Name: Kahlil Haughton
Position: Safety
Ht/Wt/40: 6'2" / 180 lbs. / 4.4
Location: Midway – Waco, TX (2015)
Offers: Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Duke, Indiana, Kansas State, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, SMU, TCU, Washington State
Rating: ★★★ .8570 (247 Composite)
Ranking: #636 NAT / #41 S (247 Composite)
FILM
The Michigan coaches offered Texas native Kahlil Haughton last night, taking the total number of safety offers up to three. The other two are already committed; Tyree Kinnel is a future Wolverine and Prentice McKinney pledged to the Fighting Irish about two weeks ago. Haughton is a long, athletic prospect that plays more the coverage type of safety, but also can come up and play run support pretty well for being on the thin side. Those skills drew the attention from Coach Mallory and eventually that led to an offer.
The secondary coaches both followed me on Twitter so I followed them back and they messaged me. They were just saying how much they liked my film and asked about my interest in them and then coach Mallory asked me to call him. When I called he extended the offer! I was pretty surprised, I hadn’t had any contact with the coaches before that.
What exactly did the coaches see on film that caught their eyes? I asked Kahlil to describe his game, including some strengths and some weaknesses.
I think one thing that stands out about me is that compared to other safeties I have better skills and hip flexibility. It makes it easier for me to be a more versatile type of safety. At the same time I can come downhill and tackle in the open field. I try to get around the ball as much as possible, but being the weakside safety I’m more of the cover guy, so sometimes making tackles can be hard.
Recruiting Texas has been discussed before and we all know it can be difficult to lure kids out of that countryish state. 247 presumes Baylor to be the leader for Haughton but he didn’t say that quite so clearly. I also asked him to compare Michigan to some of the other schools on his offer list.
At the moment I wouldn’t really say I have a leader but Baylor is definitely in my top schools. I’d probably put Michigan somewhere in the higher middle. I don’t really know much about them so I’ll have to do some research on them for sure to get a better idea of what Michigan is all about.
Haughton admitted to not knowing much about Michigan at this time, but he wasn’t completely green.
I already know that they have a great football program but Coach Mallory was telling me that it’s also challenging academic wise and will provide a great education. He told me a lot about the people that were very successful in sports medicine, which is what I want to study. He said that it’s a place where a lot of people want to stay even with me being from Texas.
With Michigan just now entering the mix for Haughton I asked him to explain how his recruitment has gone to this point.
I mean it’s calmed down quite a bit, at first it was really hectic! Right now I’m trying to narrow it down some, but still keeping an open mind on places that I think are programs I could see myself in.
Being a highly recruited kid from Texas means you have a lot of solid schools to choose from. I asked Khalil if he’d like to stay close to home and what other factors would play a part in his decision.
Location isn’t really a major factor for me. I’m not sure what Michigan is like, but if I feel like it’s a great fit then I could see myself going that far away for school. When I do get ready to make a decision I’ll be looking for a great environment and just the overall vibe of the place. The academics and the coaching staff will also be very important.
In order for Michigan to have a fighter’s chance in Haughton’s recruitment, he’s going to have to check out campus for himself. Will that happen?
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make a visit. I know I’m going to be really busy during the summer but I’ll be making plans later on some places that I’m going to try and stop by. Still not sure which schools though.
With a busy summer ahead of him, a stacked offer list, and no top group yet, a decision timeline seems to be pretty foggy for Kahlil right now.
I don’t really have a timeline for a decision yet. I’m basically just going to commit whenever I feel like the time is right. I’d like to try and do it before my senior season starts but I don’t know.
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THE VIBE
5 – Trending Blue
4 – Solidly in a top 2-3
3 – Contender in a top 3-7
2 – Among large (8-15) group under consideration
1 – Let’s see if he visits before we talk
0 – Passing interest or none
This rating isn’t necessarily based on a lack of interest, it’s just that Haughton has so many offers already, a desire to commit before the fall, an address in Texas, and a visit to Michigan doesn’t look like a real possibility yet. I will continue to stay in touch with him and if a visit to Ann Arbor gets put on his calendar then The Vibe could definitely change.