Michigan's McHale Blade, new 2026 commit, recruits elite prospects at Victors Weekend

USA Today

6 hours ago

It hadn't even been two weeks since he visited and subsequently committed to Michigan football, but there he was, back on campus again -- this time hunting rather than being the hunted.
2026 Chicago (Ill.) Simeon four-star edge rusher McHale Blade was thought to be a Notre Dame lean, but he shocked the world when he wound up choosing to be in Ann Arbor over South Bend on June 9. Blade took his official visit from June 6-8, but he made it back to campus on June 20 for Victors Weekend -- the recruiting event that had the entire committed class in tow, along with several key top targets remaining on the board.
So what was it like for Blade to come back to campus, but as a commit this time? He says he felt 'at home' and that it was a bit more of a relaxing experience.
But that doesn't mean that he relaxed. In fact, he was in Ann Arbor to be a sniper, working every room he was in.
"I knew a lot of the recruits from just previous visits, so I was kind of just there to kind of hang out with the guys and stuff like that," Blade said. "But yeah, I was really there to help recruit and talk to the guys, and it was pretty cool, hanging out with a lot of the D-linemen there. Titan (Davis) and Carter Meadows and all of those guys that I got to hang out with, so it was pretty cool."
Who Blade is recruiting and his pitch
If Blade was on campus actively recruiting, then he's got one in the bag, with 2026 St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet four-star defensive tackle Titan Davis having committed on Monday. But there's another prospect he was with during the weekend that he'd really like to join the class in Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga five-star EDGE Carter Meadows, and Blade says that he's about to start working on Mineral (Va.) Louisa County five-star running back Savion Hiter, too.
"Obviously, Titan just committed, but I kind of already knew that from speaking with him," Blade said. "And Meadows, I'd like to play with him -- just really all the edges that were there that I met. I'd like to play with those guys; that'd be a very, very solid group. I'm reaching out to those guys.
"Also, I know there's a big running back target at Michigan, (Savion Hiter). Yeah, I'd love to try to reach out to him as well. I just want to get a bunch of my guys together, just take over this whole class."
With that said, what's his pitch? After all, he was the one being pitched just a few short weeks ago, so there's a strong selling point. He put it simply:
"Michigan, it gives us everything we need, and it gives you everything you could possibly ask for, like from a development standpoint," Blade said. "It has everything, which is why I really committed because it kind of just had everything I needed. As a D-lineman, Michigan would be the place that you would want to be."
It wasn't all about others
Of course, Blade got to have a good time outside of trying to recruit for the class. He got an opportunity to meet former Michigan football defensive lineman and recently retired Philadelphia Eagles star Brandon Graham.
While it could have just been a cool meet-and-greet moment, it appears to be more than that for Blade. Because Graham being back on campus after more than a decade away shows just how special Michigan football is to those who stayed.
"Oh yeah, man -- that was amazing," Blade said. "He kind of just popped up unexpectedly, and they say that -- a lot of the staff members and coaches, they say that -- all the time, a lot of the older guys, they always just come back. And that also means a lot to me -- that if they're coming back, (that's) saying something. But he just kind of popped up out of nowhere, and I talked it up with him. He even followed me on Instagram and all that, so it was pretty cool to meet him."
Blade is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 168 player overall, the 21st-ranked EDGE, and the fourth-best player in the state of Illinois.