Ballz rolling in for Ziegler to ND
Grand Rapids '22 safety Nolan Ziegler just got 4 ballz come in quickly with a Wiltfong confidence "8" pick as the most recent.So he didn't even start the trend. I kind of had Ziegler as ours if we wanted him. With some ominous vibes preceding Spindler's announcement on Sat I'm starting no really not dig ND even more than usual.
He wasn’t UM’s if they wanted him as you suggest. The kid told multiple recruiting analysts the offer he was waiting for was ND and then made some comment about ND being the Holy Land of college football. It sounds like this recruitment is over.
Considering he goes to GR Catholic Central and ND pretty much has catholic school pipeline in the midwest. Not surprising that ND is his dream school.
Michigan, still just ok at recruiting. But this will be the year coaching takes us over the top against any team with just as much or more talent for the first time under harbaugh
From 2016 to 2020--full recruiting cycles under Harbaugh--Michigan recruiting has an average ranking of 11.4 in the nation.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:59 PM ^
Don’t get into the recruiting rankings like I use too, 2 years from now 1/3 or more will not be on the roster, it’s how you develop players to your system and keep them, still waiting for Jim to develop a top notch QB and waiting and waiting you get the idea. PS to all you English majors I’m to old to proof read anything this is a sports blog!
August 6th, 2020 at 10:04 AM ^
Did you consciously use as a joke to for too in your PS, or are you just that challenged by the basics? That doesn’t bode well for your authority, even on a sports blog. “It’s Michigan, fer Godsakes,” huffs ol’ Claps His Hands Down By The River.
And you think that's good enough? I don't.
And projected to finish 12th to 13th this year.
I think the total class rankings can be misleading. Rank is one part, star average is another, and transfers in and out is a third. Combined is a better picture. I think when you consider the size of the classes have all been quite large, averaging about 25 guys, the number of transfers out particularly from the 2017 class, it gets a bit murkier. UM is probably more in the #15 range in the nation, which IMHO is not good enough, particularly considering OSU is #1-2. With a competent coach UM should never be outside the top 10 as an average. They have all the name recognition and resources you could want.
Bingo and we’ve finished in the top ten AP poll once in 5 years and it was 10th (2016) by the way. That’s the only rankings that really matter we’ve just not been good enough period.
Is this a big deal? He's the 9th ranked player in the state. The kind of guy that when we land people say "oh another 3 star". But you'll find a reason to bitch about anything.
It’s a “big deal“ because he’s an in-State guy who isn’t going to Michigan. If we got him, it’d be “who cares? Another 3 star that won’t help us beat OSU.”
and so goes the mental gymnastics of your average Michigan fan.
Honestly, Harbaugh needs to find a way to lock the state like OSU does. Sorry folks. But you need to secure your own borders like OSU if you want to hit that level and beat them.
We accept your apology.
This strategy has never made sense to me in the context of beating OSU.
1) Ohio is a much bigger and more talent-rich state than Michigan -- locking OH is a sufficient-to-win-the-conference strategy, MI not so much
2) OSU doesn't have an in-state rival to share with ... we will always lose the occasional star to Sparty
3) even OSU loses some OH 5*s (MLB to Bama a few years back; Clemson's starting LT)
We need a national recruiting profile even more than OSU does. MI matters, but even if we did lock it down it would not suffice to offset OSU's annual pick of the litter from OH. And then, OSU at this point is on a huge roll nationally to boot.
It matters more (IMO) that we get some lightning strikes with superstar OH kids. Desmond, Charles, Ricky Powers, Manningham, Lytle, Burgess ... we have to get back to landing those type of guys somehow. Even the Masseys, Loefflers, Zenkewiczs or Kalises that don't end up fulfilling the hype ... they still matter.
Scott Bell just did a big thing on that on his newsletter last week.
Turns out - Michigan is 2nd** behind only 'Bama in pulling the top 5 kids in their state over the last 5 (?) years so this mantra is just wrong.
There is the ** because Scott purposely compared states with 2 P5 teams in the state - i.e 'Bama -Auburn, Georgia-GaTech, Clemson-ntUSC, UA-ASU, WA-WSU, Oregon-ntOSU, Oklahoma-ntOSU, Mississippi-some racist term, etc.
M is behind OSU overall in this category (though only like 52% to 60%) but as noted elsewhere, OSU has no in-state P5 competition for recruits.
Nice 2 comments guys, but until we land or develop a star QB we will be a team that has gone 93-60 since Carr left with no BIG TEN titles.
Ohio has a lot more talent than Michigan. So locking in your border will keep you recruiting behind OSU
OSU doesn't really lock down Ohio. They lock down northeastern Ohio, and there just happen to be a whole lot of good players from there.
Michigan is not as talent rich as Ohio. We also deal with MSU and ND (in western Michigan). OSU’s only threats are......?
"OSU’s only threats are......?" If we expect to win, then according to history, this answer should be Michigan. I certianly hope sometime soon we can break the OSU deathgrip on Ohio.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:20 PM ^
PSU. I don't know if they pull Ohio 5 star talent, but they recruit better than I would've expected under Franklin.
Only if we had the HS talent that OH has, hell even PA has a lot more talent. Face it, to complete with OSU we have recruit nationally.
Some kids just love Rudy.
No, they love Rudy because he can be offsides and get away with it!
He's a 2022 kid, still lots of time to change a kids mind. Sounds like ND is his dream school so it may not matter. What I don't understand is the alure of ND. It's not like they've done a whole lot more then Michigan has. And Kelly is a grade A dickhead. Guy I know played for him at GVSU and told me as much. Its also pretty obvious on TV. South Bend is also, in my opinion, a dump.
Kelly is a horrible person who hides it reasonably well when recruiting
ND made the college football playoffs a couple years ago and played in the BCS title game after the 2012 season. Sure we can debate how ND got there those two years, but that's a good bit more then UM has done in the last decade.
He's a 3-star. And he's 6'4" which seems really tall for a safety. Guys that tall don't usually have the athleticism and hips. I'd be really surprised if he can cover guys as Don Brown wants with M's safeties. I don't think I'm going to lose sleep over this.
To hell with Notre Dame.
He was basically a guarantee for Notre Dame whenever he got the offer so I don't agree with your assessment that he was Michigan's if they wanted. He's probably not going to stick at safety anyway and the linebacker spots will be selective next cycle after taking so many in the last two classes.
Looks like a nice player. Would be great to have him, but Michigan is looking really good in the '22 class specifically at defensive back.
Specifically for the state of Michigan in the '22 cycle - UM is in early and in good standing for the #1 overall in-state prospect, (who also happens to be a legacy). The odds-on favorite for #2, and would be #3 in Myles Rowser had he not transferred to IMG (who's brother is on the team).
Is in great standing with #5 prospect who hails from West Bloomfield, and has a verbal from #6 who's brother is on the team. So it's entirely realistic Michigan could land:
#1 in-state prospect, #2 in-state prospect, #3 in-state prospect (if we count Rowser, and I would), #5 in-state prospect and #6 in-state prospect.
Ziegler I'm sure is a good player, but I think Michigan will have the ability to bring in an equal or greater talent if he ends up at ND. As for in-state recruiting, I'd say we're doing just fine in 2022.
This is the answer right here.
1) he's a '22 kid, I'm a nut to follow this as much as I do and I'm not even at all concerned about '22 at this point
2) if you were someone concerned about '22, Michigan is in on a good number of high quality DBs (and receivers btw)
He was always a ND lock
45-14
Hold the L for the next 4,777 days.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:40 PM ^
25-17-1. ND has been holding L’s since 1887.
Oh man I uh can't we believe we uh missed out on this 2022 three-star I first heard about on 24/7 last week. Harbaugh is recruiting like this is Ball State. Fire him and replace him with Luke Fickell immediately
He goes to a Catholic High School. It never ceases to amaze me how easily fans forget that these kids are human beings who don't always make decisions based on message board logic.
Congratulations. You're the first person in this thread to explicitly call attention to that significant (RC) information. Could be that Ziegler is a person of faith who wants that to be an element of his college experience ...
AFAIC Notre Dame has (RC angle aside) nothing on Michigan. I really like the campus and the stadium (and the fans, too ... very nice people in my experience). But Michigan can match or beat it in every area IMO.
I am a person of faith -- faith in nature and the human spirit. How is it that religion has cornered the market on faith? Good PR department, I guess.
It's not our fault they're dumb asses for not paying attention to us.
s/
My mind didn't get past the balls rolling in admittedly...
I know, it's juvenile.
Bummer, but hopefully we can get Rowser back in the fold
Grand Rapids CATHOLIC CENTRAL player. Kid has deep catholic roots. He is a great kid. He wants to go to ND because he's loved them since he was a young boy. Hope he remains healthy. That team is loaded in future years with gems. Keep recruiting it. Jaylen Mayfields are in there.
ND has always been able to come into MI and get the occasional high rated player. Some people just grow up ND fans for whatever reason.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:31 PM ^
Hate to say it but had I not been raised right as a Michigan fan I probably would've been an ND fan simply because I am Catholic and they are a Catholic school.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:03 PM ^
The only positions that matter for us to go from good to elite are QB and D-line (most specifically DT).
For all the bitching about OSU's incredible classes and Bama / SEC bagmen, the college game is won at the QB position (and its inverse, D-line).
The variance from our top 300 skill position players vs. OSU's top 100 skill position players is not where we are getting beat.
Have a top 5 QB, Pressure the opposing QB, and stifle the run - That's where the games will be won at the highest level. Clemson has been beating OSU like a drum because of better QB play and dominant D-line. LSU has been Bama-lite for years until they had dominant QB play.
Our receivers, CBs, safeties, TE's, LB's and even RB's have been good enough. Our O-line has been solid the past 3-4 years. We need our QB play elevated and need a dominant D-line like we had in 2016.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:04 PM ^
Who?
August 5th, 2020 at 10:22 PM ^
If any kid from the Midwest is going to stay in the region and not pick us, ND is the preferred destination. They're not on the schedule for a long time.