Michigan had an opportunity to land former North Texas wide receiver Wyatt Young in the portal, but it was just not meant to be. Almost as expected, he followed his head coach Eric Morris to Oklahoma State, where he will keep on playing with quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Calen Hawkins in Stillwater. Kyle Whittingham and his staff had targeted Young, but he is off to the Big 12...
Young had 70 receptions for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns this year starring for the Mean Green.
Put in an Oklahoma State prediction earlier. Michigan portal target officially off the board. https://t.co/ROwmhjIkik
— "EJ Holland" (@EJHollandOn3) January 4, 2026
Even though Michigan came up short of landing Young in the portal, he is the type of player that Whittingham needs to bring into the program to turn this thing around in a hurry. We are talking about a productive player with the will to win. While it makes sense from a continuity standpoint for him to follow Morris, Mestemaker, and Hawkins to Oklahoma State, it was the worst team in the Power Four!
The fact Michigan stood a chance to get Young to commit to them is a testament to Whittingham.
Michigan comes up empty-handed of landing Wyatt Young in the portal
Once again, it may have been part of the plan all along for Morris to bring everyone he possibly could from Denton to Stillwater in the transfer portal. Even though Oklahoma State is the far better football program historically over North Texas, did you see how terrible the Cowboys were the last two years? This was a team that was playing for a Big 12 Championship in 2023. It went 1-11 this past season...
What this means for Michigan is the Wolverines are looking in the right places to get more dynamic on offense. Just because the Wolverines were unable to beat out Oklahoma State for Young's services does not mean this thing is not going to work in Ann Arbor under Whittingham's watch. It was truly a long shot for anyone to beat out Oklahoma State to land Young in the transfer portal.
The good news is Michigan seems to be wanting to reignite this team in a hurry on offense. Under Whittingham's predecessor of Sherrone Moore, the offense was way too conservative, rather pedestrian and stale in most instances. Whittingham is more of a defensive-minded guy, but Utah's offenses under his leadership were often seen as dynamic and complementary of his side of the ball.
A team is not going to be able to land everyone its wants in the portal, and Michigan is no different...