Building Recruiting Pipelines

Submitted by Marley Nowell on

An part of recruiting that I think gets overlooked is the creation of recruiting pipelines.  These are espeicallly important for Michigan Football compared to other schools because a majority of the scholarship players come from outside the state they are located in. RR (along with Ricardo Miller) was on his way to possibly builiding a pipeline to Dr.Phillips HS, but we all know how that turned out. Here a couple of other pipelines from the RR era that I feel the coaching staff should focus on maintaining:

Cass Tech (Detroit, MI)

This one is a no brainer, and with Michigan Alum Coach Wilcher at the helm this pipeline should be solid for years to come. This year is looking to pay off big with both LB Royce Jenkins-Stone and DB Terry Richardson hopefully joining the 2012 Class.

Trotwood-Madison (Trotwood, OH)

There are both players on the football roster recruited by Carr (Moore) and RR (Roundtree, Shaw) from Trotwood that I am hopeful this can continue with the new coaching staff. Establihsing a recruiting pipeline in talent-rich Ohio would also be a boon for years to come. This year the staff may go after a position of need,  S Bam Bradley.

Chaparral (Scottsdale, AZ)

RR started this possible pipeline with Craig "Death" Roh and Taylor Lewan in 2009. Chaparral has a slew of D1 prospects this year and WR Davonte Neal would make a great addition to the 2012 Class.

GO BLUE!

Comments

Steweiler

February 13th, 2011 at 9:30 PM ^

I meant standouts at Michigan.  So far, there has not been any from Cass Tech that have actually made an impact.

Boubacar:  We all know what happened there, but even while he was here and playing, he was being abused by receivers. 

Will Campbell:  serious non-factor on the D-line.  I watched some film on him at practice, and he wasn't even remotely competitive. 

Steweiler

February 14th, 2011 at 9:24 AM ^

...I guess you got me on that one.  But considering that those guys are in their 50's, they would not be considered in what I would call the current "Pipeline".  

I would rather pluck a guy like Tyrone Wheatley out of Dearborn Heights Robichaud and not hear from that particular school for 20 years than keep on taking guys from the same school that don't have any actual great impact on the field.  

I just don't think pipelines are any answer for recruiting. Unless we start seeing a school churn out 5-star, high-impact, All-Big Ten caliber players year after year that only seem to pick Michigan, I think we should try to get the bast player no matter the school.

kaykaybroke

February 13th, 2011 at 9:16 PM ^

Good Post, and I agree pipelines are often overlooked... 

I think Hoke will make it a priority to establish more pipeline schools in Ohio

Also, Simeon HS (Chris Bryant, hopefully Jordan Diamond) and Our Lady of Good Counsel (Blake Countess, hopefully Stefon Diggs) continue to pump out D1 caliber players on a yearly basis, hopefully some good years to come with those schools as well

Michigania

February 13th, 2011 at 9:23 PM ^

I think inroads to schools are important, but disagree on "pipelines".  Coaches do not want to say, send kids to only one school, like Farmington Harrison  Coach Herrington only sending guys to MSU, or Wilcher at Cass only to UofM. Think about it...coaches would much rather claim that they were able to send their players to multiple top Division 1 schools.

Impaler 19

February 13th, 2011 at 10:56 PM ^

There was an article in the Freep this past week about a signing event that was held for all players from the DPS league.  In the article it talked about 10 Cass Tech players heading off to college on scholarships. 

Here is the link to the article: http://www.freep.com/article/20110210/HSS/102100514/1054/SPORTS06/Cass-Tech-players-going-Michigan-WMU-Wayne-State

For those that don't want to click the link they have players going to Michigan, Illinois, Western Michigan, Toledo, Wayne State and Saginaw Valley State.  While it looks like the cream at Cass Tech ends up at Michigan I think that the coaches there are willing to send their kids into a situation that best suits them.  As a parent I would want my son to have  a coach in high school that does this.

jethro34

February 13th, 2011 at 10:02 PM ^

Didn't they come in the same class, not Lewan a year later?  Lewan had a redshirt year, but they were both class of 2009.

As for Cass Tech, don't forget that Thomas Gordon joined Campbell in that 09 class, and Delonte Hollowell is in the 2011 class that just signed.

Inkster was good to us with Cam Gordon and Devin Gardner.

Wasn't OLSM a pipeline until 2008 or so?

Seth

February 14th, 2011 at 8:05 AM ^

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes, I think.

The idea for a diary was good, but I think the OP didn't put the time into it that this topic needed. A coaching change can have a big effect on a pipeline, and I disagree that pipelines are overrated -- anything that makes kids more interested in a school is a big deal. A school can still be a pipeline even if it's sending less than half of its NCAA players here. The player and the school have to ultimately be a match. The difference a pipeline makes is that there's only so many schools a prospective player can look at closely enough to know if he's a fit, and having former teammates with good experiences at Michigan means we'll be right up there with the local schools as places to consider.

He ultimately went to Oregon, but Andre Yruretagoyena was considering Mich precisely because Lewan and Roh were here. So even that tenuous "pipeline" worked to a degree, since the school's only BCS recruit since was a guy in the middle of Arizona who was interested in Michigan.

UMaD

February 14th, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^

Roh or Lewan or both considered Michigan without any 'pipeline' foundation being layed.  Considering he ended up at Oregon, maybe it was the appeal of Rodriguez and his system that had Yruretagoyena interested in Michigan.

Again, its an advantage, to be sure.  But I think it's overstated more often than it's understated.

I see your point if Michigan hypothetically had a pipeline at a distant place like Chapparel or DeMatha or some other out-of-state school that otherwise wouldn't put local Michigan/Ohio schools immediately under consideration anyway.  I think that's particularly true if there isn't a prestigious program nearby.  However, to my knowledge, Michigan's never had such a pipeline outside of the region.

Your point is that it opens up Michigan to be considered, which I think is true.  That said, Michigan is a big enough name where many kids are going to consider it anyway.  But the bottomline is that 'being considered' is nice, it doesn't necessarily make a huge difference.

Recruiting is complicated process and many factors play a role.  I just don't see the 'pipeline' issue as being significant very often.

Frankly, I'm more interested in disrupting the Glenville pipeline to OSU than I am in developing new ones for Michigan.

UMaD

February 13th, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^

of producing BCS caliber talent, someone inevitably makes a comment about 'pipelines'. 'I'd love to have a pipeline at X School"  If anything this subject is seriously overrated.

For example, the Chapperal 'pipeline' lead (forgive my misspeling but) Andre Yretuonage, the OT, to Oregon, and last week their QB to Texas.

Sure, its nice to have a player from a quality program on the team because it gives you a slight advantage over other schools, but each kid is an individual and has to make his own choice.

Cass Tech is the only true 'pipeline' that Michigan has and it's because of an ex-player. That's OK because pipelines are overrated, at leat by some (vocal) fans.

aaamichfan

February 13th, 2011 at 11:53 PM ^

The OP says that Trotwood is a pipeline of ours, but if that were the case, we'd be the favorites for Bam Bradley. I think we have a chance in his recruitment, but we're nowhere near being considered the favorite.

Also, I don't think Chapparal can be considered a pipeline when all we got from there was two kids and both were in the same year.

BlueMiles

February 14th, 2011 at 11:13 PM ^

Agree, we did pull 3 kids from Trotwood in the RR era, and two were late grabs in Shaw and Roundtree.  WR A.J. Jordan just went to Wisconsin this past year from Trotwood.  I know we likely weren't looking for WRs, but I didn't even hear mention of his interest in coming here.  Also, I agree with you.  I certainly wouldn't say we're the favorites for Bam Bradley.

burntorange wi…

February 14th, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^

i agree that you dont have a pipeline to Chapparel. 2 players does not a pipeline make. i disagree when you say that pipelines are overrated. let me give you an example: Brenham HS in texas last year(2011) pumped out DE brandon alexander. he ended up going to texas atm over texas because atm was recruiting him for a much longer time. in the 2012 class brenham has 4 D1 prospects. two of them committed to texas atm a few weeks ago(troy green and adrian bellard). the other two are very high on texas's list: DT Malcom Brown and LB Tim Cole. brown is considered to be a atm lean because atm has started to build a pipeline at brenham. i think the problem with pipelines for michigan fans is that there arent a lot of high schools that produce D1 talent on a consistent basis every year. plus its hard to have an out of state pipeline. theyre definitely worth it IMO, atm is reaping the benefits. everyone can. 

Dallas Wolverine

February 13th, 2011 at 10:55 PM ^

There are four-five schools here in Dallas that pump out big time D-1 kids Skyline, Southlake Carrol, Flower Mound, Euless Trinity and Denton Ryan. Thats like the big 5 but there are so many schools in Arlington and Garland that have huge talent as well.

ohall1

February 13th, 2011 at 11:42 PM ^

Pipelines are good, but winning and looking dominant while doing so is even better! DOesn't matter if it's Trotwood, Simeon, or Glenville... once we get back into our winning ways the pipelines will open and kids will want to come to Michigan.

GhostPoster

February 14th, 2011 at 1:59 AM ^

The entire Catholic League needs to be heavily recruited.  St. Mary's, Brother Rice, and Catholic Central always pump out D1 players.  Most of them leave the state.

 

Fhshockey112002

February 14th, 2011 at 7:39 AM ^

I think anytime you are trying to build "pipelines" it is a lot tougher to do outside your local area.  As the OP stated there are some places where we can focus our search, but I don't think we can rely on this as a steady influx of talent.  People have mentioned all the talent in the Dalls area (as well as all of Texas) but this is tough to pull kids away from Texas and Oklahoma, as well as some other emerging schools such as OSU no not tOSU and Texas A&M.  

I think the recruiting should be the same as it always has been, go out find talent that fits your system (whatever the need may be) and convince him Michigan is the place for him.  

funandgun

February 14th, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^

Those three tend to produce D1 caliber kids on a regular basis.  We picked up a St. Johns kid this year and Wormley is on the radar for next year at Whitmer.  Koger did come from there and they have a good coach and system.  They are producing some big time talent. 

There are a lot of Michigan fans in Toledo and it is a little different than recruiting other parts of the state due to travel distance and the split in fans here. 

leftrare

February 15th, 2011 at 10:24 AM ^

Sure, Michigan has Wilcher at Cass Tech, which is nice.

The important thing is cracking places that have been traditionally no fly zones for Michigan recruiting.  Glenville is the best example.  Getting Frank Clark out of there was a huge feather in Hoke's cap.  Starting to get kids out of Detroit Rennaisance or Birmingham Brother Rice would be good too.  Places like Chapparal, Trotwood and Pahokee are flashes in the pan that can't be sustained.