Thursday Recruitin', Still Exploding
HANDPOCALYPSE YESTERDAY
![Explosion[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Thursday-Recruiting_C69F/Explosion1.jpg "Explosion[1]")
Yeah all that stuff about VA DE Da'Shawn Hand changing his stuff all around with the exception of Michigan was posted yesterday because EXPLOSIONS. One follow-up from the M Block catching up with Hand's coach:
So really, all it came down to was that Virginia Tech didn't have the degree he was looking for?
"Yeah. This was the thing. With Michigan, I'm telling you, one of those coaches owes that guy lunch man. I mean, he blew us all away. He had us raising our hands, asking questions and everything, it was crazy. I think he was the dean or something? I don't want to misquote it, I'm not exactly sure, but this guy was amazing. He just made it really interesting, Da'shawn was already kind of interested in that program, but after talking to him he was like, 'Wow, that's exactly what I want to do.' "
Hand's never been to Florida, FWIW, so they have to be regarded as the #3 team right now. They're mostly in it because they hired South Carolina's DL coach and Hand likes him. As much as Professor Needs A Raise? Probably not.
Usually the school that is the constant in an otherwise shifting picture is in good shape. If Hand was pulling the trigger today it would be M, with those officials the main barrier remaining.
Speight spins sfootballs
New highlights of Michigan's QB commit:
The linebacker picture
Michigan has two and is definitely looking for a third. Chase Winovich is a SAM, Ferns likely a MLB, so they're probably looking for a weakside guy, right? Well… Furbush complicates things since he is definitely a SAM, but in general it looks like it. Michigan is chasing CA LB Dwight Williams—who is planning to come in for the Notre Dame game—FL LB Darrion Owens, and has just offered MO LB Jimmie Swain. Swain is an inside type, as is Williams. Owens just moved down from safety so he could be a fit at WLB despite playing what looks like SAM in his team's spring game—at 6'4", 215 he could also grow into a college-level SAM.
Swain is a consensus three star with some decent offers (Nebraska, K-State, TCU, MSU, Tennessee and the terrifying recruiting machine that is Northwestern). He was on the verge of releasing a top five($) a couple days ago, but his plans may be changing with an influx of offers from Michigan, Oregon, and a couple others.
Meanwhile, Owens just picked up a Georgia offer at their camp, causing some Crystal Ball predictions to roll in for the Dawgs. FWIW, Michigan may be the main challenger right now:
The Georgia offer was "a big one" according to the Oakleaf coaching staff. Owens, who camped at Auburn Sunday, is believed to be a Georgia lean over Michigan and others.
A report from Auburn's camp($) also suggested M and Georgia are having a rare recruiting battle over the kid. FWIW, I ended up watching his hudl video and he's the guy I want. He brings a load when he tackles and cuts through traffic well. Michigan wants Owens to take his time, as he hasn't been to campus yet.
Commissioner Peppers is getting in with Williams, who has his own iphone app. He's got a top 16 that seems like a top-two-and-friends consisting of Florida (official also scheduled) and Michigan. Three other schools who grab officials will likely comprise a top five going into fall. Onetime favorite USC never offered and Williams said he was no longer considering them, so if he stays local it will be with UCLA. Williams is a teammate of Adoree' Jackson, FWIW.
Nevermind all that
IL OL Jamarco Jones was scheduled to roll through M, MSU, and OSU this weekend; instead he will stay home and play MarioKart:
Won't be making any of my planned visits
— Jamarco Jones (@jjones_73) June 13, 2013
With Ohio State the presumed, if narrow leader that's not good. Visits shake up the status quo more than MarioKart. Mitigating that a bit: Jones apparently posted some madface emoticons—they just show up as boxes for me—afterwards, indicating he's not happy with that development.
Difficulty level: nightmare
Well, it's not like anyone's banking on M picking up OH CB Marshon Lattimore, a Glenville kid reputed enamored with Ohio State, but here's a Wolverine Nation profile anyway. Michigan is scheduled for an official visit along with Alabama, USC, Tennessee(?!), and OSU. That does not constitute a top five according to Lattimore despite obviously being a top five.
Twitter is important and meaningful
Another blaze of Michigan business on 2015 FL WR George Campbell's twitter account, with Campbell exhorting Michigan fans to show fellow 2015 Floridian Jacques Patrick the proverbial love (Patrick is a Derrick-Green-like RB, FWIW) and follow Wilton Speight. Along the way he retweeted TomVH's manual retweet of his original tweet. WE HAVE TO GO DEEPER.
Then Mason Cole's brother started blowing him up with exhortations to head to AA. Twitter, being the iron-clad arbiter of all things, means Campbell will end up in Ann Arbor. Yea, it is in stone.
Moment of zen
2015 OH/Denmark TE/DE Hjalte Froholdt is interviewed by ESPN and compares the schools that he's been to in his whirlwind summer:
“All of them stuck out,” Froholdt said. “It’s amazing how big they are. It’s all about family at each school. They’re all very nice people.
“They all have a great stadium, a great locker room and great facilities. There’s not a facility where you ask if they have something and they say, ‘No, I’m sorry we don’t.’ Everyone has four practice fields; it’s hard to compare. I’m happy for everything that has happened.”
This has been your moment of zen.
Etc.
Michigan is trying to get involved($) with TN WR Josh Malone, a consensus top 100 guy. He's going to narrow to five and take officials; bet this is the only time we hear about him before a Happy Trails is issued.
The M Block confirms that OSU is leading with NJ RB Jonathan Hilliman; Hilliman will be at the BBQ.
Here's 2015 MI WR Brian Cole running routes and such at the NFTC. Cole is probably the top kid in the state next year, but since he doesn't have giant Mickey Mouse hands like Ian Bunting I cannot recommend actually watching the video.
Terrifying recruiting machine Northwestern has interest in 2015 Michigan legacy Tyriq Thompson. Everyone who is going to be at camp. It's a long, long list. M is after 2015 UT LB Osa Masina, who will visit this summer($), possibly for camp. His brother just signed with Utah, FWIW.
Have we mentioned that Chase Winovich got a fourth star from Scout? Well, he did. Moe Ways remains Sleeper Of The Year By Default.
Sorry, Brian, I hate to be that guy, but...
Their mostly in it because they hired South Carolina's DL coach and Hand likes him.
I think you meant "they're."
/that guy
Happens to the best of us.
DAMMIT
i caught that a second after it was posted, but i was at the deli. Sorry. Sorry all. Copyeditor was at the deli. Tony's Deli. Had a turkey reuben.
But tell us more about this reuben.
Sandwiches, man... always with the sandwiches...
Most butchered words online have to be:
there/their/they're
definitely (I dry heave every time I see definAtely)
effect/affect
I know I'm missing some other common gems.
Yeah your missing alot of them. I realize you would of put them down if you remembered, but the ones you got really bother me, to.
and yet you write "would of" instead of "would have" or "would've"....Now if I'm not mistaken, I would say someone spelling a word wrong in a post in which they are complaining about people spelling things wrong is.......ironic....TIMMMAY, can I get clarification here please? (That's serious by the way).
There are a few others in there, champ.
I was so close to getting that joke that it gave me a buzz cut as it flew over my head! Sorry dude!
I would like to moderate your comment with "over your head," but you see, that just is not an option.
Brian, get on this please.
Do I have OCD if I can't truly enjoy this post? I get the satire, but dammit...
My most horrible to the ears:
I seen....
Am I the only one who thought Wilton Speight's highlight tape was rather good for an "non-athletic 3 star"?
When Speight committed, I was thinking the coaches may have jumped too quick, because we had others that may have come on board had we waited. But man, he is really looking good in that highlight film, and he's a pretty good recruiter too. You know what they say........."Real recognize Real"
No, you're not.
don't forget the weak arm!
there might be a nice battle for the starting QB spot. Should hopefully make both Morris and Speight better, and allow UM to hopefully have a viable backup should the starter get hurt.
I like that he always puts some air under the ball and just doesn't try and throw darts. Navarre was tall like Speight, but he had a lot of passes knocked down because he tried to just throw darts. Henne had his share of knock downs, too. Gotta know how to throw it over the defenders.
And the opportunities we still have out there are kinda amazing. With all the anticipation its hard to even think about how long it will be before most of these guys actually even are making an impact on the field for Michigan.
Sleeper of the Year by default you say? My, my, my...how recruiting has changed for UM in the last few years.
is important and meaningful.
I think Alabama is in the process of hiring an actor to do their sports management presentation, after they get the department created.
...he has a deft touch.
I think he throws alot of touch passes too. That's probably why there were questions regarding his arm strengh early on. I think also because he's so tall he doesn't appear to be throwing as hard as others.
Is there a general feeling yet on who the third LB is likely to be?
But Kinesiology in general and Sport Management in particular are pretty small programs. There is more personal interaction with professors than in many other departments.
My opinion is that Hand was amazed at what the professor (dean?) had to say about the SM program not exactly that he was enamoured with that partcular professor who gave the presentation.
When he announces his commitment, I would like to see it televised on one of those home shopping networks; and he should be standing outside a large circular table on which will sit the hats of every FBS and FCS school in the country. Music will start, and he will begin to walk around the table. When the music stops, he’ll pick up the hat nearest to where he stands and throw that hat in a large barrel. Last hat remaining on the table will be his college choice. . . . And I'd like Michael Buffer to introduce him.
I think Sam Webb has said that the coaches told Furbush they are recruiting him as a MIKE, despite his size.
"super buddy" class, where we get two good players from multiple schools. We already have JBB and Peppers, Cole and hopefully Scott, and if we could get Owens and Jackson, I would be like dang.
The coaches don't actually think things like "We need to find a SAM." or "Who is the best WIL prospect out there?". Instead, they look around and offer LINEBACKERS they like when and if they think they need more linebackers.
I don't know if that's true or not, but it sure seems like it.
Consider; our projected starting SLB was a WR and then a safety and now lines up at DE at times. Our projected starting MLB was our starting WLB last year. We just moved a safety recruit over to SLB.
Until they get into a situation of competing for a starting spot, and sometimes even later, linebackers are linebackers and all this overanalysis of positions and physical metrics is pretty silly.
I think in the coahces minds there is a pretty distinct difference between the SLB and the WLB and MLB. They clearly crave different body types when playing people in those roles. I'm no expert by any means but from what I have read on the board many times is that you need a bigger (taller and longer arms as well as heavier) player as the SLB because they are often taking on pulling linemen and bigger blockers in general. They like the longer arms to keep blockers from getting into their bodies and physically bigger players at the spot to better handle the size of theplayers who will be blocking them.
From everything I have read on the others you can pretty much interchange them (WLB and MLB) with one another. In other words agreeing with what you said in your post. So I guess what I am saying is to me (from what I have read) there is a clear differentiation between SLB and the other two spots.
But ultimately it comes down to being a good football player. Jordan Paskorz maybe closer to prototypical size for a SAM, but James Ross is going to play the position better.
You're talking about a position where position transfers have occured from both the secondary and the DL - just this year. Even though Beyer and Gordon were inhereted from Rodriguez this coaching staff thinks they're the best two options despite having very different bodies.
I do agree that SAM is the outlier to an extent because the other two are identical, but when you're talking about people like Ferns and McCray, I don't think the coaches think things are locked in stone about where these kids end up.
Just because James Ross is an amazing player at WLB, doesn't mean he will do the same at SAM.
AFAIK, SAM requires some length so OL can't latch on. I think Ross' size and length will limit how effective he is at SAM.
But our starter is a converted WR and Safety and we just moved another DB there.
WDE may be more like SAM, but it's just another position where there is great flexibility. The 2-deep at WDE last spring was Beyer and Black. One is now a DT and the other a LB.
Nickelback is another spot - we've have Courtney Avery there, a small corner, and we've had Thomas Gordon there, now a strong safety.
The prototypical height/weight for these positions is secondary to ability and circumstance. The best players will see the field and the coaches have said as much.
Our starter is actually a guy who played SAM, then moved to WDE, then moved back to SAM.
Nickel corner is just about the worst example you can find, because it's not a full-time position and we had basically nobody to play that position. We were very thin at safety/corner, and despite starting there for two years, now the coaches seem to be moving Avery away from nickel corner because he's not their prototype. They want somebody who can blitz there, which is why Dymonte Thomas seems to be usurping the position. If Gordon played that position, who was supposed to play FS? The coaches were in a position they really didn't like.
So yeah, while people PLAY based on need and the coaches are willing to rearrange, that doesn't mean the coaches RECRUIT without a prototype in mind.
Is different than recruiting with a predetermined destiny. I don't think the coaches think Bolden has to be a MIKE for example. I don't think they think Braden or Kalis have to be OG, as they've already worked at both. Gant moved away from safety.
When the coaches see Peppers I don't think they're too worried about if he ends up as a safety or cornerback, ditto for Stribling.
I'm sure they have an idea or vision for some kids, but they're flexible enough to recognize that things change, there is no certainity, and there is no point in overthinking it.
Well, of course they're flexible enough to adjust, move guys around, etc. If they had three WILLs, one MIKE, and three SAMs, would you expect them to just say "Well, if our starting MIKE gets hurt, I guess we'll just play with ten guys"?
What is a rational response when they see, time and time again, that recruits don't pan out as expected? Some they get totally wrong, not even talking about positions, but their ability to contribute to special teams even. Others they move around. Every year we get a dozen position switches from the coaches. Do you really think they're still going to peg guys into very specific positions when they don't have to? To continue to plan in a way that has shown to not be accurate?
I think the coaches recognize that their crystal balls aren't perfectly clear. I really find it hard to believe they do any sort of exercise as detailed as the depth chart by class on MGoBlog. I'm sure they do it for position groups, but for slot WR, boundary corner, LG, WILL -- I really doubt it.
In your example, I think they say, we have 7 LBs - let's start our best 3, one at each spot. If the one MIKE is not as good of a player as the 2nd SAM on your list, they'll move the 2nd SAM over. In other words, if Beyer or Gordon don't play up to their potential and Bolden excels as a backup - he'll be moved to SAM, even if he's not the prototype.
You're talking about two different things.
One is recruiting.
One is coaching.
You seem to be mixing up the two. You said earlier that you think they recruit "linebackers" and then slot them into positions later, but there's no evidence that they do that. I totally agree that they'll put a backup MIKE at SAM if the backup MIKE is the best player for the SAM position at the time, but that has nothing to do with recruiting.
And the coaches recruit to fit the needs of the team. I think they recognize and value flexibility, because they know they'll need it.
They've specifically said that WILL and MIKE are all but identical - yet people continue to project a high school player as one or the other. Others may not agree that the flexibility extends to SAM but it certainly applies to the ILB spots.
The current recruiting strategy - offers out to LBs of all types and sizes - supports my argument more than it supports the view that coaches have a specific position pegged for every guy and determine needs at specific spots to determine recruiting strategy.
While I'm sure they tell kids - we see you at X position doing ___ things as a recruiting tool, they also know that plans change all the time and they prepare themselves for that uncertainty as best they can.
"They've specifically said that WILL and MIKE are all but identical - yet people continue to project a high school player as one or the other."
No, they haven't. They have said that the MIKE is usually a bigger guy, and the WILL is usually a quicker guy. They are somewhat interchangeable because they have similar responsibilities, but there's a reason that Demens played MIKE and not WILL, that Ross is playing WILL and not MIKE, that Morgan bumped from WILL to MIKE, etc.
Does Morgan fit in the middle better becuase of his still set?
"Well, he was in the middle all the time. I've had that question asked a number of times. Is he a better MIKE than a WILL? the MIKE and the WILL are almost the exact same player. They're the same thing. there's not much that separates the two. it just allows us to get guys on the filed quicker. He was the most experienced of the guys --so if there are any subtleties -- to move there. And age. he's got [two years] of being out there in the big games, where James [Ross] has had one year. Joe Bolden showed be some very good things, too. Royce [Jenkins-Stone] did some very good things. It's just again, who keeps improvign this summer."
http://mgoblog.com/content/spring-practice-presser-transcript-4-15-13-greg-mattison
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