Things haven't gone particularly well for Michigan football on the field during the 2026 season, and now that is starting to seep into the recruiting.
Three-star offensive tackle Sidney Rouleau announced his decommitment on social media on Tuesday, just a few days after he took an official visit to Tennessee, according to his 247 Sports profile.
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound offensive tackle is ranked No. 577 overall, according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. SMU and Tennessee have been making a push. Clemson was another team that was in the mix around the time of his pledge to Michigan football.
Rouleau committed to the Wolverines last March, after the changeover to Kyle Whittingham. It's not the end of the world. No decommitment is, but it is important to build excellent high school recruiting classes because the less you have to live in the transfer portal, the better.
It's one thing to find a quarterback in the portal. It's another to have to build an entire team, especially an offensive line. That needs to be homegrown as much as possible. To that end, Ethan McDowell of The Wolverine reported that the Wolverines are expected to target 1-2 offensive line targets.
At this point, they wil have to be flip targets. The coaching staff might have to take a shot on a fall evaluation or a player committed to a lesser program, which is how they got Tommy Carr.
It's not the only piece of bad news for Michigan football on the recruiting trail, though. That's sort of what makes it concerning.
Asa Burch now trending to Notre Dame after the crystal ball flip
The Michigan football legacy, Asa Burch, one of the top prospects in the 2028 recruiting class, is now trending to Notre Dame instead of Michigan.
Brice Marich of the Michigan Insider previously had his crystal ball projection in favor of the Wolverines to land the 6-foot-5, 225-pound EDGE, out of Harding, Ohio. He's ranked 86th overall, according to the 247 Sports composite rankings.
Landing him would have been a great building block for the 2028 class. Notre Dame has been making a push and gaining traction, even before the Wolverines started to struggle this season.
However, it's hard to look at Whittingham and have a ton of confidence that he will be in Ann Arbor long-term. There are always rumors about his job security and we have four games left in his first season.
Whittingham needs a win on Saturday, not only for his job security, but also just to get some positive momentum back in the program.
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