Michigan football released its roster on Tuesday, Aug. 4, as the team reported for its first day of fall camp and two scholarship players were no longer listed: defensive back Taylor Tatum and wide receiver C.J. Charleston.
A program spokesman confirmed to the Free Press both were no longer on the team.
Tatum, the top-ranked running back recruit in the class of 2024 (per 247Sports) transferred to U-M from Oklahoma this offseason, but as the Free Press first reported, was in the process of moving to defensive back.
"We thought that Taylor Tatum had a unique skill set from an explosive standpoint, a ball skills standpoint, because he’s also a baseball player, as well,” safeties coach Tyler Stockton said on the U-M's "In The Trenches" podcast earlier
this offseason.
“He’s just scratching the surface. ... This was his first time ever backpedaling. It fires me up because you’ve got a piece of clay that you can just fine-tune and make him into a great player."
In his first collegiate season at Oklahoma, Tatum ran 56 times for 278 yards and three touchdowns. He added another five receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown. His sophomore year didn’t go as well – just one game, rushing once for a loss of 1 yard as he dealt with a hamstring injury the entire season.
Tatum transferred with the intention of also playing outfield at Michigan under coach Tracy Smith, though he was unable to play in games this past season because of his late arrival on campus. It's not immediately clear if he will remain on the baseball team.
The 5-foot-10, 212-pound athlete has three years of eligibility remaining.
Charleston, meanwhile, was entering his seventh season of college ball after having undergone multiple redshirt seasons, but appeared to still have one season of eligibility remaining given he was listed on the spring roster.
The wide receiver transferred to U-M ahead of the 2024 season but made little impact: He appeared in 10 games (with two starts), caught one 22-yard pass and recovered a fumble on special teams. His most productive season came in 2023 at Youngstown State, when he caught 33 passes for 467 yards and four touchdowns.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Two Michigan football players have left the program as of fall camp
