{"id":733880,"date":"2026-02-06T17:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/733880\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T17:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:33:17","slug":"recruiting-roundup-another-rb-to-watch-for-tony-alford-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/733880\/","title":{"rendered":"Recruiting Roundup: Another RB to watch for Tony Alford, Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The recruiting calendar hit a dead period earlier this week, so coaches won\u2019t be able to hit the road to see recruits until March 2, and recruits also can\u2019t take visits to schools. Because of this dead period, the first month for the new Michigan coaching staff was an important one. Let\u2019s dive into the work that went down before the dead period in today\u2019s Recruiting Roundup.<\/p>\n<p>A new RB target to look out for<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Michigan was able to steal running backs coach Tony Alford away from Ohio State a couple seasons ago, and it has worked out on the field and on the recruiting trail. His latest target on the trail is 2027 three-star <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/jayshon-gibson-46150802\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jayshon Gibson<\/a>. Alford was on the road in January and paid a visit to Gibson\u2019s high school. The two of them are starting to form a strong bond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cMy relationship with Michigan is really good,\u201d Gibson told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/teams\/michigan-wolverines\/news\/rising-rb-jayshon-gibson-talks-meeting-with-tony-alford-plans-to-visit-michigan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">On3\u2019s Ethan McDowell ($)<\/a>. \u201cMe and coach Alford, we\u2019ve been talking and stuff. This past week was my first time getting a chance to meet him in person and get to know him a little bit better, but we\u2019re about to start building this relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">After all the success Alford has had as a coach, it would be hard for a player to not want to play for him. Gibson knows if he comes to Michigan, he will be coached by one of the best in the business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cHis background is proof that he has developed running backs,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great guy, and somebody, I feel, who can push me to the best of my abilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cAll around, I just love everything about Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The North Richland Hills, Texas native is 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, and ranked No. 438 overall on the 247Sports composite. He has other offers from Wisconsin, Iowa, USC, Arizona, Baylor, Utah, Texas Tech and more.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan re-offers four-star LB<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Before Kyle Whittingham took over as head coach, Michigan was already recruiting 2027 four-star linebacker <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/baroc-willis-46145330\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ba\u2019Roc Willis<\/a>. Things can change when a new staff comes in, but Willis was recently re-offered by the Wolverines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cGot a call from the coach (linebackers coach Alex Whittingham) and was excited,\u201d Willis told <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/college\/michigan\/board\/102410\/contents\/new-michigan-staff-sparks-interest-in-reoffered-fourstar-lb-baroc-willis-273190150\/?page=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Michigan Insider\u2019s Brice Marich ($)<\/a>. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to build a relationship with the staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Michigan seems to be in good shape with Willis early on, and he plans to visit Ann Arbor soon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cI\u2019m interested for sure and yes, I plan on visiting soon,\u201d he said. \u201cJust have to get to know everyone and see. He told me I\u2019m high on their board and I would love to play for Michigan, so I think they have a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Willis (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) is from Alabama and is ranked No. 299 overall on the composite. He holds other offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Texas, Tennessee, USC, Ole Miss, LSU, Miami and more.<\/p>\n<p>Elite 2027 four-star defensive lineman <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/george-toia-46147998\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">George Toia<\/a> included Michigan in his top-eight list this week.The Wolverines extended offers to twins this week, as 2027 three-star linebackers <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/ethan-coach-46148585\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ethan Coach<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/justin-coach-46148569\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Coach<\/a> earned the opportunity to play at Michigan.Michigan also extended an offer to 2027 linebacker <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/jeremiah-culpepper-46162338\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jeremiah Culpepper<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The recruiting calendar hit a dead period earlier this week, so coaches won\u2019t be able to hit the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,10671,10672,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-733880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-michigan-football-recruiting","10":"tag-michigan-football-recruiting-news","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}