Across college football, coaches are hitting the road to visit recruits, except for Michigan football coaches who appear to be taking part in a self-imposed ban.
The Wolverines have taken part in some self-imposed punishments before and that's what this appears to be. It's likely related to the NCAA investigation into signgate/recruiting violations.
Jesse Minter and Steve Clinkscale just received show-cause penalties from the NCAA. This could be related to that, or just the Michigan football program self-imposing penalties as a sign of cooperation. Here is what EJ Holland of The Wolverine wrote about what's happening.
"Michigan coaches who would normally be on the road recruiting have not been seen visiting recruits during an important window, several sources tell The Wolverine. It is unclear if the program has self-imposed travel restrictions during the spring contact period, if this is an agreement or a mandate by the NCAA, or something else, but some recruits have indicated they’ve been told not to expect staff to visit them until the week of May 19."
We don't know if this is mandated by an agreement with the NCAA or a self-imposed penalty, but it's clear this isn't an accident. It's also clear that the Wolverines will be off the road for most of the month of May.
The spring evaluation period runs through May 24. So coaches would still have time to visit recruits the week of May 19th, however, the Wolverines will probably see fewer recruits than expected.
Honestly, this is a bigger punishment than the ones levied against Minter and Clink. Those were meaningless. This could have an impact on recruiting, although it should be limited.