Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and Covington (Ga.) Newton running back Kurt Taylor.
Even as Michigan prepares for today’s showdown game with Michigan State, the Wolverines are looking ahead.
Today, that meant hosting running back Kurt Taylor, a 2017 recruit from Covington, Ga., and getting a commitment from him.
“When I met coach (Jim) Harbaugh, the way he treated me and compared me to Frank Gore and said I could be the future running back of the program, that’s what made my decision,” Taylor said in a Scout.com video interview.
Taylor is listed at 5-feet-9 and 200 pounds. He appears to be a physical runner on film and possesses great strength, according to his Twitter profile that mentions he can bench press 380 pounds, leg press 605 pounds and a power clean 310 pounds.
Rated as a three-star recruit, he is ranked as the No. 19 running back in the 2017 class by rivals.com. Taylor also reportedly had scholarship offers from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Rutgers and Vanderbilt, among others.
Recruiting: Full coverage
It was quite a day, according to an interview Taylor gave to the website recruitingnewsguru.com, which had a Friday afternoon interview with Taylor.
Arriving Friday morning after a 10-hour drive, Taylor gave his commitment to Harbaugh and said he would halt recruiting by all other schools.
One of his school assistant coaches tweeted photos of him with Harbaugh and one of him with ESPN broadcaster Mike Tirico.
He’s the third commitment for the 2017 class, joining Birmingham Brother Rice tight end Carter Dunaway and Montreal Vieux defensive back Benjamin St-Juste.
Michigan is loading up with tailbacks, already having Southfield’s Matt Falcon and Prattville (Ala.’s) Kingston Davis in the 2016 class, plus two other players — Indiana natives Chris Evans and Kiante Enis — classified as athletes but who have been runners in high school.
Verbal commitments are non-binding until national letters of intent are signed in February. But his wouldn’t be signed until February 2017.
• Click here for a highlight video of Taylor in action
After Speaking with my Parents and Coaches, I am blessed to say, I have committed to The University of Michigan http://t.co/nZa5jQELtD
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Kurt Taylor (@KurtTaylorRB2) October 16, 2015Contact Mark Snyder at msnyder@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder. Download our new Wolverines Xtra app on iTunesand Android!