Kyle Whittingham and his staff have done a stellar job of building the Michigan football roster since he was hired as the head coach shortly after Christmas.
There was plenty of work to do to retain the roster, keep recruits in the fold, and then add talent from the transfer portal, which is a necessity nowadays, especially after Michigan lost more than 20 players to the portal.
Some of them were in line to be contributors next season. Some weren't. Outside of linebacker Cole Sullivan, the departures that should cause the most heartache are Jayden Sanders and Elijah Dotson, two talented cornerbacks who had a bright future, and still do, just elsewhere.
Michigan also lost Andre Clarke, who was one of the few signees to ask out of his letter of intent. So there is a void in the cornerback room, and Michigan football looks like it's poised to fill it with another 2026 recruit, former Cal short-term signee Ernest Nunley.
A developmental cornerback will be key for Michigan football
Nunley isn't as highly-rated as any of the others listed (No. 1,277 overall). However, the new coaching staff seems to really like him. He's 6-foot, 180 pounds, and known as a talented man corner. Defensive backs are a speciality of Jay Hill. His BYU defenses had 39 interceptions over the past two seasons. 12 different players for BYU had an interception in 2024, which led the nation.
Nunley has been projected to land with Michigan by 247 Sports and Rivals. He's not a guy who will be expected to play in year one, such as Salesi Moa. Yet, the Wolverines needed developmental guys in the secondary, and his commitment should be coming any day.