be able to flip him but it’s interesting to see the Wolverines get involved. We’ll see what happens from here.

Oregon targets Michigan 4-star commitment

On the opposite end of things, Michigan football is going to have the hold onto the commitment of four-star tight end Andrew Rappleyea which got harder following an offer from Oregon this week.

Rappleyea is out of Massachusetts so it seems like a long way for him to go but Oregon is an elite program and led by new head coach Dan Lanning. The head coach doesn’t have any ties to the Northeast but tight ends coach Drew Mehringer coached at James Madison which is in Virginia.

There could be some connection there but Rappleyea is a rising prospect. He was offered by Ohio State and a bunch of other Big Ten programs before his Michigan commitment and while it’s always a worry to see another big-time offer, it’s good to know U-M is right in its evaluation.