Recruits In Retrospect: 2010 Offense
Previously: 2008 Offense, 2008 Defense, 2009 Defense, 2009 Quarterbacks, 2009 Offense
It's apparently that arbitrary down time in the offseason when I take a look back at Brian's recruiting profiles for the class that just finished their time at Michigan. In this case, that class is the infamous 2010 group, the last full class brought in by Rich Rodriguez during his time at Michigan.
So, uh, you've been forewarned.
I'll start with the nine offensive players in the class, five of whom were wide receivers. If that sounds like a strange and dangerous way to contruct a roster, you may be a longtime reader of this here blog. Or maybe you just watched the offensive line the last few years. Either/or, really.
We're Really Sorry About The Coaching Thing
As a Pioneer grad, I have no idea how Pioneer won this game.
By the time Brian wrote up Devin Gardner's profile, he'd already enrolled at Michigan and participated in the spring game. The comparison that came up the most in his profile—and, really, the most reasonable one to make at the time—is a pretty good indication of the level of expectation for Gardner's college career:
Why Vince Young? The combination of size, speed, a wonky throwing motion, and the multiple comparisons from gurus tips the balance over to Young, who redshirted despite being the top prospect in the country and didn't come into his own as a passer until he played Michigan in the Rose Bowl—awesome timing!
Guru Reliability: High. Ton of exposure to him. Elite 11 camp, UA game, all that stuff.
General Excitement Level: Towering. Vast. Expansive.
Gardner, of course, stayed on track—except for the cameo at wide receiver—by looking like a future star when he took the reins after Denard Robinson's injury in 2012, and while he had some disappointing outings in 2013, those were largely chalked up to the O-line and playcalling. It came off the rails last year for a host of reasons covered so thoroughly they're not worth bringing up again. Needless to say, reading through his profile leaves one with serious what-could've-been feels.
[Hit THE JUMP for Dramatic Cupcake Hopkins and, well, mostly disappointment.]
Your Running Back Class In One GIF
Stephen Hopkins also enrolled early, and after a spring game photograph caught him in a moment of serious bug-eye, the internet did its thing:
Oh, the memes of yore.
Hopkins mostly played fullback at Michigan. His most notable play came in the first Notre Dame night game, when Denard Robinson scooped up his goal-line fumble and scored to open the most insane fourth quarter in recent memory. Hopkins left the program at the end of the 2012 season, got his degree, and played a grad year at Tennessee State in 2014.
The other running back in the class, Livonia native Austin White, left the team so quickly Brian didn't even get around to writing a profile before he was gone. White had multiple run-ins with the law after transferring to Central Michigan, getting the boot there, and eventually landed at D-II Fairmont State in West Virginia.
The Threat And... Others
[Upchurch]
Michigan took five receivers in the class. Just two managed to see the field in any real capacity, and only one—not the one anybody expected—made a consistent impact.
The misses were impressive if only for their variety. DJ Williamson came to campus with serious track bona fides and, well, serious track bona fides:
Anyway, if you give DJ Williamson some lycra and maybe a baton and tell him to run in a straight line he's excellent at it. The internet shouts this on every Google results page.
When it comes to the other stuff with the helmets and the changing directions and possibly getting blasted by some other guy with a helmet, however, it's remarkably hard to find out anything.
Williamson redshirted, then announced his plans to transfer following spring practice in 2011. He ended up at Akron, where's he's still running track ... and not playing football.
Jerald Robinson spent two years gaining practice hype and destroying one parking garage gate, scattered five catches through the 2012 season, and left before the bowl game. He'd later get busted for felony drug charges that must've been reduced significantly, as he wound up on the roster at D-II Walsh University in his hometown of Canton.
The profile for Ricardo Miller, a blue chip Florida prospect early in his high school career who ended up on the 3/4-star borderline after moving to Ann Arbor Pioneer, noted he "already has a hell of a Wikipedia page." That page now features a discussion of why it was deleted:
I created this article in February 2010 when Miller was a highly-touted recruit for the Michigan football team. He received a lot of press for his high school playing career and recruitment. However, he ended up as a complete "bust" at the college level. He barely appeared in any games for Michigan and then transferred to UMass where he again failed to become a notable player. In retrospect, my creation of this article was premature.
That about covers it.
Jeremy Jackson's profile features a long aside on his seemingly star-studded offer sheet; despite being a generic three-star all the way through the process, Fred Jackson's son claimed offers from the likes of Florida, LSU, and Texas. Let's just say there's some skepticism. As for the scouting reports, they picked up on the weakness that would prevent Jackson from being more than a bit player at Michigan:
"Jackson is a big, lumbering wide receiver prospect with great size and a thick build." ...
The rest of it is more of the same: "lacks great burst," "may struggle to create separation," "mismatch in the red zone," "reliable," "excels in a crowd," etc. He gets a lot of Eckstein adjectives; the evaluation screams "son of coach"; in no way does it make it seem likely that Florida and Texas offered a kid in Michigan before his junior year is over.
Jackson didn't have the wheels to get breathing space against college defensive backs. If you wanted to create the most effective Franken-receiver in this class, Jackson's upper body on Williamson's legs wouldn't be a bad place to start.
Finally, there's Drew Dileo, who carved out a solid career as a reliable, underutilized slot receiver. Due to Dileo's token-three-star ratings and relative lack of notable offers, his commitment came under more criticism than any of the others. He took it well, then more than held up his end of the bargain:
“I know my profile isn’t as great as a lot of other kids’ around the country,” he said. “I know (Michigan) reached out there a little bit to get me. It’s not about proving anybody wrong. I just don’t want people up there to feel like I wasted a scholarship.”
Based on the 2012 MSU game alone, he definitely earned his spot.
Hnnnnnnnngggghhh
Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggghhhhhhhhhhhh:
Christian Pace is the entire 2010 Michigan offensive line recruiting class. Those of you with fingers will be able to calculate the number of offensive linemen who play at the same time, note the number of people one person is (it is one), and grimace meaningfully at the lack of people just one person is. But that's another show. This one is about the one person.
Pace looked to be the heir apparent to David Molk: an undersized, nimble, technically sound center with a great feel for the game. Unfortunately, injuries forced Pace to take a medical scholarship by the following summer, and Michigan felt the effects of its non-existent 2010 offensive line class for years to come. Hnnnnnnnnngh.
At least it was quick. Thank you for making it quick.
Is Brian still in a dark room listening to the Smiths? After reading this I think I will join him.
We were too HARBAUGH happy
Devin Gardner plus a side of sad
What a thing that was!
Quite a thing!
Jesus. Just wait until the 2010 defense post.
- Cullen Christian
- Demar Dorsey
- Carvin Johnson
- Antonio Kinard
- Marvin Robinson
- Davion Rogers
- Terrence Talbott
- Terry Talbott
- Ray Vinopal
- Kenny Wilkins
Marcus Witherspoon and Hill the smaller fast OLB from ohio...
RR is a good coach. He develops players, installs a scheme that maximizes his talent, and seems to genuinely care about his team.
But damn if he didn't shit the bed a few times while he was here, and this class was one of those.
He did assemble one of the deepest WR groups ever here in 2011.
Let's assume Stonum did not have a run-in with the law and had to redshirt. Hell, even without him:
- Junior Hemingway (yeah, he didn't recruit him but Hemingway played the meat of his career for RR)
- Roy Roundtree
- Martavious Odoms
- Darryl Stonum
- Kelvin Grady
- Jeremy Gallon
So 2, maqybe 3 above average guys if you count roundtree and zero game changing nfl talent. (Gallon was great but not against like MSU). I wouldn't point that out as some great success of RR.
Stupid double post. RR recruited the same guys he did at wvu. It didn't work out at Michigan.
The WR corps when I arrived at Michigan is 1993 was:
- Derrick Alexander
- Amani Toomer
- Mercury Hayes
- Walter Smith
Now THAT was a good WR corps.
Even Manningham, Arrington, Matthews with Carson Butler was solid.
Split End: Tai Streets (Sr), Diallo Johnson (Sr), Marquise Walker (Fr)
Flanker: Markus Knight (Jr), David Terrell (Fr)
Y-Tight End: Jerame Tuman (Sr), Mark Campbell (Sr), Bill Seymour (So)
U-Tight End: Aaron Shea (Sr), Shawn Thompson (So)
They were pretty good.
Rodriguez pieces:
- Roundtree: yanked last minute from Purdue, earning the "Snake Oil" meme.
- Odoms: 100% Rodriguezian Florida muck rabbit-chasing slot bug.
- Gallon: Kind of like Odoms except with more stars
Program pieces:
- Stonum: recruited by Carr. Solid 4-star
- Hemingway: Carr recruit--remember he was interviewed constantly by the SEC recruiting people after The Horror and asked if he's solid because why would a South Carolina kid go Michigan when the Big Ten sucks ESS EEE SEE!
- Grady19: Kevin Grady's little brother. Was on the basketball team, wasn't getting minutes
I wrote an article for MGo when the 2010 receiver class was being assembled called "Whence the Receivers" about how RR planned to make constant 4-verts the next iteration of his spread offense. Instead that happened at Ohio State. FMML.
All I remember is Dileo, Ryan, Black and Gardner honestly. And the Dorsey story.
upon trashing/critiquing players (see Norfleet lol), Ace sure did just SHIT all over these former players and their production level.
Ace did a brief yet accurate assessment of a player's contributions to the team, and the only people who came out of the post looking foolish are the coaches/recruiters who did a poor job of a) accurately identifying talent, and/or b) filling the roster with the proper amount of players at positions of need.
Dennis Norfleet was a last minute, signing day addition, when Michigan struck out on other players in the class that they valued more. His stats at Michigan in three years have been 157 yards receving and 104 yards rushing. Anyone with 4.5 speed or better would have matched his return productions. I will not miss his production level if not back.
Is that better MGoUsers?
Still carrying your Norfleet hate, huh? You've carried that weight all day now. Time to set it down and rest.
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Dileo: 2012 MSU game, and also the Power Slide.
The 2010 class will go down as the worst in decades and certainly in modern UM history.
Devin could've been decent with better coaching.
You really have to feel for the kid.
Morris got it even worse with three OCs in three years. No wonder the kid doesn't look very good.
Morris got it even worse with three OCs in three years. No wonder the kid doesn't look very good.
The paragraph about Christian Pace is why I read this blog. I lose sight of this fact from time to time but Brian is a really, really good writer.
DO YOU HEAR ME, BRIAN COOK? YOU WRITE WELL, SIR.
Hm? I mean Ace is also a good writer, but unless he was publishing under Brian's byline in 2010 then Brian wrote the paragraph I was referring to.
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Devin Gardner suffered more from the transition than anyone.
Really glad I've got a beer in hand as I read through this one. Devin Gardner has been one of my favorite players, and I'll always wonder what could have been with different coaching.
Also amazing how foreboding the offensive line predictions were at the time. If i remember right everyone on this blog was thinking we needed receivers desparately at the time, and they could make it up with a big o-line class the next year.
Goodness, Hoke just flat out ruined Gardner. Just look at him physically in that video and at the end of 2012 as well as into half of 2013. He looks strong and healthy.
By the end of 2013, the non-stop no blocking scheme Hoke had set up had just ruined him physically and eventually mentally.
Not to mention, we had to have told him NOT to run early in 2014, because you could see him hestitate all the time and not run when there was space.
Then you bench him against Minnesota - the team he dominated in his first start in 2012 and dominated again in 2013.
If Hoke's offensive line blocking style was something other than the lineman turning around and watching Gardner get hit and hit, including late and dirty, his career could have been totally different.
You don't go from the success at the end of 2012 to 2014 without a player being torn to shreds phyically and mentally.
Regardless of what he may have done elsewhere, RR was a fucking slow-motion train wreck at Michigan. From firing the entire staff (save for Jackson) on his first day, to being ignorant of traditions, to running off the talent he inherited, alienating former players, failure to recruit, NCAA violations, TERRIBLE handling of team morale ("We're gonna stop the bus on the way to Happy Valley and hold open kicker tryouts"), bad win/loss record, and on and on.
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