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Michigan Football: Takeaways from Huge Recruiting Weekends

By Jordan Bruetsch

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 03: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines is seen with University of Michigan President Santa J. Ono following the Big Ten Championship against the Purdue Boilermakers at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 3, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 03: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines is seen with University of Michigan President Santa J. Ono following the Big Ten Championship against the Purdue Boilermakers at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 3, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Michigan Wolverines running backs coach Mike Hart on the field before the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Michigan Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022.Michill 111922 Kd 315
Michigan Wolverines running backs coach Mike Hart on the field before the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Michigan Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022.Michill 111922 Kd 315 /

Mike Hart is an ELITE Recruiter

Fans had been wondering why Michigan, a school notorious for pounding the rock, was not in contention for the top running backs in the country every year.

There were doubts about Mike Hart’s recruiting ability. Since then, Hart has landed high four-star Cole Cabana and top-100 running back Jordan Marshall.

While Cabana was a slam dunk in Michigan’s backyard, Marshall wasn’t. Hart went into Ohio and stole Ohio State’s top running back target. Remember all that talk about Michigan football only landing Ohio kids that OSU wasn’t recruiting? Yeah, that talk is worthless now.

Landing an elite talent like Marshall from your biggest rival’s backyard is an extremely tall task. But Hart did it, and it wasn’t even much of a challenge. Marshall was slated to visit Ohio State during the Spring and had also promised them an official visit. While it’s unclear if Marshall will still take those visits, shutting down his recruitment was a huge accomplishment for Hart.

The question Michigan football fans are asking now, is what happens with Taylor Tatum? The answer is that now Hart can devote even more time to Tatum. Tatum, another top 100 running back out of Texas, has said that he’d be fine with not being the only elite RB in a class.

Michigan has a lot that it can pitch to Tatum. For the past two seasons, Michigan has been led by a dynamic duo at RB. Haskins and Corum in 2021, and Corum and Edwards in 2022. Adding on, everybody knows it’s going to be Corum and Edwards again in 2023. Michigan performs best by having two elite backs, not just one.

Following the commitment of Marshall, I’d still consider Michigan the favorite for Tatum. He knows that he and Marshall can both share success on the field, and it might even help both of their NFL draft stock by sharing the workload. At this point, I think that Tatum can still end up a Wolverine. It’s going to be fascinating to watch Mike Hart recruit him.

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