Trieu: Michigan legacy Hutchinson earning more interest
Aidan Hutchinson had a good sophomore season for Dearborn Divine Child last fall. He is expected to take on more responsibility this season as a two-way player after lining up only as a defensive end last season. He will enter that season with at least two major offers, from LSU and Michigan.
Both of those came within the last week and a half.
Hutchinson’s father Chris played at Michigan and his recruiter was Cam Cameron, who, now at LSU, was the first coach to offer Aidan a scholarship. When Chris went through the recruiting process, he was not offered a scholarship by Michigan until his senior season. In fact, he says, on the entire team, only one player had been offered by the Wolverines as a junior. The recruiting process his son now enters is much different.
“It’s about as black and white, apples and oranges as it can be,” Chris says. “The whole process, my parents had very little involvement, I’d get some letters, but there was only one way to communicate and that was by calling the house phone and sometimes they’d show up at school. But my house phone would ring constantly, so I’d go to my girlfriend’s house to study.”
Aidan received attention from schools following his performance this season. He had a chance to visit Purdue, Central Michigan and Michigan. The expectation was that he may draw a smaller offer or two and that he would attend the Wolverines’ camp this June and look to earn an offer there. Everything changed when Cameron reached out recently and the ride truly began with a Tiger offer.
“It’s been very interesting,” Chris said. “I thought Michigan would probably offer when they saw him this summer because on his game film, sophomore year, he’s anywhere from 195 to 205 and he’s 235 now. But (Coach Cameron) spoke to us and said he had talked to Les (Miles) and they wanted to offer and I thought, ‘Here we go.’
“Then I talked to Coach Mattison at Michigan and him and Coach Harbaugh had been talking about the offer and when and how to do it. So Aidan called Coach Mattison on Saturday and they offered, so just within three days he got those two offers. Obviously the Michigan one is very near and dear to me, but he recognizes that LSU is a very prominent school, an SEC school and a big honor.”
Divine Child head coach John Filiatraut was also a Division I recruit. He was an all-state tight end at Divine Child before playing at the University of Wisconsin.
“I’ve been coaching for a long time and never had a kid get a Michigan or LSU offer,” he says. “I don’t know what initiates such an offer, but I’m pleased and excited for him. He has good things going for him. He’s very physically tough, he’s a hard worker, a relentless kid. The next step in his progression is to be more productive. His film is good and as a junior, he will play just about every snap for us.”
At a recent Easter celebration, someone happened to ask Chris what his reaction would be if Urban Meyer came calling. His response was, he can talk to Urban, but not Michigan State. Upon reconsidering his statement, he sat down with his son.
“I apologized to him,” Chris said. “I said if Michigan State was where you wanted to go and where you’re most comfortable, I’m not going to love it, but if that’s the right fit for you, that’s great. I’m trying not to be the overbearing Michigan alum, the former captain, because he’s got to make his own decision. If he gets hurt, he has to be comfortable at the school. If something else happens, he has to be comfortable where he is and that won’t be because dad wants me to go here and not here.”
Hutchinson will visit Michigan this Friday for the Wolverines’ spring game.
Other spring game visitors
Michigan’s spring game visitor list is a long, impressive one.
The Wolverines will have two running backs, O’Maury Samuels and Stephen Carr, on campus, who both have offers and both come from out West. Samuels hails from New Mexico while Carr is a California native.
Closer to home, the Wolverines will host several of their home state’s top sophomores, including Detroit Cass Tech cornerback Kalon Gervin and Oak Park offensive lineman Marquan McCall, who both have offers. One of the Wolverines’ top in-state 2017 targets, Berrien Springs defensive tackle Phil Paea, will also attend.
Paramus (N.J.) Catholic defensive tackle Corey Bolds, who lined up next to 2016 signee Rashan Gary, will make a return trip to campus. Other out-of-state visitors of note are highly-regarded Alabama wide receiver Nico Collins, IMG Academy center Cesar Ruiz and Scout’s No. 3 ranked center Brett Neilon. Several out-of-state 2018 targets will also be in town, including Springfield (Ohio) defensive end Leonard Taylor, teammate of recent commit Antwuan Johnson.
More information
Allen Trieu began covering the state of Michigan for Scout.com in 2005 and began managing the entire Midwest in 2009. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.