Former five-star says Michigan recruitment was ‘over’ when Jim Harbaugh wore cleats in house

Former Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman and Tennessee Titans first-round draft pick Isaiah Wilson was on a Barstool podcast this week with Will Compton and Taylor Lewan and shared an interesting reason as to why he did not wind up at Michigan. Predictably, it revolved around something Jim Harbaugh did that he was turned off by.

Let’s back up for a minute, though.

At one point during the recruiting process, Wilson was considered a heavy lean to join the Wolverines in the 2017 class. Those who remember his recruitment will recall that his decision came in Dec. 2016 during a school Christmas pageant that was streamed online. It lasted over an hour with student covers of songs by Taio Cruz, Coldplay, and more before the mammoth offensive tackle was called front and center to make his decision nearly 55 minutes into the stream, which several thousand fans of both Michigan and Georgia tuned into.

Called to the front by Santa, Wilson was gifted a Georgia hat to officially announce his college decision. The newest Bulldogs commit was also handed a pug (not a bulldog) at the end of his announcement.

Despite all of this, the weirdness in his recruitment is claimed to be from the Michigan end of things. Wilson — who also said he was committed to Alabama but backed out because Nick Saban did not hug him — told the podcast that Harbaugh wore cleats in the house and would not take them off during a visit.

“We almost got you?” Taylor, the Michigan grad, asked.

“Harbaugh did something weird,” Isaiah replied. “He did something super weird.”

BUCKLE UP PEOPLE. WORLD-CLASS HARBAUGH STORY INCOMING.

“What did he do?” Everyone on the Bus asked in unison.

“Remember when [Michigan] first got the deal with Jordan?” Isaiah began. ”[Harbaugh] just wouldn’t take off his cleats. He came to my in-home visit with cleats on his feet. And I have hardwood floors. And he’s just walking around with cleats bro. After that, it was over.”

So there you have it. A mystery solved I’m sure so many have been bothered about for years. You really probably shouldn’t wear shoes in the house and especially should not wear cleats in the house.

On a serious note, weird things happen on the recruiting trail. It was a bummer that Michigan missed out on a five-star recruit and future NFL first-round pick. But seeing as they had an offensive lineman drafted in the first round this year in Cesar Ruiz and three other starters up front selected, perhaps things still worked out alright for them.

Cleats and hugs determined this recruitment. Certainly nothing else.