Mike Jones, the 6-foot-2.5, 200-pound three-star strong safety from Edgewater High School in Orlando, Fla., has seven scholarship offers and now favors Michigan slightly over Notre Dame, Auburn, Kentucky and South Florida. All have offered, except the Irish.
Jones recently visited both Michigan and Notre Dame and admits he's always been a fan of the Wolverines. "I love Michigan," he said. "They have like 110,000 fans come to their games. It's a big tradition school and I like that.
"I also like coach Rich Rodriguez and like the new faster-pace offense he's gonna run," Jones said. "I think it'll be good for them."
Jones is being recruited by Wolverines quarterbacks coach Rod Smith. "He's always writing me letters and really wants me to go to Michigan," he said. "He says that I'd be a perfect fit for them and that they need guys like me."
Although Jones was born in Pittsburgh, he's lived in Florida half his life. So, what makes a kid from the south follow a team from the midwest? "Honestly, I just liked their helmets when I was smaller," he said. "That's what I first noticed about them."
He says that the distance will not be a factor. "With me, distance doesn't matter," he said. "All of the Florida schools are really stacked and I'm hoping to play early. Florida State is recruiting me a little and coach Randy Shannon (from Miami) called my coach, but that's about it."
Although the Irish haven't offered Jones yet, he says he believes they will. "Coach Corwin Brown says he likes my style and thinks they'll offer me," he said.
"I love that Notre Dame is a prestigious school," Jones said. "Their facilities are the best in the country and the campus is amazing. It's felt like I was at a Harvard or something like that.
"Notre Dame also had a really good recruiting class, so I think they'll be getting a lot better over the next few years," he said.
The only camp that Jones had a chance to attend was Auburn's and he says the Tigers were his first offer as well. "It's a real nice place," he said. "I like (defensive end) coach Terry Price. He's cool. He's a hard dude, but is smart and knows how to have fun too. He also likes to talk to his players about life and stuff and not just football."
Jones, ranked as the No. 30 strong safety in the country by Scout.com, also has offers from North Carolina and Wake Forest.
"I was thinking about committing during the season," he said. "Probably like around the fourth or fifth week. Hopefully, by that time I'll have taken a few official visits and can make up my mind."
Jones only played in five games last season due to a separated right shoulder, but still had 56 tackles, eight sacks and four caused fumbles. He benches 305-pounds and has a 36-inch vertical jump.
"I'm a hitter," Jones said. "I hit real hard and I've got good speed. I react to the ball real quick and have great instincts."
He admits he wants to improve on his covering skills. "I'd like to work on my footwork and steps."
Jones says he wants to be a business major and reports a 3.2 core GPA and a 910 SAT.