Kyle Whittingham is a great football coach. There's no question about that. However, when he was hired by Michigan football, there was one lingering concern: recruiting.
Could Whittingham, the long-time Utah head coach, recruit at the level necessary to compete for Big Ten and national championships?
It was a legitimate question. Whittingham built some really good teams at Utah. But he wasn't necessarily known as a dynamic recruiter, more of a dude who can develop players after properly evaluating them.
With Michigan, Whittingham doesn't have to find diamonds in the rough. He can land elite talent, and while it's still early, the results from the 2027 recruiting class have been extremely promising.
Just in the past month, Whittingham has landed five blue-chip prospects. It started with four-star quarterback Kamden Lopati (No. 122 in 247 Sports composite rankings). He was an Illinois commit before Michigan flipped him, beating out Notre Dame in the process.
Jayce Brewer was another solid pickup as a four-star EGDGE (No. 342 overall). The Wolverines also landed the No. 3 player in the state of Michigan, Jakari Lipsey, an offensive tackle ranked No. 115 overall. That was followed by the commitment of top-100 wideout, Quentin Burrell (No. 86), in another head-to-head win over Notre Dame. The Irish were the favorite a month or two ago.
Burrell is out of Chicago. That's Notre Dame's backyard, but four-star defensive back Tavares Harrington, another Chicago area four-star (No. 124), is trending to Michigan, with a commitment coming next week. Last but not least, Tyson Robinson, a four-star running back from Mississippi, who is ranked No. 224 overall, is also expected to commit to Michigan on Saturday.
If the Wolverines win those recruitments as expected, that would be seven blue-chip commitments since April 14th. Six of them would be ranked in the top 224, with five in the top 124. Michigan has also been making a strong push to land another top-100 defensive line, after getting a surprise commitment from Xavier Muhammad on Thursday, another player Notre Dame was pushing hard for.
Kyle Whittingham has answered the biggest question about his Michigan football tenure
There were concerns about whether Whittingham would be willing to use Michigan's vast resources to acquire elite talent. Well, we don't have to worry about that anymore.
This recruiting run is about more than that, as Whittingham built an elite recruiting staff, both in terms of the on-field assistant coaches and the personnel/GM department. The recruiting operation is much more in line with the elite programs, and the results speak for themselves.
Michigan is ranked No. 21 overall in the 2027 class, but it's May. Whittingham was hired in December, so the Wolverines were behind the 8-ball. Yet, they have five commitments in the top 122 already and based on all the intel, Michigan's recruiting heater is far from over.
And those questions about Whittingham's recruiting have already been answered.
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