Michigan Football: Ranking assistant coaches as recruiters

#8.) Tight Ends coach Grant Newsome

The youngest and newest assistant coach for the Wolverines, the former starting left tackle for Jim Harbaugh’s 2016 football team is off to a solid start, helping pull in four-star tight end Deakon Tonielli. Newsome has, without a doubt, the least background to go off of, but by all reports sounds like the type of assistant who will only continue to grow and improve in his responsibilities, such as recruiting, in the years to come.

There also remains a chance that the Wolverines add a second tight end in the 2023 class, giving another significant opportunity for Newsome to get some experience as a recruiter. Otherwise, he will likely be gearing up towards a very strong tight end crop in 2024, featuring big-time recruits such as in-state four-star Brady Prieskorn.

#9.) Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter

Minter is a tough assistant to evaluate, thus we are putting him towards the bottom here, less of an indicator that he is a mediocre recruiter (he is not), but rather that his role is different. First and foremost, Minter is not like Don Brown who was the coordinator but also coached a specific position.

Minter’s title is listed without a direct position, and his experience as both a linebacker and defensive backs coach suggests he will be involved in multiple spots along the defense.

And second, as the floating defensive coordinator, Minter has not really been asked to take the lead on any given recruitment. He is not a primary recruiter for any individual recruitment according to the recruiting services but merely works as a secondary for the top defensive targets.

By all accounts, he has gotten some strong reviews there and likely will continue to be a solid recruiting piece, though in a much different role than others here.

#10.) Quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss

As co-offensive coordinator (along with Moore), Weiss could fall into a more vague category like Minter, however, he actually does have a specific position he is in charge of: quarterbacks.

The Wolverines did not land any of their top targets at the position in the 2022 class, missing on recruits like Nate Johnson (Utah), Maalik Murphy (Texas), and Connor Harrell (North Carolina). This was understandable though, as Michigan football had just pulled in five-star QB J.J. McCarthy, and few schools are capable of pitching quarterbacks to come sit behind a five-star like McCarthy.

Thus, Michigan brought in two more project-oriented quarterbacks, such as Alex Orji, a three-star dual-threat quarterback who featured as a potential wildcat package QB in the spring game, and Jayden Denegal.

The issue, however, is that Weiss missed on not one but two in-state five-stars, as their only target in 2023, Dante Moore, committed to Oregon, and backup option C.J. Carr committed to Notre Dame.

Now, Weiss certainly could turn things around by landing five-star 2024 passer Jadyn Davis, with whom Michigan appears to lead at the moment.

However, as mentioned earlier, these rankings are based on actual results, not hypothetical candidates Michigan may or may not land in the future. Weiss’ value at the moment is large as a play caller and offensive coordinator, certainly not as a recruiter.