My nephew, Caleb Lavey, now has 19 Division One Football Scholarship offers and got featured in a Michigan news article recently about his visit last weekend to Michigan.  My brother Mike and I were managers under Bo Schembechler in the 1975-1982 seasons and are huge Michigan fans.  He has been criss-crossing the country making unofficial visits to schools to get a feel for the coaches, the player, and the programs and he narrows down his decision.  Caleb is a fine young man with a huge heart and a real,knack for the football, to go along with his strong academic performance (he has a number of AP credits already).  While the changing of the guard at the helm of Michigan’s storied program to Rich Rodriguez weakened some of the Blue allegiances, his commitment to his players and the incredible coaching staff and facilities might help the Maize and Blue land Caleb Lavey, one of the top linebackers in the south, hailing from Celina, Texas.

As an outside observer, I am amazed at how the recruiting process has changed and how much earlier this process is taking place for high schoolers.  Many football standouts decide on their college in the winter of their junior years.  Caleb has said that he wants to decide by the beginning of his senior year of high school at Celina High School  (September 2009) where he will play college football.  A snippet of the article:

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Lavey is a Michigan legacy of sorts. His father Mike served as a team manager for the football program from 1975 through 1979. After graduating, his job search necessitated a move to Texas in the early 1980s, but his college football loyalty remained in the Great Lakes State. That virtually assured that any of his offspring would root for the Maize and Blue.

The ball-hawking backer is a disruptive force on the football field who often utilizes his self-reported 4.56 40 speed to track plays from sideline to sideline. At the same time, his high football IQ and love for the physical side of the game might be even bigger attributes.

Lavey lit up ball carriers an astonishing 200 times last season en route to leading his club to its third consecutive state title game. Along the way he also caught the attention of a number of big-time college coaches. Each time a new suitor joins the fray, he begins gathering as much information on them as possible. A handful have already received unofficial visits, and his most recent trip took him back up to Ann Arbor.