ACE: Taylor McNamara Considering Michigan Visit
Taylor McNamara, a four-star TE to Rivals, ESPN, and 247 (and a three-star to Scout) just sent out this tweet:
@taylormcnamara1 Taylor McNamaraConsidering canceling an official and taking one to #Michigan...
That would obviously be huge for Michigan, and would fill the void left by Pharaoh Brown's decommit/parting of ways. He's already taken visits to Colorado, Notre Dame, and Washington, and has scheduled visits to Oklahoma and Cal over the next month. This is one to keep a close eye on.
[EDIT: I should note that McNamara is currently a very soft commit to Arizona, but it really looks like he'll be heading elsewhere. I don't think the hiring of Rich Rodriguez will change that.]
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:15 PM ^
Where did your Laquon Treadwell article go?
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^
My bad on that—posted it without checking, and it's front-page worthy, so with all the stuff going up today we decided it was better to take it down and front-page it tomorrow. I jumped the gun.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:19 PM ^
Its all good. Guess I will have to get away from the family for 5 minutes tomorrow and read the update!
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:20 PM ^
Awesome...so glad you guys are having content tomorrow...
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^
Nooooo! How dare you break a twitter promise! Diary now, front page tomorrow! Make me a bicycle clown! Exclamation points!
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:28 PM ^
Bicycle now, interview tomorrow? This work for everyone?
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:16 PM ^
I don't know what all has happened behind the scenes, but I like the coaching staff's commit and stay committed stance on recruiting. It's really encouraging to see such a high level recruit jumping at the chance to see what we have to offer now that there's an opening.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:16 PM ^
thanks for the good news, Ace.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:16 PM ^
Awesome, we need a Lindsey Hunter All Star on this team.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^
What, Taylor Lewan, Courtney Avery, and Blake Countess aren't enough?
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
I meant in this recruiting class...though Devin Funchess may fit the bill.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:33 PM ^
Taylor Lewan is white, so he can't be a Lindsey Hunter All Star. I think Courtney Avery is debatable. But Blake Countess is a good one.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^
I think you're getting Lindsey Hunter All Stars and Reggie Cleveland All Stars mixed up...or maybe you've just made up a new category. But, yes, Taylor Lewan can be a Lindsey Hunter All Star.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
Hahahaha
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^
are guys with names that sound like hot girls
Reggie Cleveland all-stars are white people with names that sound african-american
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:21 PM ^
I submit Robert Marve.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:20 PM ^
Good news. With the season coming to an end, he's obviously not just dropping by to see a game. He'd be a great addition to this class.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^
we are signing too many All-American's. All of my Sparty friends tell me that it is way more impressive to accomplish things with 2-stars. And I want Michigan to be impressive.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:31 PM ^
because 2 of those things are not like their others
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:31 PM ^
It's even more impressive to win while maintaining a national recruiting presence.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^
Rivals compares him to Heath Miller from the Steelers. Oh, would a Heath Miller type TE be AWESOME or what.
Not that Koger is anything less than awesome, he is just gone after this year.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:27 PM ^
seems like a response by the coaches to Pharaoh visiting Oregon. This is the first time I've heard of a tight end visiting in quite a while
November 23rd, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^
Unless the coaches had Brown's position switch in mind long before we heard about it, I don't necessarily think that's true. They had Brown as a DE, so I suspect that this is more about a really good TE prospect just now deciding that he might want to visit.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:28 PM ^
Great news, hopefully we can get him on campus and blow him away. Thanks for the update Ace.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:28 PM ^
seems to be very chummy with Erik Magnuson and Josh Garnett on twitter...all were sort of joking about all three playing at M...here's hoping he gets on campus...
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
Looks like that kid can play! TE's will definitely be taking on a larger role in Borges' offense!
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:34 PM ^
On to the next one.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^
I don't think Pharaoh and UM have parted ways. The policy is that, if you're visiting other schools, then despite your interest in Michigan, we don't consider you "committed", and therefore we can't tell you that we'll hold your spot and turn away other recruits.
This is completely reasonable. It doesn't mean Pharaoh is a bad kid for taking his OVs, or that Hoke is being a hardliner. It's just the logical thing to do in this situation. I think people are making way too big of a deal about this.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^
The issue seems to be he didn't tell the coaches before the OV. I think that may be why the shift from de-commit to we are no longer recruting you.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
According to Sam Webb this AM, Michigan no longer considers Brown a committment, but they are still recruiting him.
While I am not saying this is the case, hypothetically, what would he have to do IF he wanted to recommitt? How could Brown "prove" that he his committment was serious this time and how does the coaching staff package that in a way that the other recruits think they were treated fairly?
November 23rd, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^
I don't see how Brown could rebuild the trust with this staff in three months for them to take him. Brown's comment that he didn't decommit is what is telling to me. He had to know the policy and chose to try to sneak around it by not informing the coaches of the OV.
Football is the ultimate team game and dependability is critical. The way Brown went about the whole situation leads me to believe that his dependability is shot.
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:01 PM ^
All he had to do was be upfront about it like T Rich and RJS. I agree his handling goes directly to his character.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^
his rankings are all over the board:
- rivals (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Taylor-McNamara…) has his and the #2 TE in the country and 90 overall;
- scout (http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=5023706) has him as the #19 TE in the country and says he's not that strong;
- ESPN (http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/11632…) takes the middle road and calls him the #9 TE in the country and a four star; and
- 247 (http://247sports.com/Player/Taylor-McNamara-7235) sides w/ rivals, calls him the #3 TE in the country and 174 overall.
espn and 247 appear to be in the middle ground.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^
i'd say his offer list is reflective of the more optimistic ratings:
notre dame, oklahoma, florida state, miami, michigan, osu, stanford, ucla, usc
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:10 PM ^
ESPN lists a visit but no offer. Regardless - that looks like a 4 star offer sheet.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:29 PM ^
I'd say most likely, yes he does hold an Oklahoma offer. Sooners are one of his five officials afterall...
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:15 PM ^
I think he was very high on osu before the whole tattoo and Tressel thing went down. Hopefully he was able to get to know Hoke while he was at SDSU.
Maybe Erik Magnuson can do some more recruiting for us.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:13 PM ^
Are colleges allowed to use former players to recruit incoming freshmen? For some reason, I have it in my mind that they aren't, but McNamara mentioned (on Twitter) that he was hanging out with Brady Quinn while visiting Notre Dame. Am I making up that rule?
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:35 PM ^
To my knowledge they cannot unless BQ happens to be in the employ of the AD now and/or was just on the sidelines for the same game and they chatted that way but using your former athletes to cheerlead for you on campus is a no no.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
Former players can definitly influence recuits but they can not do it on behalf of the university. I would imagine they met through personal connections like Kellen Jones and Ray Lewis did. They probably put a stop to that practice around the time Barry Switzer sent Billy Sims to Mississippi in a private jet to pick up Marcus Dupree from school.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
Ace, any chance we get back in it with Ron Thompson?
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:41 PM ^
He commited to Syracuse
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^
Only because a Michigan spot wasn't available. That is no longer the case.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:54 PM ^
What Yesman said. That ship sailed a long time ago.
November 23rd, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^
He tweeted "Notre Dame>>>>>>>>>>>>" after his visit there Saturday. Michigan will need to make a strong impression.
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:21 PM ^
hope that there is a spot open for him and we have him in Feb.
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:23 PM ^
Hoke snake oils the snake oil salesman? He wizard hats the wizard hat? This is very ironic.
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:55 PM ^
Am I crazy to think that if we somehow get Mcnamara...that would be an upgrade over Brown? To be honest, I don't know much about the kid.
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
He seems pretty good to me.
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
Same here. He would have to bulk up a bit, but he has the frame for TE, and is already a good blocker. Pretty agile for a TE, too, but I didn't see him run a single route in that entire video (no cuts, that is).