Blue By Ninety - Michigan Recruiting ON FIRE Heading into July 4th

Episode Date: July 3, 2025

Justin and Tanner break down Michigan’s incredible run into the top 10 of 2026 recruiting rankings.

the Alright, welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin joined by Tanner. It is July 2nd. We're presented by Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. Wanna give another shout out to those guys hooking our Wolverine athletes up and

us, you know, uh and I don't know if you saw Tanner um but we are actually going to be out there. I gave a little teaser to this the other day. We're going to be out there at Feldman Chevrolet of Highland July 12th with somebody

significant. I would say you know, have you heard of Bryce Underwood? I thought you're going to say Bryce marriage. I was about to be fired up. I mean, I mean he may be there too, but uh, we'll have Bryce Underwood Marlon Klein Fred Moore Donovan McCully We got a whole whole list of guys that will be out there doing a little meet-and-greet

We'll be doing a live pod. So I'm pretty up for that Yeah, that'll be something that we're gonna have to figure out from a technology standpoint that I always look forward to It's why it's very easy to figure out from a technology standpoint that I always look forward to. It's a lot. It's very easy to do it from, from the comfort of your office virtually here, but we'll have to, you know, we've got, I mean, we have like a very high tech tech team for us, you know, it'll, it'll just be like, you know, random Nolan will just be, you know, plugging shit in and we have no idea. Just like trial and error, see see what works see what doesn't

And then for what works and it's like, oh actually already tested this And our our suggestions are like did you unplug it and plug it back in again like Cookies or yeah, that's you know No, that's gonna be a great time and I'm I'm looking forward to that. That should be a lot of fun again. I might get roped into buying a new truck which who knows. Oh,

I love that for you. You know, if they hook it up, I need the NIL deal, you know, for me, I've got 500 plus connections on LinkedIn. I mean, wow. It's not like I'm a slouch in my own right. Wow. So, okay. So, that's I'll be your agent

and then I'll be like, hey, I'll pull up like your sometimes I I would have done that for an athlete where I have like their social media, demographics and analytics and stuff. I'll just do that for your LinkedIn. I'll show the

Feldman sales guys and like, yeah, I mean they might just pass out right there like, hey, this guy, his company pays for LinkedIn premium but he doesn't take advantage of it. So, you want him on your squad. For sure. For sure. Uh well, in other news, business is booming. We, I mean, the month of June, uh was incredible for Michigan football recruiting.

Um can I actually show you something that I, was incredible for Michigan you've ever been there and I have a few beers, you know, just casually drinking. And all of a sudden I look behind the bar and there's these, there are these helmets that are like hanging behind the bar and I'm like, man, those look kind of cool. What are those? And I walk over and immediately I had to get it. I like, I couldn't have gotten my wallet out faster. I had to walk over and immediately I had to get it. I

like I couldn't have gotten my wallet out faster. So, I I've got this now in my possession which I mean is just unbelievable. I mean and I like work. Oh yeah. I mean, this is unreal, right? This is great for the Spotify listeners. Yeah, for sure. It's a hard hat.

It's a hard hat with a beacon light on the top. Don't give that to Wadi because it may turn into something more that we don't need at the tailgates. Man, that's electric. I don't know if I would. I don't know. I would, I don't know. Uh, I like, like my mini helmets, you know, well, I mean, I just feel like here's what I was thinking though, while I was purchasing it, I was like, man, I needed this for the month of June. Cause this could have been great every time we get a commitment, which is like every 12 hours, right right at this point yeah I could just like do

this and then that's like the bat signal that we got you know we got to commit yeah it's been pretty gnarly um the last month or so and I really did enjoy so Michigan does this pretty regularly where they roll into May and people by people. I mean, Ohio state, Michigan state fans are like, Oh, look at your stupid recruiting class. And it's like, dude, signing days and seven months. It's not that big of a deal. We're going to be fine. Michigan's going. I don't know if you guys know this. Michigan is going to get guys to come to play football at the university of Michigan. They've actually done that for hundreds of years. Yeah. So

they're gonna get guys to come play. And so there was a lot of like, Oh, look at this screenshot in May on May 30th. Like I can't wait, by the way, if somebody's gonna screenshot this and it's gonna be all over Twitter, I can't wait. So I think you should wear the rest of the show. It really contrasts my Jeff Gordon rope hat. Um well, I'm only bringing it out for the rest of the show if we get a commit in the next hour,

which possible at this point, you know, I mean we might get three in the next hour like my it's it's crazy. So, you know, all the all the rival fans were like, oh, look at look at Michigan's recruiting like MSU and brother. It was fun. It was fun being neck and neck for a little bit. That's over. I mean,

Ohio State or over Michigan's right on your ass. Like you got put a body bag for Carter Meadows, by the way. And that was an OSU, Penn State, Michigan battle and Michigan stuff. Those guys into the locker. And also like how many Ohio state fans went from like, you know, Carter Meadows is our guy. Like this is like one of the most important recruitments that we have right now, like top target, top target. And then he goes to Michigan. Oh, not a, you know, really not a big deal. You know, it's, well, I actually saw like, there were some rational folks were like,

this is not good because the next day there was a commitment for, I do not remember the guy's name, but he was their next remaining edge target and he went to Ole Miss and they're just like panicking. So you hate to see it, you know, um, but it's not like they've had the best edges in the world, I love it. I love coming in from Coastal Carolina as a third round pick. I mean, the defensive line and Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, like, I mean, genuinely, I have a question for you. Do you think if,

if Jack Sawyer beats Michigan in, if it's flipped, if, if Jack Saw goes four and oh against Michigan, which I mean that's like a you know, that will never happen obviously because it did. He's over four but does he go like first round? No, no, I'm I think it's how that affects II just

sometimes that can affect like how people are portrayed. You know, I don't I don't think so at all like there was never a moment well there's a couple times like against Missouri when he was when he was coming back for last year in that bowl game he had like three sacks and I was like oh okay but then it never he never really put it fully together I mean he I will say he had you obviously a huge pick against Michigan, which that was gonna be his, we talked about this, that was like his moment.

And then Kaleo Mowin, well, their offense kind of flubbed it up. And then Kaleo Mowin was like, nah, man, this is our game. It is funny because that like, if in that literal like five minute span of him getting that pick, that is the defining moment of his career.

If that plays out differently, that's played on repeat. That is his moment of revenge. All right, I got it, all this stuff. And then Kahlil Muller is just too manly. Do you think Gus Johnson got a lozenge, like a commercial break or something? We're getting off track, man. We are. Alright, business is booming. Yes, it is. This recruiting class. I mean, man, I'll tell you what, it's great. I mean, Zion Robinson, top 100 wide receiver from the

state of Texas, second year in a row. He's similarly ranked to Andrew Marsh. They're still in for Travis Johnson out of Virginia who I think is a stud, like really smooth route runner, like just kind of a, you see a player receiver, you're like, yeah, that's the kind of guy I want on my team. And then Calvin Russell, the five star out of South Florida is, Michigan has been kind of the constant there. So like from just focusing on the receivers, it's obviously been a bit of an issue for Michigan over the last however many years. Just recruiting wise, I mean, obviously, 2023 you have Roman, you have CJ, but you don't have guys to kind of replace those two on the roster last year.

And that really causes some issues in the past game. So shout out to Ron Bellamy, man. I think if he can get these two signed, sealed and delivered, like that would be- That would be his best work so far. Absolutely. And I mean, again, he's still having to sell on just kind of a dream. Makes it a lot easier when you've got Bryce Underwood in the fold. But I certainly am excited about the potential of these receivers. If they're, cause Travis Johnson commits, I want to say this week,

maybe the fifth of July, he is got a lot of crystal balls in. And I think he's a dog. Like you should go watch his film. It's he's, he's fun to watch. So, well, I mean, just talking about these receivers, like, obviously things change so much when you go from JJ McCarthy and now you have Bryce Underwood, you know, on board. It's like, that's a pretty good recruiting recruiting pitch, right? Like, um, hey, come play with this six foot five like monster that can chuck it, you know, a hundred yards. Um, and so I

think that helps a ton. Um, and I hope that they can parlay that, but you know, Michigan goes from, I was talking to our guy, BB's big house yesterday, which go check out his stuff, please on Twitter. He puts out incredible stuff in terms of like analysis. Um, but very good with Excel, very good with spreadsheets for sure.

Um, uh, and color coded. Um, but like Michigan went from in the month of June, you know, now they're sitting at nine. They I think the last time would have been, that would have been 2019, cause 2019, like June, they had a, I remember this because it was like my birthday weekend and I was golfing with like, we had like two foursome, so we were golfing.

And you know, I'm with a bunch of Nebraska fans when I went to Omaha at the time and we always like to talk trash, but I just remember like, commit, commit and one of them was quorum okay one was Chris Jenkins I mean there's like a list of like four in a row where it's all guys that were huge contributors to the national championship team that was close but this is I think quantity quality is probably the best run that I've seen. I mean, it's like all have been basically four stars or guys like Markie

Walbridge that Michigan thinks has some of the best tape of an office of tackle in the 2026 class. Right. Like they I I've read that they think his tape compares to Jackson, Cantwell. Wow. And to your point, Justin, of like spending all that money, go find the diamond in the rough, man. That's I, you know, I've said it. I think that there obviously you want to get five stars like that is the key to, you know, building a program. The the data shows right there. There's a reason why Bama and

Georgia were so good for so long and it's because in Clemson they got five-star recruits right like that is really it is a line there but I think in the NIL world there these four-star guys are a high three-star that you can find the diamond in the rough and if you and you can pay half right like you can spend half the money on it. I think that that's huge. So if they, you know, if, if they really think that Markie Walbridge can be even near Jackson Cantwell, then that is money well spent and a great job by Sean McGee and the staff, because, um, I think that is like, people't understand like obviously you know we don't see the dollar amounts right that

are in the Champion Circle Bank account and the you know how much they're spending on on who and what and all that. Some people some people know some people know but us but other outlets they they they just make they just throw numbers at the wall. Well anybody can just make up numbers out there you know so um and I thought they had them. I didn't know. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. you have to be very crafty like in how you build a class like this because you,

there, it isn't unlimited money as much as anybody, everyone thinks like, you know, Larry Ellison and Joel in and everybody can just write blank checks like yes, theoretically they can, they aren't going to, and that's not, that's just not how this works. So, um, I really like how they're building this class. I mean, you look at just what happened in June here You know you started off the month with Mikhail blade and Alistair Vallejo

Then you get Malachi Lee who I think I mean just going to be a dog You know, I I love give me give me any highly rated office of tackle who is that big? from Hawaii Samoan background. I mean they are they could play some football the the the the the the

the the the on June 2nd Oracle stock was 166 it's currently 217 wow and it jumped from 166 to 215 dollars a share in 10 days in early June so who knows I mean maybe that had something to do with the run of recruiting I believe there was an AI like 50 billion dollar deal that Oracle inked or something like that I think it's more so from Michigan recruiting I think Michigan recruiting impacts or oh like a $50 billion deal that Oracle Inc or something like that. I think it's more so

from Michigan recruiting. I think Michigan recruiting impacts or oh okay. Yeah. I thought it would have been the other way around but you know, I think it's Michigan recruiting actually billionaires are good. Shout out to Larry

and Joe and Jolyn hot take II actually don't like billionaires except for Larry Ellison who helps my football. Absolutely the you get a lot of guys that said, uh Titan Davis, Zion Robinson, uh you get Carter Meadows, uh at Edge, then you get Julian Walker at Edge and uh you're sitting here like, okay, you know, I mean those two guys, Julian Walker and

Carter Meadows. I mean who who is that comparable to? And is that like a Hutch and a job? Oh type situation. I don't even know because those guys are different classes. I mean, Carter Meadows was always like for me a little bit of a pipe dream. I mean, he's a five star on three. He's just outside of five star, Reno, two, four, seven. And who knows? So he'll move up.

But he's six, six, two, thirty, like prototypical edge rusher. He's from the same high school. I believe it's a prototypical battle. Funny enough when Ohio State lost out on Luke Waffle, Owen Waffle's brother. Interesting. Owen Waffles at Michigan transfers to Penn State. His brother goes to Ohio State. MSNED just not had a great time at Michigan. I don't know. He won the national championship. Could have been that bad, right? But once Ohio State lost out on Luke Waffle

to USC, I was like, oh, they're going to probably up the heat. It's going to be a tough battle. But then I remember that Ohio State's kind of poor on the NIL front. So it all worked out. But a couple months ago, I was like, I don't know if this is gonna happen. And then Julian Walker, his dad's a strength and conditioning coach at the University of South Carolina. He's five minutes from campus. And he but you know, kids, they want to make their own path,

right? Like, sometimes that's like a super advantage. Sometimes it's almost a disadvantage because it's like, you know, it's like my dad was the assistant principal at my high school. Like, yeah, that was great. Sometimes other times I'm like, man, I wish I went to school like 20 minutes away

so I could be alone, right? Right. There's some things to that, you know? I wish your dad was my assistant principal. That's what I'm trying to say. He does love you. He does love you. You're the guy from, you're the guy from Leecher Report. Yeah. No. Um, but yeah, I mean, so you, you get both of those guys. Titan Davis, I mean, you know, been wanting him in the class for a while and it just, again, it takes these guys getting on campus, you know, having that plan. And also we talked about it with Bryce the house settlement really cleared

some things up for that I mean it I don't know if it's that much of a coincidence that it really started to pop off once that I think it's very very much correlated exactly you know I think that sorry did to interrupt you real quick before you we move on to that though, is like, I think that they're the whole like not saying numbers thing. You know, that was a big rumor that Michigan was holding back. I think that there's some truth to that, right? It's like, and it was smart. They weren't going to throw stuff out until they knew what was going on. Now it was, you obviously saw the house settlement got settled and then it was like alright foot on the gas completely and then they've immediately had a an insane two week three week

stretch yeah I mean it's been it's been a lot of fun I mean I remember when Mikhail Blade what a name by the way Mikhail Blade committed it was like okay finally like you know get get somebody in the class that had been a minute. And then, you know, Alistair Vallejo, who do we do we say it that he just kind of reminds us of Mason Graham a little bit? Like, I don't want to put too much expectations up. Not that my word. I mean, you can. You can say it in the fact that like, we don't know. I'm not going to predict that he's going to be a top five pick.

No, absolutely not someday but he he literally does just like remind you of it from a like look standpoint and everything did you see the AI picture that made its rounds of like mason graham and a brown jersey like handing a football to him um I don't it was very funny it was very well it came from the 247 board which we talked about with. Those guys are insane and I love them. Um, but yeah, I was sort of like that was kind of up in the air and it seemed like Notre Dame was going to be really tough to beat. And then, I mean, sure. Put them in a locker. Hey, try it. The Lou Esposito, man, this guy, he's got six commits and you know,

all the way from's got six commits and you know all the way from the lowest ranked guy to Reek Boney who is still under Armour All-American and is a super high upside type of guy all the way to Carter Meadows like this. This class

is maybe the best I've seen on paper like it is just very deep, very talented. There's a lot of different guys that can play different spots along the front. I'm just, man, it's been a very fun couple of weeks here because you know me. I love recruiting. And there's nothing like that dopamine hit

when you see Hayes Fawcett tweet. And it's for your team. It's pretty nice. It is nice when he puts that flag out there, even though I'm, I'm kind of sick of Hayes faucet, like, you know, baiting us, baiting us. Um, but I fall for it every time. Um, but I wanted to talk about too. So obviously like, you know, Michigan has gotten some highly, highly rated recruits in the past few weeks, but I don't want to forget about the diamonds in the rough of this class already.

Yeah. No, I, the first one, Jalen pile, who I think is, I don't know why he's rated a three star because I do think that he is going to be a four star or should be right now. Um, so there's guys like him, you know, bear McCord or, um, Tariq bony, Mark L Dabney. I mean, we already talked about Markie Walbridge. Like, I don't know. I just want to get your take on like, you know, the guys that round out this class, um, you know,

we're all excited about the Carter Meadows and the Julian Walker as we should be. Right. But like, I do love the quote unquote bottom of this class as well. Yeah. Well, I, with Bear Bear McCord or I'm not sure. I mean, you look at his offer list, it was Michigan, Alabama, and Alabama thought they had him. Again, Michigan put them in a body bag. But dude, it's tough to know how many

commitable offers but if you just look through his offer list like Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, Tennessee, Wisconsin. Again, and who knows how many of those are commitable, but I think again, similar to the Markie Walbritt situation, what I've read or what I've heard is that Michigan thinks

he's one of the best interior office alignment in the country. I'm not sure why 24-7 has him as the 120th best interior o lineman or the 152nd best player in the state of Georgia. Like I know Georgia's got a lot of talent, but I think this kid can be pretty damn good. And so the composite is a little bit more where I'd probably have him. He's 401 in the composite 34th best interior alignment and then 48th in the state of Georgia. I think he could be even higher than that. So with him, I mean, again, it's not Saban's Bama, but the board still a hell of a

coach and a really good offensive mind and I, you know, would trust his evaluation. Some of the you know, his offensive line at Washington, you know, obviously he was only there a couple of years, but had to bring in some transfers, like got a good eye for talent. So it's also funny too, with Kayla and the board people are like, Oh, it doesn't even matter. That's not savings Bama. It's like before last year, which was his first year at Alabama, he was the

hottest name in all of college football. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So, um, yeah, with Jalen Pyle, I mean, I don't know. I mean, he committed last year. You wonder if a kid like sometimes, by the way, he committed October 16th, 2024. I think we were probably very drunk at that point of just like sorrows of watching the team. Um, so also shout out to him for doing that. Like, I don't know that I would have committed to Michigan at that point because like things were not up and up here in Ann Arbor.

Yeah. Yeah. He, um, and he, I think he, he was a four star at one point. I don't know what happened. Uh, he put up some good stats last year. Actually, I think he just, I'm trying to goodness gracious. They give me so much data here, Justin on the two four seven page. Yeah. I think he's I'm trying to goodness gracious. They give me so much data here. Justin on the 247 page. Yeah, I think he's just been the same rating the whole time, but he put up 63 catches over 1000 yards and 19 touchdowns last year playing in Texas. Um, you know, I think who knows? I don't know if it's a case of just he committed early and it was, you know, sometimes those guys get forgotten about. Um, and it's like he doesn't really

committed to Michigan. It's like I don't need to go to all these camps, right? And all these seven on seven. So maybe that's part of it, but I do think he could be a good ball player for Michigan. Markel Dabney was committed to SMU just recently committed to Michigan last week. Um, the thing that I like about him, Justin, is that Pitt was in on him. And I, I think Pat and our doozy is a bit of a tool, but I think his evaluations of

linebackers are always pretty solid. So anytime I see Pit in there, I'm like, okay, like for a linebacker, I'm like, yeah, this guy can probably play some football. So, um, and he's going to be part of a, I want to say they're probably going to get one, at least one. I don't know if they're going to get two more. I wish Bryce was here. He could tell us, cause he knows all. Um, but I know they're going to get at least one more linebacker and they're kind of unknown where that's going to come from. But I mean, that's about the only question mark I have is linebacker. Otherwise, I mean, this class is, man, I'll tell you what, I really like Mason Bonner as well. He's like, there was a picture of him and

Matt Ludwig on their visit and Ludwig's a little more filled out. I think Bonner is like a big body receiver. So who knows? Like, you know, we've had good success with big body receiver looking tight ends in the past, top 10 picks even. So we'll see how it turns out. But yeah, there's a lot of sleepers in this class, but there's also a lot of like super high end talent that we haven't even talked about Brady Smeagol too, who I think is really good. Uh, yeah, but I mean, honestly about as good as you can hope for, uh, in, in the class following a quarterback compared to Vince young, right?

It can't do like that's, that's about it. I mean, he's a top one 50 kids. So yeah, Brady Smeagol, he was, before Brady Hart had committed, Smeagol was kinda in there and then he commits to Florida State, right? And then once Hart reclassifies and goes to A&M, Michigan doesn't have a 20-26 quarterback and then he decommits

and then it just kinda happens that way. So yeah, I mean, again, what a complete 180 from quarterback recruiting and I mean dude 22 they took Jayden Denigal, Alex Orji, 2023 is that Kendrick Bell? Is he the quarterback? Right? Yeah, Davis so I mean in I actually so 24 Jaden Davis 25 Bryce Underwood 26 Brady Smeagol a lot better whatever whatever I mean from JJ you know in 21 and then 22 and 23 and we're not great and then 24 25 26 so it's gonna be nice quarterback depth. I think he's gonna be good. Yeah, and speaking of, you know,

you mentioned Bryce Marich, you know, he was very adamant on our pod with, on the last pod, don't worry about the class, right? Cause this was, you know, he came on kind of at the beginning of recruiting stuff, we were just getting rolling in the month of June with this, you know, this momentum and he was like, don't worry. I'm not worried about a class in the beginning of June. And just like that, you know, all of this goes down. So pretty, pretty, you know, he, he predicted that pretty well. Um, but then I just want to talk about what you've mentioned multiple times now is

Michigan being the bully on the recruiting trail. So we've really never seen in, you know, pre-NIL, you never were able to because you had the Clemsons, the Bamas, the Georgias, you know, whoever that was maybe doing NIL before NIL, right? And so you never really had a chance. And then even in the early stages of NIL, Michigan just wasn't as aggressive in, you know, trying to put a huge offer out. And you had the Oregon's, the Miami's, you know, some of these teams that were like,

hey, we'll just throw out giant numbers and try to get guys and that's how we're gonna get them. And so Michigan was always more strategic. Now I think that Michigan is still being strategic but willing to play ball with the top of the top guys. And you mentioned multiple times, they've stuffed some other teams in lockers with the Carter Meadows and the Julian Walkers and these types

of recruitments where I just don't know that I've seen that before where when it comes down to the end of a recruitment, Michigan is like, no, you're coming to Ann Arbor and like, let's make it happen right now. Yeah. It's been a lot of fun, a lot more fun than the alternative, right? Like I've been following Michigan Recruiting since I was literally like, I would say like a pre-team. Like I remember following Sam McGuffey. So I've been following recruiting more than half my life. Like I love this shit.

It's just a nice supplement to like being a fan because you get content all the time. Like if I didn't follow recruiting, I just like have to watch old highlights, which I do that too. But I like to have a mix. I was like, you're just a sicko. I am rather. I love this thing. Um, yeah, I really don't know if I've ever seen Michigan act this way. I'm sure this is what it was like in the, in the late nineties and right. But like maybe even maybe not. I don't know because it just just seems like like you go to like the Oregon board and there's a top 50 corner safeties you kind of a hybrid player I don't know if it's it's Dave on Devon Benjamin out of

Christian Oaks in Southern California he's a top 50 guy big-time player and like you go to their board and Oregon writers are like yeah Michigan's Michigan's surging and all their boards fuck like you know what I mean is like the Baker Mayfield like so I I don't know what it's like to have experiences before but it's been nice it's the LeBron where Kawhi checks back in he's at the free throw line Kawhi checks back in and he's at the free throw line, Kawhi checks back in and he's like, Oh damn. Yeah. It's like, uh, you know, which I mean really to your point though, like we've never had other teams like an or, okay, think about how significant that is for Oregon who has Phil Knight basically do

have unlimited NIL and have been the top dogs in NIL for the past few years and still are in my opinion right now for them to you know be like hey Michigan's in the picture now and everyone's like **** you know like how are we going to keep up right like that is super significant. Yeah, no absolutely and again anytime that the Michigan gets involved people are like like Alabama like Alabama was like I'm so sick like their fan base on their boards. I'm so sick of Michigan. It's like What?

So, you know, I think with with Michigan it's a staff of obviously great recruiters But also, you know having the monetary aspect and component to it which is very funny like I've seen a lot of fans of the players but also, you know, having the monetary aspect and component to it which is very funny. Like I've seen a lot of fans of particular fan bases like, oh, they're just they're just buying players. It's like it's

so funny though because you could go back and forth like last year, a lot of Michigan fans are like built, not bought. I mean, I might have had a I might have had a few tweets saying that that exact thing out there. Yeah, but you know, sometimes you got to spend the money and lose your biggest rival. I mean,

it's okay. But like, it is very funny to see like fans of like Alabama and Georgia, but like they're just paying players. It's like, dude, did we all know what was going on for the past 20 years? Where where we like I think it's been going on since like the 50s like that's whenever that's when the term amateurism came up right so it's just it's it's very funny I enjoy it I like being the the big bad team on the recruiting trail I've never experienced this it's amazing I'd like to keep doing it. I would love to keep doing it. I mean, dude, we're talking about this class and it's like, there are a couple of guys out there that if

if Michigan can close, I can't remember who all was there on the, because you can do the class calculator and see what it would look like. But if they get Hyder, Calvin Russell, the five star receiver, there's a couple other guys. It gets them to like 24 commits, which they're not done at that point. but if they get hider Calvin Russell, the five star rece which they're not done at last two years and fourth insane. Um the other thing you see Julian Walker's d

like quotes about Michigan was did you see Julian Walker's dad's comments? His like quotes about Michigan. No, I didn't. I I don't have a verbatim here but did you know he comes from the Herbert tree really? Yeah. So maybe him and Tressa Ties didn't come to Ann Arbor. I

mean so for context Julian Walker's dad is on the strength and conditioning staff at South Carolina. Tanner you said that they live like five minutes away. I mean essentially should be a live like five minutes away. I mean, essentially should be a shoe in there. You would think. I mean, if that was flipped and we let, you know, a kid whose dad was on the staff somewhere else, we'd be freaking out

right now. So fair for South Carolina fans to freak out at that situation. But Julian Walker, while on the staff in South Carolina talked in like insanely good about Michigan staff and was just like their staff is just like next level. Like I've never seen anything like that and I'm like, shame beavers looking at him like.

Like it was. It was pretty crazy for him to say while you know employed by another big you know their top program whatever but I do think that like yes Michigan is has come to play with NIL it's been amazing shout out Champion Circle but I do think that the staff that Sharon has put together is very significant in like the role of what has been going on. You know, you look at Louis Esposito Lamar Morgan, Sharon himself, like, you know, these

are guys that have built relationships with these guys too. So, you know, obviously in the world of NIL money is always going to be a thing now, right? That's just the reality. So it's going to be a factor, But I do think that, you know, you're hearing what's the re you're hearing, like the quotes and the reasonings for guys to commit. They always talk about the staff and the relationships that they have with them. Yeah, yeah, I think. I think that's such an important component, because every school is gonna most schools are gonna

have money like the schools of Michigan's competing What they're gonna have money you have still set yourself apart, right? Just like you did pre NIL. So yeah, I think what this the group of coaches that Sharon has on staff I think he's done a phenomenal job And yeah, I mean I think you know to your point about Julian Walker's dad like You know, you still have to Do what's best for your children. And I know people, you know, and I try not to get ever upset about recruiting, like I enjoy

the wins, but I also try not to get down on like the losses because at the end of the day, really for the most like 99% of the time, and there are some, you know, some uncles that probably try to, you know, get something or whatever whatever from their nephew that's going to play right. But 90% of the time, and I kind of realize it's not being apparent. Like, you just are trying to do what's best for your kid. And so I'm sure there's a lot of upset South Carolina fans

yesterday and today over that commitment. But it's like, I mean, going to the University of Michigan, like, say what you want. But he's going to get a phenomenal education. He's going to play big time football, like say what you want, but he's gonna get a phenomenal education. He's gonna play big time football, maybe the most recognizable brand in college sports, all of college sports. I mean, you could go to literally any country in the world

where Michigan had, you're probably gonna get a go blue. Right, like the brand, the alumni base, like all those sorts of things that go into it and no disrespect to South Carolina, which is a good school, but they just don't have that reach. And also like, yeah, they had a decent year last year, lost to Burt in the bowl game. So it's just one of those things that you've

got to do what's best for your kid, regardless of what your employment status is. And so I understand being frustrated. I would be frustrated if Justin Tress had a kid who went, you know, was a big time recruit and didn't go to Michigan or whatever, I would get it. But also like, you gotta do what's best for your family. And so, and maybe again, maybe he comes to,

comes to Ann Arbor, you know, we can always use some strength and condition. I'm sure we'd welcome with open arms. We definitely would. But it leads me to another question that has been an ongoing question for a long time. Tanner, when's the hammer coming? I'm not going to make a joke about this

because it's very sad, but what a selfish piece of garbage. And if you know, you know I'm not going to go into anything further than that. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I've seen folks like bro, hi, oh, let me ask you this, Justin, do you think the bro hi oh from the message boards is the same bro? Hi, oh, is on the Netflix? I don't think they exist.

I like to think so just for like the lore of it. I want to think that that's the same guy but II mean they've got it like in what world are they living in because it's not the same world that we live in. I don't know because we're Ohio started to slowly ease the

fact that uh hey, this is probably going to be in just not much of that it's just been like, wait, no, they're still getting recruits. Wait, no, that everything's going to be fine. Oh no, they're going to lose out on five official visits in 2027. Oh my God. That's what it's probably, it's going to be some stupid shit like that. So yeah, I love the slow realization, but I mean, just as we, well, what was it like June 6th, right? Was the, like the day that everyone thought was going to be It was like a month ago. I don't know something happened. It's been a month and

It's it's just gonna keep on you know In my opinion the way that the NCAA works is like things just get kicked down the road forever and ever Well, the way that the answer really works with Michigan is they'll probably announce something like the Friday before New Mexico game. Isn't that like actually the timeline though? I think so. That's so interesting, isn't it? It's like, it's just so funny for them. Yeah.

It's like a pathetic organization. I just bro, like I still because you can, okay, sign stealing and it's probably the last time I'm going to go into it on this podcast until we have some sort of answer. I still would like to know because, sign stealing, you can steal signs from the all 22 film from the broadcast. You can match it up. You can do all those sorts of things. And like a guy on Reddit went and just like he said it like either 75 or 80% of the like plays like with the play call sheets or like the like cardboard or whatever. You can see 80% of them on a broadcast.

So however many you can see on the all 22 now, you still gotta make it up to get to what Connor Stallions was doing. But do you realistically think that maybe 10 to 15% additional makes that much of a difference? And also the other question that I have for these folks is, it's not madden. You can't just hit square or X to audible and get everybody into position.

Unless all the players were involved, Justin, and they knew and they had like secret Bluetooth earphones to get relayed from Connor. Did they all have they had like secret Bluetooth earphones. I mean relayed from Connor. Did they all have the meta glasses? They could have. They were I had I'd have to go back and look but I don't believe all of our players were wearing sunglasses during all the games but I'd have to double check. Maybe it was in the visors. You know there's just so many possibilities. I mean hey look you know Kate St there's just so I mean, hey, look, you know, to blow up uh uh like a t

out of a formation they had doesn't make sense because a very bright and intellig So, I don't know. He seems like a very bright and intelligent individual. Well, I just think it's funny the when's the hammer coming like I do think it's got a there's just a lot of copium still coming out of Columbus in that greater area of from the Buckeyes of needing to like obviously they need to talk about their uh you know their national championship. I'm you

know good for them. They they went on a great run last the last December in January. Amazing. That was right after they lost to us for the fourth time. I don't know if you remember that did they win a big championship so they

haven't been to Indy in a long time. I'll tell you that. Okay. Yeah Okay. And, and then, you know, they like Michigan's going crazy with recruiting. So they're like kind of squirming there. Um, but the hammer's still coming supposedly for a lot of them. Some of them are coming to the realization and then you have Jeremiah Smith coming out and guaranteeing that he's never going to lose again to Michigan. Is he going to check? Where to Michigan. Is he gonna transfer? Where is he? Is he transferring to? I don't know. Um,

but it's just like, there's just so much going on there. And, um, you know, as we have experienced, like I wouldn't tell any player of any program to ever guarantee anything, let alone two, I would tell any player of any the best football. He's unbelievable. So, let's just get that out there. I'm not downplaying what he does but you just don't need to say

that because now it's everywhere. It's all people are going to talk about. He also said I will not lose to Michigan. Wow. So, like, do some one on ones. One, I mean, like, there's not a team sport. It's 22 guys on

the field, brother, 22 guys. And also, um, personally, if I was like doing, I, again, he's very good. If I was guaranteeing that stuff against a specific rival team, I would have had to like dominate that team and not go for just like 35 yards. So yeah, well, that's a hot. He had a touchdown but he I still think he pushed off. So he's a great player. Don't get me wrong. He's a he's a dog. I mean, I

can't even there's there's nothing that I can say that you know, he's he's a stud but not what I would have done but I've also never been the best player in college football justice. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, I if I was that athletic, I'd

probably say some crazy. I probably would say yeah. So I guess I shouldn't be talking here. No, man. I mean, I don't know. Yeah. I mean, I, if I was that athletic, I'd probably say some crazy. I probably would say, yeah. So I guess I shouldn't be talking here. Um, no, man. I mean, I don't know. It is what it is. I like it for the rivalry. Um, but, uh, you got two games and, uh, we're, we're coming with a real quarterback this time. You got to come to Ann Arbor. We still have one of the best defenses in the country that you go against. You, in my opinion, are not going to have as good of a quarterback as you had last year or the year before. I look at their defensive line, by the way, they have not recruited that well. They have a tramp that transfer Bo Atkinson on the edge.

Otherwise that remember Kaden Curry. It's like, I guarantee we won't lose rather your the end. I'm going to send on the edge. Otherwise, that remember Kaden Curry. Yeah, I guarantee we won't lose rather. Oh and three now. Um I love that. That was in his recruitment, right? Like it was like it was like yeah, I think it was uh like on signing day.

He's like, yeah, that ain't happening again. It's like that's three times in a row. Um but like you look at you know and and and we'll talk about this as we get closer to football. This is what I can't wait to talk about. But like Michigan's offensive line is going to be improved, right? And love Donovan, but I think the duo this year, I love obviously Kalel. I think the duo this year has more ability to get north and south and run hard and physical. I think with the fact that we're going to see Michigan have a competent, I hope at least competent passing game, right? Love our guys last year. It's going to be improved. Yes. And we love our guys last year and they made, they want some big games, but just weren't able to stretch the field in a

way that kept defenders out of the box for Michigan to be able to run successfully. I really think that Michigan is going to have a really good run game. And also, depending on what Bryce can do in the passing game, the offense might just open up. But I feel really good about that last Saturday, November, Justin. I might I might need to talk to you about getting the ticket secured, brother. July 2nd. I know you're getting me fired up. I love it. Yeah, man. I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like on them because I think that you know, you look at what's going on Ryan day still has to win that game if he loses another one even with the national championship like They're going to be talks, right? They're happy I feel like we've done this the last two years though where it's like we're not gonna put up with this with if You know, it's hilarious There was like if he up with this. If you know what's hilarious? There was like if he started out the same the way Jim Harbaugh did, he'd be gone. Sure

about that? Like come on. Don't sit here and act like you're any different. You're big bad Ohio State yet. He's gonna come into Ann Arbor. He's gonna get smacked around and we're gonna do the same song and dance in 2026 when Michigan's going to Columbus. This is what we're going to do. And also like you have to acknowledge the difference in the programs when each coach took over, right? It's like, you don't have to use logic, Justin. Like, what are we doing here? Um, but, um, I, I also want to say like the Jeremiah Smith thing

is funny to me because now like these, there are Twitter accounts out there from Ohio State fans that are like, that have been talking about how the Michigan game doesn't matter anymore because of the playoff and all this stuff. And then their best player by far comes out and says like, you know all these

talk about his Michigan they're like shit I think that game matters that little scrimmage the scrimmage in November I can't dude that was it is and I understand there's you know people that work at like Barstool Sports right like like the two Ohio State fans that are there and they have to make content and try to be funny. But like that switch up is crazy, bro. Cause you know Big Ev and Ohio's Taint, whatever his name is, I can't stand that guy. Terry, dude, he's talking so much, I'm sure you saw this,

but he's talking so much trash about Tarek Scooball. Tarek Scooball goes to part of my take in the office. He didn't show up. He didn't show up. What a little, you know, you know what? But like for the switch up, and I think those guys, yes, they do content and they try to be funny or whatever, doesn't always work. I don't think they're always funny.

But like to go from like, Ohio State, like take it off every layer of his, which by the way, it was like, it was like 40 degrees, dude. You need 17 coats on. Can't lose that game four times in a row. Can't lose four times in a row. Then to now be like, oh, it doesn't matter. Like it is a crazy switch up. Literally walking to Ryan Day on the golf course

or wherever they went. Yeah. Yeah, and then for a big EVE like crying on Twitter in a video to then like that little scrimmage, like. Yeah. It yeah, it is. It is. I think it is one of those self preservation things though where it's like you're

going to say and think what makes you feel happy about the things that you like, right? So it makes sense whatever. Yeah, but I never once when Michigan in Michigan never won a national championship. Obviously when they lose in Ohio State,

but like I never matter anymore. Like it st fields sat up on that po state took it more seriou he was right at the time, Michigan hasn't lost since very, very happy. I agree. I agree. Well, in recruiting here, we also are not done yet. Right? I think there are a lot of eyeball, Sharon eyeball emojis, you know, still to be had. Yeah. So I don't

think the fun is done yet. I think that I'll, I'll still I'll be able to do this a few more times. You know II mean, can you imagine that like I were like eight beers deep at the tailgate this this fall and you look over and I'm just like on stage when I say when I see

that it's time to do either a shots here is uh for sure for sure for sure I think we we got to do it so it's definitely going to be going to be you know of some significance that I'm wearing this but Michigan's not done yet we're going to have some more podcasts coming out here soon of you know talking about new

commits that we've got I think you know July is like a lit. When do we go into a little bit of a lull in recruiting? Is it more? Probably after this? Well, I don't know, I would say probably after this week. You know, fall camp is going to start up late July, early August. So coaches are going to be busy. There's no more official visits. But I mean, so just so everyone knows, I'm sure if you're listening to this, you are very aware. If you're this far to the pot, guys, you're a single. First of all, I love you. Yes, so Travis Johnson, who is the four star receiver from Chesapeake, Virginia, he commits on July 4th on Friday.

I don't know exactly when during the day. But then Dorian Barney, we didn't talk about him. Four Star Corner, another, he's from Georgia. A kid that Penn State thought, dude I can't take it seriously right now with that one by the way. I just like, cause I was on the, I was on like the top targets page

that I clicked back over to this video and you're just there. I mean this is an electric factor. You can't say it like, I mean, it's just on, and it's got the Natty thing on the side too. I might need you next time you're up there to give me one. Um, but, so Dorian Barney is a kid that Penn state felt really good about once again, putting a locker, all the crystal balls come in Michigan's way. He commits on the fifth on Friday or no

Saturday excuse me so a couple couple four stars most likely come in Michigan's way to your point Justin about like keeping kids in the class you just never know what's gonna happen to recruiting these days but both guys that for all you know every the way everything's going is gonna be probably probably gonna be Michigan so and then again, I mean, just to recap here on recruiting before we get out of here, guys still on the board, Sadian Heider, 17th in the country, number one running back five star, Calvin Russell, 21st in the country, third ranked receiver, five star.

There's a couple of guys, again, the Devon Benjamin kid, number 49 in the country. John Turntine,'s a who's a kind of a swing offensive lineman probably going to Texas they just they have unlimited money Justin they they certainly do but if we get if we get Russell and Hyder I mean this is on that would be an unbelievable class well and here's the thing too like a lot of these commits have kind of come out of nowhere. So and and think about last year, Michigan

down the stretch flipped the number one player in the country. They flipped Shamari Earls from Georgia. They added so many guys late. They're probably not going to have to do that this year, but they're in a position of luxury to

where it's like, hey, that five star over there, we might say, hey, what's up? You know? Well, and I do think I said this to you before we jumped on. I think now the biggest thing for Michigan is going to be keeping this class intact, right? I think that's the hardest thing to do in the NIL era is like, fend off some of the Oregon's, Miami's, et cetera, that come in late with big offers. Or you got to fend off the Michigan's. Hey, the Oregon's, Miami's, etcetera that come in late with big

offers or you gotta fend off the Michigan's. Hey, is Michigan the bully now? We we're one of them. We are, right? So, yeah, I'm I'm with you on that but I also think having like a fuller class before summer ends makes it a

lot easier because then you can focus time on the guys that you want to be selective with but then you can also focus time on the current commit that you have and just check in on them and make sure everything's good, right? You don't have to, you're not like trying to cast a wide net at this point of the year, which is nice. Some schools are. We're not in that position. We're not. You'd rather be in Michigan's position having the guys and fending

other people off than being the guys that are trying to poach, you know, from other schools. So Michigan's in a great position here. But we'll have some more to be trying to poach you know I don't think I mentioned his name. Um Donovan McCully. Um so we'll be doing a live podcast. You can come with us uh and see those guys. I don't who's a bigger deal there like us or Bryce like who it's a it's a toss up I

would say probably probably I don't think I can wear this. If Bryce will be like I'll uh I'll never talk to you again if I wear this. So, yeah. That's okay. We won't judge. We've had a, I feel like a crazy run of just like, we were hanging out with Kirby Joseph at the NASCAR race.

True. And we're gonna do this live pod in about a week with Bryce and the fellas and then on the 26th, Bryce Merridge is gonna be at our golf outing. Yes, please go sign up for the golf outing. Um talk Bryce Merich. You can meet him. He told me this is actually a great text exchange. Um he's I said I am going to offer unlimited scoops that Bryce can give out to golfers that are in the Blue by 90 Golf Outing. His response was the only scoop I

will be doing will be scooping my ball out of the water. So that's pretty good. So he's he's got jokes too. Yeah, I haven't played golf since my daughter was born. Um I don't I think Justin I think that's correlated. I do think that is a correlation. Very uh you know and so we'll see how it goes. I'm not I'm not gonna pick him up. Um they're still in a travel bag from the last time I went on a bachelor party. Wing

it. Wing it. I love that. Sometimes that's sometimes you know the rust helps you know cuz my swing's so bad. Exactly. By the way the quality of this thing like you might is that OSHA certified? Honestly it could be. Yeah you just need to

get a little I think you think you should put some of those helmet stickers on there. Like my helmet. I was gonna do a horn too. Perp, perp, perp. Hey, I just wanna say, I don't know if these are gonna be for sale, but shout out to our boy Nolan, who does a lot of our graphic work.

He sent me a sticker set that would be on my controller. I haven't put it on yet, I'm like, oh, he sent me a like controller for Xbox. So, I'm like, I don't know if it's going to look great. So, I'm trying to see if they come out like a navy color and then I'll do it. Um but then he also sent

me some mini helmet helmet stickers and so now my winged helmet looks more official. Pretty sick, pretty tight. So alright shout out Nolan. For us, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Apple Blue by 90 podcast on YouTube and Blue by 90.com. We appreciate you. Go Blue. Go Blue.