Wolverine TV: Five key recruits visiting Michigan for season opener

The Wolverine’s EJ Holland breaks down five key recruits set to visit Michigan for its season opener against New Mexico, including four-star cornerback commit Dorian Barney.

Watch the full video at the end of this story.

Barney Recruitment

Michigan extended an offer to Barney in May of last year. He committed to Alabama just a week later but backed out of his verbal pledge to the Crimson Tide in the fall.

Barney began to trend to Texas A&M soon after. However, Penn State took command of his recruitment going into the summer. Michigan made a late surge and eventually earned his commitment in July.

Here is what Holland had to say about Barney.

“Barney definitely had a bit of a wild process,” Holland said. “When you see dramatic swings like this, you’re normally going to have to fight to keep that prospect committed throughout the cycle. With that said, Barney is a quality player who can move around in the secondary. He projects as a corner, but I could easily see him filling the nickel role.”

At 6-foot, 170 pounds, Barney is ranked as the No. 24 cornerback and No. 240 overall recruit nationally, per the On3 Industry Ranking.

Michigan has 23 commits in its 2026 recruiting class — five-star Mineral (Va.) Louisa County running back Savion Hiter, five-star Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga EDGE Carter Meadows, Top 100 Honolulu (Hawaii) Kamehameha offensive tackle Malakai Lee, Top 100 St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet defensive lineman Titan Davis, Top 100 Billings (Mont.) West tight end Matt Ludwig, Top 100 Newberry Park (Calif.) High quarterback Brady Smigiel, On300 Needham (Mass.) St. Sebastian’s offensive lineman Marky Walbridge, On300 Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith wide receiver Travis Johnson, On300 Irmo (S.C.) Dutch Fork EDGE Julian Walker, On300 Chicago (Ill.) Simeon EDGE McHale Blade, four-star Carrollton (Ga.) High defensive back Dorian Barney, four-star Richmond (Va.) Hermitage defensive back Andre Clarke, four-star Mansfield (Texas) High wide receiver Zion Robinson, three-star Cartersville (Ga.) Cass offensive lineman Bear McWhorter, three-star Washington (D.C.) St. John’s EDGE Tariq Boney, three-star Denver (Colo.) Mullen tight end Mason Bonner, three-star Liberty Hill (Texas) High defensive lineman Alister Vallejo, three-star Dallas (Texas) Parish Episcopal wide receiver Jaylen Pile, three-star Richmond (Va.) Huguenot linebacker Markel Dabney, three-star Hinsdale (Ill.) Central kicker Micah Drescher, Columbus (Ohio) St. Francis DeSales running back Jonathan Brown and Phoenix (Ariz.) O’Connor long snapper Colton Dermer.

Michigan entered the day with the No. 10 ranked 2026 recruiting class nationally, per the On3 Industry team recruiting rankings. Michigan is also ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten. USC currently has the top class in the conference.