Recruiting Roundup: A welcome change of pace with QB recruiting

Now that the tepid and somewhat disappointing 2023 recruiting cycle has finally been laid to rest, the Michigan Wolverines can fully turn their attention to the 2024 and 2025 classes.

Michigan’s 2024 class is currently the seventh-best in the nation according to 247Sports — and it could stay that way with the way the staff is attacking the recruiting trail, especially its new quarterbacks coach.

Kirk Campbell is starting to make waves

As we saw with the loss of local phenom Dante Moore to UCLA in the 2023 class, securing top quarterback talent can make or break a recruiting cycle. But newly minted quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell has evidently gotten off to a great start on the recruiting trail.

In the 2025 class, four-star Cutter Boley gave Campbell high praise in a recent interview with The Michigan Insider’s Brice Marich:

“I loved him! I’m excited to build our relationship and keep getting to know him! (He told me) that we just need to keep getting on the phone and that I need to come up during spring ball and spend a whole day with him getting to know him better.”

Ryan Montgomery, another blue-chip 2025 quarterback, has set an unofficial visit for March 12, and he also had plenty of positives to say about Michigan:

“Michigan was the first school that offered and recruited me, so they will always hold a special place in my heart for that, but Michigan is recruiting me very well and I always enjoy getting on Michigan’s campus,” Montgomery told 247Sports’ Allen Trieu. “Michigan is a school that will always be a contender for me.”

It appears Campbell isn’t putting all of his eggs in one basket — a welcome departure from the shortcomings of the Weiss era. With this new approach, the 2023 class may soon become a distant memory.

Competition heats up for Idaho’s top 2024 prospect

Four-star Gatlin Bair, one of Michigan’s top wide receiver recruits in the 2024 class, is looking to make the most out of his spring break by visiting several of his top choices — including Michigan.

Bair’s coach, Cameron Anderson, also coached current Wolverine standout Coleston Loveland, and Bair’s lead recruiter, Jay Harbaugh, appears to want to utilize that connection in his recruitment. Here’s what he had to say in an interview with 247Sports’ Brandon Huffman:

“I’ll for sure take some visits in spring. I’ll probably for sure go check out Michigan and Nebraska and then maybe like Oregon or Colorado, but we will see with track.

“My primary recruiter has been Jay Harbaugh, but Colston, yeah I’ve heard a little bit from him. Coach Anderson is really good at not trying to push me anywhere though.”

Bair also noted he would like to commit sometime before his senior season. Making a great impression during the possible upcoming spring visit will be critical for Michigan’s chances, as his pick of schools is growing by the day.

Michigan makes an impression on Georgia blue-chip d-lineman

Four-star defensive lineman Hevin Brown-Schuler visited Ann Arbor last month, and his enthusiasm for the program is made clear in an interview with TMI’s Marich.

Brown-Schuler, who grew up a San Francisco 49ers fan, was ecstatic to meet the former coach of his favorite NFL team:

“Harbaugh is very confident in who he is and the accolades he’s accomplished, as he should be especially what he’s done for the football program at Michigan.”

But for the nation’s 10th-best defensive lineman recruit, football won’t be the only factor in where he plays college football. The son of an educator, academic pedigree may play a sizeable role in the outcome of his recruitment.

“The education stood out the most, but I had already known about it because my mother is an educator and she informed me the type of academia Michigan up holds,” Brown-Shuler said. “It’s very admirable to receive an offer from an elite school of academics as well as a great football program.”

The University of Michigan prides itself on the unparalleled blend of athletic and academic success, and Brown-Schuler fits that mold perfectly. Let’s hope Mike Elston and company can build momentum from this successful visit.