Michigan Football Recruiting: Wolverines Need Big Signing Day To Stay in Top 5

Brady Hoke's first season in Ann Arbor won't be complete until he finishes his first official recruiting class. A year ago Hoke was hired in early January and didn't have much time to line up recruits of his own.

Now he's coming off a BCS bowl-winning season and has been recruiting since the minute the Michigan announced him as head coach.

The Wolverines landed 20 commitments even before July ended and have been relatively quiet, although flushed with talent, ever since.

They did see a few of their more talented targets choose other schools, though.

Guard Caleb Stacy committed to Cincinnati and 4-star guard Joshua Garnett chose the Stanford Cardinal just this week.

Garnett, a bit more than Stacy, is a big miss for them.

Now they'll have to hope they can land some big names on National Signing Day to make up for it.

The Wolverines have 13 4-star recruits on the line according to Scout and 11 according to ESPN.

A lot of Hoke's work has been done on the defensive side of the ball, but their remaining targets are mostly on offense.

Hoke and his staff have to hope they can hold off any late runs from the likes of Ohio State and new coach Urban Meyer if they are going to secure a top-five class.

They laid the ground work this summer, but they need to close strong on Signing Day if they are going to make this class count.