Michigan’s recruiting board took another hit this week, and the timing makes it sting even more.
Three-star offensive tackle Sidney Rouleau announced on social media Tuesday that he is backing off his pledge to Michigan, just days after taking an official visit to Tennessee, according to his 247 Sports profile. The 6-foot-5, 265-pound lineman is ranked No. 577 overall in the 247 Sports composite rankings. SMU and Tennessee have both been pushing hard, and Clemson was also in the mix around the time he originally committed to the Wolverines.
Rouleau had been committed to Michigan since last March, after the changeover to Kyle Whittingham. Losing a pledge is never ideal, but it carries extra weight when the issue is building up front.
Offensive line recruiting is one area where programs want to stack high school talent and avoid having to patch everything together through the transfer portal. As the source material notes, it’s one thing to find a quarterback in the portal.
It’s another to build an entire team that way, especially along the offensive line.
Michigan is expected to keep working on the position, with Ethan McDowell of The Wolverine reporting that the Wolverines are expected to target 1-2 offensive line targets. At this stage, those options will likely need to come from flip targets. The staff may also have to take a swing on a fall evaluation or a player committed elsewhere, the same kind of route that brought in Tommy Carr.
And Rouleau’s decommitment isn’t the only troubling development.
Michigan legacy Asa Burch is now trending to Notre Dame after a crystal ball flip, according to the reporting. Burch, a 2028 prospect, had previously been projected to the Wolverines by Brice Marich of the Michigan Insider. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound EDGE from Harding, Ohio, is ranked 86th overall in the 247 Sports composite rankings.
For Michigan, Burch would have been a major early piece for the 2028 class. Instead, Notre Dame has gained momentum, and that push had already started before the Wolverines’ recent struggles on the field.
The uncertainty around Whittingham adds another layer to all of it. The source notes that there are still questions about his job security, and with four games left in his first season, the pressure is only building. Michigan needs a win on Saturday, not just for the coach, but to try to pull the program back toward something more positive.
In Other News...
Michigan Suddenly Risks Losing A Prized Legacy Recruit To Notre Dame
Michigan has done a solid job keeping the family tree growing in Ann Arbor, landing legacy commitments from Tommy Carr and Tommy Fraumann in the 2026 class and Charles Woodson Jr. in 2027. That made Asa Burch look like the next obvious name to follow, especially with Michigan long viewed as the favorite for the four-star edge rusher out of Warren Harding High School.
Now the picture has shifted. Recent predictions from Rivals and 247Sports point toward Notre Dame as the team to beat for Burch, who is expected to decide soon and is set to visit the Irish for a game. For Michigan, it turns what once looked like a comfortable legacy pursuit into a late recruiting battle worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Michigan Broadcast Choice Says A Lot About Where Both Teams Stand
Michigans next two Saturdays say plenty about where the season has gone for the Wolverines. First comes a night game against Michigan State that will air exclusively on Peacock, then a Week 11 matchup with Oregon set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, a slot that feels a little different from the kind of marquee stage both programs expected to be on when the year began.
Instead, both Michigan and Oregon are sitting at 5-3, and the Wolverines are still chasing bowl eligibility in a season that has demanded more patience than anyone around the program probably wanted. The broadcast setup underscores the reality of this stretch: Michigan is still playing meaningful football, but it is doing so in the middle of a difficult run, with every remaining game carrying a little more weight than the last. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Still Has Plenty Riding On This Rivalry Showdown
Michigans next chance to steady its season comes Saturday at Michigan Stadium, where the Wolverines welcome Michigan State in a rivalry game that still carries plenty of weight even with the records trending in opposite directions. Michigan enters at 5-3, while the Spartans arrive at 2-6, but the annual meeting has a way of cutting through the standings and turning every snap into something bigger than the numbers suggest.
The buildup around this one has also been practical as much as emotional, with game time, broadcast details, betting odds, injury information and even the weather all part of the conversation leading into kickoff. For Michigan, the spotlight is on handling the moment at home and making sure a rivalry game does not become another source of frustration in a season that still has room to be shaped. [Read more 🡒]