Monday Recruitin' Awaits The Inevitable Comment Count

Ace

Commence Exodus


Happy trails.

Even before Saturday's debacle, Michigan's 11-member recruiting class of 2015 was beginning to fall apart. Four-star NC DE Darian Roseboro, who committed to M at the very end of August, took an official visit to NC State over the weekend, per Tim Sullivan ($):

Now, however, Roseboro is on an official visit across the state to Raleigh, and Michigan's grip on him may be slipping.

"How much he liked NC State, and if that was enough to beat Michigan, wasn't the same before his commitment," Rivals.com Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Analyst Adam Friedman said. "This is clearly a reaction to the way Michigan's season is going and the reported instability of the coaching staff."

Rosoboro added an offer from Oklahoma today, and 247's Steve Lorenz reports that he's telling other coaching staffs he's no longer committed to Michigan ($).

In that same article, Lorenz mentions two other commits are looking around. The first is four-star TE Chris Clark, which comes as little surprise considering he'd already considered taking other official visits in recent weeks. The second is four-star CB Garrett Taylor, who says that he's "going to take my five official visits and see what happens," and won't even confirm whether or not Michigan will receive one of those visits.

A couple commits have reaffirmed their commitments, at least. The headline regarding S Tyree Kinnel on The Wolverines says it all—he "committed to a program." OT Grant Newsome kept it simple in talking to Rivals' Adam Friedman: "I committed to the University of Michigan, not the University of Brady Hoke."

This is inevitable when there's this much turmoil surrounding a program: the recruits are looking around, and even if Brady Hoke keeps his job, he's either going to have to make some serious compromises about how he handles commits taking visits to other schools or risk losing a large portion of this class.

[Hit THE JUMP for updates on Tyrone Wheatley Jr., Daelin Hayes, and more.]

Wheatley "Hasn't Talked" To Michigan Much

If Michigan is hoping Tyrone Wheatley Jr. is going to replace Clark in the class at tight end should Clark eventually decommit, they might want to get on the phone:

“I haven’t talked to (Michigan) a lot.  Coach Mallory is hitting me up daily on Facebook and stuff like that.  I haven’t really talked to Coach Hoke, Ferrigno or any of them that much lately.”

“I’m sure they’ll call me soon, send me a letter.  I’ll call them.  I’ve got to figure out when I’m going to get out there.”

Meanwhile, Wheatley mentioned that Alabama, Oregon, USC, and UCLA are all making a lot of effort in recruiting him.

Yesterday, Sam Webb caught up with the elder Tyrone Wheatley, who said the talk of Hoke being on the hot seat "makes absolutely no difference because we’re not paying attention to it," in regard to his son's recruitment.

Etc.

In a bit of a surprise, four-star 2016 LB Daelin Hayes, who played for Orchard Lake St. Mary's before committing to USC this summer and moving to the Los Angeles area, visited for the game on Saturday, even getting a chance to chat with former Trojan Ty Isaac. As it turns out, Hayes is moving back to Michigan because of a custody issue. This might give M a chance to get back into his recruitment, but... well, you know, the whole program in turmoil thing.

Michigan offered three-star 2016 CA WR Theo Howard last week, per GBW's Kyle Bogenschutz ($): 

“Michigan has always been my favorite and it’s been a dream since I was a little kid so a lot of relief and joy,” Howard said. “My parents were happy.

“Basically, I just like how they’re explosive and stuff like that and they like my speed and loved my tape. I’ll probably go and take an unofficial visit there at the end of the season.”

Let's end on an uplifting note: you're strongly encouraged to read TomVH's excellent feature on Cleveland native and Florida commit Jerome Baker doing great work to coordinate with other top Ohio athletes and speak out against domestic violence.

Comments

DavidP814

September 29th, 2014 at 8:26 PM ^

I don't see Peppers leaving...  Given that he is most likely thinking 3 and done, a transfer would give NFL scouts only 1 full season of him on tape (given the unexplained lack of playing time for him so far).  That's the biggest reason I can see him staying here.

Dorothy_ Mantooth

September 29th, 2014 at 7:15 PM ^

...will lose some Hoke recruits, but a great HC hire will solidify the class (which is limited class anyway) and could actually prompt a net improvement to the class.  Look what OSU did w/the Meyer hire - they closed out their class (and the following year) strong...now i know there's probably not a readily available Urban Meyer-type going to drop into UM's lap, but it does provide UM fans something to hope for an already lost season.

And if those ratings services (Rivals, etc) legitimately do recognize talent, then UM's roster next year should be fairly stocked - that's if no key player(s) leave when Hoke is shown the door

phork

September 29th, 2014 at 9:54 PM ^

If kids start leaving the program itself, then you never wanted them there in the first place.  I wish these kids would realize that they should commit to a school and a program and not a coach.  Coaches turn over like crazy.  I hope Peppers isn't that way, but I don't think you have to worry.

 

Those who stay will be champions, right?

phork

September 30th, 2014 at 10:12 AM ^

The coach is part of it. When football is done and for 90% of the kids in college that don't make the NFL that degree is more important.  If you are basing a 40 year decision based on a man who may or may not be there the following year, well I guess you need a wider view of life.

gte896u

September 29th, 2014 at 10:38 PM ^

this is supposed to be an independent venture. either they can give their open opinions or the athletic department should throw some of their recruiting budget at bevelled guilt. since the latter is never happening, I would just rather read honest thoughts from the writers.

Jevablue

September 30th, 2014 at 12:11 AM ^

Sure it hurts to see recruits bail on Michigan.  But the sad fact is that with the exception of Ohio State, we've been getting beat by the combination of weaker recruiting classes and better coaches across the board for several years now.  And, what 4 or 5 star with choices galore across the country, other than a born in Michigan life long fan of the Wolverines, would sign on with Hoke / Brandon?  Michigan will be great again, but the coaching matters more than anything, and the road to recovery and then greatness hinges on that.  Until this gets fixed, expectations cannot possibly be lowered enough.   So sure recruiting will plummet, but there is a lot of talent out there and what is most needed is a staff capable of multiplication vs subtraction (or division, whatever). 

FatGuyTouchdown

September 30th, 2014 at 1:55 AM ^

that come with a very poor season if it insures that we clean house and completely rid ourselves of this regime. Think of it like ripping off a bandaid. We can get rid of everyone, and maybe have 1 down year soon because of this poor recruiting class, or we can hope for Hoke to tread water and underperform... (As we've seen the last few weeks, Hoke is almost assuredly gone, I was just giving a hypothetical)

west2

September 30th, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^

to whats happening on the field is recruiting defections.  If you were a recruit or a parent of a recruit would you want to come to M right now?  If I was a coach of another BgTn team or any college team I would be contacting the 2015 M commits and making a pitch.   I siimply hope that the reactionary, slow to respond, mired in the mud administration starts to move in the inevitable right direction of cleaning house and starting anew...again.  The sooner the better.