Where Michigan Football Stands After National Signing Day

National Signing Day has come and gone and the results are in. As the 15th best class in 2024, the consensus seems to be, once again, that the Wolverines have a solid class but lack the 5-star talent of other national contenders like the Buckeyes, Bulldogs, and Crimson Tide. In fact, the 2024 class has no 5-star recruit.

In years past Michigan football fans have grown used to these sorts of results. It’s not as though they’ve always operated with an average class, they’ve had their share of top talent from time to time (J.J. McCarthy and Rashan Gary come immediately to mind). But the lion’s share of the Wolverines' recruiting classes have run the gamut from 5th to 37th during the Harbaugh era. As the Detroit Free Press noted, these are the ranks of the classes since 2015:

• 2024: 15th
• 2023: 17th
• 2022: 9th
• 2021: 13th
• 2020: 10th
• 2019: 8th
• 2018: 22nd
• 2017: 5th
• 2016: 8th
• 2015: 37th

This class does include 18 4-star recruits and 13 3-star recruits which is still an impressive number. These include Jadyn Davis, who is classified as a 4-star quarterback out of North Carolina and is considered by many to be in the mix to challenge for the open slot at the quarterback position next year. Some recruiting services had Davis as a 5-star early on, which is only a testament to his potential to be an impact quarterback in the coming years for this team. Jordan Marshall has all the makings of great a Michigan football running back who is going to eat carries, get big chunks of yards, and grind down opposing defenses.

It's clear that, as always, the talent is there in the makeup of this class. What's different is the staff that is going to develop that talent into a successful football team on the field.

For years, Michigan football fans shook off the impact of recruiting classes that might not be ranked as high as others at their level of success. This was because of coaches like Ben Herbert and Jesse Minter who could take those 3 or 4 star players and turn them into dominant forces on the field. The coaches, schemes, and culture of those teams were full of recruits who were "good but not great." That is what led them to victories over programs full of stars making millions in NIL earnings.

But as has been so well documented over the past few weeks, much of the core of that system is now gone. It's yet another challenge for Sherrone Moore and his hand-picked staff to show that they can do what Jim Harbaugh, Ben Herbert, and the rest of the staff did so well: prove to the world that this team can shrug off what the experts say about "stars" and develop Michigan Men who come together on the field to win big games.