Wolverine Digest

Michigan's 2026 Football Class Makes Recruiting History For This Reason

Kyle Whittingham is bringing in some elite talent in the Wolverines' 2026 class
Seth Berry|
Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham speaks as he is being introduced on the floor during the first half between Michigan and USC at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.
Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham speaks as he is being introduced on the floor during the first half between Michigan and USC at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Michigan Wolverines

On Tuesday, Michigan football class of 2026 signee Salesi Moa, who flipped his decision recently from Utah to Michigan after new head coach Kyle Whittingham was hired by the Wolverines, was elevated to a five-star recruit, according to the final Rivals300 rankings.

The final rankings from Rivals also kept EDGE rusher Carter Meadows and running back Savion Hiter as five-stars, meaning the Wolverines secured three five-star prospects in their class of 2026.

Let's break down the historical relevance of that fact.

Why it's significant

The recruiting sites that are most popular to date—including Rivals and 247Sports, didn't launch until the late 90's to early 2000s, and 247Sports didn't start compiling composite rankings for prospects until 2000.

Michigan's first five-star recruits came in 2001 when the Wolverines signed a trio of five-stars in safety Ernest Shazor, running back Kelly Baraka and cornerback Marlin Jackson.

While Baraka was kicked off the team and never played a down for the Wolverines, Jackson and Shazor both made significant contributions with the Maize and Blue and went on to play in the NFL.

25 years later, Michigan hadn't signed three five-star prospects in a class until the 2026 class when Moa was officially rated as a five-star on Tuesday.

The Wolverines have had multiple classes that have contained a pair of five-star prospects, but 2026 is the first time since 2001 that Michigan has had three in one class.

There could, however, be some debate as it relates to Moa's ranking, as 247Sports still has him listed as a high four-star. However, that could change if the recruiting site reveals another set of rankings.

As it relates to Hiter and Meadows' rankings, there's no debate on those players as they rate as five star prospects across the board.

In any sense, Michigan having three five-stars in the class in some sense hasn't been done in 25 years. Overall, the Wolverines' class ranks 12th in the nation, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings.

Michigan's class ranking did not dip with the transition from when Sherrone Moore was fired to Whittingham being hired, which is a credit to the new staff's ability to stabilize the program and put it in a steady position moving forward.

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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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