Dynamic Receiver Carnell Tate Close with Several Current Wolverines
Michigan has been recruiting 2023 wide receiver Carnell Tate hard for a while. It started when he was in Chicago, and it's continued now that he's at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Even though the 6-2, 185-pounder is now in the Sunshine State, it's his Windy City roots and relationships back home that have him looking hard at the Wolverines.
"I’m close with [Michigan commit] Tyler Morris. That’s my guy," Tate said. "We played 7-on-7 together. I played against him and JJ [McCarthy] and I also played against AJ [Henning]. Those are all my guys."
Tate is also bonding well with the Michigan coaches who have been putting in as much effort as possible with the rising junior.
"They’re all great guys," Tate said of the Michigan coaches. "They really feel like family. I can talk to them about anything and everything.
"Coach [Sherrone] Moore for sure. I’m working on getting to know all the others better. I’m building up those relationships with them but I talk to Coach Moore pretty much every week."
Tate was just in Michigan a little over a week ago for the Michigan Football Showcase at Ferris State University, but didn't make his way to Ann Arbor. Instead, he'll do that tomorrow actually. Of course, a talent like Tate is also being courted by several other big time programs.
"Notre Dame, Tennessee, Ohio State, Florida State, Illinois and a lot of other schools are in the mix," he said.
When you're a big timer like Tate, the recruiting process can be really difficult. It takes up a lot of time and it makes the decision really hard.
"At the beginning it was kind of fun," he said with a laugh. "I was enjoying it because I was new to it but as it goes on it’s kind of like…it just puts pressure on you. Right now I’m not thinking about it too much because at the end of the day you can only go to one school. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how many offers you have it’s just about finding that one right school."
Tate is looking for a couple of things specifically — one which Michigan might be able to offer right away, and the other that U-M has struggled with.
"I’m trying to play as soon as possible and whoever throws the ball, honestly. That’s what I’m looking for more than anything," he said.
Tate has had a busy month already and it's going to continue right up to July. He has seen Notre Dame, Northwestern, Ohio State, Texas, TCU and Texas Tech this month and will be in Ann Arbor tomorrow, along with East Lansing. After that, he'll check out Notre Dame again and toward the latter part of the month it'll be Tennessee. Once he's seen a bunch of schools and the fall gets closer, he'll start thinking about an end game.
"Probably after my junior year I’ll start thinking about all that," he said. "After September 1 the coaches can openly text me and stuff. That’ll let me build better relationships with the coaches and see who is really in there with me. It just depends on when me and my family are ready."
Michigan has a lot of things in place that could keep them in the mix with Tate, but they'll need to do better throwing the ball to the wide receivers. We've seen talented guys like Donovan Peoples-Jones and Nico Collins wasted. Tate definitely doesn't want to end up on a list like that.