5 stars at Michigan before “stars” was a thing?

Submitted by Mineral King on January 6th, 2024 at 3:04 PM

Who were some high 4 or 5 star recruits for Michigan in the 90s specifically? I grew up in 80s and 90s and I am curious how our recruits compare to know. Older people on board probably have good insight into this. For example, was Grbac a high recruit? Howard? Wheatley? I would imagine Woodson would have been a top 10 national player? Any other Michigan guys you can tell me where they would have been ranked? Genuinely just curious. How about Russell Shaw or Tai Streets? Id love to have people list their favorite 90s player and list where they would have been ranked.Go Blue! 

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Catchafire

January 6th, 2024 at 3:09 PM ^

This is very hard to project because players stayed in a system and were developed.  In addition, many players had to sit behind upper class men.  Tom Brady, I would guess, would have been a 3 star recruit given his profile.

The sport was also drastically different.  You lived and died by your HS recruiting and development ability.  

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matty blue

January 6th, 2024 at 4:04 PM ^

i have an old michigan football media guide somewhere from 1995 or 96.  i loved those things - in addition to a gigantic data dump of results records, etc, they had a really nice bio for every player, from captain to walk-on.  i miss those books.

anyway, i’m pretty sure brady’s bio said he was a top-five “pro-style quarterback,” or some such.  this was before brady became Tom Brady, and i remember wondering if he’d ever amount to anything, seeing as how he was behind jason kapsner on the depth chart.  i’m not kidding, by the way - there was a logjam in that qb room, and kapsner was pretty highly regarded, too.

i’d look it up right now, but it’s packed in a box in the basement somewhere.  in any case, top-five “pro-style” (if i’m recalling that correctly) would probably put him as at least a 4-star, maybe 5.

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MotownGoBlue

January 6th, 2024 at 4:32 PM ^

There are some good MaxPreps videos of Brady in high school. You can see him picking defenses apart at an early age and I do believe he was equivalent to today's mid-high 4 star recruits.

Michigan had to beat out hometown fav Cal and Steve Mariucci to land Brady. 

I didn't realize Brady's grandfather (according to the Freep) also played for Michigan...

 

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charblue.

January 6th, 2024 at 5:15 PM ^

Players were scouted and listed in regional rankings by recruiting services which developed the star system of talent identification and star grading based on athletic ability in the 90's. 

Coaches obviously were recruiting high school players back in the day through a variety of means and methods but word of mouth frequently led the way, especially high school coaching contacts. Tom Brady recruited himself to Michigan by sending a highlight film of his high school play to a variety of schools including Michigan. His first choice of school was USC. And he wasn't considered a five star player out of high school.

Unlike Brady, Charles Woodson was a Parade All-American and a five star talent in an era when star ratings weren't the last word in player recognition. Woodson was also ranked as the best player in the state of Ohio/ 

I have a gameday program from Michigan's Nov. 22, 1997 matchup with Ohio State and yearbooks for most of its seasons from that year to now. The yearbooks I used to get were produced by the Wolverine before I became an Mgoblog subscriber. The Wolverine used Rivals as its recruiting partner in publication and would document players in the Top 100 nationally. 

Curiously, from a 2006 listing of the top 100 seniors in the nation, Jimmy Clausen was listed as the No. 1 ranked player. He, of course, played at Notre Dame and enjoyed a brief pro career. Michigan's top talent senior signing was No. 27 on the list, Ryan Mallett, from Texarkana Texas. Another was Michigan recruit Donovan Warren, No. 52 on the list. Both Mallett and Warren were rated 5-star players. 

Among current active NFL players who were listed as top seniors in 2006 were current Giants backup qb Tyrod Taylor, a Va. Tech recruit, and longtime defensive line stalwart Cameron Heyward of the New Orlean Saints, from Suwanee, Ga. 

 

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NewBlue7977

January 6th, 2024 at 3:12 PM ^

Were there even as many 5 star players in the 90s as there are now?  Seems like the top 25-30 players nowadays are 5 stars, compared to top 15-20 in the 90s.  

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blueheron

January 6th, 2024 at 3:21 PM ^

Here's a contribution of uncertain value to the OP's mission. For whatever his evaluations may be worth, Tom Lemming (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lemming) started ranking recruits over forty years ago. Someone created a Google doc with his rankings from 1990 - 2004:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13ki9K0b_8ERXljt0t0jOFMDNUJYKqfrasOUvBEfEXCY/edit#gid=0

You'll see some familiar names in those lists. One notable oddity: Mike Hart was ranked as a cornerback in 2004.

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MGoVictory

January 6th, 2024 at 4:05 PM ^

Interesting. In 1995, Lemming had Tom Brady ranked as the 6th best pro-style quarterback, which probably translates as 4 star. Bobby Sablehaus was the top ranked pro-style quarterback, and his choices were down to Florida and Michigan. He picked Florida, and as a result, Tom Brady was Michigan bound.

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jmblue

January 6th, 2024 at 4:08 PM ^

A guy everyone forgets about now is Jason Kapsner, who was ranked the #2 pro-style QB in 1996.  He was considered a huge deal at the time but ended up lost in the depth chart and finally went into his field of study (business?).  In today's era he probably would have gone in the portal.

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tybert

January 6th, 2024 at 3:31 PM ^

I remember Collins was highly rated coming out of MASS. Griese was offered a scholarship by Purdue. I remember him saying he walked on at UM before he earned a full ride. 

Tuman was a DE at first. Braylon was more of a legacy - his dad (former UM FB Stanley Edwards) commented late in Stanley's career when he was winning the Biletnikoff award how Braylon seemed to give-and-take effort in HS. High talent, but not focused.

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jmblue

January 6th, 2024 at 4:05 PM ^

Braylon was actually a sleeper recruit, which was odd given that he was a legacy and had all the measurables.  IIRC, he went to a high school that didn't pass much.

Griese was a recruited player, but we ran out of scholarships by the time he committed.  Moeller promised him he'd get one as soon as one became available, and he quickly did.  But the legend of "Griese the walk-on leads Michigan to glory" was too good for the media to resist.

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LLG

January 6th, 2024 at 3:25 PM ^

I don't recall high school players being followed as closely by the general fan base.  I think that has to do with the internet in part and also the general reluctance to start players in their first year.  Woodson was a big recruit because he was "Mr. Ohio" and there was glee in nabbing a player with that label.

One could look at USA Today or Parade magazine lists of high school players but it wasn't easy to find more than that without the internet taking off.

I also think that Maurice Clarett, in part, helped increase the focus after he started at Ohio State in his first season, rushed for 1,237 yards scored 18 touchdowns, which helped OSU to a 14–0 record and the 2002 BCS National Championship.  The idea that an incoming player could be a difference started to ring true so there was more focus.

The only other player I remember getting really a lot of hype was Ron Powlus.  "ESPN analyst Beano Cook famously predicted that Powlus would win the Heisman Trophy at least twice and that he would be the best quarterback in the history of Notre Dame."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Powlus

All the hype around Powlus and Notre Dame really annoyed me back then.

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tybert

January 6th, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^

There were some sort of position ranking system (pay-for service where you'd get print outs with details). A friend gave me one of these after the 1997 season. 

Even before that, Streets and Smith annual magazine had a top 100 starting in the 1980s. In the incoming class of top 100 for 1982, our very own JIM was #100!

For sure, 5 star guys based on the HS hype when they arrived. I'm a 1985 grad so can remember some of the hype even in the 70s.

70s hyped guys who made an impact: Rick Leach, AC, Butch Woolfolk, Ron Simpkins, Bubba Paris, Curtis Greer

70s hyped guys who were OK at best or not even that: BJ Dickey (QB), Mike Cade (1979 huge RB recruit who had 5 carries at UM and ended up back in Zona playing for Darryl Rogers at ASU ("What does a coach have to do around here to get fired?")

80s hyped guys who made an impact: Steve Smith (great runner but only so-so passing QB), Mark Messner, Brad Cochran, Leroy Hoard, Tony Boles (before injury), Greg Skrepanik, Greg McMurtry

80s hyped guys who were so-so or maybe a little better: Rick Rogers (one really good year as RB in 83), D. Brown (QB was hugely hyped but remembered for 7 INTs at MSU), Vince Bean

 

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Amazinblu

January 6th, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^

A lot of very good names - you’d expect Woodson and Wheatley to be very high on that list.

The big differences, IMO, between that period (80’s - 90’s) and today … are: 1) focus on a single sport, and 2) S&C / nutrition.

“Stronger / better” players coming out of high school today have had a much deeper focus on their physical development than players 25+ years ago.

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tybert

January 6th, 2024 at 3:42 PM ^

When Everett was a senior, I remember reading a Detroit paper's interview about Steve. He was a superstar OL in south Florida. Jimmy Johnson was Miami (YTM) coach in 1987 when Steve was being recruited for the Fall 1988 incoming class.

JJ asked Steve "why do you want to go to Michigan? They already have all the best linemen?" which made Steve realize he should go to UM. JJ left YTM after what was his RS season at UM. 

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