Michigan Football: Wolverines Already Tearing Up 2013 Recruiting Trail

For all you Michigan football fans out there worried that Urban Meyer will have Ohio State ready to hegemonize The Game like Jim Tressel did not so long ago, I have good news.

Brady Hoke and the rest of his Wolverines staff aren't resting on the laurels they earned from beating the Buckeyes in the Big House and topping Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl last season. Instead, they're parlaying the appeal of an 11-win season into even more victories on the recruiting trail.

The Maize and Blue have already racked up 11 commitments for the class of 2013, including a whopping eight verbals just this past weekend from their on-campus Junior Day. This, after pulling in Scout.com's fourth-ranked recruiting class on national signing day earlier this year.

On top of all that, the Wolverines will welcome back 12 starters from last year's squad, including dual-threat quarterback Denard Robinson, with their eyes set firmly on first place in the Big Ten Legends Division and the conference championship thereafter.

Not a bad turnaround, to say the least, considering it was less than 14 months ago that the Michigan football program was in total disarray. Rewind the clock back to January 2011 and you'll find a team that had just crawled to a 7-6 finish following a 52-14 throttling at the hands of Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl. You'll find a program that hadjust fired Rich Rodriguez following three disastrous seasons in Ann Arbor, that needed an infusion of excitement and enthusiasm almost as badly as it needed a win over Ohio State.

Brady Hoke has already delivered big in both respects and, if he continues to coach and recruit with this same fervor and dedication, the dividends will only continue to grow from here on out.

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