Clay-Chalkville’s Nico Collins catches a third-quarter TD over Saralands Wydale Flott during the AHSAA Super 7 Class 6A high school state championship game at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Dec. 5, 2014.
A couple weeks ago, Pinson (Ala.) Clay-Chalkville four-star receiver and top Michigan target Nico Collins released a list of his final seven schools.
The Wolverines were joined by the “who’s who” down south, as Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State were the other six programs to make his final group. Many consider the Crimson Tide the favorite for his services. However, Collins surprised some when he named Michigan the leader after a recent visit.
“Right now they are standing out,” Collins told 247Sports after the visit. “The coaching staff really stands out. The program that they have and what they are going to do for you after college is over. They have you set up for life. That was the main thing they care about. They want you to graduate and to get better at life too. It’s a life decision.”
Normally, the Wolverines would not be in the race for a player of Collins’ caliber in an area like central Alabama. However, it’s no secret U-M coach Jim Harbaugh and his staff have made extra effort to go into some of the tougher parts of the country to recruit, Alabama being one of them. Harbaugh hired former Prattville (AL) assistant Bam Richards to an analyst position, and has held and will hold satellite camps in almost every state in the Southeastern Conference footprint between this season and last.
The efforts have paid off to an extent as the Wolverines have signed players like Keith Washington and Kingston Davis among others. However, neither of those players have the national profile like Collins, who has an offer from every program in the SEC outside of Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Kentucky and Texas A&M. He is the type of player U-M has continually struggled to recruit or even be in the race for.
U-M won a major national recruitment in 2016 by signing national No.1 player Rashan Gary, but had some factors in their favor throughout the recruitment that helped, not to mention Gary isn’t a southern native.
With Collins, it’s U-M vs. the schools nobody believes the Wolverines can recruit successfully against for a player in an area U-M (and pretty much all non-south schools) has never recruited well. If U-M, led by Tyrone Wheatley and Jedd Fisch, can beat those schools for Collins, it will be tangible proof that efforts down south are starting to pay dividends.
Steve Lorenz is the editor and publisher of Wolverine247 of the 247Sports Network. You can follow him on Twitter @TremendousUM and give Wolverine247 a try with a free trial until Sept. 3.
Download our Wolverines Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!