Biggest surprise of the recruiting season
With the end of recruiting nearly upon us - what a long strange trip it's been - I was wondering what everyone's biggest surprises were from the saga we managed to endure right down to the end.
To me - other than the fact that we are going to fill out this class! - it was the fact that after the Hoke hire and the Mattison Doctrine of 2011, A. Zettel did not waver more in his commitment to Penn State.
For someone who was a lifelong UM fan, you'd think it would at least be on his mind no matter what. But then to hire someone with the caliber of Greg Mattison, on top of all the enthusiasm there has been with Brady Hoke, I thought there was a good possibility he might flip. Instead it seems there was barely a moment's notice from the young man.
Anyway, for the rest of you?
February 1st, 2011 at 10:50 AM ^
Dee Hart.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
Even with all the hoopla about oversigning, Arkansas and South Carolina still have 30+ commits.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:54 AM ^
This is surprising?
February 1st, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
Valid point. Perhaps my expectations were too high for the SEC.
Or perhaps it's an innocent mistake and they just can't count.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:28 AM ^
I remember reading in an article about oversigning(can't remember exactly which one) that coaches in the SEC sell the year by year scholarship renewal as "having to work for your scholarship" and I think that's something that plays pretty well in football culture. Personally I think it's time the NCAA adopts the Big Ten's rules. If a hue and cry goes up about being unfair to kids who are academically borderline, I'd say the best counter-argument is that that is what prep schools and junior colleges are there for.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
Losing Kris Frost.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:53 AM ^
2012 is that year that Hoke & Co. need to lockdown the state of Michigan as best as possible. Danny O'Brien, Terry Richardson, James Ross & R.Jenkins-Stone. Getting 3 out of those 4 would be a great job, why not all 4 heck !
Go Blue.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:02 AM ^
Throw in Laron Taylor and Chris Wormley, and I'll be very happy.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
cgoldblu.... im totally with you, on the zettel surprise... but note, that Sam said on the radio yesterday, that last week Zettel called our coaching staff.... that he initiated the contact, implying that there was still a slight chance.. and then I guess he shut it down over the weekend and stuck with Penn State. So to me, it sounds like he put a feeler out to us to see if we wanted him at DL but maybe we said no, only OG, and he stuck with PSU.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:59 AM ^
Thanks.
Did not know this.
If that is the case, I gotta say I'm a little disappointed with the coaches lack of flexibility on 4 star players position choice. It still seems they could have used Lucien as well, but the same story occurred.
Hope that doesn't come back to bite us.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^
I would prefer the coaches to be honest with a player, and telling them exactly where they would have them play because they think that gives the team the best chance to win, than being disappointed with them because of a star rating a recuriting service gave said player.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:28 AM ^
OK, but the part about the staff telling Zettel he can only play O is pure conjecture on the part of Michigania - he even said "maybe the coaches said he couldn't play DL only OG and maybe Zettel didn't like that" or something to that effect. He didn't say that he heard the coaches said that - he's just taking a guess as to what might have happened.
Personally, given our need at DL, I highly doubt the coaches said something like that to Zettel, especially now that we have 2-3 OGs in this class.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^
We don't know what exactly went on. But, don't you have to have one spot left for someone like Zettel. I am really curious as to what the deal was. Did Zettel have some doubt with PSU and it was squashed or something else.
February 1st, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
and it might be conjecture, but his parent's have basically said that the recruiting process lasted long enough and they want to stand by his word....which unfortunately as we know, is PSU
February 1st, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
will probably happen on National Signing Day.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
Ray Drew to UGA. He said he was gonna SHOCK THE WORLD and nothing SHOCKS THE WORLD like going to the in state school that's right down the road and was in your top group all along.
Right?
February 1st, 2011 at 10:58 AM ^
It's much easier to say that you are going to shock the world than to actually, you know, do it.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:59 AM ^
"SHOCK THE WORLD" is recruit speak for "I'm going to where everyone expects me to go, but still pay attention to me and my press conference."
Glenville recruits often SHOCK THE WORLD.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:01 AM ^
Can't say it didn't work either. Logged in to Yahoo a few hours after his announcement and he was one of the top 10 trending items.
February 1st, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^
How in the hell, is New Mexico a finalist for him?!?!?!?!?!
February 1st, 2011 at 11:01 AM ^
How about the fact that "the process" cost us about a month of recruiting in January and Hoke is still going get a 20-person class?
Amazing, really.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:20 AM ^
The recruiting turnaround was impressive. Even if they went after kids who could be "easily" flipped. It still shows good judgment and awareness. I was impressed by what was accomplished in such a short time frame.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
Exactly.
The biggest surprise wasn't that Hoke could recruit, but that he did such a good job in such a short period of time while behind the 8 ball.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^
Showing enough intelligence to realize you were in a position of weakness isn't amazing. Hoke did the smart thing, and thats certainly portends well for the program direction, but if you find common sense "amazing", then you're easily impressed.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:03 AM ^
That with the entire DB time table for the whole CC, we still have what will likely be a full class, and one that is actually pretty good.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:07 AM ^
Ferentz is damn lucky he doesn't have an Iowa City equivalent of Michael Rosenberg, Mark Snyder, the Detroit Free Press, and Jeff Defran.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^
I live in Iowa City and believe me, there is plenty of scrutiny of the program by a local media looking to profit from Hawkeye misdeeds. Ferentz has earned some slack for being incredibly steady and producing a mostly winning program despite more than his share of program trouble over the years. However, in light of all that has happened recently (rape trial, player arrests, player hospitalizations) he may be closer than ever to having used up his capital. Around here though the desire to blame the coaches and staff is always mitigated by the fact that if we run this guy out of town who and what do we have left? There's no obvious successor, no reason to think someone else could do better, and the men's basketball team makes Michigan's men's basketball team look like they belong in the top 20.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:08 AM ^
being physically possible.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:15 AM ^
Kid is just a freak. If he goes to Bama, Clowney vs. Lewan in 2012 will be epic.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:20 AM ^
Based on what I've seen of Clowney, he and Lewan may end up in a fist fight before it's over.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:44 AM ^
oops, double post.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:41 AM ^
My money is on Lewan.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:09 AM ^
February 1st, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
I agree on Zettel. How can a life-long UM fan not come to Ann Arbor. While Penn State has a nice tradition and all, it's not Michigan. I really thought he would come back home, but I guess that's not going to happen. Happy trails.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:22 AM ^
From what I can tell he thought Penn State was the best school for him and got turned off by the coaching turmoil. It's not that surprising of a decision really. His quote in the Detroit News story about people around him telling him to hold off was telling .
February 1st, 2011 at 11:32 AM ^
Michigan has no DL coach at this time. So Zettel would be making a big leap of faith. PSU has a rich tradition (with this coaching staff) of developing not only LBs, but DL. Assuming Zettel wants to stay on that side of the ball, he made a logical decision about his development as a player. He wasn't thinking like a fan; he was thinking like a young man who wants to develop his skills.
February 1st, 2011 at 12:07 PM ^
so no, it wouldn't be
February 1st, 2011 at 12:43 PM ^
Has Hoke been announced as the DL coach? Or are you assuming again, just like when you assumed we'd have a coach by Jan 4th?
February 1st, 2011 at 8:59 PM ^
in response t your attempt to be cute about the 4th, i went out on a limb and figured you were ignorant as to why the date was being thrown around. i tried to be polite and explain it to you. i even went so far as to explain that i didn't think it was the case but, rather, people were saying it was the 4th bc of X, Y and Z. you then acted pompous and arrogant talking down to me and others about us not being all-knowing or holding a magic ball when all we were doing was trying to be polite to someone we figured was "not in the loop/hadn't read the basis." shove the condescension, it's unbecoming.
oh, and fwiw, he was freaking fired during a process that began the 5th. i'd understand the lip if, you know, it occurred the 28th, or January 14th but the fact the date was off a day and you're mouthing off about it? dumb.
February 1st, 2011 at 8:50 PM ^
i doubt players wouldn't go to Stanford last year or ones before if they didn't have a QB Coach in place. Hoke knows D-Line and would either micromanage in the face of failing coaching or hire the best he could. if i were a DL prospect, i don't think i'd be too worried that a coach hadn't been hired when the head coach was a DL coach.
February 1st, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^
But when you look at what happened to Michigan since then, especially on the defensive side of the ball, I would have thought there would have been more than just a waver on either side to get him back towards going blue.
But as someone below said, maybe he's just sticking to his word and if that's the case real life +1.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
Given the length of time between coaches, I think the fact that our class didn't leave in lock-step is a surprise. Kris Frost & Dee Hart surprised me. Zettel surprised me for an obvious (and painful) different reason. Even if there have been some last minute wavering, give the kid credit for sticking to his word. It may hurt as a Michigan fan, but it's nice to see some young men display character.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:15 AM ^
I had honestly never heard of him before the "Hello" post. QB recruits are usually front and center. With that said, I am cautiously optimistic that he could give DG a run for his money in a couple of years...
February 1st, 2011 at 11:32 AM ^
oh yeah... i think he really has what it takes, and has impressed the heck out of me, much more than gardner, too. not knocking gardner, either. am mildly surprised people here havent been talking more about bellomy.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:56 AM ^
Impress you more than a guy with two plus years of high school film (that we have all seen) and some actual game experience? DG went to the elite 11 QB showcase and everyone raved about him. He is going to be a stud in this offense, while Bellomy could easily passed over by some younger, higher upside guy down the road. I like Bellomy and am glad he is joining our class but to say he has impressed you more than Gardner is just ridiculous.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
having a class without a WR, haven't seen one of those in a while (03)
February 1st, 2011 at 11:22 AM ^
Tom VH is nocturnal.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
I think the biggest shock, albeit a great shock, of the recruiting season was the hire of Mattison. I was surprised that he would leave the NFL and come back for the same position. And, in his short time here, I think he has made a big impression on bringing in some of these students.
February 1st, 2011 at 11:33 AM ^
From a recruiting standpoint, the hire of Mattison was bigger than the hire of Hoke.