Allen Trieu

Special to The Detroit News

Longtime Detroit Lions fans will remember the name Robert Porcher. For 13 seasons, he made life difficult on opposing quarterbacks, making three Pro Bowls and finishing his career with 95.5 total sacks. He spent the entirety of that 13-year NFL career in the Motor City.

In addition to that, Porcher opened several businesses in Detroit and was heavily involved in philanthropy. One of those efforts was a cancer research and relief fund, which raised money for the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Porcher now lives in Florida and coaches defensive line at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando. One of his star pupils is his son, Robert Porcher IV, a junior with 34 scholarship offers, the most recent coming from Michigan. He admits he grew up watching and pulling for Michigan.

He says he also coveted a scholarship offer from the Wolverines. When spring came and the Wolverines had yet to extend one, it seemed like one may not arrive. But after defensive coordinator Don Brown and defensive line coach Greg Mattison visited the school at the end of the spring evaluation period, that is when the scholarship came his way.

“It was a big offer,” he said. “That's big time. I was shocked. It was a surprise. I'm thankful for it.”

There are no favorites in Porcher IV’s recruitment right now. The spring has been good to him as several new offers came, including USC and Maryland; he visited the Terrapins in April.

A visit to Michigan has not been set, but the Wolverines are one of the schools he hopes to see in the relatively near future.

“I know they're a good team and have a good education up there,” he said. “I'm familiar with Ann Arbor, I'm just getting to know the new staff and just talking to different coaches. I'm just getting the feel for them, just stuff they have to offer.”

Michigan has had success in Florida before. They signed a Dr. Phillips product recently too in Ricardo Miller, who committed down in Orlando before moving to Ann Arbor for his senior season.

In Porcher IV, they have a prospect who is also not afraid to leave his home state.

“I'm trying to leave Florida,” he said. “I don't want to stay here; my family lives here. I just want to go somewhere different on my own.”

If that somewhere is Ann Arbor, then football fans in the Great Lakes State can once again look forward to a Porcher sacking opposing quarterbacks.

Good turnout for camp in Baltimore

The Michigan coaches were part of a camp in Baltimore on Monday night. Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, brother of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, and former Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs were on hand, along with several outstanding prospects who hold Michigan offers.

Two in the class of 2018 were Gilman tight end Thomas Booker and Dematha defensive tackle Austin Fontaine. Fontaine is one of the top prospects on the East Coast in that class and showed it with his performance in Baltimore.

Michigan was Booker’s first offer, and while others have hopped on board since then, the Wolverines remain a top contender for the 6-foot-4, 250-pound prospect.

Freshman linebacker Shane Lee is one of the top young recruits in D.C. The St. Johns standout is already 6-foot, 240 pounds, and impressed with his closing speed at the camp. He has additional offers from Maryland, North Carolina, Rutgers and Syracuse.

Wolverines back in for former commit

Covington (Ga.) Newton wide receiver Jeremiah Holloman, a one-time Wolverine commit, says Michigan is still in contact and he is still interested in the Wolverines.

Holloman, along with teammates Jaquan Henderson and Kurt Taylor (a running back committed to Michigan), will be in Ann Arbor on Sept. 3 for the Wolverines’ home opener against Hawaii.

Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn are the three schools Hollomon says are “sticking out” to him right now.

More information

Robert Porcher IV profile

Austin Fontaine profile

Jeremiah Hollomon profile

Allen Trieu began covering the state of Michigan for Scout.com in 2005 and began managing the entire Midwest in 2009. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.