After decorated HS career, Michigan linebacker signee embracing Rose Bowl practice experience
BELLEVILLE – Jeremiah Beasley showed up late to his own signing day ceremony at Belleville high school on Wednesday, but the class of 2024 four-star linebacker had a valid excuse.
He had just completed his fourth practice with the top-ranked Wolverines, who are preparing to face No. 4 Alabama in the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl national semifinal. Because Beasley has already graduated high school and signed his financial aid tender, he is permitted to participate in bowl practices and will travel with the team to California.
“I’m loving it,” Beasley said. “It is really exciting just to be able to have that experience. I know that I’m not playing (in the bowl game), but just to be able to practice, get out there and give them a look for the Alabama game, I’m just really excited.”
The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder is the only one of Michigan’s 27 recruits who inked their national letter of intent on Wednesday’s early signing day to have practiced with the team so far, although several others who also are enrolling early will join the team this week.
“First day I got up there, it was a little weird,” Beasley said. “I didn’t really know anybody. But this is only day four and I feel like I already know the whole team. Everybody welcomed me. Today was the first day of pads, so got to get out there and hit.
“It’s a family. Everybody hangs out. It’s real calm. They have fun but are about their business too. That is a big thing for me.”
Beasley has been committed to Michigan since June, choosing the Wolverines over 26 other reported offers, including finalists Michigan State and Missouri
He quickly developed a strong rapport with linebackers coach Chris Partridge, but he was fired abruptly in November because of a failure to “abide by the university directive not to discuss an ongoing NCAA investigation with anyone associated with the Michigan football program.”
Beasley, who is ranked as the No. 366 player nationally and No. 7 in Michigan, according to the 247Sports Composite index, never wavered on his commitment, but his parents were not completely sold on Michigan until earlier this month when head coach Jim Harbaugh, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale visited their home.
“They just told me they still want me there,” Beasley said. “Players reached out to me and said they still want me there. It is a special place. Everyone misses Chris Partridge. Everybody on defense still plays for him. It’s like a family feel.”
That family feel was paramount for Beasley’s parents, Peggy Carr and Will McMichael, who also is Belleville’s offensive line coach.
“You felt confident I could leave my kid with (Harbaugh) and he is going to take care of him,” McMichael said. “Coach Harbaugh, Coach Minter, Coach Clinkscale, they were all at the house. It was just a great time. We just felt that confidence that it’s a family atmosphere, and that’s what we’re used to.”
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Belleville football coach Calvin Norman is excited for Beasley’s next chapter. He joined the Tigers’ program as an assistant in 2019 before taking over as head coach this season. The team won each of its first 13 games by at least 27 points before falling to Southfield A&T 36-32 in the Division 1 state championship on Nov. 24.
Beasley didn’t play his freshman season because of a torn ACL but has been a two-way standout since. Norman said he broke the program’s rushing record in 2023 and finished with 787 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 11.1 yards per carry.
On defense, he led the Tigers with 114 tackles – 41 more than No. 2 on the team – five sacks and an interception.
“He had a big role was for us,” Norman said. “I’ve watched him since he was a ninth grader, and just to watch him develop and get better every year, that was nice to see. Just to see full circle right now what he’s going through. He should get all the accolades. He works hard, he’s getting stronger, he’s faster, his knowledge of the game is on a whole other level.
“To see him the way he played his senior year, just hands down one of the best I’ve seen.”
Norman has been a high school head coach for 19 years, and Beasley is the first to sign with a Power Five program. He also believes he could have been a quality college running back.
“I’m a running back coach, and I’ve never seen nobody run the ball the way he does,” he said. “The way he runs the ball, the way he runs at that low center of gravity, you can’t teach it. It has to be in you, so he has a skill set that he can really run the football. His vision is incredible, and he’s so tall, but he runs low. That’s the part that you can’t teach.”
Less than a month after playing in a third straight state championship game with Belleville, Beasley is hoping to get the chance to be a part of another title game in the coming weeks. He also has put his recruiting hat on and hopes to have a familiar face join him in Ann Arbor next season.
His half-brother, Maliq Carr, just graduated from Michigan State and is in the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. The former four-star tight end had 30 catches for 352 yards and three touchdowns this season.
“At the end of the day, he is one of the best tight ends in college football, in my opinion,” Beasley said. “Him and Colston Loveland together would be something crazy. That’s what I want to see, but i just want him to go wherever he is happy.”
