{"id":783909,"date":"2026-07-25T15:21:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T15:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/783909\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T15:21:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T15:21:24","slug":"recruiting-roundup-elite-lb-eyeing-michigan-football-game-day-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/783909\/","title":{"rendered":"Recruiting Roundup: Elite LB eyeing Michigan Football game day visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Welcome to the Recruiting Roundup, our three-times-per-week series breaking down the latest developments on the recruiting trail for the Michigan Wolverines. We\u2019ll keep you up to date on the top targets, the visits they take, the predictions that analysts make, and everything in between. Here\u2019s what you need to know today\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Elite LB eyeing game day visit to Michigan<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Michigan linebackers coach Alex Whittingham has been busy recruiting the 2028 class lately. One of the top early targets for the Wolverines at the position is four-star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/jay-schell-250189\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jay Schnell<\/a>, who is a borderline Top 100 overall player in the class at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The Rabun Gap, Georgia native doesn\u2019t have a game day visit scheduled for this fall yet, but he is looking to get to Ann Arbor to see the Wolverines play. There is one game in particular that he has his eyes on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cI talk regularly with Coach Whitt and we text a lot as well,\u201d Schell told <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/college\/michigan\/board\/102410\/contents\/highlycoveted-top247-lb-jay-schell-looking-to-make-game-day-visit-to-michigan-288465307\/?page=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TMI\u2019s Marich<\/a> ($). \u201cI haven\u2019t scheduled any game day visits yet. I plan to sit down with my coach after we report back to school for camp on August 3 and work on a fall visit schedule. Hopefully will have a schedule set for September and October visits by mid August. The Michigan vs. Oklahoma game stands out to me as a great game and weekend to visit if I can get there in time for the noon kickoff. We have a game the night before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">It will be tough to pull Schnell from the south, as he has already taken multiple trips to schools like Clemson, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&amp;M and others. However, the Wolverines are going to give it their all with one of the top players at the position in his class.<\/p>\n<p>Four-star CB high on Michigan after visit<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The Michigan football coaching staff has shifted a lot of focus over to the 2028 recruiting class recently, as the big push for guys in the 2027 class ended a couple weeks ago. One player to watch is four-star cornerback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/zayden-williams-278698\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zayden Williams<\/a>. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Tennessee native earned an offer from Michigan in June when he was in town for a visit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cI went on a visit to Michigan and they toured me around the facilities and I talked to the corners coach and Tyler Markray and a few more coaches,\u201d Williams told <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/college\/michigan\/board\/102410\/contents\/michigan-making-a-move-for-2028-fourstar-cb-zayden-williams--288436574\/?page=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Michigan Insider\u2019s Brice Marich<\/a> ($). \u201cThe corners coach offered me after a conversation with him. I was very excited because Michigan is a huge school.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Recruiting is all about forming strong relationships, and cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford seems to be on the right track there with Williams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cHe\u2019s a great person,\u201d Williams said. \u201cSounds like he knows what he\u2019s talking about and very confident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">So far, it sounds like the staff is doing a good job with consistent contact with Williams, which is crucial. It\u2019s not just Gilford, as defensive coordinator Jay Hill is also making sure that he is a priority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cYes, every now and then multiple of the coaches contacted to check on me,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI just talked to the defensive coordinator the other day. Me and him were just discussing football and just seeing if their defense is right for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Michigan is in good standing with Williams right now, as he said the Wolverines are in his early top-10 list.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan battling Big Ten foe for 2028 RB<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">One position Michigan has consistently excelled at throughout the last decade is running back. Because of that success on the field, Michigan typically does well recruiting the position. However, there is certainly work to do with 2028 three-star running back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/malaki-davis-281601\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Malaki Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Davis admits that USC is his top option, but running backs coach Tony Alford is doing all he can to keep Michigan in the running.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cThey\u2019re trying to get me up there for a game,\u201d Davis told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/news\/usc-leads-for-top-2028-rb-malaki-davis-but-another-big-10-team-is-battling\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rivals\u2019 Adam Gorney<\/a> ($). \u201cGetting a one-on-one with him (Alford) would be big because I\u2019ve never been up there so I want to see what it\u2019s like up there. We\u2019ll see how that goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The door isn\u2019t closed on Davis by any means, but it sounds like Michigan has a lot of work to do to beat USC here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cI\u2019m still open-minded but because SC has been showing so much love, I\u2019m not going to forget about them,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThey\u2019re still my top priority. With everything going on, I\u2019m not going to leave them behind. They\u2019re still my top school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">If things don\u2019t work out with Davis, the Wolverines are in on a lot of other quality options at the position in the class, including four-star Cartae Ligon, who we highlighted in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maizenbrew.com\/michigan-football-recruiting\/118822\/michigan-football-recruiting-mason-graham-carson-graham-cartae-ligon\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wednesday roundup<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Recruiting Roundup, our three-times-per-week series breaking down the latest developments on the recruiting trail for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,167544,167545,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-783909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-michigan-football-recruiting","tag-michigan-football-recruiting-news","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}