Michigan football makes strong case to 4-star LB Nick Abrams in exclusive visit interview

USA Today

09-06-2025

Michigan football makes strong case to 4-star LB Nick Abrams in exclusive visit interview
Michigan football is coming off of a big recruiting weekend where it's starting to make moves for some of its top targets on the board for the 2026 class. One of those targets is Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh School four-star linebacker Nick Abrams II.
Abrams is being courted by some of the best of the best as it pertains to schools across college football. Oregon, Alabama, and Georgia loom large, but he got another chance to take in Ann Arbor and all the Wolverines have to offer. Rated highest by On3, he's listed as the No. 163 player in the country, regardless of position, as well as the eighth-best linebacker and fifth-rated player from the state of Maryland.
Coming off of his official visit (he also visited Ann Arbor unofficially on April 12), Abrams spoke with WolverinesWire about his time with the staff and his experience in general. Here is everything he had to say.
What were your big takeaways from visiting Ann Arbor this weekend?
Yeah, the visit was great, everyone was super welcoming. I think from the get-go, they let me know how much of a priority my family and I are. It was great just getting a lot of our questions answered, talking with Coach B.J., being able to continue to see how I would fit in the defense. And then talking with Coach Wink, how his system is great for linebackers, the versatility, the chess pieces, how they're able to be moved around.
And then I think another important part was talking with Coach Sherrone Moore, just being able to see his vision, and then see how he sees me in that vision and that light, and how they kind of used a high praise saying that I could be the face of their defense. So it was important to get those questions answered and talk with them and really get a grasp of how interested they are in me and my family.
How appealing is that to you to hear that you could be the face of the defense? And given Wink Martindale and his system and scheme and his experience, how much does the idea move the needle?
Yeah, so I think it's very appealing to hear what they had to say. Obviously, in this new world of college football, your brand is everything. So just the fact that they see me in the light where I could head one of the best programs of all time in college football. So that's some high praise that kind of humbles me.
And then playing for Coach Wink is something that is kind of appealing, his ability to be able to coach the best. He said he's coached 20 years in the NFL and then 20 years of high school and college. He's won a Super Bowl ring. He's coached probably the greatest linebacker of all time. So like, just that, knowing that and seeing and using what he's teaching every single day, it actually is very appealing to me.
You're a big academic guy, too, right? How much time do they spend on showing you the academic side of Michigan? What did you learn kind of coming out of the visit from an academic perspective?
Yeah, so they, I think Michigan speaks for itself. They didn't really have to sell anything to academics. You kind of just know coming in that you're going to get a great education. You're going to be at the top of the top. Your classmates are going to be probably CEOs of companies or their parents are going to be CEOs of companies, you know. So they didn't really have to sell that point at all during the visit.
You kind of just go into it knowing that when you go to Michigan, you're going to a high academic school, you're going to one of the best universities in the country and you're going to be able to have a major that's going to take you wherever you want to go.
Do you know what you want to study at the next level?
Yeah, I want to study either finance or real estate.
We kind of walked into the Ross School of Business on my unofficial visit a couple of months ago. We kind of did a more deep dive into academics at the Ross School to see what we saw in some of the buildings, some of the classrooms, and stuff, so, but yeah.
What was something that you learned that maybe you didn't know going in?
To be honest, I didn't really learn a whole lot more. I think they did a great job on my unofficial visit. Really just getting all the introduction stuff, and really just doing a great job covering everything that they need to cover in terms of our questions that need to be answered.
It was more just reassurance on my end, just being able to, seeing, OK, yeah, this is the place I remember. I remember all this. I think one thing that I definitely was intrigued about was the culture that they, and the player led culture they have, being able to make suggestions during the game plan and how everything's -- yes, it's not going to be all player led, but they have a lot of say and they know what they want in their locker room and stuff like that.
So a lot of our questions were more so answered. I really didn't learn a lot of stuff new. It was just being reassured that this is a program that I could see myself at.
When it comes time to make your decision, what are the factors that you're going to be weighing the most heavily between your finalists?
Yeah. So I think a big thing is the coaching, the development -- people throw that term around, but really just looking at the track record and how my position as able to put guys in the league, whether they're the highly recruited or they're not highly recruited. Just their consistency when it comes to that. And I think another thing is the culture, the people I'm going to be around, am I able to be myself? Am I able to, you know, maximize my potential, not only on the field, but as a person at the school
And then kind of the connections. I think at every school, you're going to have connections, every school is going to have someone, but like what school is going to put in that extra effort to be able to -- you ask for something, you want to get into something new and are they going to be able to provide that for you?
So just those kind of things, and then kind of a family atmosphere as well. I want a school where it's kind of player led, where a lot of the locker room, the players have a good say in terms of just ideas and then on the game plan, but then also we're able to be guided by the coach where he's not just a total dictatorship, but wherever he says goes.
Do you have an idea of when you want to make your decision?
Yeah, I'm committing on July 16th.