The Michigan Wolverines are struggling on the field this season, and now some of those struggles are finding their way into the recruiting trail as well.

On Monday, the Wolverines began to trend poorly for a legacy recruit when Asa Burch started to trend toward Notre Dame as opposed to Michigan.

Late Tuesday afternoon, however, Michigan got worse news than someone trending another direction. 2027 offensive tackle Sidney Rouleau decommitted from Michigan according to Steve Wiltfong of Rivals.

The 6-foot-6 275 pound offensive tackle had been committed to Michigan since May.

The Visit

Things started to trend poorly for Michigan over the weekend when Rouleau was seen taking a visit to Syracuse despite already being committed to Michigan.

This is nothing new. Players who are committed elsewhere visit other schools all the time. Michigan takes recruits on official visits in an attempt to flip them frequently. Rouleau was simply doing his due diligence by going to Syracuse.

In this day and age of college football, who can blame him?

As it turns out, the visit went really well for Rouleau, and he appeared inspired enough to make a decommitment and reopen his recruitment.

The Decision

That decision came out late Tuesday, and sends the Wolverines back to the drawing board as they try to build out their 2027 class on the offensive line.

The Wolverines have some talented prospects in the offensive line room already. Jim Harding has been a widely respected offensive line coach, so the development of players like Andrew Babalola and Marky Walbridge will be significant for the Wolverines in the immediate future.

Down the road, the Wolverines continue to host Antijuan Wilkes, a top tier prospect on the offensive line.

With Rouleau currently out of the fold, Michigan is down to 21 commitments in this cycle, including three offensive linemen. Those three are Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s tackle Jakari Lipsey, Saline three-star guard Louis Esposito, Oceanside (Calif) four-star interior lineman Lincoln Mageo

What Now?

As always, these things are never truly set in stone until the player is enrolled at the school of choice. Things could change between now and signing day. Remember the roller coaster that was the Bryce Underwood recruiting process?

That’s just one example of many. Michigan’s potential instability at head coach and offensive line coach could play a factor here, but there is still time for Kyle Whittingham and Jim Harding to make their mark if they continue to pursue Rouleau. Harding has had a relationship with Rouleau, so that is something that could come into play prior to signing day.

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