Our 2011 Recruiting Class
So I know that this has been discussed briefly in other threads but wanted to start one to round out the season.
As we know (or Scout knows at least) we have 14 commitments in our recruiting class, with room for about 4-6 more.. (paywalled article on scout: http://michigan.scout.com/a.z?s=162&p=2&c=1028885&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http://michigan.scout.com/2/1028885.html)
So any best guesses on how we need/ want to round out? We need a DT, S, and probably another OL, but if highly ranked recruits want to come...?
if I said who I'd personally prefer in this class, it'd be Zettel, Frost, Jernigan, Lyons, and Bryant.. some of those have been confirmed to be leaning blue, and TomVH mentions that there are two silent commits in the class, but it's still all game, and we need to finish this class off.
Best guesses/ wants/ preferences/ ?
December 24th, 2010 at 7:14 PM ^
Mike Farrell mentioned this on the radio, and I've talked to a few high school coaches about it as well. If Harbaugh would be hired, he would be able to possibly either grab a few Stanford commits or even pick up a big time player or two before NSD.
At this point, I agree with those above who said there will only be 2-3 defections. For example, if we lose Demetrius Hart, I think Michigan will still pick up a guy like Remound Wright, a four-star RB from Indiana who camped at Michigan but committed to Stanford.
It will be a fun month or so won't it?
December 24th, 2010 at 7:39 PM ^
I can see a lot of attrition. Harbaugh didn't even recruit DRob and I don't want to see a fourth straight year with a new starter. The slots would probably all transfer and I suspect Vincent Smith wouldn't fit in to well with Harbaugh's O either. We have a lot of players who haven't RSed and they could use their transfer year as a RS.
December 24th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
Harbaugh has run both the spread read and conventional pro-style offenses. We're assuming that short receivers can't play the slot for Harbaugh. Why can't they?
December 24th, 2010 at 7:56 PM ^
I'd be willing to bet Harbaugh will not take the Rich Rod approach and try to blow everything up. He will change the offense for sure, but I think he is more multiple than people give him credit for.
December 25th, 2010 at 12:01 AM ^
I hear it is really easy to learn a new offense in one offseason
December 25th, 2010 at 12:52 AM ^
Sincerely,
Nick Sheridan
December 25th, 2010 at 1:39 AM ^
You mean JH is going to keep all or most of the assistant coaches and not change things?
You must be drinking way too much egg nog this holiday season! Any new HC coming in is going to do exactly what RR did in terms of bringing in his own staff and we are just as likely to lose as many or more players in terms of transfers and decommits or whatever as we did when RR started.
December 25th, 2010 at 12:08 PM ^
I know he will change coaches, that's a given. Instead of implementing an entirely different playbook, I meant keeping elements of the spread and implementing certain packages that he wanted to use. Stanford's playbook is pretty complex and multiple, so it's going to take time.
But Harbaugh has experience running different offenses.
December 24th, 2010 at 11:42 PM ^
RR engenders incredible loyalty among those who play for him. As I think back to when he came from WVa, almost to a one, his former team appreciated him and spoke well of him. I daresay the current team at Michigan is extremely loyal to RR. This extends to a good number of the incoming recruits. More, I don't think JH is cut from the same cloth as RR. This is not to say that JH is not a good coach, nor that I would revolt if he came on board. My only point here is that I believe that you can expect MORE attrition and fallout than last time, both among our current team and among incoming recruits, if RR is cut loose. Only DB knows what is going to happen, and I am just one of the hoard of fans out there. But to expect minimal change in the current team and the incoming recruiting class is naive and clueless. It isn't just about coaching. . . it is about who RR is.
December 25th, 2010 at 12:19 AM ^
I have a good feeling about returning 19 starters in 2011, whether the HC is RR or JH. Sure, Dee and Sammy may well not end up here if RR is not retained, but we may be prematurely concluding JH can't get pitch a great sell to these youngsters and the others, and reel them in at NSD. There are compelling arguments on both sides of the ledger for RR and for JH, but in my mind the long term success of the program trump's keeping two or three potential signees in the next recruiting class. I feel confident if JH becomes HC he will run plays that'll highlight the team's strength offensively - while bringing in a strong DC as he did at Stanford. At San Deigo JH used an unheralded dual threat QB to win two MNC equivalents. If RR is retained we can expect to see a much improved offense and a new look defense that has emerged from the 2010 cocoon. Wouldn't surprise me if RR added a MNC to his resume before Denard graduates. Bottom line - don't worry we should trust that DB will be the right thing.
December 25th, 2010 at 1:46 AM ^
First off, you might want to rethink your "bringing in a strong DC" statement. It sounds silly when his defense was absolutely awful until this year, his 4th. Second, I am going to guess we won't be bringing back 19 starters if RichRod isn't here after the bowl game. Also, I am not sure who this "Sammy" you are making reference to is. Unless you think Sammy Watkins will change his committment, then RichRod will get fired, then he and Dee will decommit. I am not sure that will happen.
December 25th, 2010 at 4:09 AM ^
Not really. They were deemed "mid-major champs" which doesn't mean anything, they didn't even get invited to the FCS national championship tournament.
Thats like the MAC, Sun-belt and WAC getting together, holding a championship game, and calling the winner the mythical national champion of the FBS.
Had to nit-pick that statement, as far as the rest of your argument....I'll just say that you make a lot of assumptions with no factual support and leave it at that.
December 25th, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^
We need to recruit older players on defense to bring experience for all of our young guys to learn from
/s /what we need most
I'll just reiterate that we need Dee Hart on offense, or else we will continue to be running out of a playbook that has about half the pages torn out of it. It's pretty obvious at this point that Rich Rod wants to do what he did at WVU with this offense, but without a running back, he's relegated to making Denard do literally everything. The screen game was non-existent, and the running backs were not a factor all year. If you want to see immediate improvement of our defensive performance, Dee Hart is the best bang for your buck prospect. A dominant offense that can run it down the opponents throat will take a lot of pressure off of the defense. People always say that you can't expect a freshman to come in and ply immediately, but we haven't gotten a guy with more realized potential in a long time, he can handle it.