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WIXOM, Mich. — Knee-deep into a potential state championship run, 2022 West Bloomfield (Michigan) four-star athlete Dillon Tatum has his mind more on what his team is doing than where he’ll end up in a year or so.
Tatum plays both sides of the ball and is an impact player on either side, whether it’s at running back or in the defensive backfield. You could see it in practice ahead of the Lakers’ win over the vaunted Belleville Tigers last week.
Since the 2022 class went on the clock, Tatum has generated more national interest: 32 reported offers. The latest two were from Georgia and Utah — both solid programs, to say the least.
On Jan. 1, Tatum put out a top 10 of Michigan, MSU, Ohio State, USC, Georgia, Penn State, Nebraska, Baylor, Wisconsin and Notre Dame. For the moment, all is quiet, but he figures when his team finishes its season he’ll hear a lot more from schools across the country.
“Just a little bit more,” Tatum said. “Really just zoning in on that top 10 that I put out. I don’t know if there’s gonna be any more offers after that one. It’s really based on how the season ends, what happens in the state championship. I feel like more schools will start picking me up after we win.”
The in-state product has long been high on Michigan, but there’s another suitor in town that’s making a much stronger push at the moment, and it’s a program the Wolverines can ill-afford to lose him to.
“Right now, I’d say Michigan State. That’s probably the hardest right now,” Tatum said. “Mel Tucker really wants me to commit, be one of the first four-star athletes to commit to the school, bring more attention to school. But I talk to coach Peagler, the running backs coach, a little more than anyone.”
Of course, he’s still hearing from Michigan, but as of Jan. 18 — when WolverinesWire spoke to Tatum — the coaching staff started churning a bit. His primary contact, Mike Zordich, was replaced later in the week by former Dallas Cowboys defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist. He’ll also have a new ally in Ann Arbor with his head coach, Ron Bellamy, headed to Ann Arbor to coach on the offensive side of the ball.
Tatum is looking most forward getting to know new Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, another new hire for the maize and blue.
“Yeah, I am (hearing from Michigan), just not as hard as Michigan State,” “But I hear from (former) coach Zordich, the DB coach, and now they just hired their new coach, Macdonald. So we’ll see if he hits me up, get in good with him and get to know him.”
Michigan also has another new hire on the other side of the ball that could potentially be Tatum’s position coach, depending on where he decides to play. And the good news is, Tatum already has a relationship with him.
The maize and blue brought back the team’s all-time leading rusher in Mike Hart to coach the running backs, and Tatum is excited to see what he does with one of his former teammates in Donovan Edwards.
“I think he’s a great coach,” Tatum said. “I met him at my school before all the shutdown happened. I think Donovan and him are gonna be pretty good together, and I think he’s gonna learn a lot from Coach Hart. So if I go there as a running back, I’m gonna learn a lot from him, too.”
Of course, with Edwards still on the West Bloomfield team but also an early-enrollee at Michigan, Tatum’s backfield teammate has a little pull in potentially driving him to Ann Arbor. But he’s also not the only one.
Makari Paige and Cornell Wheeler also played with the soon-to-be high school senior, and it certainly makes Tatum pause knowing how many of his teammates are ending up at Michigan. And that’s not even mentioning his head coach Ron Bellamy, the former Wolverines receiver.
“It has a little bit of pull,” Tatum said. “My coach went there. They’re a great school. They’re a great program, they want to win – I like that about schools. They’re not just putting their guys out there just to lose or do anything at all. You want to have the will to win. I feel like they’re gonna have a great team next year. They were pretty young this year, I believe. Just see how it goes.”
His recruitment aside, Tatum was excited to see Paige get early playing time in his first year with the program. In six games, Paige played 125 snaps and logged 6 tackles in the process.
Perhaps Tatum is a bit biased as it’s his former teammate, but the way he sees it, Paige is destined to be a high-level player — not just at the college-level, but in the NFL, too.
“He’s a great player,” “If he keeps going at the rate he’s going, get bigger, he’s gonna be great. He’s gonna be a top-10 draft pick, to be honest with you – with his size and his athleticism, he’s gonna be really good. I feel like they made the right decision of playing the freshmen like him. He still has some work to do, but he’s a great player.”
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