Michigan's pursuit of
Nick Eubanks started to pick back up last month when tight ends coach Jay Harbaugh saw him last month at American Heritage (December 7th).
Eubanks originally told me that he was going to officially visit Ann Arbor that weekend (December 11th), but the plans fell through at the last minute. Less than a week later, Michigan offered Chase Allen and he appeared to take the spot as "guy Michigan wanted if Isaac Nauta committed to Georgia".
The interim period is murky, but Michigan's reignited pursuit of Eubanks was either a clear indicator that Allen was headed elsewhere or that Eubanks' interest in Michigan picked up significantly. I believe it's more towards the latter.
This commitment is big for a couple reasons: first, Eubanks is a national recruit who had committable offers to Alabama (conflicting reports but they were recruiting him) and Florida. He also had scholarship offers from pretty much everyone. Second, Eubanks plays at a program that Michigan would love to continue to build a pipeline at in American Heritage. The coaches are high on a number of players there, but two we've been consistently reporting on are 2017 tackles Tedarrell Slaton and Kai-Leon Herbert. In short, Michigan got a national name at a national program.
As we reported the other day, our source on the Michigan side said that they didn't believe Eubanks would play at a SEC school. This already sort of pointed the needle towards Michigan, but I don't believe anyone anticipated that he would pledge to the staff while on his official visit, including the staff themselves. In talking to those on the Florida side of the coin, one angle Michigan may have played is the fact that offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier recently interviewed for the head coaching job at Southern Mississippi, leading to some potential uncertainty on offense for the Gators going forward. Michigan knew he was really familiar with the Gators program, and believed it was something they could overcome on this last visit. Obviously they did.
Of the offers Michigan put out at tight end in the 2016 class, Eubanks and Allen ironically may have been the two players with the highest potential ceiling along with already-enrolled Sean McKeon. He is raw, but these are the types of prospects the Harbaugh tandem turns into producers at the tight end spot. He's a multi-sport player whose older brother is slated to play his college basketball at Texas A&M and has not been playing football for a long period of time.