Wolverine Digest

A list of Michigan football early enrollees from the class of 2026

These Michigan football players are enrolling early at the University of Michigan
Seth Berry|
Dec 2, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; The helmet of Michigan Wolverines running back Blake Corum (2) before the Big Ten Championship game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Dec 2, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; The helmet of Michigan Wolverines running back Blake Corum (2) before the Big Ten Championship game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

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Michigan Wolverines

Through a time of rapid change for Michigan football, new head coach Kyle Whittingham and the Wolverines were able to keep most of the 2026 class together.

Over this past weekend, Michigan welcomed a chunk of its 23 signees to campus as 14 of them made it to campus as early enrollees, as confirmed by On3's The Wolverine.

The Wolverine also reported that Whittingham started meeting one-on-one briefly with the early enrollees during the course of the weekend. The new head coach hosted a big welcome event for new freshmen and their families on Monday.

Here's the complete list on members of the 2026 class who are beginning their time in Ann Arbor early:

Early enrollees for Michigan football

- Five-star RB Savion Hiter

- Four-star WR Travis Johnson

- Four-star OL Marky Walbridge

- Four-star S Jordan Deck

- Four-star EDGE McHale Blade

- Four-star CB Jamarion Vincent

- Three-star WR Jaylen Pile

- Three-star LB Aden Reeder

- Three-star QB Brady Smigiel

- Three-star LB Kaden Catchings

- Three-star OL Adrian Hamilton

- Three-star LB Markel Dabney

- Three-star QB Tommy Carr

- Three-star RB Jonathan Brown

Keeping Hiter, Michigan's most prized offensive weapon in the class, is a big win for the Wolverines, even though his commitment to the program never seemed to waver despite the coaching change. Retaining running backs coach Tony Alford, who Hiter has had a longstanding relationship with during his recruiting process, helped seal the deal and keep Hiter in Ann Arbor.

James Franklin and Virginia Tech pushed hard for Johnson leading up to the early signing period, but Johnson stuck with the Wolverines through that push and through the coaching transition.

Deck and Vincent lost the position coach who recruited them in LaMar Morgan, who is no longer on the staff, but stayed loyal to Michigan despite that change.

Smigiel and Pile, two of the most vocal recruiters for Michigan's 2026 class, will room together, according to the report from The Wolverine.

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Published
Seth Berry
SETH BERRY

Seth began writing on Michigan athletics in 2015 and has remained in the U-M media space ever since, which includes stops at Maize N Brew and Rivals before coming onto Michigan On SI in June of 2025. Seth has covered various angles of Michigan football and basketball, including recruiting, overall team coverage and feature/analysis stories relating to the Wolverines. His passion for Michigan sports and desire to tell stories led him to the sports journalism world. He is a 2020 graduate of Western Michigan University and is the former sports editor of the Western Herald, WMU's student newspaper.

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