Coffee House: What's Next For Michigan Recruiting In New England?
Michigan scored again in New England, recently landing a commitment from 2022 Rivals250 linebacker Tyler Martin.
The Wolverines have basically owned the region over the last few cycles. And that won’t change any time soon. U-M defensive coordinator Don Brown is a New England legend and recruits the area better than anyone.
With Martin in the fold, Brown will turn his attention to other top talent in the 2022 recruiting class, including Rivals100 defensive end Wilfredo Aybar.
Aybar is a native of Massachusetts, where Michigan has had most of its success, but attends school in Connecticut at Cheshire (Conn.) Academy. Aybar mostly stays out of the limelight, but he’s a tremendous talent with the potential to be the best recruit in the region for next cycle.
Michigan extended an early offer to Aybar and will certainly be a top school moving forward. However, the Wolverines face stiff competition from Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State. He is also interested in Florida and Miami.
Michigan recently jumped in the mix for 2022 Rivals250 Groton (Mass.) Lawrence Academy offensive lineman Ty Chan, and the Wolverines already have his attention.
In fact, Michigan offensive line coach Ed Warinner has been in constant contact over the last few weeks and just had a video chat with him over the weekend. Boston College, Notre Dame and Penn State figure to be contenders as well.
Michigan is after another 2022 Massachusetts offensive lineman in Brookline (Mass.) Dexter product Sulliy Weidman.
At 6-foot-5, 300 pounds, Weidman is a massive prospect that best projects as a guard at the next level. He spent some time working with Michigan defensive line pledge TJ Guy this offseason and has increasing interest in U-M.
Weidman is a prospect the Wolverines want to continue to evaluate, but he’s definitely on the board early on.
The 2023 recruiting class in Massachusetts has a chance to produce some elite level talent. And it all starts with freak Lynn (Mass.) St. John’s Prep athlete Joenel Aguero.
Only a sophomore, Aguero already has the look of a college player at 6-foot, 190 pounds and has the potential to play wide receiver or safety at the next level. Michigan is making a priority early on, and head coach Jim Harbaugh was recently on a video chat with him.
Michigan was one of Aguero’s first offers, which should pay dividends down the road. His recruiting stock is starting to go way up as he’s notched recent offers from Arkansas, Ohio State, USC and others.
Harbaugh has also been on the line with 2023 Springfield (Mass.) High quarterback Pop Watson. A dynamic playmaker, Watson has a chance to be one of the country’s top signal-callers in his class. Michigan seems like an early frontrunner, but he also has early offers from Boston College, Oregon, Tennessee and a few others.
By the way, Aguero and Watson are both good friends and have already talked about playing with each other at the next level. You can bet Michigan will sell them on being a package duo.
Of course, Michigan should be in a prime position for rising 2023 Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic tight end Preston Zinter, the brother of freshman Michigan offensive lineman Zak Zinter.
Preston had an opportunity to get to know the Michigan staff through his brother and has been on campus on multiple occasions. While he also holds offers from Nebraska and USC, Michigan’s ties should give it the inside track in this recruitment.
Michigan also has offers out to a pair of 2023 prospects already committed to Boston College in West Roxbury (Mass.) Catholic Memorial defensive end Boubacar Traore and running back Datrell Jones. But there is plenty of time to work on flipping both.
And Michigan has proven more than capable of delivering knockout blows to BC in its own backyard.
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @EJHolland_TW, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook