For years, Michigan football fans wondered aloud as to when Jim Harbaugh would bring home his former teammate Thomas Wilcher, the running back-turned-prolific Detroit (MI) Cass Tech head coach. However, at least for now, it looks like he’s missed his opportunity.
Not only that, but the former Wolverines standout is headed to a rival.
In the past, Michigan State had a stranglehold on the Detroit market when it came to recruiting because former coach Mark Dantonio hired SMSB founder Curtis Blackwell to run his recruiting department. The move had solid returns but had a messy parting of ways, which not only saw the two end up in court, but Detroit recruiting also took a hit. Mel Tucker is apparently looking to remedy that, and he’s doing so by bringing in the former Wolverines running back as an analyst.
Four months ago, when affirming his goal was to coach college football, Detroit Cass Tech coach Thomas Wilcher told the Free Press:
“I guess I’ve got to find someone who will believe in me.”
That someone is Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker.
Wilcher, one of the most successful coaches in the state, has been hired by Tucker and apparently will serve as an analyst on the football staff, according to multiple sources Friday who wished to remain anonymous because the deal has not yet been announced.
MSU has not confirmed Wilcher’s hiring.
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Michigan made a move of its own this offseason to help bolster in-state recruiting when it hired former Wolverines receiver Ron Bellamy — who had just won a state championship as the head coach of West Bloomfield (MI) — to coach its safeties.
Regardless, while Wilcher was wearing green and white as the coach at Cass Tech, it’ll hurt the maize and blue faithful to see him doing the same but with the Spartans. Particularly notable is that Wilcher will have one of his former players on the other side of the rivalry, as former Technicians center Raheem Anderson is a freshman with the Wolverines.
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