2014 QB Recruiting, Brief Update (ESPN Insider)
Magnus had an excellent primer on the presumed QB targets for Michigan in 2014 earlier today, http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/scouting-report-2014-quarterbacks
ESPN had their own report this afternoon, an update from the private workout Wilton Speight had with Jeff Hecklinski on Friday. To that end, the workout apparently went well. But the most interesting piece of info. is the reported "top 3" on the Michigan coach's preferred list. According to Speight, it's between him, David Cornwell, and Michael O'Connor.
"He told my coach that the Michigan coaches have talked and I'm one of the top three (junior) quarterbacks in their eyes in the country," Speight said. The other two, Hecklinski said, are Michael O'Connor from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG and David Cornwell from Norman (Okla.) North. All three could soon garner scholarship offers.
It doesn't look like this year's NSD will have much drama re. the 2013 class (excl. any Poggi news), but we may have an idea of who gets the QB offers for 2014. Speight's coach was told to wait for a phone call on Wed. morning.
http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/collegesMichigan/post?id=9900
February 3rd, 2013 at 9:50 PM ^
February 3rd, 2013 at 9:57 PM ^
Alabama hasn't offered any quarterbacks; Notre Dame and USC have offered one; Ohio State has offered three (but two of them have already committed).
There just aren't a ton of offers out right now.
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:02 PM ^
As I remember it, last year on Signing Day was when the Michigan coaches sent out a bulk of offers to 2013 kids. And I thought that was fairly early relative to what a lot of schools had done. I assume a lot of time right now is still devoted to getting the final pushes in for 2013 kids, and the later in the month we'll see flurries of offers from most of the top schools to their preferred guys.
February 3rd, 2013 at 9:56 PM ^
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:16 PM ^
I have talked with all 3 kids (Cornwell, Speight, O'Connor) and they all are waiting for a phone call on Wednesday. At first the coaches wanted one of them to commit on the spot if offered but Speight told me that they have pulled back from that desire.
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:21 PM ^
any of them coming in.
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:21 PM ^
How have you talked to all 3 of these guys?
February 5th, 2013 at 12:04 AM ^
I have a Michigan football/recruiting site, www.themblock.com that I have been running for almost a year now and have built a pretty good rapport with hundreds of recruits. Speight and Cornwell text me pretty often to update me on what's going on. I've talked with O'Connor but he isn't as forthcoming with his info, I have to seek it out with him.
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:27 PM ^
The M Block, I've checked out your site recently and enjoyed the content. You're starting to get around (in a non-whorish sense).
What is your background, if you don't mind me asking?
And re. this topic, do you see any of the three likely to commit immediately if offered, or will Michigan be competing with several other schools?
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:46 PM ^
i've also noticed themblock lately, via promo tweets/retweets from current commits/early enrollees. pandering recruits for pub seems sketch imo.
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:51 PM ^
Inform me on how Aquaman and TomVH got started and what it led to. Don't knock the guy for doing the same thing that others have done. Looking at his site he has clearly spent some time doing his homework on recruiting. Don't be so quick to write him off.
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:57 PM ^
TomVH did not go about it the same way...
February 4th, 2013 at 12:43 AM ^
February 4th, 2013 at 12:53 AM ^
TomVH started recruitforu.com. He wasn't a guy on a random blog who contacted recruits.
February 4th, 2013 at 6:17 AM ^
February 4th, 2013 at 6:26 AM ^
Tom contacted recruits, sure. He didn't pander to them and ask them for "followbacks," etc.
February 4th, 2013 at 9:21 AM ^
I don't think Twitter was as prevalent 5+ years ago when Tom got in to this. Seems to me like being connected on Twitter with these kids is necessary to becoming proficient at the job.
February 4th, 2013 at 9:26 AM ^
I don't think you need to be "followed" by kids on Twitter to be proficient at your job. Maybe you need to follow THEM, but the "followback" thing is kind of annoying and immature, in my opinion.
February 4th, 2013 at 11:56 AM ^
You can't send someone a DM (direct message) unless they follow you. So when he requests a followback from a recruit or a parent, it's so he can ask them questions that aren't public. Teenagers aren't necessarily using facebook or publicizing their emails anymore, so a twitter DM is the best way to contact a student using their own self-publicized contact info.
I can see how you would see it as fame-whorish to ask high-school students to follow you if you were merely attempting to bolster your follower counts. But in this case it arguably does help him to be proficient at his job.
February 5th, 2013 at 12:16 AM ^
I have gotten this response before, it really doesn't bother me. Twitter was created to connect as many people as possible in realtime. The entire point of social media is to spread the word, connect people together, and find others who share your interest, at least that's what I use it for. I ask for recruits to follow back so I can communicate with them and let them know that I have written something about them or need to get information directly from them instead of someone else. If that bothers you I apologize but I really don't see how it possibly could.
February 5th, 2013 at 12:08 AM ^
I don't mind, I am a teacher and I coach basketball and football as well. I was offered a "film breakdown" position on mgorecruit.com back with Benji if any of you are familiar and just about three days later he decided to shut it down. I decided to branch off on my own and www.themblock.com was born. I really enjoy doing it to stay connected to Michigan football because I moved to South Carolina 5 years ago.
About the 3 QB's, I think if all three were offered at the same time, Speight would be the first to commit. Cornwell has straight up told me he would NOT commit on the spot. O'Connor said he still likes a few other schools and would have to take his time, and Speight said "No comment" and that he'd have to discuss the offer with his parents and his coach. Just from speaking with all 3 of them I get a gut feeling Speight would be the first to commit.
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:43 PM ^
You should have Brian add your site to the sidebar. I was not aware of it until this evening and it appears to be a worthwhile read and dedicated operation. For those of you that are unaware about this site, the address is http://www.themblock.com
February 4th, 2013 at 9:30 AM ^
it may be wise to include a link to your website in your signature, would help people find you easier.
EDIT: your link doesn't work
February 4th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:32 PM ^
Cornwell is still my #1, but very interesting that this is a 3-man race for that scholarship.
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
February 4th, 2013 at 12:05 AM ^
This is the exact thing I'm most worried about.
February 4th, 2013 at 1:01 AM ^
February 4th, 2013 at 9:24 AM ^
February 3rd, 2013 at 11:04 PM ^
From what I read about him, I want Cornwell. I think the kid would give Morris a run for his money. Lower ceiling, but higher floor.
February 3rd, 2013 at 11:35 PM ^
February 3rd, 2013 at 11:58 PM ^
evaluate all three and pick the one who he thinks has the greatest chance to succeed in his offense!
February 4th, 2013 at 7:51 AM ^
Picking one guy to offer seems like a bad idea. If the staff believes they would be happy with any of these three, they should offer all of them. If they don't get a taker, they need to evaluate more guys. I don't think it makes sense to focus on just one guy.
EDIT: The threat of another guy committing will encourage the others to come up and see Ann Arbor sooner.
February 4th, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^
Being "happy" with any of the three doesn't necessarily mean the coaches don't have a preference for one specific prospect. If I try out for the school play, I might be happy to play Tybalt or Mercutio -- but I would be happiest to play Romeo.
February 4th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^
Maybe they want to use "you are our only offer" as a way to show the recruit how much they want him... but I agree with a notion of offering all of them, and with the notion of taking 2 qbs in the 2014 class.
February 4th, 2013 at 2:46 AM ^
I am rooting for a Michael O'Connor offer, kid is legit and Canadian :)
February 4th, 2013 at 9:50 AM ^
emotional, damn I love my country.
February 4th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^