When Kyle Whittingham came to Ann Arbor, he had a plan for Michigan, alright... He was going to take what worked for him on the recruiting trails for years at Utah, and see if those same tactics could work halfway across the country over in the Big Ten. So far, so good. His mentee and Utah successor Morgan Scalley painted a perfectly good picture of what is going on with the Utes over in Salt Lake...
As of Wednesday afternoon, here is what the top 25 of 247Sports' team recruiting rankings look like.
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Florida Gators
- UCLA Bruins
- USC Trojans
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Miami Hurricanes
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Washington Huskies
- Oregon Ducks
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Virginia Tech Hokies
- Louisville Cardinals
- Michigan Wolverines
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Texas Longhorns
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Syracuse Orange
- California Golden Bears
- West Virginia Mountaineers
- Clemson Tigers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Iowa Hawkeyes
Michigan may only be ranked No. 16, but the Wolverines do have this going for them... The longer Whittingham gets to establish his roots in Ann Arbor, the better off the Michigan football program will be. He already has 12 players committed to play for him beginning in 2027. Of the teams currently ranked ahead of Michigan, how many are led by new head coaches? Five others are really kicking tail!
Whether it be Jon Sumrall, Bob Chesney, Matt Campbell, Will Stein, or James Franklin, it is a big deal.
Kyle Whittingham's early Michigan recruiting efforts are starting to work
Even though it is only in the middle stages of May, Michigan feels like one of those teams that will improve its ranking as the year goes along. While College Football Playoff staples such as Georgia and Indiana are nowhere to be found, are we really going to expect for Kentucky to hold onto its top-10 designation from start to finish? Stein is a great offensive mind, but Kentucky needs some work...
What is important to understand is that even though Michigan may only be middle of the pack right now in terms of recruitment in the Big Ten, Whittingham and the boys are coming. Now that he is at a true traditional power, his recruiting prowess on the West Coast is even more amplified. With the Big Ten having four schools over in that part of the country, that is a huge asset the Wolverines now have.
However, not until Whittingham really becomes a Michigander will recruiting truly take off. The big question is will he be in Ann Arbor long enough to see the fruits of his labor... Whittingham may be young at heart, but he is no spring chicken. He is already a hall-of-fame level head coach from his two-decade run leading Utah. He did not need to come here, but he did. This says he is really about it.
On the other side of the coin, Utah is nowhere to be found in this top 25; Scalley has some work to do.
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