Damien Harris Will Visit for BBQ
In other news that means nothing, Damien was seen wearing a UM hat while arriving at the open. It's no secret Michigan is trailing right now, but a bounce back season on the field, and more interaction with Nussmeier can only improve our chances. If the young man is truly a life long Michigan fan, then a coordinator leaving that had been there for less than 4 years shouldn't make you de-commit. They just need to remind him why he loved Michigan to begin with; still an uphill battle.
YAY?
Someone did piss in my Cheerios this morning.
Here's a list of guys who are visiting for the BBQ. I'm sure there will be others, including current commits:
http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2014/07/visitors-2014-bbq-at-big-hou…
Borges is apparently friends with Damien's HS coach. Who knows what stuff Al might have told this HS coach after he was let go?
You keep recruiting until the bell in early February, but I'd be real surprised if Harris doesn't commit to OSU well before then. If he signs with UM, that would be a significant recruiting achievement for Hoke & Nussmeier.
Which is why I said a rebound season.
I kinda doubt Al Borges would say anything inapporpriate or unprofessional about UM to a former recruit. By all accounts he likes Hoke and doesn't seem vindictive. What continues to hurt UM's chances is significant uncertainty about the line's performance and, frankly, a substandard record the past couple of years.
That's tantamount to career suicide. Coaches don't do that because they are all aware no job come with a lifetime guarantee in this buisness and it's exactly as you state. These players want to see a return of UM's OL of old. Hell Brady already picked up the nation's no.1 RB just two years ago, and that came after a season where we lit up the scoreboard. We were known as OL U long before QB U because, as they say, it all starts up front.
I can't see Borges "badmouthing" Hoke or UM, but given the razor's edge it takes for one program to win over elite recruits it wouldn't take a negative comment. I'm sure he's a professional and a friend of Hoke's. Still, he's the only guy to be let go and looks like a scapegoat. He never struck me as a guy to own accountability the way I hear Hoke and GMatt own it. He's certainly not going to speak glowingly about all things UM, and it is clear his leaving (and communications that went with it) hurt UM's chances with Harris.
Why are you so sure Borges said anything? He never struck me as the type of guy who "bad-mouths" even after he was let go. This wasn't the first time he was fired. He didn't bad-mouth Tuberville or Dinardo after the fact, so why would he do so here?
I know everyone hates Borges because of 2013 (the bad parts, anyway), but for Christ's sake give the man some credit as a human being.
I agree, no one would risk hiring someone who bad-mouthed their previous employer, that would be just setting themselves up to be badmouthed later.
Ever since Michigan got Ty Isaac my approach to Harris and Weber is......."I don't care"
If this weren't a zero sum game, I'd agree, but it is so your take woefully underemphasizes the positive value achieved should OSU swing and miss here.
Isaac will likely sit a year and then be a sophomore in 2015, essentially making him a member of the 2014 recruiting class. Harris and Weber are in the 2015 recruiting class. It's not like we don't have room for one or two five star running backs in every class. Isaac fills the RB void in 2014, not 2015. If we miss out on Harris and Weber we will likely end up with a less-heralded RB in the 2015 recruiting class.
At this point I'm at least as happy to see Weber coming in as I am Harris. I might prefer to see Weber commit, though that's based on him being an in-state kid and knowing nothing about either's film (though at least one of the guys at Maize n Brew likes Weber better). A thought to perhaps re-naming the thread indicating both will be there.
Re. Harris, it seems like the Columbus NFTC and Meyer really put the zap on him. Hoke and Meyer are just polar opposites, though that doesn't prevent a recruit from liking both. But the BBQ could have the same effect as the NFTC. This is either a courtesy visit before he commits to Ohio, or could put everything back to square.
sorry about the cheerios.
Isaac might be the next Ty Wheatley and I'd still take either one of them. Can't have enough talent. Especially at a physically demanding position.
If I'm a car collector, I could buy the car of my dreams, and still want another one that catches my eye.
Except you can't really have more than 1 car in this metaphor.
Alabama has plenty of nice cars. Why the hell shouldn't we.
Yeah, we had Wheatley and Biakabituka at the same time.
It was good.
Alabama is like Jay Leno when it comes to cars.
But Isaac can't be the next Ty Wheatley because the next Ty Wheatley is actually a young man who exists.
And I really hope to hear relatively soon that the next Ty Wheatley will be playing in the same building in which the previous Ty Wheatley played.
/all about family connections
But once the next Ty Wheatley commits, he will then become the current Ty Wheatley. So we will still need to seek the next Ty Wheatley after that.
ESPN 300 RB's Damien Harris and Mike Weber said they will both be at Michigan's BBQ. #TheOpening
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) July 7, 2014
ESPN 300 RB's Damien Harris and Mike Weber hanging out #TheOpening pic.twitter.com/B5AaOW7asD
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) July 7, 2014
Mike Weber: "Hey Damien, you ever hear of Alex Kozan?"
Damien Harris: "That guy is my dude at Auburn".
Mike Weber: "Yeah, solid player on the O-Line early...none of that 'experience and development' garbage you keep hearing from Michigan blogs..."
Damien Harris: "Preach...that Coach Malzahn seems pretty ethical as well".
Mike Weber: "All those SEC guys...Saban, Miles...yeah, all of them".
Damien Harris: "Didn't they get LaQuon Treadwell as well?"
Mike Weber: "Nah, that was Ole Miss...Hugh Freeze..."
Damien Harris: "Oh yeah".
Mike Weber: "Stefon Diggs?"
Damien Harris: "ROJO?"
Mike Weber: "Ty Isaac"
Damien Harris: "uh...."
Mike Weber: "yeah...".
You tried too hard, Clarkie.
Is Epic.
I'm 10 beers deep and I think that horrible post sobered me up.
Isn't this the postscript to "Waiting for Godot?"
What exactly were you going for?
So bad I was almost tempted to upvote.
in that? Is he saying he is a hidden UM commit or is he saying he's turned his back on Michigan?
/s
Dunno... but whatever it means you know Mika Ditka is not happy.
This is a good thing right?
/s
The guy decommitted and is still wearing a Michigan hat upon arrival of the most important event of the summer. You guys on here really need to get with the picture. If that doesn't scream loyalty I don't know what does. Don't listen to all the recruiting sites that have him locked in at OSU. A lot of these guys don't care for anything Michigan so obviously they won't put UM as his favorite. I like to believe he is leading our rival on and wasting their time and energy. Was Gary Harris or Terrell Pryor ever committed here? He is coming to the bbq. This means something for all of you that go by the name Neg Nancy.
It is possible to be a fan of one school and commit to another (even if it is their #1 rival). Just saying ...
I used to follow recruiting a lot more than I do now, but I've seen a seemingly enormous number of guys decommit from Michigan and I can recall precisely one ever coming back - David Dawson. Everyone else was out the door and gone no matter how optimistic we were.
So I'll hold on the optimism until he actually recommits.
Will Campbell also right?
I don't believe he ever decommitted. I thought he was just one of the early on "I love Michigan" people who then drew out their commitments forever while flirting with other schools (which typically go poorly for Michigan in that scenario) before he surprisingly picked Michigan in the end
no, Will Campbell was a very early commit and then decomitted. He talked about visiting LSU specifically, I'm not sure if he ended up doing so or not, but then re-committed with the hat and everything at the Army AA game. Still would have loved to see what he could've done with another year under the current coaching staff, after how he improved his senior year.
in how many cases was there continuing mutual interest after their decommitment? Can you think of any besides Campbell and Dawson? I certainly don't remember much optimism about anyone else.
I don't think Hoke & Co have had a high number of decommitments relative to other national brands. Three this year was a consequence of extra early commitments and a poor season. Past history as a guide really only works going back to 2012:
Brown - UM stopped recruiting...Conley - Lost to OH...Dawson - got him back...(not counting Ward)
Given that batting average UM should get one of Harris, Crawford or George back...33% of the time, it works everytime...
Hopefully he sees what can happen when you go to a talent overload school a la Brionte Dunn and Dee Hart and thinks "hey, I may play more at one school over the other."
I know all recruits think they are the best but in reality I would imagine a player truthfully needs to weigh playing time especially in an era when freshmen year in year out are contributing and starting. If you don't make a major impact at OSU or Bama etc you may get passed by the guys in the next recruiting class the way some of the big time programs recruit.
I'm not saying Michigan doesn't recruit well or isn't a big time program. I just think OSU and Bama recruit better.
THE WORST.
You do realize UM has more talent at the RB position than Ohio does now, right?
I agree that U of M has a lot of talent at RB. However, it is still debatable that our RBs are better than OSU's RBs.
Michigan has more starz at RB. We'll see in the coming years if they have more talent.