In this live recruiting update, the no. 3 receiver in the country, Miami (Fla.) Northwestern standout Calvin Russell makes his way to The Michigan Insider studio for an exclusive interview with Sam Webb to recap his Michigan visit and give an overview of his recruitment.
Sam Webb
In this live recruiting update, the no. 3 receiver in the country, Miami (Fla.) Northwestern standout Calvin Russell makes his way to The Michigan Insider studio for an exclusive interview with Sam Webb to recap his Michigan visit and give an overview of his recruitment. Russell reflected upon his rise as an elite football prospect before discussing his Michigan interest. He recaps his visit to Ann Arbor, sharing in-depth impressions of practice, the staff, Bryce Underwood, and more. The conversation concludes with Russel laying out his decision-criteria, visit plans, and his decision timeline.
In the excerpt below, Russell goes in depth about his interest in Michigan.
To view the interview in its entirety, press play on the video embed at the bottom of the story.
Sam Webb: "So how did Michigan get on your list? Where did that even come from?"
Calvin Russell: "Coach Moore came down to Miami. We had a long talk. My dad and my mom were there. So, it was a great talk, and ever since then I knew to keep them in my top 12."
Sam Webb: "So, I'm going to be real… coming from where they came from last year, they didn't have a real passing offense. The quarterback situation wasn't what it is now. So, a lot of people were like, 'how do they get on the no. 3 receiver in the country?' Now, obviously, they got Bryce, so things have changed a lot. Is that what got your attention… them getting Bryce and getting a new offensive coordinator? Did that kind of change things for you?"
Calvin Russell: "Definitely with a quarterback like Bryce, what receiver wouldn't want to come play for him (or) want to come play with him. And then Michigan always keeps good trenches. So, you don't really have to worry about too much but running your routes and knowing what you've got to do on the field (and) off the field. So, it's just less distractions. With that quarterback right there, you don't got to worry about nothing too much. Ball's going to be where it's got to be. So, on time and all. So that's really all to it.
Sam Webb: "So let's talk about Bryce Underwood. Have you watched his tape? What did you know about Bryce before you got here?"
Calvin Russell: "I haven't watched it at all, but I've seen all the social media (highlights), so I know he could sling it. I seen him at a 7-on-7 last year, and he was slinging it. So, it's like, once I see that, I don't really got to watch too much. I know you can do what you do. So that's all to it.
Sam Webb: "So getting the chance to see him in person and talk to him, what kind of vibe have you got off of him?"
Calvin Russell: "Oh, a great vibe. He's a great person from when I talked to him yesterday. A chill dude, but I know he's about his business. So that's someone nice to be around."
Sam Webb "And then you said you were talking to Coach Moore. So, as you got into the visit, what are your impressions of Coach Moore now that you've gotten a chance to know him a little bit? You mentioned him coming down to the school, talking to your parents. Now you have got up here with him on a visit. What do you think of him as a coach, or do you think of him as a guy?
Calvin Russell: I think he's a great guy. The whole facility loves him. Everybody talks highly about him. So, when everybody talks highly about you, I'm pretty sure they telling the truth. And then, Coach Bellamy also. Coach Bellamy is a great guy, too. So, (with) both of them as my head coach and receiver coach I know great things can happen."
Sam Webb: "So, they brought in Chip Lindsey as the offensive coordinator and they're talking about what they're about to do with their offense now, how they're about to change their passing offense in the future with Bryce throwing the football and with Chip being the OC. What did they tell you about what the offense is going to look like?"
Calvin Russell: "Definitely with a quarterback like Bryce Underwood, you have to throw the ball. You can't sit there and hand it off the whole game. And then on the other hand, Coach Chip Lindsey, I've seen him at UNC in the past years with Drake Maye. So, I know he's going to throw it. It's like Drake May had crazy, I won't even say he had crazy weapons, but he had crazy numbers. So, to have crazy numbers like that with not too many weapons, I know you could come do it at Michigan with, I feel like, better guys… better o-linemen, better everything."
Sam Webb: "So, how appealing is to you, is it to be a guy who could be a part of kind of chartering new territory? Like… you could be the guys to blow it up as opposed to being the guys to carry it on. Like you and Bryce could be the guys to blow it up?"
Calvin Russell: "It feels great. Well, it sounds great. Everything sounds great. I think it'll be a great thing to come pick up something that was great before, and that fell off a little bit. Come pick up something and bring it back great. I feel like once everybody sees that, everybody will be on Michigan. They're talking about 110,000. It'll be almost 115,000 trying to get in the building. So, I know it'll be a great thing to bring this thing back right here. So, it's something like Miami Northwestern. And this year we bring everything back. We brought in the culture, the swagger, state championship game. I'm talking about our side was full, standing room only. So, to play under that… I love it. To play under that… I love it!"
Sam Webb: "So, as you've been on this visit… I know I've talked a lot about the offense and everything, but what has stood out to you most about your time here at Michigan?"
Calvin Russell: "I won't even say I'm a weight room guy like that, but the weight room definitely stood out. Coach shocked me with what he's doing. He's definitely doing great things with the weight, with the weight gain, the weight losing, lean muscle. So, I love everything about that because I want to get a little bigger.
Sam Webb: "So, as you dig deeper into Michigan, you talked about the coaches, you talked about the weight program… what else do you need to find out about them? What else do you want to see from them? And what did you think of practice?"
Calvin Russell: "Oh, practice went smooth. And for practice to go that smooth, I know it was something good. Bryce was out there throwing it. (Jadyn Davis) was throwing it, too. So, it was great quarterback play from both quarterbacks. To have two quarterbacks like that throwing it already in spring (was impressive). And it was only two of them due to injury. So, they keep rotating like that and doing great things. Some quarterbacks' arms get (tired), but they kept going. So, it was great. Practice was great."
Sam Webb: "And what do you, what would you say you, you're still looking to find out about them? What do you still want to know about Michigan at this point?"
Calvin Russell: "I just want to see how the season goes. I want to see how the season goes and what the numbers look like. Because I know they're going to throw it. I know they are going to throw it. I want to see how the season goes."
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