Rosenberg's latest gem.
http://www.freep.com/article/20081023/COL22/81023110/1048/SPORTS
To summarize: Rich Rod is an outsider who doesn't recruit players from the state of Michigan. He only recruits midgets/dwarves/hobbits/kobolds/pygmies from other states.
Dantonio loves to recruit Michigan. The whole state of Michigan loves Dantonio.
That is all.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:53 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 9:54 AM ^
So I don't have to waste another post....it's seems Feagin's been injured:
"On third string quarterback Justin Feagin’s role this weekend: “It’s hard at quarterback because he’s had limited reps and injuries, he’s had this shoulder where he wasn’t able to throw two days in a row (this fall.) So we’ve been playing him more at slot receiver, which has been easier for him to grasp."
October 24th, 2008 at 11:42 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 9:58 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:18 AM ^
Clearly Herrington hasn't been watching too many U-M games. Then again, Harrison is considered an MSU feeder, so maybe that explains it.
What's helping Dantonio's recruiting is that he's scoring with one or two instate guys U-M wants, keeping the second tier prospects away from other Big Ten schools, and not offering MAC caliber talent. That's what Saban used to do and it has little to nothing to do with Rodriguez.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:11 AM ^
Rosen missed some of the details, as pointed out by chitwon, but his main assertion is correct. RR is targetting a different caliber of athlete than he can find in adequate numbers in the state of Michigan. Dantonio is getting a greater percentage of the in-state talent.
The real question will be answered when RR and Dantonio target the same players. Who lands those recruits really owns recruiting in the state. Until the Will Johnsons' of the state decide to go to East Lansing (not USC) instead of Ann Arbor, this is just a case of MSU getting players RR didn't want to offer a scholarship to.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:25 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:11 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:17 AM ^
"He targets small, shifty athletes. Nine of his 17 commitments are listed at 190 pounds or less..."
I used to think this about RR, too. Truth is, 190 lbs isn't necessarily a small, shifty athlete. Pretty solid starting frame for building an athlete at the college level. I actually wonder what a kobold would do in RR's offense? (Nice German folklore reference, Rush!)
Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, you Boodini wannabe. One season does not a program make. Or break.
Let's all get through this thing in one piece and take down the names of the traitorous scum jumping ship and throwing barbs while the team's down.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:18 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:25 AM ^
It's not that good. I'll take our shot with 3* or 4* guys from Florida over a player with the same ranking in Michigan.
If RR wins most of the head to head match ups for Campbells, etc. then we're fine. Who cares if Dantonio gets more 3* fat guys from Kalkaska to fill out his roster while RR decides to go with better athletes from a better HS football state?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:32 PM ^
Fun Michigan fact:
The state dirt of Michigan is "Kalkaska Sand."
October 24th, 2008 at 10:28 AM ^
Most of Lloyd's best QB's were from out of state.
Why did Lloyd turn his back on the state of Michigan?
October 24th, 2008 at 10:40 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:45 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:58 AM ^
Oh yeah I realize that. I'm not saying that Michigan shouldn't recruit nationally. Lloyd's classes were pretty well balanced in state vs. out of state. This has obviously changed this year. I don't know how much of that is by design, and I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing, but it at least makes me turn my head. I gather from the article, it's possible that we will pull in a class this year without any projected starters from our own state.
Also, our recent dominance over MSU probably isn't about them only recruiting a narrow area as much as it is us wiping the floor with them in our own state most years.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:59 AM ^
The 2000 roster had 35 players from MI. You might be right about half/half.
Of course, that's just one year so you really can't say for certain. I'm not going to go through all of Lloyds classes to find out, but if someone wants to, have at it!
October 24th, 2008 at 11:57 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:39 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:41 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 10:48 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 11:07 AM ^
All things being equal, I'd always preferred kids from in state, but that's a great point.
Michigan men come from all over.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:27 AM ^
RR missed out on a couple of kids (RB & LB to MSU and WR to OSU... their names escape me). But the only recruit that got real national exposure is W. Campbell. So its not a real deep talent pool to pick from.
But Next year there seems to be a lot of in-state talent that RR needs to keep in-state. That is when we will see if RR has lost Michigans grip on in-state recruiting.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:32 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 11:45 AM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 12:44 PM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 1:39 PM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 1:43 PM ^
According to Sam Webb there will be over two dozen kids visiting tomorrow and more than half of them are from the state of Michigan
http://wtka.com/index.php?fuseaction=home.podcasts_sel&id=576
October 24th, 2008 at 2:12 PM ^
which is why they are a better school
pffffft
October 24th, 2008 at 4:50 PM ^
I just did a quick glimpse to see how many players we got from MI and it seems like a 50/50 split, although I didn't count.
The players that I recognized:
Charles Stewart (Farmington Hills)
Carson Butler (Detroit)
Nick Sheridan (Saline)
Steven Threet (Adrian)
Morgan Trent (Brighton)
Kevin Grady (Ada)
Vince Helmuth (Saline)
Jason Gingell (Northville)
Mark Moundros (Farmington Hills)
Obinna Ezeh (Grand Rapids)
John Thompson (Detroit)
Ryan Van Bergen (Whitehall)
Brandon Graham (Detroit)
Terrance Taylor (Muskegon)
Mike Martin (Detroit)
Bryant Nowicki (Bay City)
Mark Huyge (Grand Rapids)
Perry Dorrestein (Plainfield)
KC Lopata (Farmington)
Will Johnson (Oakland)
Tim Jamison is our only starting D-Lineman not from Michigan. we have several O-Lineman from Michigan, and both of our kickers and both quarterbacks are from Michigan. If Grady is counted as a fullback, we have 3 full backs and 0 tail backs on that list. 0 wide receivers, 1 tight end who needs anger management, and 1 cornerback who needs to play like the 5th yr senior he is.
We have had success finding big guys in Michigan, which I think RR can continue to do. It's not until you get to the skill positions that we are short on Michigan players. This isn't something new that came in with RR, it has been here for a while. It just so happens that the recruiting class last season needed to be a lot of skill players and so RR needed to get fast guys to run his offense that he we have traditionally not found in Michigan.
October 24th, 2008 at 7:29 PM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 8:59 PM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 5:49 PM ^
As far as skill-position guys, other than Braylon, I honestly can't remember the last starter who was from the state of Michigan. JoeyB is right, that HAS been the case for a number of years, and I think it has more to do with the talent in the state than it does recruiting.
Think about it: Henne (Pennsylvania), Hart (New York), Manningham (Ohio), Arrington (Iowa), Breaston (Pennsylvania), Avant (Illinois), Perry (N. Carolina), Navarre (Wisconsin), etc. I guess I'd have to go back to Henson for the last in-state skill-position player who panned out as a star in college.
Also, unless Campbell goes to State (and let's face it, he's probably the only in-state guy this year who Michigan REALLY wants to get), I'm not ready to say that RR is losing any hold on in-state recruits. The test will come in head-to-head battles with Dantonio, and I'm willing to bet that RR will still win a majority of those. If he can build a consistently championship-caliber team, I don't care where the players come from.
It's more that Dantonio is doing a better job of keeping those mid-level 3-star guys from going to other Big Ten schools, and also NOT offering scholarships to MAC-level players.
October 24th, 2008 at 6:56 PM ^
October 24th, 2008 at 7:32 PM ^