Recruiting - Where are we right now?
Alright, so it sounds like we've sort of now seen what there is to see as far as decommitments etc and we know that:
1) We currently have 10 solid commitments now that Goudis and Crawford switched their commitments and are gone, and Fisher is decommitted and nothing more than a possibility.
2) D. Hart (alabama) K. Frost (Auburn has now accepted his commitment) Crawford & Goudis (Miami) and the linebacker from last year Kinard (Miami) are all gone and not possiblities.
3) The new staff told Devin Lucien they were only interested in him for defense and he subsequently cut us.
So who's really left out there thats actually been offered and isn't a complete pipe dream (see Jernigan etc that have neither been visited or mentioned in a while and certainly not since the coaching change).
1) Stefan McClure, CB from California coming in to visit this weekend
2) Frank Clark, LB from Cleveland Glenville visiting this weekend
3) Raymon Taylor, in-state ATH also visiting this weekend
4) Matt Wile, K from San Diego also visiting this weekend
5) Fisher - our former lineman commit
6) Thomas Rawls - the RB from Flint area with test score issues.
7) Chris Bryant - OL from Chicago who visited this past weekend.
Is there anyone else seriously considering us?
January 18th, 2011 at 4:13 PM ^
but WTF is that? Anal space?
January 18th, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^
I lived in the same town as this guy* for two years:
The trick is to anticipate the gravitational pull and keep a safe distance. *Miss you, big guy.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:00 PM ^
We will be ok. We will have 27 juniors on are team next year followed by and 47 kids who can be sophmores next year or RS freshman, if Gardner and some other players get the medical RS then that will be like them being in this class. In the end I believe one not so good class will be ok aslong as we come back strong next year in recruiting.
January 18th, 2011 at 5:26 PM ^
are teem our guna be gud. maibee
January 18th, 2011 at 2:02 PM ^
(and I hate to agree with Mike Valenti)
but, Michigan is going to have a hard time competing for elite recruits no matter who the head coach is, and that is because they refuse to "get their hands dirty".
I am in no way saying Michigan should start breaking the rules or "get around them" like other schools (SEC) , but reality is that schools who do those things land the elite recruits.
Valenti mentioned this on the show a bunch last week. If you look at the past few NC contenders, they all run dirty programs or have a major booster than no one can compete with (Oregon)
Michigan refuses to stoop to those levels (which is a good thing) and as a result, miss out on the elite recruits.
It is alarming, though, that right now UM seems to be missing out on any recruit of note.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:06 PM ^
Michigan never pulled in class worse than 16th to Rivals, and was in the top 10 like 4 times, despite generally signing smaller classes than SEC schools (which is a big factor in how they rank teams).
This isn't basketball recruiting. We compete for elite talent just fine.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:13 PM ^
Your point is valid.
I must have been focusing on the fact that our recent elite "talent" has left or not developed lately.
Hopefully we're on the turnaround and experience will help.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^
We also lost a lot of that elite talent that we had in those classes ie Mallet, McGuffie, Demar Dorsey, Anthony LaLota (4 star), Vlad Emilien (4 star), Justin Turner, Boubacar, Brandon Smith. Not that this is anything new, but a lot of the top talen we have recruiter, didnt stay very long.
January 18th, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^
This. God we've lost so much talent the last few years that should have put us in a better position.
Postive attitude! Let's go!
*grits teeth*
January 18th, 2011 at 3:41 PM ^
If you look at the recently changed recruiting rankings, we would have had either 2 or 3 five stars in this class, with a number of four stars if RR had been retained.
I don't think RR was "getting dirty" with his recruiting, and this class would have been plenty good to compete with the big boys.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^
That isn't true at all. Michigan got top classes in the past. Notre Dame gets top classes regularly and they're about as clean recruiting wise as you can get.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:05 PM ^
the biggest needs in this class left are K (Matt Willie), DB (McClure), and DT....I saw on Rivals that Timmy Jernigan still has us in his "top" category, if not hopefully hoke can pull one of his former San Diego State targets
January 18th, 2011 at 3:51 PM ^
I really think that if Hoke had been hired earlier, we'd have had a chance at Jernigan. As he's said during the process, he doesn't want to be double teamed at NG, and Hoke could have (possibly still can) tell him if he comes in, his talent could very well put UM (if they aren't already) in a position to run a 4 man front, that's how good he can be, etc.
January 18th, 2011 at 5:29 PM ^
YOu made quite the comeback from Bolivia. Congrats!
January 18th, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^
Why didn't DB just fire RR AFTER national signing day?
January 18th, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^
so everybody in his recruiting class could transfer and then leave us completely screwed? this seems like the least logical option ever...
January 18th, 2011 at 2:24 PM ^
If Hoke says recruiting starts in Michigan than he is a fool. We are so close to Ohio and and Indiana and Wisconsin. There are plenty of recruits that will go to the OSU/Indiana/WI staff if they have the talent. That's the initial problem, our weak recruiting program or our lack of looking outside our own backyard. No disrespect to Michigan highschools, but man we gotta set our sights higher and farther and look outside of the box/state!
January 18th, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^
Good thing we didnt recruit Florida to find a QB made of dilithium named Denard.................
January 18th, 2011 at 2:32 PM ^
Or the fact that 3 out of 4 of our current players are from out of state, mostly florida, cali, and ohio
January 18th, 2011 at 2:33 PM ^
Why not dominate your back yard? Our recruiting, prior to RR, was always very strong. We ruled the state and plucked from across the nation. From Ohio, Texas, Cali, etc
<br>While brandon's slow motion in firing RR will hurt this year, it is likely that we will be back in the top 10 next year with recruits from Mich and everywhere else.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:41 PM ^
Has been on the rise as of late. I dont have it anymore, but the Maple Street Press' preseason review of Michigan had an excellent article in it about the return to recruiting in the midwest, especially in Ohio under the last few coaches. Had excellent points about how as the quantity of recruits from MI and OH tailed off so did the overall success of the team. This would have a lot more merit if I had a link to paste to it so if anyone wants to call BS go right ahead, I have nothing to back this claim up with!
January 18th, 2011 at 6:41 PM ^
If we are thinking of the same article it more specfiically referenced recruiting Ohio and tied it to the programs fortunes.
Then again, Dantonio made MSU relevant based almost entirely on in-state recruiting (and ignoring legal problems...but that's another post).
January 18th, 2011 at 8:48 PM ^
...and not playing Ohio State
...and playing both a new D-I and a D-IAA
...and by getting tremendously lucky on trick plays
January 18th, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^
lol I live in Indiana. There's no where near the talent here as there is in Michigan. Maybe if you want a basketball team but not football.
January 18th, 2011 at 6:44 PM ^
I live in WI and i can verify that MI has way more football and basketball recruits than here.
We have some solid kids, sure, but nothink like MI and tsbm(that state below michigan)
January 18th, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^
And add a couple of guys like Stefan McClure...
Hoke can still salvage an average class, I think.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:35 PM ^
I agree secure the soft verbals and bring in flowers, mcclure and a DT and while this class won't be the best in Michigan history, at least it contains talent that wants to be at Michigan. I think Rawls would be a good addition also.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:45 PM ^
January 18th, 2011 at 3:47 PM ^
I haven't heard anything about him lately, but I think he may have grade issues. Also, a while back he told the coaches he was coming up for a camp evaluation here, then never showed. I think this effectively ended his Michigan recruitment.
January 18th, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^
we wait until signing day before we form an opinion on this years class????
BTW, rawls is a freaking stud....if he gets in we won't even remember hart.
January 18th, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^
Shouldn't we at least look around for a qb in this class too? Assuming Tate won't be back all we have is denard and devin...and Kennedy but I'm not counting that.
January 18th, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^
Well, at least we don't have a bunch of transfers like the last time around....
January 18th, 2011 at 3:57 PM ^
(as someone who's wearing a "The Dude Abides" T-shirt today, +1)
January 18th, 2011 at 3:42 PM ^
Not good
January 18th, 2011 at 3:57 PM ^
Not a lot of time, but Brady Hoke should be able to send quite a few new offers out, do some key in-home visits, and finish strong.
I doubt Michigan will get to 19-20 commits this year, which sucks since Michigan football recruiting has been in a perpetual state of "reconstruction" since the infamous "No. 2 ranked! 2005 recruiting class that later evaporated into the stratosphere.
Hoke is probably a decent recruiter in terms of building relationships over the longer term, but he *!news flash!* lacks the big name and celebrity-like star power to attract in a top 20 class in just 15 business days. Next year should be better.
I think it's wise to adjust expectations for February 2's recruiting haul. And while you're at it, think 7-5 for 2011. Seriously.
January 18th, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
You may be right, but I am holding out for 8-4 because the conference is losing a lot of good seniors, the team will be older, and Denard is staying. And because I don't want to be "that guy" who complains because he doesn't see the sense of firing a 7-5 coach to get another guy to go 7-5.
January 18th, 2011 at 4:37 PM ^
I'm that guy.
January 18th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
Why make a coaching change and foobar the recruiting class if our expectations for next year are 7-5? Ugh!
January 18th, 2011 at 6:07 PM ^
I wasn't expecting 7-5 before the coaching change.
January 18th, 2011 at 6:45 PM ^
...on the news paper preview I think we'll win at least 8 games (MSU's is *primed* for a come to earth moment with at least 3 defensive starters graduating and I think at least 1-2 OL graduating).
January 18th, 2011 at 4:31 PM ^
Wherever we are, there is no "there" there.
January 18th, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^
But there is always hope, or Hoke, if you prefer.
January 18th, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^
Well, most of us think we're basically here:
...but a few people still insist that
...so I guess for now we need to
January 18th, 2011 at 5:26 PM ^
Is the last one supposed to be:
January 18th, 2011 at 6:09 PM ^
your heroine or your heroin?
January 19th, 2011 at 1:32 AM ^
How does the addition of Greg Mattison impact our recruiting? Seems like we have a few highly ranked defensive recruits that still show some interest in Michigan (i.e. Curtis Grant, Mickey Johnson, Tim Jernigan)
Do we have a shot at landing any of them?