CC - Brandon's Delay Hurting Recruiting?
This post is not about who should/will be our head coach next year, whether or not Brandon waiting to make the decision is the best move or not, and if the question I am raising has already been raised I apologize for missing it.
The point of this post is to simply challenge the generally accepted notion that DB's decision to wait until after the bowl is hurting our current coaching efforts.
It's easy to see why this belief is fairly widely held. Dee Hart withdrew his commitment , and numerous recruits have expressed that they were waiting until DB made his decision to commit.
With this in mind, if national signing day was before or on the bowl game, I would say that these signs make it clear that Brandon's delay is hurting recruiting, but the the thing is that national signing day isn't until freaking February.
What Brandon's delay is doing is keeping Michigan football headlines far more than it would be otherwise, culminating in even more national press after the bowl game when the decision is announced.
I see this announcement having 3 different possible effects on recruits depending on how things turn out:
1. RR does poorly/mediocre in the bowl and DB decides to keep him. Effect - meh, not much. By February the recruits will do what all 18 year olds do and will have forgotten all about this and will sign with RR if they were going to anyway
2. RR surprises people when the team plays above expectation and DB keeps him in a big nationally televised love fest (my bet, like it matters). Effect - positive. Anyone who was going to sign does and all of the extra publicity this waiting game has garnered attracts more recruits
3. It doesn't matter how RR does and Harbaugh is brought to a big nationally televised reunion-themed love fest. Effect - positive. Some of RR's recruits stay, some of Harbaugh's recruits come over, and overall we get more guys than we would have because of the extra publicity Brandon's delay has garnered the program.
So, it seems that the biggest negative effect this delay has had, in my opinion is in regards to the public perception of Dave Brandon, who has taken a lot of the negative feelings off of RR and focus them on his handling of the situation - which would certainly make the announcement that RR is staying easier than right after the OSU game when public opinion of RR was at its lowest (just saying).
Btw, I would love nothing more than to have the error in my thinking highlighted by anyone so I know better for the future.
December 13th, 2010 at 11:39 PM ^
No, I don't know what Dave Brandon will do, nor will I add to the abundant speculation on that topic.
But if the deceased equine is up for a few more whacks, it might be interesting for someone to conduct a poll now on whether Brandon is making a big mistake waiting until January to announce a coaching decision. Then re-ask the same question the day after signing day. My hunch is that there would be a lot of affirmative votes now, but by Feb 3rd, the extended timeline will seem like an inconsequential issue, and perhaps even a prudent course of action. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think the current frenzy of impatience will prove unwarranted.
December 14th, 2010 at 2:16 AM ^
"Well honey, should we have built a tornado shelter?"
*tornado is barreling down upon the house*
"Well gee, probably so."
*tornado suddenly collides with giant shit storm spewing from Terelle Pryor's mouth and is pushed in the opposite direction toward East Lansing.*
"Never mind we would have been fine derp. You see, hon, hindsight is 20/20 derp."
December 14th, 2010 at 8:29 AM ^
It might beinteresting to take the two polls to see what the result is, but I think many people (at least most whose posts I've read) that think this is a bad idea (the timeline) are willing to admit that only time will really tell.
It's true that in February it may seem like it was the right decision, but the only way that it was the right decision is if JH is our HC. If RR is still here in February I don;t think there is any justifiable reason for the timeline we have seen.
You can argue whether it has really impacted recruiting (I think it has personally) but it is without question going to impact our ability to find a replacement for Gerg if we are going that route. Most of the better options will be off the board by then.
December 14th, 2010 at 9:07 AM ^
Your handle is the guy who writes all those love stories. Why?
December 14th, 2010 at 10:05 AM ^
for Avery Walls. Now he goes to Cal, a program that is hardly setting the world on fire itself. It can't be a grades/qualifying issue, since Cal is a top-notch school academically. Whatever Wall's final reasons were, Brandon's delay in making a decision can do nothing but make RR's recruiting job vastly more difficult.
December 14th, 2010 at 10:43 AM ^
Maybe if we guess what it is, mommy-- I mean DB- will let us open the presents early.