Blue By Ninety - 247's Brice Marich joins | Defense BETTER than 2023? UM OPENING the playbook? | 5⭐ announcing soon?

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Brice Marich joins Justin and Tanner to talk about the vibe around the Michigan football program, Orji, Warren, or Tuttle for the QB1 spot, elite defense, and a little recruiting.

All right. Welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin joined by Tanner today and we've got a special guest from 247 Sports and the Michigan Insider Bryce Marich. Bryce, it's great to see you again. How you doing, man? Solid. So how you guys doing? Doing great. Doing great. It's almost football season. The weather was it turned a little bit. We got a little, like, 60-degree weather. I could feel it. I could feel it coming. Dude, my windshield was, like, frosted over a little bit. Like, I'm telling you, the cicadas are out, dude. I keep talking about the cicadas.

That's my trigger for football is near, and they are loud this year. There you go. There you go. Makes sense. Makes sense. How's – so, you're – you know, you've been in Shem i think a little bit you've been around the program uh how's the feeling just being back in shem the guys are in camp uh you're here from coaches and some players here i would say there's a lot of excitement you know i think the biggest thing is coming off a national title you're probably expecting higher expectations but when you

lose as much as you have on the coaching staff and on the roster I think and especially with the new Big Ten shape or you know conference outlook I think a lot of pundits are down on Michigan but then you talk to the players you talk to the coaches and they're like this team is really really good like the defense and we talked about a couple guys on um our series we're running on our youtube page what behind uniforms we're saying they think the defense could be even better than last year and like you know we even question them. We're like, they were pretty good last year, like historically good, right? And they're like, no, no, no. Like these guys could be really good. I think the biggest question with that is,

and we've been asking them when they say that to us, is the guys behind the service. Because we know the Will Johnsons. We know the Mason Gramps. We know the kind of Grants. We know the McCurry Pages. But who's behind them? And a lot of these young guys seem to be stepping up.

You know, we got a seat obviously on the field, but so far in camp, it seems like they've been impressing. So, there's actually been like a quiet confidence right now in Shem. It does feel like, I mean, okay, so the ap poll came out today michigan comes in at nine uh right and um i i just think that is to your point that's definitely the vibe that we get is like okay no one else thinks that we're this top five team and again nine's not that far off from top five so you still you know slide it in it as a pretty damn good team. But you know, when you look at Oregon in the top five, you look at Texas in the top five,

you look at Ohio state in the top five, they're all on your schedule, you know, and people think, you know, I have watched many different things of, of different media people thinking like it's Ohio state's year and it's Oregon's year. And like, there's a pretty big gap. They seem to think from Ohio state and Oregon to Michigan. And even, you know, you looked at the eight people in Penn state's right ahead of Michigan right

now. Right. And so like, it definitely, like we do have that feeling around the program where they're like, all right, we did everything over the past three years that we possibly could have done. We won the freaking national championship, and you're still writing us off. And that's how I feel like these guys, the players and coaches are going about it,

where it's like, all right, what else do we need to do to prove to you that we're still pretty damn good? They don't have counter-stallings,ings apparently so that's why he's I did joke that the other day like JJ threw a couple touchdown balls Connor Stallings has a he's got a cannon to be able to do that for JJ in the NFL as well I mean did you see the pick though that's what everyone else says that's like yeah I don't know stop tweeting as soon as the the they tweeted the pick every Ohio State account tweeted's like yeah i stopped tweeting as soon as he the they tweeted the pic every ohio state account tweeted the pic and then stopped tweeting for the rest of the day that day so that's not what i just want to say if stallions is playing quarterback for the vikings

then like his disguise game has gotten incredibly better since last fall i mean kudos to him uh on the you know he's got like some mission impossible type shit going on. I don't know. Yeah. So, I mean, yeah. So is that what you're feeling too where these guys, you said the quiet confidence thing where it's like, you know, they all think they're pretty good. They probably don't want to like brag or say it because they don't fully know what that it's going to be like.

But again, you know, for now the fourth year in a row after you know after three times meeting michigan or ohio state three times uh winning the big 10 championship in a national championship they're still being written off you know they're still the the the underdog right is that is that the vibe that you're getting yeah and i you know i i kind of look at this team i'm not gonna say they're gonna accomplish what the 2021 teamed in but they give me very much 20 2021 vibes where i think it's gonna be very defensive like lead team the offense just needs to you know keep drives going convert a third down not too much. You got a solid field goal kicker.

Just kind of keep the low scoring. And then kind of want to squeak out a few games here and there. And that's the thing with this new playoff. You don't even need to go undefeated. Right. I mean, especially with this schedule and kind of, I think, like if Michigan goes 10-2, I would assume they're in. Right.

Because, I mean, that means they would have had to be Oregon or Texas or Ohio State. Right. And that's the signature win, whereas I've seen people saying, you know, Iowa or even Rutgers or – just because they're scheduled. But it's like they're not playing close to what Michigan's playing. Plus, they're not going to probably have the signature wins that Michigan's going to have. So, that's something to consider Michigan's playing. Plus, they're not going to probably have the signature wins that Michigan's going to have.

So that's something to consider, you know? Well, and the playoff committee has shown, too, that, you know, like it or not, that they will, whatever they conceive is the best team and interpret as the best team, they will go a different direction versus just win-loss, which I didn't like how it went down last year. I feel bad for Florida State. And that's a different scenario but like to your point bryce if michigan's sitting there at 10 and 2 but i went

11 and 1 and they're fighting for one of those last spots like and michigan's gotta win over ohio state then and iowa's best win is over i don't know nebraska um then the committee's probably going to take michigan plus in this new world of college football, it's all about TV money and who brings the eyeballs more than the university of Michigan. I don't think there's any other programs. So like, I think Michigan's in a really good, good spot, even with this schedule to your point, 10 and two to get in to the 12 team playoff.

Well, we are a part of the blue wall too. So we, you know, yeah. Well, we have the leader of the blue wall here. Yeah. Right. Exactly. Apparently. Yeah. We, we so we you know yeah well we have the leader of the blue wall here yeah 247 you know right exactly apparently yeah we we just you know we're at the up up front right winter's coming you can't stop us uh so um you mentioned the 2021 team and that being the vibe um you know i've kind of said it half joking half not um you can probably run the kate mcnamara offense with this team and win nine to ten games right like that's what the 2021 team did and this defense is good enough now i don't know if you can run kate mcnamara what he's been doing in camp i was just gonna say like because i don't know we need to talk about that for a second i'm not gonna try and and knock him too much i you know kade even though i'm

gonna take the the the higher the you know i'll be the bigger man here we still love you at michigan you did everything you needed to do in 2021 uh but i what was that stat line well i just saw tiktok it was 721 for 20 yards with a fumbled snap and a pick six and i heard the guy ask uh kirk ferris yeah after like well was this like an anomaly or is this kind of what you see every day and kirk ferris was like no this is pretty standard it's been inconsistent and i'm like oh that is not good um so but he's playing the iowa defense i don't know if i was for kirk ferris if i would have the ones go up against each other like that just seems like a way to really kill your quarterback's confidence unfortunately um so but yeah i mean all joking aside i do think that like this, you know, that's

where I look at this team and it's like, you're talking about 10 and two, maybe nine and three still. I think nine and three is probably going to be bubble. There, there are going to be some nine and three teams out there that are on the bubble of getting into the college football playoff. And so I don't think that this offense needs to be unbelievable you don't need to have jj mccarthy and blake core back there now you still have donovan edwards and it seems like alex orgy is is playing some pretty good ball right now davis warren has you know has uh is

gunning for him as well but i think that you know with this defense as good as as it is you know do you think that they can – not that it's going to be vanilla, but they just don't have to be a 40-point-per-game type of offense? Yeah, I don't think they need to play it safe, kind of what you're getting at. Yeah, I don't think they need to do it. And it's funny because one of the biggest things,

and obviously you guys know I cover recruiting, so Michigan's had a lot of big-time wideouts on campus as of late. And what's the obvious question? And we always joke that Ron Bellamy, coming off a national title, has one of the hardest jobs for any assistant coach in America because it's like what guy wants to come be a wideout at a university in Michigan in this offense, right? Because the perception is they just run the ball.

They run the ball. And then what do teams do? They put on the tape of Penn State and they say, look at this. Why are you going to want to play that offense? But all the guys like Samaj, Tyler Morris, all the guys that we've talked to, and even recruits, have said that Kirk Campbell, the offensive staff, have made it very clear

they're going to open up the playbook. Which means, in my eyes, there's a couple things I take away from that. One, they have confidence in the QBs. Because you're not going to open up the playbook if these guys can't throw the football, right? There's no point in that. You have, like you mentioned,

Donovan Edwards. I think Khalil Mullings is going to be the surprise player this year. I think that's a guy that a lot of fans are going to be watching and they're going to be like, oh, shit. Like, this dude is a lot better. He's good in the passing game, too. Like, remember against Minnesota, he had the cast on. I mean, Alabama.

Yeah, the sideline, you know, the toe-toe. That was an unbelievable catch. It was. I mean, you know, his first year playing running back was still kind of slash linebacker, and the biggest thing people took away is the fumble against TCU. You know, and everyone's like, oh, this guy cannot play running back, or you put him back there.

But then you watch him run, and you're like, no, this guy's actually pretty athletic. You know what I mean? He played running back or you put him back there but then you watch him run you're like no this guy's actually pretty athletic you know i mean he played running back high school too so no i think they're gonna open it up but i think the biggest thing that the coaching staff especially cheryl moore has been harping to these guys it's like just don't turn over we can live with punts you still got tommy dolan back there you still you still got stupid good special teams play but we cannot be throwing pick sixes we cannot be dropping the ball we can't be doing stuff where we're putting our defense in bad positions you know if you we have to finally pin them down at the 10 whatever we'll live with that. We didn't score, but we took off six, seven minutes.

Who cares? That's a win sometimes in their eyes. So I think that's how they want to play. I think if they win games 2013, people are going to go on Blue by 90 or our message boards and be like, well, this is crap football

and stuff like that in 2021. But it's like, they're winning. that was there you know i mean it's like though right like it's like the least flashy he would almost rather win seven nothing because like that means he kept them out of the end zone you know he kept the ball for the 400 minutes of possession you know like that we talked about it just on our last podcast i believe like the reason they won in 2023 against ohio state was because they had an eight minute drive and it ended in a field goal and it only left them a minute to go down and that's why they had to force it down the field and rod moore picks the ball up right so like chiron still gets that from jim harbaugh right i mean yeah he's an offensive line

coach art he was off the lineman in oklahoma you know and then he obviously is coach tight end and other spots but his bread and butter is off at the line and you can see in his play calling you can see how he wants to play he's still his you know mantra smash he wants to be fiscal he wants to dominate the line of shermich but at the same time he i they do want to open up the playbook you know now it's gonna be interesting what does that look like is that like a speed and space playbook or is that like a like what what what's open up yeah so like what's that look like that's like a curse word in ann arbor i feel like that's a curse phrase i mean he was you know he got one win over iowa state with him as coordinator so i mean he won the boroughs award right that was crazy but yeah

yeah and then he cried about how much he loved jim harbaugh and then he left for miami a month later and sent out a text to his players that was really really weird. So, you know, now he's at Maryland. I still find that very funny with Michael Oxley. Bryce, real quick, man, you talked about just a segue here. I don't know how smooth it is, but yeah, obviously Sharon coach tight ends. When you have to call out that it is a segue, it's not a good segue. I just said, no, that's fine. I just wanted to clarify. We obviously know

who tight end one is that's the that is going to be colson level and who is going to win the in my opinion um but a lot of buzz around marlin klein and i'm really curious like is who's going to be that third tight end and i want to know more about marlin is it going to be um deacon tonelli is it going to be zach marshall or maybe you know one of the two uh big time freshmen brady priest corn and hogan hansen coming in like what have you heard there because i think that's obviously going to be a big part of the offense as well yeah i mean as you guys know they're gonna play multiple tight ends that's no secret they're gonna play multiple offensive linemen where you could see six seven linemen out at the same time so that's again no secret yeah i think with marlin

biggest thing was he was just learning the game you know obviously he's originally from germany michigan has a great success and other sports from you know getting guys from germany we just watched him in the olympics there you go there you go but um yeah and it's crazy because when i saw him in high school i remember i went to the high school field. He was at Providence Day. He didn't play for Providence Day, but that's the school they were playing against at the time. And I went to watch him, and I asked one of his coaches.

I said, you know, I'm here to see Marlon. I cover Michigan, blah, blah, blah. Where is he? Because I don't see him with the tight ends. He's like, well, he's kicking. What do you mean he's kicking? He was the kicker and stuff like that. And he was kicking like 45 yards. mean he's kicking? He was the kicker and stuff like that.

He was kicking like 45 yards. So he's actually one of the backup. Is he our emergency kicker possibly? Yeah, I heard he is one of the backup like runners or whatever. It's like an ex-Omicron suit situation back in the day. Yeah, he's actually really good. But he's just a guy that's, you know, scratching the surface, you know, of his potential. He's got great size, great hands.

And I think in this offense, he's got to learn from Colston Loveland, which can be only beneficial. Iron sharpens iron. And I know a lot of the reports that I've heard is the biggest thing, and this is with all tenants, is can you block in this offense? That's a big, big thing. And that's where I think A.J. Barter was so good. Because he came in and it was like, yeah, he could catch, but he could block.

And he was so good at it. You know what I mean? That you could have him at pass downs and run blocking downs because he could do both equally. And I think for Marlon, that was a big thing. He's like, can he take that next step of that development where he can be out there for goal lines you know i mean instead of like third and tens out the 40 you know i've heard he's

taking that next step now we gotta see it but you know he's definitely progressed and i think for in tight end three i think we're gonna see a combination of guys i think you're gonna see zach marshall i think you're gonna see deacon t of guys. I think you're going to see Zach Marshall. I think you're going to see Deacon Tonielli. I think you are going to see some of these freshmen. I'm a huge fan of Hogan Hanson. I might even be a bigger fan of Bray Prescorn. Two top

247 prospects coming out of high school that, again, I think Prescorn was ranked really low for us just because Rochester Adams ran like the wing tee. So he didn't get the ball thrown to him. So it was like so tough to evaluate him. The wing tee needs to die, first of all.

Hold on. I mean, when you're in high school, you're just here to play football. You're trying one football game. So it's not like – It's not a – I'm not going to gonna go down that but it's not right preschool looks like he can play right now though like i mean just he looks like college ready and obviously his brother uh is a really good tight end i believe he's at memphis right so um yeah so you've got you know somebody that's you know can can lean on big brother and say you know what you

know how do i go through camp and navigate all the stuff for freshmen coming in? But I'm so excited for that tight end class. I think Michigan is continuing to do it in 2025 too with Olesch. So that seems to be – Jim's gone, but that's going to still be a massive focal point for Michigan moving forward. 100%. 100%. I mean, you guys mentioned him, but I have to give him a little praise.

It's Max. He's an H-back. I think he's going to be vital for this offense. I hate to say it, but if there was three guys on this team that could not go down, he would probably be in my top three.

People would probably be my top three and people that's probably laughing at me but it's like from just his knowledge of the offense his leadership and what he brings just on and off the field you cannot lose that and it's even more crazy it's like he was a walk-on you know i mean this was not like a guy that came in as like a five star and like you know he's just a blue-collar, like, hard worker. He comes from a great family. And I just think he fits what your own Morris program wants to look like. Future Los Angeles Chargers fullback. Seriously.

Kick out Ben Mason. I think he's there. Is Ben there? Yeah, he is. Two fullbacks. Why not? You can't have too many fullbacks. Why not?

Yeah. I know. I love that last saying that you had there of like, Max Bredesen is exactly what Jerome Moore wants this team to look like in terms of culture. And I think that Jerome Moore, you know, we've talked about this on multiple different podcasts, but like it was not an easy

task for him to just turn this thing over keep the culture of what Jim Harbaugh you know had because the culture wasn't awesome in 2019 and 18 you know I'm sure they had their moments and like you know it's funny because uh out there from the outside, we're all like, Oh, the culture was completely different, but winning, you know, solves a lot of those things, right? Like it masks a lot of things. And, you know, I'm sure the 2018 team had great culture and, you know, I know some guys that were on those teams and it's like, yeah, we loved each other. We had, we, we had no, we were no different than, you know, some of these other teams, but they just ended up winning a few more games, right? But anyways, I think for Sherone Moore, how important was it for the Max Bredisons and the Mason Grahams

and some of these guys to stay with this crew? And I just think it's so impressive. I'll never stop talking about it for everything that they went through with all the scandal shit that's going on right you have your coach leave you have half the the all the defensive staff leave half of your offense leave and to keep things moving and obviously we'll see how it translates to the field but like how how impressed are you by the way that Jerome Moore's handled himself in the first nine months on this job yeah I think he was kind of

thrown into the fire you know I mean with the allegations going on and the scandals and everything going on the as we speak you know I mean there's still a lot he's still handling and he's taking everything in stride. And big kudos to him because when that happened, obviously, as you guys know, when Jim Harbaugh left, that opened up a 30-day window where these guys can just transfer. Even guys that signed their NILs, I mean, they could just leave, you know. They didn't even need to ask.

They could just be like, we're out. And all these guys, basically the whole team stayed. You know, I think a big credit, though, was he's like, all right, what do we need to do? And you can talk about probably this a little more, Justin, was I know for a fact, and me and Sam and everyone on our side have talked about this at NOSM, NIL and Michigan pre-championship, and then NIL, Michigan post-championship, night and day.

And I give a lot of credit to Jerome. You know, he's – and like we've talked even before the podcast started with Dusty, he's like, these guys are hustling. They are working to fundraise, to get these guys paid, and to make sure to know they're wanting in our work you know it's like you guys want a championship for us you are the culture you are everything we need to keep this going we can't have you guys leaving and a lot of these guys had offers i mean they had offers we had geo ahadi in studio and he and he mentioned he was promised some pretty big things.

And it's like, he easily, I mean, he's been a guy that's been just sitting around waiting for his opportunity. Now he's going to probably start the season. But it's like, he could have left. What was stopping him, right? And it's like, for Sharon to keep these guys in the fold and keep them all happy i mean that's that's the biggest thing and i think you know as much as people what a couple months ago we're so worried about all returning and all returning and look at the returning which is funny because it's like it's may they're not signing a class in may right it's like who cares if they're number 50 right but it's like, who cares if they're number 50, right? But it's like the biggest thing at that time was making sure the team stays intact.

Like, we can figure out recruiting. You know what I mean? Like, we can get to that later. And that's a whole other thing I think he's killed it with. Because, again, look at the recruiting department. I mean, that looks like it's not steroids. It's night-day different. So it's like he saw what worked in michigan

and now he's putting his own spin on it and he's tweaked a few things but what's not broke he isn't fixed you know he's not fixing and i like that about him and i think and i yell he sees with this era and how guys are just leaving it going he saw that was a big thing he had to address and he took care of it and i kudos to him i love that um yeah i think that i i love what you touched on of he if it wasn't broke don't fix it you know there are a lot of good things that jim harwell built here in the in this these teams built um and so i so I think that's a tough one when you're taking over. You know, Jim probably did a lot of things that he didn't fully agree with or it wouldn't have been the way that he did it when he was an OC.

But, yeah, you've got to learn. You can't just flip the whole thing overnight. Nobody's going to be on board for that. So I do think he did a good balance of changing a few things that needed to be changed but keeping a lot of things the same um that we're working to uh and i've got one more question here on the recruiting that you touched on i'll let tanner uh jump in here but um what is you know you mentioned a few things what has cheryl moore done differently?

What has jumped out to you on the recruiting trail? Obviously, he's juiced up pretty much everything, which is what it feels like, including the NIL side of things. And the barbecue, Justin. Don't forget about the barbecue. That's true. The food he literally juiced up because it wasn't dry. But what's jumped out to you that Sharone has been doing differently and the whole staff has been doing differently on the trail?

You know, I think a big thing for them is they're not going to be one of those schools that are going to be NIL driven, right? So he noticed that, he saw that, and first thing is was compiling the staff and finding guys that are really good relationship builders. They can develop, you know, those relationships and bonds. And then guys that had connections from other schools that can also carry on over those relationships and work. I think you've seen a guy like, for example, Lamar Morgan, right? This is a guy that came from a lower-end school,

not even a par-5 school, and he was the guy that Jesse Minter recommended. This was the guy that he was like, you know, this is a guy I think you guys should have on staff. Sherwin hired him. He's been outstanding. He's been killing it in the portal. He killed it in the portal.

He's killed it in recruiting. He just landed a top 247 cornerback one of our biggest risers you know for the cycle on janin sanders six foot two 180 pounds the guy that his dad played for tcu down the road he could easily went there he's got texas schools but instead he took two visits one in june came back up for the barbecue, loved both experiences, and he was able to seal the deal. You know, Lamar Morgan, I've seen a guy like Luis Pacito. And that's crazy because it's like you went from Mike Olsen to Greg Shrugs to Luis Pacito,

and he was thrown in the fire a little later than obviously the other coaches, right? And he's the, right now, I think, highest-rated recruiter for Michigan on staff with all the commits he's landed. So it's like that's the biggest thing for me that he's compiled a staff that is not only good at evaluating and identifying talent, but sealing the deal and landing these guys. You know, you're seeing Michigan now flipping Notre Dame's top guy at the time,

Ivan Taylor, you know. Landing a, I mean, the quarterback room, I think, is set for years to come. With Jaden Davis, you know, Carter Smith, and Brady Hart, Kirk Campbell's flipped that quarterback room where it looks night and day where he inherited. I think defensive line, offensive line recruiting has been great. And I think you're seeing even the skill positions. You know, Ron Bellamy, again, we joked, but it's like he's got the hardest,

I think, job in America recruiting for the defending national title team. And it's like because the reception is they don't throw the ball, but he's been landing guys like a Philip Wright, who I know he just flipped, but it's like, that's a guy he picked up, identified. And then LSU was like, let's go get them back together. So it's like, he knows what he's doing. You know, these guys know how to recruit. And like you mentioned again, the recruiting department is on a whole nother level for years they've had the barbecue the big house

like tanner mentioned was a day event it was just a day they they had so much resources and so much personnel that they could span it out for three days and why that matters is because for years they would have a lot of guys not be able to come because it's like, if it didn't work that Saturday, we can't make it happen, right? Some guys are flying in from California or Texas or Florida. And if you're telling me this event is for one day, we might not be able to make that Saturday. But if you're telling me it's from Friday to Sunday, maybe we can make the Sunday. Maybe we can make the Friday so the barbecue list was loaded I mean loaded and it paid dividends you know they landed a kid from

down there Florida uh Brody Jennings and who's a four-star you know cornerback in the 2026 class a lot of their guys they moved up the leaderboards for so i just think retreating is something that fans this i know people hate this word but they have to be patient you just have to be patient right it's not it's no we want we want 105 stars right now i know why can't you it's also your fault um by the way it is it is it's always your fault, by the way. It is. It is. It's always your fault. Even though you're not on staff and never have been, it is always your fault. Yeah, I just, you know, and it's like,

ask Ohio State how rankings have been going for them in recruiting classes the past few years. Hasn't helped them much, right? So it's like Michigan is doing a good job of not only finding talented guys, but guys that fit the culture. And I think Sharon's taking it up a notch because not only not only finding talented guys, but guys that fit the culture. I think Sharon's taking it up a notch because not only is he finding talented guys,

I think these guys are even better than the guys that Jim Harbaugh landed. They're better and they fit the culture. That can be dangerous. If this staff can coach as good as the previous staffs have for Jim Harbaugh,

it's going to be a really good tenure for Sharon Moore. But that's my biggest question. They can show they can recruit and land these guys and even get guys on the portal. Now are we going to see on the field results? And that's the biggest thing. Bryce, I wanted to ask you you with the 2025 class it sits at 14th on 247 rankings it's a smaller class at the moment i mean compared to some of the other

schools i think i was looking in like oregon was similar in size i know they've had some decommitments michigan's been pretty lucky as far as that goes um and it sits i think in the top 10 if you just go by average rating right and so you know, Michigan's recruiting at a very high level. I know Andrew Marsh is about to decide here in about a week and a half or so. You know, Jaden Sanders obviously just committed. Michigan lost out on D.J. Sanders, the defensive lineman out in the state of Texas. But, you know, they've been going into Texas and getting some guys that might get, you know, Marsh here in the next week or so.

But who are you kind of looking at, maybe outside of Marsh, I think everybody kind of knows that, but, like, who are you looking at in this class that might be set to decide soon that, you know, might be some good news for Michigan? I don't want to say it's 100% going to be good news. Talk to me, Bryce. Come on. The biggest literally and fairly is Andrew Babelow,

the five-star offensive tackle from Kansas City. This is a guy that Michigan has been recruiting Sean Moore and Grant Newsome for years. I mean, this is a guy that they've wanted. They've pinpointed as their all-team one for the future. He could be the anchor of the offensive line, and he's a difference maker. I mean, this is a guy that can come in and really make a difference. But the nice thing that Michigan has been pitching to him is whereas other schools is like, you can take your time,

which is crazy because it's like for years, I think that's why Rich Rod and Brady Hoke struggled is because you would see guys have to play when they weren't ready. You know, I think that's where you're seeing when you build that up build that depth up you know front on the offensive line these guys can then in the weight room get stronger or in the playbook you have college you know i mean i mean when i first went to college i was overwhelmed with just college life in general and now you're telling me i gotta play college football and know a playbook that's

bigger than the webster's dictionary it's like no well that's where that's where football is so much different than basketball right where basketball recruits now if you're a five star like what i need to be playing right away right like i i'm not sitting the bench and even a little bit in some positions in football that is the case where five stars, one, you know, it doesn't happen very often when you have a Bryce Underwood, who's like 17 and ready. Like he could physically play on a, on a D one power five team right now. But yeah, to your point, like,

so that's an interesting thing that I really haven't heard much before that their pitch is actually you come sit come come sit the bench for us in a little bit yeah and I mean it's like almost put them in the anchor beater and like let them just you know cook let them marinate you know let them build up and become this impressive off of its alignment I think that's really intriguing to him he's got family in the area so that's another thing you know and academics has been well documented in their recruitment of being with stanford is presumed as the other favorite i know auburn's been making a lot of noise as of late but you know i think academics and it's like

if he's if this is a football and academic decision i mean how can you not pick michigan yeah right like and that's that's kind of what we're thinking but some kids yeah i mean look at miles in you know and that's what michigan did which i thought was brilliant was when he came up on that official visit in june who did they have him talk to? Miles Hitt, right? Because they knew who the competition was, who was Stanford. And so they're like, Miles talked to him, and it's like, I'm not saying he had a bad experience at Stanford, but if you ask him, I bet his experience from Stanford to Michigan,

how he'd compare it, I think he would prefer Michigan, especially coming off a national title, right? So it's like he can talk to him and see both sides, and that's a big thing. And I just think what Michigan's leading or what Michigan's doing right now is they're hitting all the right buttons in this recruitment. It's a matter of, again, sealing the deal, closing the deal. I think they can do it. He wants to commit before his first game goes, before the first day of school, I think he wants to take a little more

time. But again, Michigan's put a lot of eggs in this basket. They're not recruiting a lot of offensive linemen. They're going to make it a small offensive line class. And he would just be the cherry on top of everything. I mean, if you land him, you're almost 100% going to sign a top 10 class this cycle and he is going to be a guy that you're going to look down the line and be like this was a first rounder that we just got well and and that's the thing that you know as you know bryce michigan can afford to do because of last year's in 2024 i mean you know you go get

andrew sprague just down the road from Babalola in the Kansas City area, who I think has the potential to be, like, top five pick when he comes out. And they're actually good friends. I don't know if you knew that. I was actually going to ask that. Yeah. They're really good friends. They play AAU basketball together.

They always joke with me, and they're like, who's better? And I always joke, you know, who's the better basketball player and stuff like that. But, yeah, they're actually good friends. They talk to each other. That's a guy he saw up on his trip as well. I mean, you know, last year's class, so Michigan right now has Avery Gatch and Caden Strayhorn committed.

So it's a two-man class. Get Babalola. I mean, it's a three-man class, right? You play five. But the way they've recruited in 24 and 23 with some of these guys that are still getting a little bit of seasoning in the strength and conditioning program, that's something that they can do. Bryce, I know we're about to get out of here, man,

but I wanted to ask you on the subject of the 2024 class, who are a couple guys you're really excited to kind of see? For me, I think Jordan Marshall, player of the year in the state of Ohio, one of the best running backs in the country. Josiah Edmond from a small school in Indiana, which is very funny. I'm from Indiana, so i'm familiar with where he's from but he rose up late is like this is the second highest rated uh commit from last year's class so who are you kind of looking at to maybe make an immediate impact and then also a guy that you

think just when it clicks is gonna click so i definitely like jordan marshall he was the mr ohio player of the year um and i've heard great things already in full camp since he's been in arbor i think he's gonna see the field this year but the guy that really intrigues me and i don't know how much he's gonna play this year but i think he will play some but i you could see him take that next step in the year or two to come is don nichols he's a defensive lineman he's a edge rusher he enrolled early he's a bigger guy I think he's like 6'5 245 or so um you know he's behind obviously Josiah Stewart and like Derek Moore like he's not probably gonna start over those guys right but if he gets behind them learns the system i think he could really be a special

player you know he played in maryland it's funny because i honestly all three of those guys devon baxter lugar edel pie like those three i think it's scary i think it's scary i mean we can really thank you know mike austin for that parting gift, because that was a chef's kiss. That was like, you kidding me? Like they got those guys and it's like, holy crud. Well, and that's like, I mean, so you looking at Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant and Derek Moore and Josiah Stewart right now. And that's like, OK, that's the strength of our team of our entire team. Right. So you can kind of look at that could possibly be what the future looks like as well. And you can see exactly what that means. All right.

Last question for you here going back to this year's team. So AP poll came out, we talked about it earlier. They're at number nine. Is that too high too low or just right for this team uh as you're looking into 24 i think my biggest thing is penn state being ranked over them i can see why but i can also see why they shouldn't be I think it's recency bias because it's like how can you have Penn State

over Michigan again I'm not so much a rallyer I don't know many people are so it's like the only reason I can see why is their schedule they play a lot easier schedule than Michigan but it's like these are the preseason so that shouldn't really matter i i maybe move them up a notch but i think they're

pretty i think that's pretty fair and like his thing is people are worried about that it's like they play the number what's it two three and four team so like they're gonna have plenty opportunity to move up you know i mean this is not like starting at nine it's like how they're i mean you win you win game two and you're gonna be in the top five or four right there right we talked about everybody's chalking it up as a texas win man i don't think i don't saw you rolling that one because michigan's defense is ridiculous and texas lost the last time i love it though i want people to keep talking like that like i want texas to roll in thinking that they're gonna roll they just lost their star running back too didn't they yeah yeah and they lost two receivers to the draft they lost

two interior d linemen like they're you know they got to replace some guys just like michigan does yeah but they got arch manning so we came yeah well he's dude i was looking at the rosters on college football by the way and like he's like the 10th best quarterback is like all right bro come on like yeah what are we doing here like what what are we doing and no i don't know did you guys see the thing with uh quinn yours too we call it michigan well you know bryce you talked about the ohio state recruiting classes the last few years he actually has a chance to become the first member of that 2021 historic ohio state signing class to beat michigan um but he wouldn't get any gold pants i don't think i don't think

texas does that so that's tough but that's what they could root for that's that's what they got going on that and waiting for connor stallion's documentary to drop like that's those are the two big things in their lives right now so i'm the last qb for i'll say that b michigan was justin fields right yeah did you see where his sister committed to just committed to michigan too for a moment's basketball i don't know i'm just i don't that's breaking news for the people on this but people are like it's just a field it's not gonna wear a michigan jersey i'm like i don't know i just i need it just to come on to the twitter app and just watch the meltdowns like i really need that yeah i do um all right no that was great that was great i mean the we've talked about it at length too but i'm sure you you've experienced the Ohio State fans in this offseason

have been – They're broken. It's been something to behold for sure. And I'll be honest, I'm not one of those people that like go online. You guys know me. I'm not like a huge Twitter person or X person, and likes to stir up shit and like stroll. You know what I mean?

But like everything I'll – I'll write a story about a kid that took a visit in Michigan. It's like, you know i mean like i'm bullying everything out i'll write a story about a kid that took a visit in michigan it's like you guys cheated that's it well what's it gonna do you guys like this is time to get serious it's like what does that have to do i have my twitter uh like mentioned super filtered now because i would just get like so much shit and i'm very reactionary and i'll respond but i also have access to the blue by nighty twitter account um and so like it'll sometimes take me to that like if i get a notification i'll think it's for me but it's for the blue benatti bro like i'll just like look at the

mentions it'll just be like the same dude every time just like asterisks i'm like do you not have anything better to do like are you on i'm not mad because they they give us they've got to be giving us half of our views at this point like at least i'm trying to get my guy scoop numbers justin we gotta you know bro it's i mean well here's the thing you can get buckeye scoop numbers but you also that are the worst worst person on the planet so well you know i will the one thing i will say to the many buckeye fans it seems bryce i feel like i'm talking like Sam Webb right now. Cause I'll hear him say this, but to the Ohio state fans that watch our show and comment,

I appreciate you first and foremost. Secondly, if you want us to get into like conspiracy theories, like that's not really our lane. So, you know, I don't know, like we can probably talk about the grassy knoll a little bit. Maybe the middle landing, but that's as deep as I'll get. So quit asking please oh it's unbelievable so i mean hey we're we're leading up to now this 2024 football season jim harbaugh is going to be back in the big house as well for game one which we'll have to talk about that a little bit more in depth on our next pod um but i mean it's just gonna be uh get ready

michigan fans get ready price tanner for just a season long of if you thought the off season was bad it's gonna be talk this this entire season and we're gonna have to deal with it and i think for when we win that's my that was gonna my next sentence is, what happens when we just keep winning? And it's going to be. What happens if we win out, huh? What happens? Shout out Cade McIntyre. Cade's got a lot of love on this fucking.

He's got a lot of attention. But Bryce, thank you so much. Tell the people where they can go find you again. Yeah, I'm on the Michigan Ins insider um our 247 sports site all our guys do a great job over there i definitely recommend you guys subscribing give us a chance over there i think you're gonna love the work we do and if you want to follow me on twitter x again i'm not the most interesting person if you want so i'm just bryce b-r-i-h-m-a-r-i-c-h so give us a shout all right go give him a follow for sure um tell him we sent you and i don't know

spam asterisks under every single tweet that he that he does there perfect all right uh well thank you bryce for coming on we appreciate appreciate you. You're the man. Team groom, by the way. Team groom all day. So big bachelor party guy. For us, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at Blue by 90 Podcast on YouTube, and blueby90.com. We appreciate you. Go blue. Go blue.