BBrown: Malik McDowell In: The Shortest Text Conversation Ever

Submitted by Brandon Brown on

I exchanged a few text messages with 2014 DL Malik McDowell after he released his Top 7 that included Michigan. The conversation was less than intriguing but this was the first time McDowell has responded to me in quite a long time. I will post the text conversation exactly how it went down to depict the feel of our interaction. Just pretend you are looking at an iPhone screen.

 

Hey Malik is there any order to your top 7??

No

Are you planning on announcing at your All-American game?

No

Oh ok...when are you going to make your decision you think?

Idk

A lot of people think you are a Michigan lean what do you think about that?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

That marked the end of our conversation. As I have mentioned before this is very different from how he used to respond to me and answer my inquiries. He's always been tough to get a bead on but now I really have no idea who he likes or where he might commit.

I will stand by my theory. If a recruit responds to me openly, often, and punctually it has almost always led to good things. (Drake Harris, Chase Winovich, Wilton Speight, Moe Ways, Jabrill Peppers, Tyree Kinnel, Lawrence Marshall, Mason Cole) On the flip side, when communication really slows or never really takes off in the first place, that has usually led to a different destination other than Michigan. (Da'Shawn Hand, Damon Webb, Sam Mustipher, Jimmie Swain, Jamarco Jones, etc.) Those are just a few examples.

bleed_trueblue17

December 6th, 2013 at 1:52 AM ^

Everybody gets so bent out of shape about this stuff. Don't like it? Don't read it. State why and move on. Don't make the same statement 500 times. Whether you agree with posting the convo or not he did not use it in a "creepy" way. Why do so many of you get obsessed with calling him a creep? He used MM's reactions to paint a picture to the readers how the recruitment is looking. Then using past experiences and their outcomes BB came to a conclusion relating news to us on MM's recruitment. That is news that's how it's done. Obviously Brian thinks BB does just fine so all your complaining is for naught. Let it go and let BB report his findings to people that don't take it in a "creepy" way in the first place.



Than you BB

HarBooYa

December 6th, 2013 at 9:36 AM ^

We are Michigan fans and should demand a higher level of behavior than an SEC site.  Heck, I don't think an SEC site would publich a transcript of a text conversation with a kid without permission.  This has nothing to do with whining, I reserve that for our offense against Akron and Connecticut.

CooperLily21

December 6th, 2013 at 3:56 AM ^

If I may, I feel obliged to point out that some of the criticism here is very valid. I think we can all accept that recruiting is important to a college blog. And that means a blog needs to have a dedicated recruiting specialist. And that means that person is going to have to stalk high school kids. And that means we're going to get info from Twitter (it appears to be an approved form of communication with many recruits).



The real problem here is the content of the post itself and Malik's responses. We learned absolutely nothing new from Malik other than he might be annoyed with people generally or, worse, with Brandon in particular. It makes sense to touch base with the kids from time to time but these kinds if separate Board posts are probably not necessary.



Friendly advice: If I were Brandon, going forward I would leave Malik alone generally except to maybe send notes of congratulations for successes or condolences for failures. THAT is how to differentiate this site from all the other recruiting "experts" out there. Be a champion/fan of those considering Michigan instead of just another annoyance to the kids going through the process.

TIMMMAAY

December 6th, 2013 at 8:21 AM ^

100% this.

I didn't even want to comment here, since the sherriff seems to have a new zest for bannin. You hit all the notes that I've been humming to myself over here. Something just doesn't "feel" right about the way BB is handling himself, and by extension handling this site's reputation. It's nothing personal, but when so many people seem to be thinking the same thing... what if a recruit feels the same? 

I just don't know...

BradP

December 6th, 2013 at 7:28 AM ^

Agreed.  The ethical hazards of reporting on the college choices of 14-18 yo kids have made for a lot of discussion on here.

Just saying that reporting often entails asking questions that the subject doesn't want to, or is really sick of answering.

I think, in this case, Brandon just showed us a picture of the pink sludge that goes into our Big Macs.

HarBooYa

December 6th, 2013 at 9:45 AM ^

To me an ethical blogger/journalist (of which I know several) would not under any circumstance repost a transcript of a conversation with a minor.   He would just say, " spoke to Malik today and got three one word responses" no? Seems like a breach of trust even if Malik were an adult. The fact he is a kid makes it worse.  The additional fact that there is admittedly no permission here and that it was done to demonstrate the blogger's wrong-footed "contact" theory is pretty unbelievable. 



This is not a hard to fix or grasp, but judgment is and the preemptive defensiveness and failure to grasp the concept on this board is alarming. Not sure we are seeing the serious problem here.   

As someone who gets interviewed once in awhile by bloggers and journos alike, I would destroy anyone who did this to me. 

I love the recruiting info and hope it keeps coming, but I don't want it via this pretty appalling practice.  IMO, the trust of these kids should not be breached and our collective image should not be tarnished in any circumstances...and even this little ol Michigan related blog should embrace that or fear backlash and publich embarrasment. 

BradP

December 6th, 2013 at 6:09 AM ^

Throwing my take on this on the pile:

1)  Malik knows the purpose of the conversation and knows who Brandon is.  I think this sort of reporting may be a bit unprofessional generally, but I don't see anything unethical.

2)  In this particular situation, the post comes in the context of a greater point about what causes Brandon to infer what he does about a recruit's mindset.  In that sense, the details of the way the conversation played out has value above and beyond the what was conveyed. So I wouldn't even say this is particularly unprofessional.

3)  That said, I think if I were Malik, I would find this annoying, and Brandon would probably go from one word answers to no word answers.  For the sake of good relationships and securing future info, I would be overly cautious about letting recruits know about what you plan to do with their statements.  On this one, don't think Brandon was.

Soulfire21

December 6th, 2013 at 6:23 AM ^

Well, our record and football this year had me pretty disinterested starting with the Nebraska loss.  If that can do that to someone who went to Michigan and generally bleeds blue, I can't imagine it bodes well with recruits.

drz1111

December 6th, 2013 at 7:52 AM ^

BBrown, I have a couple of journo friends, and they have a knack for enticing people to talk to them without seeming creepy or aggressive. You don't have that. Your work is bizarre. I think you seem like a decent guy, but maybe you should go to journalism school before coming back to launch a career as a recruiting reporter. Alternatively, maybe find another field? Lots of us have passion for college football, but most of us aren't suited to be recruiting reporter, which is a field that requires a delicate touch to avoid exploiting the kids.

Brandon Brown

December 6th, 2013 at 8:08 AM ^

But you just flat out don't know what you are talking about man, point blank. You have no idea if I have that ability or not. The fact is I do have a knack for getting people to talk to me. That's the reason Brian hired me to do this. Hundreds of recruits answer every single question that I have. Not one recruit has EVER said, "Please don't contact me anymore." And sometimes I actually ask them if they'd like to be left alone because I don't want to be a pest and I know that they are hounded by reporters and coaches constantly.

As I have said several times now, Malik knows exactly who I am. We have talked on many occasions. He knows I am the recruiting person here and why I am asking him these questions. We continued to talk after this original post was posted, it just took him a little while to repond back again. He is growing tired of the entire process from reporters and coaches. He also said that I don't bother him at all because I rarely even try to get in touch with him. I asked him if he'd like me to stop contacting him and he said no, he said I wasn't one of the issues. It's kind of annoying that I have to defend myself with stuff like that instead of just doing my job and reporting my findings.

Please don't act like you know what's best for me or this site because you just don't. I'm not trying to be a dick about it but you are only taking one snapshot of the much bigger picture on how all of this works.

 

lbpeley

December 6th, 2013 at 8:20 AM ^

blustering by some on this site is getting tiresome. It's like these windbags don't even read your replies. You've stated dozens of times how you go through the process of contacting these kids. I don't envy you a bit in dealing with these morans.

Much has been made about the quality of posting on the board of late. The hilarious (or sad) part is that for most of us it's these self proclaimed ambassadors for the program that are making this place unreadable. There are different types of trolls. Pretentious windbags fall squarely in one of those types. 

Bosch

December 6th, 2013 at 8:50 AM ^

... there is really much to take away from this other than the dude is probably getting sick of what has to be a ridiculous amount of text messages. This isn't a indictment to Coach Brown. He's just playing the system and the system isn't going to change.... but I can't take anything from this other than I'm sure a lot of people representing a lot of different programs are contacting him and his probably only giving those that are actually on the pay roll of the respective school the time of day... and maybe not even the.

Spontaneous Co…

December 6th, 2013 at 9:00 AM ^

I'm operating under the assumption I am a recruit and I read this post and all the comments.  Many of the negative, condescending, ass-hole'ish comments toward Brandon from Michigan fans paint a far uglier picture of our fan base than his actual post.  So to all of you who have a hard on for being a complete ass to our own recruiting reporter, I'd take a step back and consider whether your own behavior reflects more poorly on the University than Brandon's post.  Which, by the way, appears to be his way of providing an example for a hypothesis that he set forth weeks or months ago.   I think even Brandon would agree that this post wasn't really newsworthy, but it was a great example of what he's previously described.  And to assume that someone would be offended by having a couple of "No's" posted, is a stretch.  

Brandon Brown

December 6th, 2013 at 9:16 AM ^

I agree with every single thing you said. It's a forum post, not meant to be Earth-shattering. Just a simple update that Malik actually resonded to me even though his answers were short. In recent months he hadn't been responding to me at all so take that for what it's worth. He's not offended, I don't know how else I can explain that. He knows what I do. Nothing more need be said.

lbpeley

December 6th, 2013 at 9:17 AM ^

Do people bitch about how Rivals, Scout, 24/7, ESPN recruitniks get their info? I doubt they sit back and let the recruits call them. What's different with BB doing it? Is it because he's not paid by an "established" recruiting site? Everyone says this is one of the best college sites on the web. Why can't that qualify BB to ask these kids questions? Hell, he's a middle school teacher for crissakes. I highly doubt he's got a rusty van with "Free candy" spray painted on the side. 

HarBooYa

December 6th, 2013 at 9:48 AM ^

People would bitch on those channels if the info was published like this...fact is, its not because its unethical and inappropriate to post a transcript of text message conversation with a minor.

This is not a read and move on moment...this is a take down the friggin conversation moment before it gets worse and simply summarize it.  Not hard