Wolverine Digest

Michigan football shunned by elite in-state recruit who commits to rival school

The Michigan Wolverines are having a rough time in the 2026 recruiting cycle, losing in-state talent to a rival university is not making it any easier
Jerred Johnson|
Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone MooreMandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Michigan Wolverines head coach Sherrone MooreMandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Michigan Wolverines have not lost to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in a game of football in almost six years. However, the Irish just pulled out a pretty big win over their rivals on the recruiting trail this week. Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame staff were able to ride into the State of Michigan and extract one of the top talents in the 2026 class.

Offensive Tackle Gregory Patrick is a composite 4-star talent and top 200 player in the class of '26. He stands 6-feet-4.5 and weighs in at 275-pounds. Patrick is rated as the second-best player in Michigan, behind Cass Tech wideout CJ Sadler.

Coach Sherrone Moore and his staff have to hate seeing this happen on their watch. Patrick looks to be a solid 3-4 year player and linemen are always at a premium. Losing him to Notre Dame adds to the sting as the Wolverines and Irish have been bitter rivals for well over 100 years.

A quick peek at the top 10 players in Michigan for the '26 cycle gives way to a disturbing trend. Of those top 10 players, not a single one has committed to the Wolverines. A staple of any successful recruiting class is keeping hometown talent home. The Wolverines do lead for Sadler, and hopefully they can close the deal on that one. But letting elite level talent out of your state is not a sustainable model for recruiting success.

Newsome
Michigan offensive line coach Grant Newsome | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Jerred Johnson
JERRED JOHNSON

Jerred Johnson has served in the United States military for over 23 years. He has a Bachelors in Marketing, a Masters in Management and is in the final phases of completing his Doctorate in Business Administration.

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