TomVH: Bri'onte Dunn Update
I just spoke with Bri'onte Dunn's father again today. He told me that the Bucknuts report about Bri'onte reopening his recruitment is not true. They are watching what's going on with the NCAA investigation and will be taking visits, but he's still committed to OSU.
He also told me that Greg Mattison [he thinks that's the coach] is in school visiting Bri'onte today, and because of that they won't be visiting this Saturday. They are going to reschedule the visit for a later date.
**Thursday edit: Mattison is in school today, Thursday the 28th, not yesterday according to Mr. Dunn.**
need to get him on campus! Hoping GMatt has his A-game today...
Don't you mean AA game?
LOVE hearing that Mattison took matters into his own hands and went down there instead of waiting for Dunn and his father to come up to Ann Arbor. Aggressive and I love it. Go Blue, Dunn!
This is why Meyer called Mattison one of the best recruiters. I like it.
Boo. Oh well, here's a kitty.
I'm a sad panda...
3rd string will do that to you
Tom, do you get a feeling that he is strongly considering us, or is he just keeping his "options" open?
you just killed all the boners from the previous thread Tom.
He giveth and he taketh away.
these tags next to the voting are going to be fun for trolls.
Two points: First, Michigan was always going to have to beat OSU whether Dunn listed himself as a commit or not.
Second, a verbal commit who's taking visits isn't that much of a commit.
Edit: A final point: Mattison visiting with Dunn today is more contact than U of M has had with him yet, I think. So there's some good news in Tom's post too.
It shows how serious we are in landing Dunn when Mattison is sent to visit him in school. He is supposed to be the top recruiter on the staff so hopefully he blows away the Dunn family with his sales pitch.
Is it accurate to say that Mattison is the best recruiter on the staff?
He has a good NFL background and Michigan background, but he's a defensive coach and is pretty old. Is he really the best recruiter for a top-flight RB?
Maybe he is, I just haven't read anything else alluding to his recruiting prowess.
He's been talked about by a few different credible people saying he was one of the best recruiters they know, not only for defense, but overall talent wise.
If we were to ever land him, that would be great. If we didn't, that would be OK too.
yea i agree - if they somehow take him away from OSU that would just be outstanding. It would be awesome to land a solid 5 star RB (that STUD running back everyone has been talking about)
But if we don't get him then it doesn't kill our class by any stretch of the imagination
I like it, a win win either way.
Hear! Hear!
Me thinks not. Always like what RR said about that: Your not committed if your looking around. Not very complicated IMO. If we can get a visit then we have a shot
Ugh...just visit already Bri'onte!!! I hate how it keeps pushing it back.
At least we are getting more contact with him, which I'm guessing can't hurt.
If we're going to send someone to pry him from the jaws of OSU, I'm glad it's Mattison.
my thoughts exactly.
I'm glad we sent the best recruiter in college football to his school. This can only mean good things.
Thanks for the update Tom to clarify the Dunn situation. Come on, GMatt!!! you know what to do!
I think Mattison should just show him footage of Beanie Wells in the 2006 NC game over and over.
Look, I made a living off of destroying ohio offenses in the afc north and I intend to keep doing that in the Big Ten...make sure youre on the right side.
It would be interesting to hear what Mattison's--being the defensive coordinator and all-- approach to trying to lure Dunn from that school in ohio would be. I imagine a visit from Fred Jackson would also be happening at some point.
Son, son! Listen to me. Do you want to be as powerful as Jerome Bettis with the speed of Percy Harvin? Do you? Well then, HA HA! I am your coach. You ever see Captain America? You know, skinny cracker dude who becomes a freaking Adonis? Well little known fact, that story was actually based on me working with Tim Biakabutuka. Seriously. Tim came in to school at no more than a hundred, hundred ten pounds at most. We bulked him up to 200 lbs in no time and by the time he graduated he was winning races against thoroughbreds in the parking lot. Yes, I do have a number of running backs i've coached who can beat horses in races. Yes, NFL scouts like that.
Tom your the best... IM not going to get to worked up about getting this kid
But i gotta tell you after the last 3 years where we could not recruit a field goal kicker
Hoke and staff give us hope that we will be a major player in coming years for blue chip talent again
GoBlue
Score one for comical subject line truncation.
At the risk of restarting old arguments...recruiting FG kicker wasn't the problem(GIbbons was in the army AA game). Getting them to perform was the issue.
Sign him up, coach!
Whether Michigan ends up getting Dunn or not, we're sending a clear message that we're NOT going to concede ANY top prospect who we want in the Midwest. And that means going after really good players in Ohio regardless of whether they're OSU commits or not.
(NOTE: the above doesn't apply if the recruit's last name is Boren)
I don't think you have to worry. We aren't at all interested in Boren 3.0 who is already committed to OSU this year. He might be the least hearalded of all the Boren's.
Try to consider how much of a pain in the ass the press would be to this kid. He's the top recruit at OSU, the allegations are delivered, and then he shows up in Ann Arbor.
If I was his dad I'd be saying the same things, "watching the situation, no change in commitment".
But the actions speak way louder than any words in my opinion. Taking all the visits you are allowed is just fun vacation time, especially if you are a 5 star rated recruit.
Taking the time to talk to a recruiter when you aren't even interested in the school seems like a waste of your time.
therefore this is way cool.
I agree with some of the other comments on this topic. Mattison's approach is, "do you know who I've recruited at LB so far? They are 100% committed to stopping the OSU running back. And now that the Big 10 has a Championship game, they'll get the chance of doing that twice on National TV.
And maybe a little bit of, "Hey I'll be honest, I don't know how to stop Denard even without a 5 star Runing Back next to him. If OSU has to defend both of you, what do you think is going to happen?"
That last paragraph! (but sadly reminds me of DHart)
From last night to today. Hoping for a great impression by Mattison. Long way to go before 2012 nsd. Regardless, let the Ncaa drop the hammer on the suckeyes.!
If Tressel stays, Dunn sticks with Ohio. If he resigns or is fired then all bets are off.
I don't know that it's that black and white - we saw first hand how much a "toxic" coaching/ncaa situation can hurt you on the recruiting trail. Now that Michigan is clear of all that garbage and we can pitch some stability to the kids we may have a shot regardless of what the happens to the Vest.
Don't forget that he brought up the bowl ban issue. If I'm the NCAA I definitely hit them with that just on principle after OSU managed to finagle their way into player eligibility for the Sugar Bowl. Then you run into whether or not JT is retained, and I just don't see a way OSU can justify that. I'm guessing either JT is fired, or OSU is absolutely hammered to compensate for letting him stay.
he recruits NE Ohio.
Great move on Brady's part sending the "best recruiter in America" (Urban Meyer's words, not mine) to sway the five star.
A friend of mine who works at the HS said that he thinks Dunn knows very little about UM and is genuinely interested in the new staff and style of play. Like many kids from Ohio, he was originally an OSU guy all the way. In fact he has never even set foot on any other campus.
Getting him up would be HUGE.
If we can get Dunn is this class, it makes things a lot easier for the next couple of years.
If he's never actually been to another campus he needs to visit AA just on principle. You should always explore your options. It doesn't hurt that AA is fantastic and way, way better than Columbus (in my admittedly biased opinion).
TomVH (Score: -1) Trolling
Dunn will never play a down at OSU. There, I said it. He opened up his recruitment when OSU signed Ball. This NCAA thing is only adding fuel to the fire.
Dunn committed to OSU after Warren Ball. Ball committed on the 1st of Sept. and Dunn on the 27th. No one has been signed. Your last sentence is the only thing that's relevant.