The closer the 2026 football season gets, the more programs will begin shifting gears from the 2027 recruiting class to 2028. With only a few players still keeping Michigan in the mix for 2027, head coach Kyle Whittingham has already begun his hunt for his 2028 recruits.
Michigan has already seen a few 2028 prospects grace the campus in Ann Arbor. While it feels extremely early to already have some insights on where guys are leaning, Michigan is potentially on the losing end of a recruiting battle.
Five-star quarterback Donald Tabron II has made a few visits this summer to schools interested in him, mainly Michigan and Texas A&M. The good news for Michigan is that he is a Detroit native. The bad news is that he is already predicted to scorn the Wolverines and head to Texas A&M, according to Rivals Composite Industry predictions.
Kyle Whittingham could lose another in-state 5-star recruit with Donald Tabron II leaning towards Texas A&M
This is not how Whittingham wants to start off the 2028 recruiting cycle. Not only would Whittingham be losing a five-star recruit, something he wasn't able to get in his 2027 class, but also another in-state recruit.
Unfortunately for Whittingham, losing in-state recruits was something he had to get used to this offseason. The biggest loss came at the hands of Dakota Guerrant, a five-star wide receiver who didn't just diss Michigan for another school, but Oregon, a school in the Big Ten.
The other thing Whittingham experienced a lot in the 2027 recruiting cycle was losing recruits to Texas A&M. It seems like there were quite a few times that Whittingham went head-to-head with the Aggies leading man, Mike Elko. Damani Warren is the biggest loss Michigan suffered at the hands of Texas A&M, a four-star recruit that the Wolverines were high on but couldn't close the deal.
Now, early in the 2028 cycle, Whittingham could already be dealt his first loss, and it isn't even fall yet. There is still a lot of time before Tabron actually makes his decision, but Rivals currently gives him a 91.1% chance of picking the Aggies over the Wolverines.
Whittingham is going to have to find a way to keep elite in-state talent from going outside state lines. Too many times this offseason, Michigan has lost top talent to other big programs. While being able to recruit out of state is important, if Whittingham can't keep guys close to home, it could create a big problem on the recruiting trail in the future.
There is still time for Whittingham to try and win Tabron over, but if this is already labeled a loss, it is something Michigan fans won't be happy about before the start of the 2026 season.
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