The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/262939
PREP PROFILES Michigan's Texas quarterback pipeline consists of two men in the last two decades — eventual trans- fer Ryan Mallett (2007) and red- shirt sophomore Russell Bellomy, who sat out last season due to a torn ACL. That could change if the Wolverines land Stephenville H i g h ' s J a r r e t t Stidham, one of the nation's best j u n i o r s i g n a l - callers. Texas Tech was the first to offer the sturdy righty, but others have since jumped on board. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and TCU have offered from the Big 12, while Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Ohio State, Oregon and others are now in the mix after step- ping up. Stidham is the coveted quarter- back who can make plays not only with his arm, but also with his feet. He passed for 2,687 yards and 30 touchdowns against only five inter- ceptions, while adding another 10 touchdowns and 975 yards on 143 rushes in his first year as a varsity starter. It didn't take much time for him to adapt once he made the move from wide receiver, where he played as a sophomore, in part because he has great instincts for the position. He's also more interested in win- ning than individual statistics. "I may be different than other re- cruits," he said. "I don't necessarily just focus on the offense. I look at the defense and how they're progress- ing because you might be able to score 55 points a game, but if you're giving up 60 it does you no good. I look at how the defense is progressin g, w h a t t h e y d i d the previous year and what they've got coming in. It's a team effort." Stidham is intrigued with the th ough t of turn in g a program around the way Johnny Manziel did at Texas A&M, though he's open to all comers. Academics are first on his list, he insisted, and he's seriously considering majoring in engineering. "Going from there, there's a long list of stuff," he said. "How good is the coach? The quarterback coach? The head coach? I want a coach that is there for the players and not there just to get a paycheck." Stidham hopes to attend the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp and plans to attend both the Rivals Camp Series local event in Texas as well as the Ri- vals100 Five-Star Challenge. — Chris Balas Texas Quarterback Has Wolverines In His Top 10 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Stephenville High School Stephenville, Texas Class: 2015 Position: Quarterback Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 188 Rivals.com Rankings: No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and No. 47 overall pros- pect nationally Jarrett Stidham