In light of the crisis surrounding the program, Alabama coach Nick Saban says he is not worried about the opposition stealing signs ahead of the team’s Rose Bowl game against Michigan in less than two weeks. Saban said to reporters on Monday, “Uh, not really.” We constantly make a few minor adjustments. We don’t really care about any of that stuff; instead, we’re concentrated on what needs to be done in order to try to obtain effective execution. Two weeks after the university dismissed Michigan staff analyst Connor Stalions due to allegations that he had bought tickets for 35 games featuring teams that would later play Michigan across several seasons in order to conduct in-person scouting—a violation of NCAA regulations. Jim Harbaugh, the coach, denied having any knowledge of it or having overseen any off-campus scouting.
Michigan has been pursuing two of the top uncommitted players in the 2024 class: four-star wide receiver Gatlin Bair and four-star edge Lugard Edokpayi.
Bair decommitted from Boise State at the start of this month, saying that he was focusing his recruitment on Michigan and Oregon. Current Wolverines tight end and fellow Idaho native Colston Loveland told The Michigan Insider he’s “putting in a little word” to Bair about coming to Ann Arbor.
Bair was at Michigan for The Game last month. It should be noted that the top-50 wide receiver is taking a two-year mission trip, so he won’t be on the campus of his future college until 2026. Still, if Michigan could land a commitment, he could be a big contributor in a few seasons.
Edokpayi, who’s rated just outside the top-300 on the 247 Composite, picked up an offer from Michigan before Thanksgiving. He made his official visit last week, and a few coaches made an in-home visit before that. The Maryland native has great size at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, and could develop into a reliable edge rusher and cornerstone of the defensive line.
Both Bair and Edokpayi have Michigan crystal ball predictions from 247; we’ll be keeping an eye out to see if they sign later this week, or wait til the next signing day in the winter.
