Why almost everyone except Michigan football whiffed on Hassan Haskins

Orion Sang | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Michigan's Jim Harbaugh: We must be ready for everything vs. MSU Michigan Wolverines football coach Jim Harbaugh speaks to the media on Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, in Ann Arbor.

In September 2017, Jay Harbaugh sat down at his computer and started doing research.

Harbaugh, Michigan football’s running backs coach, was looking to add another running back to the Wolverines' 2018 recruiting class, joining Christian Turner, who had committed in April.

So Harbaugh pulled up a recruiting website and began watching film. As he went down the list of players, he realized he “didn’t love” what he saw from most of the highly-ranked backs. And then he discovered a little-known prospect from Missouri who was ranked as the nation’s 82nd-best running back, well outside of the top 1,000 recruits in the class.

Now, that back — Hassan Haskins — may be the most pivotal member of Michigan’s run game. He has led the team in rushing in three of the Wolverines' past four games, totaling 58 carries for 362 yards and two touchdowns in that span. And this Saturday, he’ll be called upon to produce yet again in his first exposure to the rivalry with Michigan State.

More than two years after his discovery, Harbaugh sat in Schembechler Hall and recounted the story of how Michigan found Haskins.

“This guy was legitimately a sleeper, a guy that for whatever reason was overlooked,” Harbaugh said Wednesday afternoon. “You don’t see that as much nowadays.”

Haskins signed with the Wolverines in 2018. He ended the recruiting cycle as the No. 975 overall recruit, which made him the fourth lowest-ranked member of his class. His other offers: Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, Indiana State, Memphis, Missouri State, Ohio, Purdue and Western Kentucky.

Few could have anticipated this. Haskins redshirted as a freshman in 2018 while playing linebacker. After switching back to offense, he was fourth on the depth chart at running back entering the fall. Through the first five games of the season, he had just 14 carries for 64 yards.

In a way, though, Haskins’ sudden emergence makes sense. It’s the defining theme of his football career. He has always been under-ranked. Under-valued. Undiscovered — that is, until Michigan found him.

"It kept me humble," Haskins said. "I’m glad I was under-ranked. I got the opportunity now, so it all worked out for the best.”

A recruiting mystery

Jacob Sumner and the rest of the staff at Eureka High School, about 30 miles to the southwest of St. Louis, knew Haskins was special early on. He earned a leading role on the varsity team as a sophomore. On his third carry as a starter, Haskins ran through a defensive end committed to Alabama and a defensive tackle committed to West Virginia — and then hurdled another defender.

“It was like a 20-yard run,” said Eureka assistant coach Tyler Wasson, “but it was the most impressive 20-yard run I’ve ever seen.”

Through his first four games as a starter, Haskins was on pace to smash the 2,000-yard mark. But then, in that fourth game, Haskins took a carry near the goal line, attempted a spin move and was brought down. Not necessarily by a tackler, but by a dislocated big toe, ending his season.

“He was doing freakish stuff,” Wasson said. “If he doesn’t get hurt, it might change a million different things — his recruiting."

Still, Haskins was productive in his final two years — 242 carries for 1,509 yards and 19 TDs as a junior, followed by 255 carries for 2,197 yards and 31 TDs as a senior.

So how did a talented, productive running back receive just two Power 5 scholarship offers?

"As a coach it’s frustrating," said Eureka defensive coordinator Pete Grace, "because you know how special of a kid he is, and you’re like, why don’t other people know? Why aren’t the offers coming?”

Off the field, Haskins passed every test. He had the grades, the work ethic, the athleticism — he cleared 6 feet, 7 inches in the high jump — and even an NFL pedigree: His older brother, Maurice Alexander played at Utah State (after a junior-college stint) and has spent five seasons with the Rams, Seahawks and Bills.

"We knew, had he gotten the opportunity," Sumner said, "that he would rise up and be a special football player, whoever took a chance on him.”

Haskins' coaches are still baffled why he didn’t receive more offers. They all helped clip video highlights and sent film to nearly 100 colleges across the nation. They cold-called programs. They wrote emails. They wrote letters that mentioned Haskins’ brother. When college coaches visited Eureka for recruiting visits, Haskins was the first player introduced.

None of it worked.

“If you look at him, he looks like a Greek god,” Wasson said. “He’s got phenomenal, impeccable character — he’s the nicest kid. There’s no character issues. His grades are good. His brother’s in the NFL. And there was a 1-AA team that would email us back, ‘Well, he doesn’t fit our system. He’s not fast enough.’

“We had a Big Ten school that comes in and watches him jump 6’7 and practice, and the guy told me, ‘Well, he can’t break 60 yard runs. Maybe he’ll break a 30.’ And I looked at him and said, ‘Well, give it to him twice.’ ”

Haskins was mostly unfazed, though he said "it was honestly frustrating" that local schools didn’t give him much of a look.

“They were hyping me up and stuff like that, but they never offered me,” Haskins said. “I honestly don’t know why. I wasn’t tripping or mad about it. I was just like, ‘If they don’t want me, they don’t need me. I don’t need them.’ ”

Then Michigan entered the picture.

A quick recruitment

When Harbaugh came across Haskins' film, he made a mental note to watch tape from Haskins' next game. He watched the week after that, too, and then visited Eureka for a practice toward the end of September 2017.

“Oh, I was surprised," Haskins said. "I was like, 'Wow. Michigan is actually at my school in Missouri.' I never thought that such a great school would come down here to see me play football and talk to me. Nothing (like that) had happened at my school — a lot of people don’t get big offers."

It took roughly 90 minutes before Harbaugh "fell in love." In that span, he saw Haskins do everything well on offense and defense. Haskins' frame — "a legit 6-foot, 6-1, wide with huge legs" — impressed Harbaugh, too, as did his work ethic and character. (Harbaugh took note of how Haskins brought his teammates water.)

"Hassan probably had the best practice he’s had in his life," Wasson said.

Harbaugh had already done his homework on Haskins, worried about why other schools hadn't offered His visit to Eureka was one of the final boxes to check. Afterwards, Harbaugh became more confident that, yes, Haskins had been simply overlooked.

"When you find someone like that, that you have a feeling about, I think most of our coaches all do a great job of pursuing it," Harbaugh said. "Like if your gut tells you something, go with it and let’s get to the bottom of it."

With film of the practice in hand, Harbaugh went back to Ann Arbor and spoke with the rest of the staff. Soon after, they reached a consensus, offering Haskins on Oct. 12, 2017. A couple weeks later, he made an official visit to Michigan — and committed Oct. 29.

Athleticism pays off

There's one big reason why Haskins went under the radar, and Harbaugh saw it early: He ran just a 4.74 second 40-yard dash in high school. But Harbaugh's scouting also revealed this: He was "abnormally good at everything."

Harbaugh loved Haskins' flexibility and said his ability to bend and drop his hips is "among the best that I've seen" as a coach. He saw how Haskins ran with violence and blocked with purpose. The trait that showed up most consistently: Haskins' ability to fall forward.

He's done that at Michigan, churning out yards after contact and breaking several long runs. According to Harbaugh, Haskins falls forward on "83 or 84%" of his carries.

"I know that there’s guys who are really good in this conference that are not that high," Harbaugh said. "If you’re falling forward like he does, you’re running in a way that’s smart. You’re not putting yourself in bad positions, and you’re obviously getting the most out of every carry.”

Haskins' early success might be surprising to some, but not to his former coaches. When he hurdled a defender on national television against Notre Dame, it was a callback to his days as a high jumper. All those runs where Haskins falls forward and gains extra yardage — he did that at Eureka, too.

“I would say everything that you’re seeing on Saturdays was what stood out back here in Eureka," Sumner said.

The only difference: Haskins isn't quite under the radar anymore. Although he still tries to run as if he is.

"That gives me a boost of energy, just to see people doubting me. I’ve always got more to prove," Haskins said. "I’m not done. I’m always bettering myself, bettering my football skills. I’m still proving people wrong.”

Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.