Late-blooming linebacker Jake Ryan happy to be a Michigan football recruit
Jake Ryan was weighing scholarship offers from Ball State, Toledo and a number of other Mid-American Conference schools when Michigan “popped up out of nowhere” on the recruiting trail.
An outside linebacker from Cleveland St. Ignatius, Ryan isn’t sure how he got on Michigan’s radar, though rumor has it a St. Ig alum and former Wolverine like Mike or Pat Massey or Trent Zenkewicz turned coaches his way.
“I kind of want to find that out,” Ryan said. “I definitely heard the rumor, but I don’t know who it is. I think (Michigan defensive line coach Bruce) Tall knows and he just won’t tell me.”
St. Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle said Michigan had been familiar with Ryan for a while. The Wolverines recruited Ryan’s linebacker teammate Scott McVey, who committed to Ohio State, but only got serious about Ryan after seeing him up close in December.
“You know how recruiting goes,” Kyle said. “They made offers out there, some accepted, some didn’t, some say yes and some say no. So Bruce was coming just because he knew there was going to be a couple spots, and he had the name. And when the kid walked in, Bruce goes, ‘Whoa, wait a minute now.’
“I brought Jake down and it was like, ‘OK, you passed the eye test.’”
A late bloomer like his father, Tim, who played wide receiver at Wake Forest, and his brother, Connor, who plays receiver at Bowling Green, Ryan grew about two inches and added 20 pounds since last summer, when he was considered a MAC-level recruit.
Now 6-foot-3, 230 pounds and built like his grandfather, Francis Sweeney, who played defensive line in the CFL, Ryan turned in a senior season to match his big-time frame.
He had eight sacks and 24 tackles for loss, and led St. Ignatius to an undefeated regular season after McVey suffered a torn labrum in August.
Ryan dealt with his own injury, a dislocated right thumb in the regular-season finale that required surgery. He sat out one game, but returned for St. Ignatius’ playoff loss to Cleveland Glenville with three pins and a cast on his right hand.
“Jake was a guy that he would knock down a wall,” Kyle said. “He just wants to hit you and come at you, so it’s like, OK, you know how things are. This is a kid who’s gifted.”
Ryan visited Michigan on the same mid-January weekend as fellow commitments Devin Gardner, Antonio Kinnard, Conelius Jones and Davion Rogers. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez officially offered Ryan a scholarship that Sunday morning, and 24 hours later he ended his whirlwind recruitment.
“Playing in the Big Ten is like a dream come true,” Ryan said. “Just everything about my whole entire visit was awesome. Everything fit.”
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
ted
Mon, Jan 23, 2012 : 2:23 a.m.
Hes good. Im going to predict he starts the last 8 games for Michigan in his Redshirt Freshman year. Under a new coach though. Brady Hoke from San Diego St. ryan will be one of the best players on the 2012 defense. I predict they will go to a BCS game and win it. It will be close though. Probably an overtime game. but they will win it.
buzz
Fri, Jan 29, 2010 : 2:14 a.m.
truedat on forcier working too hard cuz the D couldn't hold its load. Next year, that wont happen. It was GR first year as DC. But he is getting the defensive players he needs and wants on his D. The D should actually improve despite many sayn that BG and DW leaving will hurt the Defense's chances of improving. NEXT YEAR IS RR AND UM's YEAR GO BLUE!!!!!!!!
GoBlue2009
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 12:19 p.m.
Walmat is acting like MSU could actually get those recruits we get. Well, you can't get those, and you can't get the ones we pick up under the radar, because, well...you're MSU.
buzz
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 8:34 a.m.
To be honest i dont know why this kid is rated so low. i heard he was like all-ohio and thats like really good. RR and the staff must see something in him that other coaches dont see and i trust em cuz they can coach unlike wat most ppl say. I agree wit many of u thou many UM greats were actually 3 stars and 4 stars. The classs may not be as great as many want but like bluesteel said its addressing needs which i better than getting 5 star offensive players. Hopefully we can score knight and parker and steal away elite defensive players at the end. I recommend for RR to get Christian Jones or Demar Dorsey (preferably Jones cuz getting parker and knight will boost the defense). This class should add more depth and fill in spots of needs. Then next year we can score some top ranked players when we have a successful season in 2010-2011. I believe thats the year RR turns it around. GO BLUE!!!!!
buzz
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 8:14 a.m.
To be honest i dont know why this kid is rated so low. i heard he was like all-ohio and thats like really good. RR and the staff must see something in him that other coaches dont see and i trust em cuz they can coach unlike wat most ppl say. I agree wit many of u thou many UM greats were actually 3 stars and 4 stars. The classs may not be as great as many want but like bluesteel said its addressing needs which i better than getting 5 star offensive players. Hopefully we can score knight and parker and steal away elite defensive players at the end. I recommend for RR to get Christian Jones or Demar Dorsey (preferably Jones cuz getting parker and knight will boost the defense). This class should add more depth and fill in spots of needs. Then next year we can score some top ranked players when we have a successful season in 2010-2011. I believe thats the year RR turns it around. GO BLUE!!!!!
klick12
Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 1:42 a.m.
Hey, last time I looked Toledo had come into the big house to beat our Wolverines. Maybe we should be content taking recuits from the Rockets. My how times have changed.
DraderOHIO
Mon, Jan 25, 2010 : 10:48 p.m.
MIKE HART was a 3 star guy.
clarklaker
Mon, Jan 25, 2010 : 8:31 p.m.
i bet this kid fares far better than you think walmartbuckeye, and trust me there are more walmart buckeyes than there are wolverines.
bluesteel
Mon, Jan 25, 2010 : 8:24 p.m.
i like our defensive picks. maybe we are not getting 4 & 5 stars exclusively, but, we are addressing needs. i thought the biggest single reason we could not get at least one more victory that would have sent us to a bowl last year was our linebacker play. obi and jonas looked lost last year. i don't know why. they looked so promising the year before. but last year they looked slow, tentative, and confused for a large percentage of every game. maybe, it was jay hobson. maybe it was the new coordinator. maybe it was because it was the 3rd defensive scheme (think foreign language) to learn in 3 years. maybe they just began cashing in rather than buying in to the rr change-over. in any case, i hope for stability for them. and at least solid (if not spectacular) linebacker play in their final seasons. at least we are recruiting to fix our weaknesses, and i see brighter days ahead because of our new 3 star recruits. i am also encouraged because i know coach rich rod has done wonders with lower star recruits in the past. GO BLUE!!!
tzgoblue
Mon, Jan 25, 2010 : 7:41 p.m.
walmartwolverine Obviously you can't comprehend the body of the article. Did you understand what his high school coach said about this kid? Did you read the part where he gained 20 lbs and grew 2 inches. By the way Nick Sabon was quoted as saying "the bottom 40 players" on your roster determine if you will have a great team. Not all great players have to be tagged "5 star" recruits. I don't believe you will find many on Wisconsin's team and they are being mentioned in the BCS title talk for next year. The 2,3 and 4 star guys work harder and more time than not end up being more successful at the college level than a number of the 5 stars. However, your comments are right in line with your normal stupidity
Chango
Mon, Jan 25, 2010 : 5:55 p.m.
I agree walfart, I can just see. Have you never looked at players from any other division and said to yourself, man that kid could play in the Big Ten, sec...etc?? Nah, I thought not.