Title pretty much says it all. Better that these things happen sooner than later, I suppose.
LINK? http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/michigan/forums/_/the-den#!/topic/1359484652-266-681 (Insider)
EDIT
Sam Webb reporting that it was Michigan's call.
@Grahambino007 Hearing it was #Michigan's choice and the door wasn't left open for a Dawson-like return.
Well fuck...
Sam Webb confirms
#Michigan has decided to part ways with 2014 IMG Academy OL, Denzel Ward
3-3-5 til the day I die y'all
See! We didn't want him
See! We didn't want him anyway!
Galileo was also chastised.
Not mad about this
He wants to play early, right? Well, he'd be coming in with TWO years of experience and competing against our 2012 and 2013 classes.
He'll be back. Just like
He'll be back. Just like D.Dawson.
When the ADept sells special jerseys and gear, you'll see my picture next to the targeted customer crowd. A sheep.....but a Blue one.....
Doesn't look like it
RT @SamWebb77
@Grahambino007 Hearing it was #Michigan's choice and the door wasn't left open for a Dawson-like return.
Damn.
Damn.
When the ADept sells special jerseys and gear, you'll see my picture next to the targeted customer crowd. A sheep.....but a Blue one.....
To be fair, at the time a
To be fair, at the time a door wasn't left open for a Dawson-like return for Dawson either.
Galileo was also chastised.
Please do share where this
Please do share where this was confirmed by Hoke, because I'm pretty sure that's baseless speculation.
It is an NCAA violation for
It is an NCAA violation for Hoke to talk about recruits specifically before signing day. Thomas Wilcher, Dawson's coach, and a former Michigan player, said as much after Dawson decommitted, though.
Galileo was also chastised.
Goodbye:
Denzel Ward
Whatcha gonna do, little brother?
Sad face
Sad face
"Ohio is like a giant turd that Michigan just can't pinch off"
I'm sure the staff
Will find an adequate replacement. Good luck to him.
I realize fans from all
I realize fans from all schools always say this but....who cares. This is the least important need in our recruiting right now due to our previous years' line hauls and there are many linemen in the 2014 class. All signs point to Ward being a 2-3 project anyways. This one does not hurt us.
"For the last 28 years, I've spent my life in the greatest of places, the University of Michigan." -Lloyd Carr
Don't be foolish. This hurts
Don't be foolish. This hurts a little. Does it break us? Of course not. But the kid is brining in some big time offers from major programs and he's only been playing for a couple years. The sky is the limit for him. He made a decision to quick with all the excitement. Would still like to see him as part of our class.
HAIL!
As Webb pointed out, Michigan
As Webb pointed out, Michigan pulled the offer. I think we have other targets above him at this point. He may be good, but he's a long ways away from me being comfortable with him as a top ranked tackle recruit.
"For the last 28 years, I've spent my life in the greatest of places, the University of Michigan." -Lloyd Carr
Hearing that he's played for only a few years
reminds me a lot of Anthony Lalota. Not saying he'll have the same outcome, but limited data points always kinda concern me. But, I'm certainly not saying that I'm glad he's gone or anything stupid like that.
"Coach, if you need one yard, I'll get you three yards. If you need five yards, I'll get you three yards." -Leroy Hoard
limited data points always
limited data points always kinda concern me
Limited data is limited.
"Is There Anybody Out There?" Pink Floyd, The Wall.
Indeed. Alex Bars, Mason
Indeed. Alex Bars, Mason Cole, Viane Talamaivao, Jamarco Jones, and Andy Bauer would be nice consolation. Bauer might be tough to land, but we'll definitely be fine.
How many times have you been on the freeway and had someone fly by you at 100 mph then end up 2 cars ahead of you at the off ramp? What's the point? -Mark Harmon
Cole
Of those guys you listed, Mason Cole is at the top of my wish list. In addition to his own talent, I hear he has some friends we may be interested in.
We should have a decent shot
We should have a decent shot at landing him, especially if we pursue the whole teammate thing. Bauer is the top of my wish list as an individual, though, partly from watching him, and partly from him being the top of Bama and LSU's wish list too. But with Florida landing two top 2014 tackles already, and other local guys out there for LSU and Bama like Cam Robinson and Orlando Brown, guys like Bauer and Cole, and maybe even Damian Prince could be in play for us.
How many times have you been on the freeway and had someone fly by you at 100 mph then end up 2 cars ahead of you at the off ramp? What's the point? -Mark Harmon
Don't forget Tommy Doles.
Don't forget Tommy Doles.
Greetings from Bolivia.
"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple." - Gary Moeller
It would hurt more if we
It would hurt more if we didn't have two stellar offensive line classes ahead of him.
If we had Ohio's depth chart? Yes this would be a big blow.
But with our current depth chart, AAAND with Taylor Lewan coming back for an additional year, it's so early that the fan-base shouldn't be heartbroken about this.
Good luck to Denzel.
Absolutely
I'd love to see him as part of this class, but given Hoke's record for recruiting, we'll be just fine. It sucked losing Ty Issac and Treadwell, but we did fine recruiting without them as well. Its a bummer, but not unrecoverable.
I wish the kid luck, for sure.
The Team, The Team, The Team
We never actually had Isaac
We never actually had Isaac and Treadwell... but I agree, if there is a position that Hoke has shown an ability to recruit, it's the OL.
Disagree
Not sure it hurts. Kid is raw and the big schools are offering based of his size and after Hoke was in on him. He maybe great and maybe just a project. What would hurt is if he was a lock 5 star with more then a year of the sport.
Is it alright if I feel like
Is it alright if I feel like "meh". I mean I really really liked his upside, but it's still really early, so finding a replacement shouldn't be too difficult. And I think if there's one place we can handle a decommit it's at the OL. Does anyone know if Sam's phrasing acutally means that UM dropped him because of the whole moving unexpectedly to FL and visiting UF all the time?
Amen
He may turn out to be a fine player. There are a lot of other OL out there in the class of 2014 who also will turn out to be fine players. The coaches now know that they have to find one more of them, and they have 12+ months to do it. Not a big deal.
wolverine 73
Michael Ferns is now our only
Michael Ferns is now our only 2014 recruit. OMG HOKE CAN'T KEEP UP WITH URBAN WE TOTALLY SUCK!!!!!!!!
If you're doing nothing, how do you know when you're finished?
Michael Ferns committed? Was
Michael Ferns committed? Was this ever posted on the board?!
Wait
Do decommits come in pairs DO DECOMMITS COME IN PAIRS???
And if we buckle up for commitments, what do we do for this?????
Taking off our pants seems to
Taking off our pants seems to be the most logical thing to do for this.
Way ahead of you hvsiii
Way ahead of you hvsiii
USING GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF CAPS LOCK SINCE APRIL 2011
He said take them off not
He said take them off not combust them via rocket fuel. Semantics, yo.
Lived the Dream. 2008-2012
Done. Now what?
Done. Now what?
No surprise, really.
No surprise, really. We've got so many top tackle prospects ahead of him it wouldn't surprise me if he was looking around for early playing time. Still, a lot can happen between now and next NSD.
How many times have you been on the freeway and had someone fly by you at 100 mph then end up 2 cars ahead of you at the off ramp? What's the point? -Mark Harmon
Shocked, blindsided,
Shocked, blindsided, uprooted, hurt, taken off guard, never saw it coming, blown away, jarred, jolted, in awe, surprised. Obviously these are my thoughts after he switched schools to Florida.
Not surprising at all after his announced move to FLA
But, it's much better to have this happen now than a year from now. There's plenty of time to replace him with a good player in the 2014 class. The best of luck to him.
"You owe it to every man, woman, and child in the State of Michigan to beat the Buckeyes and silence their fans! Now go out there and make it happen!"
- Bo Schembechler (Result: U-M 22 OSU 0)
Yea, his "strategic" value
probably went down with his move to FL. Hoke definitely wants a strong beachhead in Chicago and Ward helped that cause along with raw talent.. Now he's just raw talent.
He'll find a BCS program. We'll find another tackle.
"Everybody wants to be a hero, so to speak. But it takes everybody." - Charles Woodson
Was bound to happen eventually.
Good to go ahead and get it out the way now. We're good.
If I say a duck can pull a truck, shut up and hook the sucka up!
Good luck to him.I feel like
Good luck to him.I feel like he committed just to get more offers and attention from other schools.Not like that's a bad thing.
"Are you an official here?Because you've officially given me a boner."
No surprise
I think we all saw this coming. Sure, it's possible to get him back in the fold; however, I agree that this particular loss isn't a huge deal. There are lots of good OL for '14, and the staff has plenty of time to identify them and get them on campus.
If there's one area of the team that I feel supremely confident in when it comes to this staff's ability to recruit, it is the OL. Second place would be LB.
In one fell swoop,
we lost half of our 2014 class. Impeach Hoke!!!!
Sam Webb says it was
Sam Webb says it was Michigan's call - seems like the door "isn't open for a Dawson-like return."
Too bad.
Ward is a huge raw athlete, but I wonder if he saw the classes ahead of him and realized that he'd likely spend his first couple of years developing while watching the linemen from '12 and '13 play on Saturdays. He doesn't seem like the type that you plug in as a RS frosh, but he could turn into a pretty great player after two or three years of coaching.
He's the type of high risk/high reward player that we should be taking now that we have a lot of blue chips moving into the OL in the coming year. Hopefully he'll look around and decide later that Michigan is the best fit.
Or maybe he went to the U-A
Or maybe he went to the U-A Combine, met with some recruits, found out what you get when you visit schools like Ole Miss and wanted out. Lucky for him, Michigan gave him the out.
Wonder what kind of counsel he's getting?
I really wonder what kind of counsel he's getting, with the desire for early playing time. I mean, Kalis, who is mean, and big, and polished, and as ready as any OL recruit to come in, still spent a year as a redshirt. And the reality is that he won't get early PT at any of the really good schools . . . I'm sure (without checking) that Ohio, and USC, and Alabama, and Texas, and Florida, and ND, don't make a regular practice of starting freshmen on the OL. The other thing is that at Michigan, the mantra has been, "you compete every week, and there are no guarantees for PT." Mattison is really strong on this, but so are all the coaches. If you're n.ot good enough to beat out the guys ahead of you, well, you shouldn't play
"It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up." Vince Lombardi
The people around him are
The people around him are probably telling him what he wants to hear, that he can go in and get on the field early. I've learned in coaching that a lot of parents and family members have very inflated senses of what their family members are capable of accomplishing. It's tough for a 16- or 17-year-old kid to look at himslf objectively and realize that he probably needs a few years of development.
If I remember one of the
If I remember one of the first articles about him looking around had quotes along the lines of 'I'm committed to UM, but my parents want me to look around and they're in charge.'
Every time I hear a similar story, I am reminded of Lewan's
first meeting with Jake Long.
"He’s just standing there, and he’s a very large individual,” Lewan said. “I had my shoulder pads on and he was still wider than me. It was a little bit ridiculous.”
That was a future first-rounder. How far away is the average highly regarded HS player?
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
Well fuck...
USING GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF CAPS LOCK SINCE APRIL 2011