The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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COMMITMENT PROFILE If a high school player has football running in his family, and lives and breathes the game, that is a perfect fit for Jim Harbaugh's program. Not many players across the na- tion fit that defini- tion like Boulder (Colo.) Fairview d e f e n s i v e e n d Carlo Kemp. His grandfather, Sam Pagano, was a legendary high school coach in the Centennial State at Fairview, and uncles Chuck (head coach of the Indianapolis Colts) and John (defensive coor- dinator of the San Diego Chargers) both ply their trade in the NFL. According to current Fairview coach Tom McCartney (himself the son of former Michigan assistant and Colorado head coach Bill McCartney), there couldn't be a better match of prospect and school than Kemp and Michigan. "I don't think it's for everybody, but he comes from a football family," Mc- Cartney explained. "You're probably well schooled on his uncles who coach in the NFL and his grandpa, who he lives with and is a Hall of Fame coach in Colorado. Because he's wired that way, he's been prepared for a long time on how everything works." Kemp picked Michigan Nov. 8, and the 6-3, 250-pounder is just the right fit for Michigan's Buck linebacker role — a hybrid between a defensive end and outside line- backer. " L o o k i n g a t his film and his skill set, I think, if he can keep the speed and th e aggression he has now, he doesn't have a lot of weaknesses," Rivals.com West recruiting analyst Blair Angulo said. "I think he needs to get better at get- ting off of blocks. "I saw him in a practice, and he does well to con- tain gaps, engage blockers and recog- nize plays. But if he's going to rush the passer almost exclusively, getting off of blocks is a big part of that." The other finalists for the nation's No. 9 weakside defensive end and No. 203 overall prospect were Notre Dame and hometown Colorado, but in the end Michigan proved too much for him to pass up. He took an official visit for the Wolverines' 31-0 pasting of BYU Sept. 26, and the performance of the defense — particularly senior Top Player In Colorado Goes Blue Boulder (Colo.) Fairview standout Carlo Kemp is ranked as a four-star recruit, the No. 1 senior in Colorado, and the No. 9 weakside defensive end and No. 203 overall prospect in the class of 2016 by Rivals.com. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN