Michigan defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon will reportedly be leaving Ann Arbor in search of a new place to continue his college football career. According to multiple reports on Monday afternoon, including the first report from Steve Lorenz of The Michigan Insider, Solomon is transferring. According to the report, Solomon has been granted a full release from his scholarship, as requested.
Solomon was a five-star recruit in Michigan’s Class of 2017 out of Georgia. Solomon, the second-ranked defensive tackle in the nation according to Rivals, was a nice prize for the Michigan recruiting class. That recruiting class, which ranked fourth in the nation on the Rivals team rankings, has now lost eight players including six to a transfer. On top of that, Michigan will also be dealing with having to replace NFL-bound Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich on the defensive line.
Solomon will have to sit out the 2019 season as a transferring player if he ends up at another FBS program, which would be the likely result of this process given his talent and potential. It remains unknown where the Georgia native will choose to go next, but odds are there will be some interested parties trying to land his transfer. Assuming he sits out the 2019 season, he will be eligible to play again in 2020.
Solomon appeared in five games this season so he can not use the 2018 season as a redshirt year under the NCAA’s updated redshirt rule. Players can appear in up to four games before using a year of eligibility. Solomon missed five of the first six games of the season due to injury before returning to make an appearance in three games before missing two of the last three game so the regular season. He does have a redshirt still to burn so he can use that for the 2019 season to retain two years of eligibility at his next program.