Five-star defensive back Darnay Holmes spent the weekend in the state of Michigan and checked out both Michigan State and Michigan.
"I flew in to Michigan Friday and headed straight over to Michigan State," Holmes said. "I haven't talked a lot about Michigan State but they have such a good reputation of developing defensive backs and putting guys in to the League (NFL) that I wanted to go visit and check out the place.
"I was there for about 3-4 hours and liked it a lot. I met the coaching staff and spent time talking with Coach Dantonio. It was a very motivational visit for me. They talked about what they like in a defensive back and how they coach their guys up. I really like the way they play and I think their style fits me really well.
"I did the whole campus tour and saw the facilities. I'm definitely going to consider Michigan State moving forward and I talked with my dad about coming back up for an official visit."
Holmes left the Spartan campus and headed straight to Ann Arbor for a quick visit to Michigan.
"I was only at Michigan for a little bit on Friday," Holmes said. "It was pretty late so I just came by to say hello to David Long and Dylan Crawford and also got to talk real quick with Coach (Jim) Harbaugh. It was great to see David and Dylan, they said they love it there and they're both doing great so that was cool to see."
Holmes spent the entire day on campus Saturday and raved about the experience.
"Michigan definitely moved up in my eyes after this visit Holmes said. "I was already considering them pretty heavily, I have an official visit already set up but after being on campus for the first time and seeing what the school has to offer, I was really impressed.
"I got there around 9:00 in the morning, had breakfast in the stadium and met up with Coach Zordich. He said there are no days off at Michigan and they want guys who want to come in and compete. He said if you're ready to play, you'll play there and we talked about technique and how they teach a little differently there.
"Most schools teach a backpedal technique but he was telling me they do a shuffle technique, which helps you react quicker and play more relaxed. You're not guessing as much with that style so I'm looking forward to trying that out on the practice field. My dad knows Coach Zordich from their NFL days so there's a connection there already."
Holmes said the other defensive backs on the visit took part in a massive scavenger hunt with Coach Zordich and then it was BBQ time.
"We all had some one on one time with Coach Harbaugh and that was great to sit down with him," Holmes said. "He's a laid back guy off the field and a great football coach. He lets his coaches coach and the players on the team all love playing for him.
"My dad and I were both really impressed with him and his plan for me. They want playmakers and want to use me on both sides of the ball. I know he's intense on the field but was very friendly with us. While we were talking, Joe Gibbs (former Redskins coach) walked up to us and said hello. I didn't even know who it was until my dad said, 'you know who that is right, that's a legend right there.' I thought that was really cool that he was out there."
Overall, Holmes said the trip couldn't have gone any better.
"I loved everything about it, I can't think of a single thing that I didn't love out there," Holmes said. "I loved the campus and the school itself and academically, Michigan is the No. 1 rated public university in the country so that's huge. I want to major in business/finance and the connections there at Michigan are tremendous.
"From a football standpoint, there's a good opportunity to play early there. I don't care about depth charts but they lose some corners next year and I could play right away for a team that will win a lot of games. The whole visit was amazing and I'm looking forward to getting back there for my official visit on (Sept. 17)."
Holmes also has official visits set with the Nebraska Cornhuskers (Sept. 3) and Ohio State Buckeyes (Nov. 5) and is also looking at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Stanford Cardinal, UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. He'll make his decision at the Army AA Game.