Michigan Football: St. Frances Coach Talks Drew Singleton
St. Frances Academy (Md.) coach Henry Russell was the only coach this year who had the misfortune of having to prepare to play against Paramus Catholic's Drew Singleton. The linebacker helped lead Paramus to a 38-20 win over St. Frances in Michigan Stadium, notching 12 tackles and a forced fumble, though he missed the remainder of the year after suffering a knee injury in practice. According to Russell, Singleton's instincts are tough to overcome.
"He’s a very athletic linebacker," Russell said. "I think he reads things real well and he’s explosive, so he gets to where he needs to be and makes plays. He makes a lot of plays. I thought he was one of the top linebackers we’ve played in the last two years. I think he’s just an outstanding player. I think Michigan got a real good player in him.
"It’s tough. I think you’re not going to be able to fully neutralize him. As a linebacker, he runs sideline to sideline, and we tried to confuse him a little bit with some wrinkles, but they weren’t too effective, to be honest. I thought he had a great game. He covered the pass, he can play the run, so he’s definitely a versatile kid who can do a lot of things. Like I said, he reads things well, which is tough. Sometimes you’ve got kids who can make plays but you try to trick them, but he really wasn’t that type of player. He was all over everything, we were just trying to get blockers to stay on him but that wasn’t too successful either."
Michigan's 2017 crop of linebackers is one of it's top incoming units and Singleton's ability to read what opposing offenses are trying to do should help him adjust to the college game well. His talent has been evident for a while and he was named an Under Armour All-American as a senior, despite the injury.
"To me, a lot of times with linebackers, it either comes naturally to them or it’s more forced, and the kids that it comes naturally to tend to have the most success," Russell said. "Being on the opposing sideline, it seemed to me that he is a kid that reading stuff and knowing where his first step should be and having his eyes in the right place, he seems like he’s the type of kid that it comes naturally to him. If he’s able to do that (at Michigan) he’ll definitely be in a position to compete up there. Obviously, Michigan has a great defense and great kids in that program, but he’s definitely a great addition to those kids and I’m sure he’s going to be right up there with them competing and trying to get on the field."
St. Frances Academy in Baltimore is yet another school out east the Wolverines are recruiting. Michigan has offered 2018 three-star offensive lineman Jaelyn Duncan and 2018 four-star defensive end Eyabi Anoma, as well as 2019 offensive lineman Darrian Dalcourt.
"You know, I think they’re all just trying to figure it out," Russell said. "They’re really wide open, all of them right now. They’re trying to see what’s out there, where to go visit, trying to make some plans to make some visits in the spring and figure out what their best situation would be. Obviously all three are great players and Michigan has done a good job recruiting in this area. I’m sure those guys would like to come out to campus to take a look. Obviously, Eyabi and Dalcourt have been out to campus and went to a game this year. They had a good game day experience at the Hawaii game."