Wolverine Digest

Michigan football beaten out by SEC school for coveted class of 2026 linebacker

Seth Berry

Michigan defensive run game coordinator and linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary talks to Maize Team players during the second half of the spring game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
Michigan defensive run game coordinator and linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary talks to Maize Team players during the second half of the spring game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 20, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Saturday was not kind to Michigan football on the recruiting trail. Earlier in the day, the Wolverines lost a recruiting battle to LSU for four-star defensive lineman Deuce Geralds. Then, by evening, despite making a strong push for the nation's top cornerback in the class in Davon Benjamin, the Oaks Christian product chose Oregon. Shortly after Benjamin's announcement, four-star linebacker Anthony Davis revealed he was committing to Ole Miss, who was another prospect Michigan was in the running for before coming up short. The Wolverines have other targets the staff will try to seal the deal with in the upcoming months before the early signing period, but over the weekend came up empty on all three targets.

Davis took an official visit to Michigan in June after making his debut trip to Ann Arbor for spring ball in April. Although linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary and the staff began to make a strong push for the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder, the Wolverines were never considered a frontrunner for the coveted linebacker, as Auburn was trending early with the Rebels making a later surge, according to Rivals' Chad Simmons.

"Ole Miss started to make their move when coachcame to my house in January,” Davis told Rivals. “We talked for a couple hours about the defense, his plan for me, and what life would be like there.”

Michigan, whose 2026 class ranks 11th in the nation according to the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings, will now regroup and focus on other targets it has a chance to land at the position group in the class. Three-star Markel Dabney is the lone true linebacker committed to the class after flipping from SMU to the Wolverines in June.

After missing on Davis, along with fellow four-star Nick Abrams to Georgia, IMG Academy's DQ Forkpa could very well be the focus point for Jean-Mary and the U-M staff. Forkpa was originally slated to make a decision on his commitment last month, but canceled those plans after the Wolverines reportedly made his recruitment take a turn due to a strong push from the Michigan staff.

Now, Forkpa will take his decision into the 2025 season as the Wolverines continue to recruit him and add to their 2026 class as a whole.

Sherrone
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore uses a hand signal to celebrate the Wolverines' fourth straight win over Ohio State at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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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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