Why Michigan Recruiting Won't Be Hurt By Postponing Big Ten Season

At first, the Big Ten's decision to postpone the fall football season seemed to spell bad news for Michigan. While the Big Ten opted to wait for the coronavirus pandemic to play out, other conferences such as the SEC, ACC and Big 12 are moving forward with plans to play a season. And while those schools will certainly benefit from a financial perspective, it appeared that there would be an off-field advantage as well.

From a recruiting perspective, schools from those conferences can say that they pursued all options in order to have a football season. On the surface, that appears to carry a lot of weight, and the thought process is that this fact would bleed over into the recruiting process, but Michigan is in a unique position where this is not likely to hurt the Wolverines.

In the 2021 class, Michigan has already picked up 21 commitments, and U-M is expected to sign anywhere between 25 and 27 recruits in this period when all is said and done. So, most of Michigan's work in this cycle is done, and the team will continue to put the finishing touches on this group of prospects.

Dating back to late March, the Wolverines only had two commits, so Michigan has been able to pick up 19 pledges amid the recruiting dead period, which is an astounding volume. Over that time period, the U-M staff has utilized Zoom and FaceTime to conduct virtual visits with recruits, and that's helped to show prospects what the Ann Arbor campus is like, though it does not quite compare to stepping foot at Michigan in person.

As it turns out, that method has been quite effective. Many of Michigan's commits, such as Dedham (Mass.) Nobles and Greenough linebacker Casey Phinney and Fresno (Calif.) Central East wide receiver Xavier Worthy have not had an opportunity to visit Ann Arbor yet. The same goes for Santa Ana (Calif.) Meter Dei wide receiver Cristian Dixon and the pair of defensive commits from St. Thomas Aquinas, Jaydon Hood and Ja'Den McBurrows.

One fear during this cycle is that those prospects who haven't had an opportunity to see Michigan in person will be persuaded to explore their options at other schools. However, the recruiting dead period is currently set to last through the month of September, and there has not been a clear indication that normal visiting practices will resume after that time. So, while the SEC, ACC and Big 12 might hold a football season, recruits may not be allowed to visit, and if they can be on campus, the atmosphere certainly would not reflect that of a typical college Saturday.

With that caveat in mind, Michigan is not exactly as far behind the eight ball as many would expect. This particular batch of future Wolverines are very tight knit, and a bevy of Michigan commits are excited to get on campus. Last week, Wolverine Digest reported that a contingent of J.J. McCarthy, Greg Crippen, Andrel Anthony and Worthy are set to enroll early and arrive on campus in January, and that group can now be expanded to include Tommy Doman Jr., Giovanni El-Hadi and Quintin Somerville. Dixon is another prospect that is expected to enroll early, though that depends on his school.

Even if visits are back on the table this fall, that means that recruits would likely be able to visit Ann Arbor and check out Michigan. So, while it may give U-M commits a chance to see a few other locations, prospects such as Worthy, Dixon and Phinney could see Michigan for the first time as well, so it truly is a double-edged sword.

At the moment, the U-M staff has adjusted to recruiting during the pandemic as any coaching staff in the country, and director of recruiting Matt Dudek mentioned that Michigan will likely retain some of these pandemic strategies even after normalcy resumes.

Though other schools may be playing football this fall and Michigan will not, U-M is not as disadvantaged from a recruiting perspective as many would think. The team's ability to adjust on the fly been crucial over the past several months, and the success of their efforts is in the form of 19 commits.

What do you think of Michigan's ability to recruit during the pandemic? Has any other school been more successful over the past couple months? Let us know!

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