Michigan Recruiting: Can Hofstra, Northeastern's Folding Help Wolverines' Depth?

I'm sure many Michigan Football fans are wondering these days how the Wolverines can be better in 2010.

We are pretty sure the offense is on the right track (the loss of Vincent Smith with an ACL doesn't help) but there continues to be concern for the lack of depth at linebacker and in the defensive backfield.

Then I had a thought: What if Northeastern or Hofstra had some real good young linebackers or defensive backs?

Both programs recently announced they would be closing down their football programs to save money. I also believe there is an NCAA rule that if your program shuts it's doors, you can transfer without sitting out a year.

Then I thought of Marques Colston of the New Orleans Saints—a Pro Bowl receiver that came from Hofstra. Maybe they have other guys like that.

I figured if either Hofstra or Northeastern had a player that Michigan would be interested in, they would have to make the Colonial Athletic Association All-Conference Team. Well, that's where the dream ended. Hofstra did have an all-conference linebacker named Luke Bonus, but he is a senior. No other Hofstra or Northeastern players made the team at LB or DB.

The other thought is over-signing recruits in the 2010 class.

Michigan has lost some spots to transfers and kids being thrown off the team. They also didn't sign a full class of 25 players last year.

The problem is the Big Ten has a rule that only allows teams to sign a maximum of 25 players from each class each year. There is also the NCAA rule that allows teams to pick which class a player belongs to if they enroll early in January.

Michigan has three spots left from the 2009 class and are expecting five players to enroll early next month. Does that mean Michigan could use three spots from the 2009 class for those guys and sign 28 total players in February? The jury is still out on that strategy.

So the Hofstra and Northeastern Strategy is out the window and we're still not sure about over-signing. Is there any chance that USC is giving up football this year? Oh well, back to the chalk board.

• Jim Harbaugh on Monday Night Football said there isn't a meeting set up between him and ND and that he hasn't been contacted. Brian Kelly is reportedly interviewing today.

• Scouts is reporting that Tony Jefferson will announce his commitment on Dec. 18 to either Oklahoma or USC. Michigan, which he recently visited , didn't seem to make his final two.

• Woodland Hills, Calif. running back Lucky Radley will be visiting Michigan this weekend. He is a three-star recruit according to Rivals and currently has North Carolina at the top of his list.

• Here is how RR voted in the last coaches poll. He voted CMU No. 25.

• Still looking for a Christmas gift for your hard-to-buy-for Michigan fan? How about an old locker from Schembechler Hall? Greg from mvictors.com has found a company selling the real one. Now that is a pretty cool gift.