The Dominoes are Starting to Fall

By Jacob Lipnik on January 25, 2015

The dominoes are starting to fall.

That’s right, Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines staff received their first commitment over the weekend—and then their second and third in the following 24 hours.

The first domino to fall was Reuben Jones, a three star defensive end from Florida who had previously been verbally committed to Nebraska. He pledged to Michigan Saturday night. He might not be the best high school player in the class of 2015 or even one of the best DEs—he might not even be that great for the Wolverines—but he’ll forever be remembered as the first recruit Jim Harbaugh brought in during his tenure as the head football coach of the University of Michigan. And from here on out, starting with Jones, expect plenty more dominoes to fall. From here on out, expect those dominoes to be bigger and better too. With Harbaugh’s famous recruiting methods, it would be ludicrous to expect anything less.

Harbaugh’s success on the recruiting trail will set him up for success on the field
(via flickr.com)

The next domino to fall is perhaps the most exciting so far. Zach Gentry, a quarterback from New Mexico who decommitted from Texas in favor of the maize and blue, stands at an insane 6’7″—as MGoBlog pointed out, he might be closer to 6’8″. Scouting services have mixed evaluations of him, but almost all have him ranked as one of the top ten pocket passing QBs in his class. He’s got a strong arm, a ton of size, and can even run the ball a little. He might not start right away—there’s going to be plenty of competition for the starting job this summer—but down the line he has the potential to be a game-changing quarterback for Michigan.

The last domino to fall over the weekend was offensive tackle Nolan Ulizio. Like his counterparts, he was also committed elsewhere, Connecticut, before Michigan reeled him in. This trend is a good one: even this late in the recruiting process, even with recruits who are committed to other schools, Harbaugh and company are a force to be reckoned with on the recruiting trail. Ulizio will probably take a redshirt year to bulk up and improve, but in a couple years he could be looking at some playing time, and it’s always good to have depth at that position.

Let’s not forgot, though, that Michigan wasn’t barren of recruits before Harbaugh and staff arrived. The Wolverines have six other commits, four of which are 4 stars according to ESPN. They also are in the mix for some other high profile recruits in the 2015 class; more dominoes are on their way down. The class should shape up to be about 16 or 17 commits deep, and it will be an exciting ride to see what happens in the next few weeks leading up to national signing day. No matter what happens, though, the Wolverines are in better shape than they’ve been in in a long time.

The dominoes have started to fall, and with Harbaugh at the helm, don’t expect that to stop anytime soon.

 

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