Has Michigan experienced a recruiting boom? As the 2025 class grows, Brady Hart sets up the 2026 win

Concerns about Sherrone Moore’s slow start to recruiting staff have eased considerably over the past two weeks.

Michigan signed a top-100 safety for the class of 2025 in Kainoa Winston, found its quarterback for 2026 in Brady Hart and entered its biggest recruiting weekend in June. The Wolverines’ 2025 class is still among the smallest in the Big Ten, but now that Moore and his team have got the ball rolling, it’s looking more like a typical Michigan class.

Here are four notable developments from Michigan’s recruiting boom in June.

A QB for 2026

Hart’s original plan was to release a list of his top eight schools in June, visit the top contenders in the fall to get a feel for the game, and make a commitment in December.

A recent trip to Ann Arbor changed that schedule. After the visit, which included a FaceTime conversation with JJ McCarthy, Hart called his quarterback coach Baylin Trujillo and said he had important news.

“I felt chills all over my body,” Trujillo said.

🏠 #GoBlue 〽️@Hayesfawcett3 @Cocoa_Schneider pic.twitter.com/m8JsBumhq7

— Brady Hart (@BradyHartQB) June 18, 2024

Quarterback recruitment is a high-stakes, strategic game between the top-tier programs and the top talent. Hart, the No. 7 quarterback and No. 92 player in the 247Sports Composite for 2026, was courted by Clemson, LSU and Michigan and received an offer from Ohio State earlier this week. If he waited, Trujillo said, Hart knew there was a possibility those programs would take other quarterbacks, leaving him with fewer options.

Hart decided to commit to Michigan, giving the Wolverines a quarterback to build around for the Class of 2026. Hart is entering his junior season at Cocoa High School in Florida, where he threw for more than 3,700 yards as a sophomore and led his team to a 14-1 record. The last blue-chip quarterback to commit to Michigan so early was McCarthy, who committed to the Class of 2021 in May before his junior season.

Hart’s father, Alex, was a pitcher at Florida and was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hart grew up playing baseball and had a pitcher’s long windup instead of a quarterback’s quick release when he started working with Trujillo four years ago. Trujillo told Hart he could be one of the best quarterbacks in his class if he stuck to fine-tuning his technique, and Hart has proved him right.

Hart has the typical size of a pro at 6-foot-5 and weighs about 190 pounds. He’s accurate, Trujillo said, and his ability to throw on the run is one of his best qualities. While he’s not necessarily a scrambler, Hart is agile and should become a more physical runner as he gains strength. Trujillo said he wouldn’t be surprised if Hart is a five-star prospect before the end of the recruiting cycle.

“He looks more like a pro because he’s 6’5″, but his legs can hurt,” Trujillo said. “Every combine he’s been to, he’s run 4.8, 4.7. The kid can compete.”

Michigan signs 3-star RB

New running backs coach Tony Alford’s first signing was Jasper Parker, a three-star prospect from Marrero, Louisiana, who announced his commitment on Saturday. Parker, the No. 441 player in the 2025 composite rankings, drew interest from several major programs over the winter, including Oregon, Alabama and USC, though recent rumors have focused primarily on Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Duke and Oklahoma State.

Parker doesn’t have a trait that jumps out at you, but he does a lot of things well. At 6’1″ and 195 pounds, he has good size and the potential to be an effective runner between the tackles. He may not have elite speed, but he’s quick enough to evade tacklers and find gaps in the defense. He can also catch the ball, either out of the backfield or in the slot.

Pairing Parker with another running back in the 2025 class would be the ideal scenario. Four-star running back Jordon Davison visited Michigan earlier this month, but Ohio State and Oregon are considered favorites. Marquise Davis, another Michigan target, committed to Kentucky last month. The verdict is still out on Michigan’s running back crop in this class, but Parker’s commitment puts the Wolverines in the running.

A great weekend is ahead

Michigan is hosting a large group of official visitors on campus this weekend, including several of the top remaining targets for 2025.

Maxwell Roy, a four-star defensive lineman from Philadelphia, visited Ohio State last weekend and could end up choosing between the Buckeyes and Wolverines. Kaden Strayhorn, a three-star offensive lineman who plays at IMG Academy, also spent last weekend in Columbus and will visit Michigan as his final June visit.

Strayhorn and Hardy Watts, a top-250 prospect from Brookline, Mass., are two of the best offensive linemen on Michigan’s roster, along with five-star offensive tackle Andrew Babalola, who visited last weekend. Also on this weekend’s visit list are top-100 linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, who previously played at USC, Ohio State and Notre Dame, and four-star wide receiver Taz Williams from Red Oak, Texas.

Michigan also has several of its promising young players scheduled for visits this weekend, including quarterback Carter Smith and defensive lineman Nathaniel Marshall, the highest-rated player in the class.

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How high can Michigan’s class of 2025 climb?

Michigan’s class has moved up nearly 15 spots over the past two weeks, moving from outside the top 50 to No. 37 in the 247 Sports Composite rankings. That’s still lower than usual for this point in the cycle, but the Wolverines are No. 7 when sorted by average player rating. That’s higher than the last two Michigan classes, which finished just outside the top 15, and tied with the class of 2022, which finished No. 9.

Despite any concerns about Michigan’s slow start after the national championship, patience may be the key word for 2025. Rather than making a lot of early commitments, the Wolverines held on to players higher on their roster. That paid off with signings of players like Marshall, Winston and defensive end Jaylen Williams.

Michigan had commitments from eight top-300 prospects for the 2024 class and has already reached half that total for 2025. If the Wolverines reach a good percentage of their remaining targets, their class could rise into the top 20, roughly where they’ve finished under Jim Harbaugh in recent years. That’s still less than the typical class for a reigning national champion, but it would make the initial concerns about Moore’s recruitment seem a bit overblown.

The risk is that Michigan misses some of its remaining targets and has to look to acquire players later in the cycle. With only eight commitments, the Wolverines need to take advantage of these official visit weekends and build on the momentum of the past two weeks. If they can do that, the slow start will soon be forgotten.

(Top photo of Brady Hart: Craig Bailey / Florida Today via USA Today Network)