It's a great time to be a Michigan football fan. Not only did the Wolverines ruin Ohio State for the fourth straight season, they are rolling on the recruiting trail.
Recently, the Wolverines ramped up their NIL game to be on par with everyone else in college football -- at least the blue bloods -- and the results have been predictable.
I've been saying for years that Michigan football simply needed to start paying market value for players and once they did, their recruiting problems would be solved.
Lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. Missing out on Bryce Underwood the first time was honestly more about refusing to play the NIL game than anything. Michigan football never gave itself a chance, a real chance to be part of the conversation.
If one school is offering $5 million and another basically nothing at all (purely hypothetical) the school not offering much isn't going to have a chance.
That was on full display on Tuesday as Michigan football flipped four-star EDGE Nate Marshall back from Auburn.
There hasn't been any buzz about a flip. It came out of nowhere but Marshall was committed to Michigan football previously before flipping to Auburn. Now, he's back in the 2025 class with Early Signing Day on Wednesday.
Marshall is 6-foot-4, 265 pounds, and ranked as the No. 8 defensive lineman in the entire 2025 class. In terms of the entire Michigan football haul, Marshall is the sixth top-100 commitment according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. Nine of those commitments are ranked in the top 190 overall. 13 of them are in the top 300 and Michigan is ranked seventh overall.
The Wolverines aren't done either. On Monday, they were projected to flip five-star offensive tackle Ty Haywood and there is positive buzz about Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng who is announcing tomorrow and has a Michigan football crystal ball (No. 130 overall).
If Michigan flips Haywood and Owusu-Boateng that would give Michigan 11 commitments in the top 200. That's how the Wolverines should be recruiting.
Marshall's commitment is a huge though and here are three thoughts.
An elite defensive lineman
Marshall is listed as an EDGE and he's athletic enough to be a really good one. But he's also big enough that he could grow into a pass-rushing five technique. In some ways, that prospect could be even scarier for other teams.
Think about Marshall at like 290 pounds. The athleticism jumps off the screen. The first couple of highlights on his 2023 film are of him playing wide receiver.
That's the kind of athlete you want rushing the passer. Michigan football also needed a player like this. They have nine top-200 commitments but none of them were on the defensive line. That makes this commitment even more important.