Michigan football has built a brand that sells itself, but even the Wolverines have had their share of recruiting wounds. Some of the most painful ones came from right in their own backyard, with elite in-state talent ending up in East Lansing, South Bend, Columbus, or beyond.
That list starts with Charles Rogers, the Saginaw star who went to Michigan State instead of Ann Arbor. Rogers was the nation’s No. 3 overall prospect and wasted no time making Spartans fans feel like they’d landed a gem.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound receiver topped 1,200 receiving yards in each of his two seasons and scored 25 touchdown catches. He led the Big Ten in touchdown receptions in both 2001 and 2002, and as a redshirt sophomore he also paced the league in receiving yards with 1,351.
He caught six passes for 86 yards in Michigan State’s 2001 win over Michigan, then had four catches for 75 yards in a 49-3 loss the next year. Michigan was 18-7 across those two seasons, and it’s fair to wonder what Rogers might have changed.
Another major miss to Michigan State was Carl Banks from Flint. Banks became a three-time All-American linebacker, the No. 3 overall pick of the New York Giants, and a player who won two Super Bowls with that franchise. He would have fit neatly in a Michigan uniform, but instead he helped start a long line of elite in-state talent choosing the Spartans.
Jerome Bettis is one of the most famous in-state losses Michigan has ever taken. The Detroit product went to Notre Dame, where he rushed for 1,937 yards in three seasons and averaged 5.7 yards per carry.
Bettis, known as “The Bus,” was the 10th overall pick and later won a Super Bowl in Detroit with the Steelers. There were reports Michigan wanted to move him to linebacker, and he also played fullback.
In another era, that may have made sense. For Michigan, it still stands as a miss that stings.
The Wolverines also lost Vernon Gholston out of Detroit to Ohio State. At 6-foot-4 and 258 pounds, Gholston was a force for the Buckeyes, piling up more than 28 sacks in 2005 and 2006.
He helped Ohio State go 2-0 against Michigan in those seasons, including the No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup in 2006. Against the Wolverines, he recorded nine tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks.
He eventually went sixth overall to the New York Jets.
Dante Moore gave Michigan two chances, in a sense, and both slipped away. The Detroit quarterback signed with UCLA in the 2023 class, struggled in his first season there, then transferred.
Rather than ending up in Ann Arbor to replace J.J. McCarthy, Moore chose Oregon, sat for a year and broke out in 2025.
He’s now being discussed as the No. 1 overall pick and could lead the Ducks to a national title this season.
CJ Carr, another grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr, was available in the 2024 class, but Marcus Freeman built the better relationship and landed him for Notre Dame. Carr did not appear eager to play for Michigan, and his brother Tommy Carr is now expected to back up Bryce Underwood for the next two seasons before possibly taking over later.
If Michigan had landed CJ Carr, maybe it never gets Underwood. Either way, the idea of another Michigan-grown quarterback with top-10 NFL draft potential wearing Notre Dame colors is a tough one for Wolverines fans to swallow.
Andre Rison is another Flint product who chose Michigan State over Michigan and made the Spartans pay off that decision. Rison went 22nd overall to the Colts in 1989, finished with just under 3,000 receiving yards in four seasons at Michigan State, and then piled up more than 10,000 yards in the NFL. He made five Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers after the 1996 season, catching a touchdown from Brett Favre in that game.
And then there’s Pepper Johnson, another Detroit name who ended up at Ohio State. That one goes back to the 1980s, but it still belongs on any list of in-state misses Michigan football wishes it could get back.
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