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Da'shawn Hand's New Top Three
Alabama doesn't have an undergrad sports management program, so I'm not sure he will ever be meeting the sports management guy.
He did meet the head of their 122nd ranked engin department, you know, the one ranked lower than UAB.
that 'bama has accepted his being good at sport to as a prereq to their grad school sports management program, which is unsupdeproprecedented
I would almost guarantee that being the truth.
"We will pay you to play sports. You manage the money we pay you. Thats our sports management. Welcome aboard!"
Then Alabama shakes Hand until Hand turns BLUE
Per SBNation, who has some quotes from Hand, that is precisely the reason (LINK).
Straight from Hand himself:
"I eliminated Virginia Tech because they don't offer a sports marketing program. And with South Carolina, the professor just didn't wow us. "
...and regarding Michigan and Alabama:
"At Michigan, the [sports marketing] program was so impressive, I wanted to sign up right there. During my visit to Alabama, I met the dean of their [sports marketing] program, and it's an excellent program."
He seems to be very serious about sports marketing. If he's making his decision based on an academic department, then I think it bodes well for us.
He must come to Michigan. He can learn Sports Marketing at the foot of the absolute Master, Dave Brandon.
1. "?? What the hell is a professor?"
2. "Christ, who let him talk to a professor..."
3. "PROFESSOR!!!"
In a totally unrelated story , The University of South Carolina hires
Jerry Mcguire as their new Sports marketing professor.
I would say that it is better than not fighting Saban for a recruit.
Tell that to Henry Poggi.
Let's not kid ourselves. Poggi was a huge get for us but not nearly as big a priority for Bama.
Hand's recruitment is going to be a dogfight. Saban's track record of getting guys into the NFL has got to be attractive to recruits.
I have no doubt that Hoke will return Michigan to the level of a top 5 destination for college football recruits but that isn't the case yet.
For a recruit who seems to see through BS, it's not a terrible thing. Saban is not totally full of poo like Urban Meyer is, and he's great at getting the most out of his players, but I think Hand is going to see that Alabama doesn't offer quite as much as Mich, total college experience considered.
definitely not good if you're a Hokie. I think it's good news for us though.
Before today, we were presumed to be in his Top 2. We weren't the ones eliminated, so this is a good thing.
I liked being matched up vs VA Tech more. Well we've beaten Bama for recruits before and we'll do it again.
SATAN?!?!?!? Nick Satan keep your HANDS off HAND!
Link ($) straight from TomVH's mouth (keyboard?)
http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/michigan/forums#!/topic/1371039583-966-0
So, sum that up...
You should pay for Insider. Then TomVH can hold you too.
Normally I'm patient enough for it to hit the board, but not today
Thanks!
Seriously, you can find it for like $8-$10 a year. It's too ridiculous of a deal to not do it.
I have the ESPN Insider. You are right. It is a great deal and is very cheap for what you end up getting. I didn't use it as much until they came up with Wolverine Nation. Now I use the Insider quite a bit which is well worth it.
In this case here I think what everyone was saying is that they were expecting some tidbit of information besides just a link.
I wouldn't give ESPN one fucking penny of my money...
You can get it sent to you via email, which you then can delete w/o even opening, like I do.
Because that means you missed the fashion issue. And the music issue.
Because those things are important in a sports magazine.
first sustainable industry. They give the trees a shot of painkiller before they cut them down. They don't feel a thing.
The problem is that you don't get access to Insider until you start getting the magazine which takes 8-10 weeks to start from when you sign up. I know because I signed up a few weeks ago when the latest great deal was announced and was really bummed to learn that I would have to wait this long because I only signed up for the Insider access.
Welcoming news to start a Wednesday.
Is this good news, or did Bama just jump everyone?
I think it bodes well for us being in his ear so long and that he loves our staff, but if you were 17 and the best player in the country it would be hard not to take a look at Bama and all there rings and early draft picks.
So you're saying that the reason he isn't interested in OSU is that they've sold all there rings?
Sam Webb just got off the phone with D. Hand and he's going to cover it on the other side of this commercial break. He said Michigan just took a major step in the direction of landing Hand. Sam sounds VERY giddy....tune in!
Details for those of us at work. I expect a detailed synopsis in this thread. Pretty, pretty please...
The "revelation" is that Hand dropped VaTech (which should be a reminder of how ridiculously well informed we MGoCultists are) and he is now considering Alabama because he likes their engineering program, and was blown away by the engineering professor he spoke with. He also said something about how the professor is a "football guy" and Sam doesn't know what that even means.
Sam reitereated several times that this is "a step closer" to Michigan landing Hand because he believes it is about relationships and he implied that Alabama would not be able to make up the ground that Michigan already has in that department. He kept saying again and a gain that he could never have imagined that Hand would drop Virginia Tech but the academics aspect was just too important. Ira was blown away by that part. I think that is basically everything.
I think someone said above Alabama is 122nd in engineering whereas Michigan is typically top 5. For comparisons sake, I think MSU, Tech, and Western are all in the top 50 so Alabama at 100+ effectively means their engineering school is a big joke
I think the real reason he dropped VT isn't because of the sports managment program. I don't have any concrete info but logic dictates that if he considers Alabama's engineering program and he still really liked the coaches at VT he wouldn't just drop them because of no Sports Management. That would mean he would have to drop Alabama too because no SM.
Thanks. I bet their website is going to crash now.
If I had to say my top three, I'd say:
1. Jimmy Johns
2. Quiznos
3. Anything not Subway
/s
Eat fresh. The plastic seals in the freshness.
It's actually a "crunch-enhancer". A non-nutritive cereal varnish that's semi-permiable. It's not osmotic. What it does, is it coats and seals the leaf, prevents the dressing from penetrating it.
Allright, so their lettuce is a non-food item. I had the new bravacado yesterday -- turkey, bacon and avocado -- and it was awfully good.
Automatic +1s for Christmas Vacation quotes. Nice.
Has your Christmas bonus been delivered yet, Clark? Have to pay for the pool.
It's like a sandwich made from the plastic ingredients found in a children's playhouse.
Always get the spinach
DAE not like subway?!
i did not expect my innocent "gun to my head panera" comment to generate another sandwich conversation this morning.
it was crazy!
Quiznos is nasty.
As long as we stay amongst his top schools, I remain confident in Hoke, Mattison and Commish Peppers closing the deal on this one.
will be talking about it now. When it's on the podcast it's right after the Marcus Ray segment.
Hand called Webb while he was on with Marcus for his regular segment.
isn't that unusual? I've never heard that before. It's either a classy move or is replete with symbolism.
Perhaps the phone call may have been scheduled well ahead of time?
I guess Allin4blue was right after all.
Yeah. You can't blame anyone for doubting him though. 1 out of every 500 times someone on the internet says that he has a friend of a friend of a guy, it's legit.
Oh, I agree. There always seems to be someone who knows somebody, and more often than not it doesn't exactly pan out the way they say it will. However, he said it definitively before anybody. I wondered while I was reading it what the reaction would be either way and I was really hoping he was right. think one or two people might owe him an apology.
Just like when I smoked pot with Johnny Hopkins and Sloan Kettering and Johnny said he was playing LAX in the B1G, and I was all like Dude, your crazy.
I'm inclined to agree, but I just can't be sure how often it's legit when someone on the Internet posts a statistic.
No hate! It was just a "lucky" guess on my part!
Hand said VT is off the list because they don't offer sports marketing.
Neither does Bama for an undergrad...?
he eats exclusively at Potbelly.
I've heard rumors (not sure how legit as they're VT guys) that he's been buying into Saban's pitch that he could play the Jack LB position in their 3-4 and slide down to DE when they go to the 4-man front nickel they play quite a bit. While I think he's more of a pure 4-3 SDE and could potentially be an instant impact guy in the B1G, I can't entirely blame guys for buying what Saban's selling given how successful his defenses have been lately.
If you think he's a pure 4-3 SDE, I think you're underrating his athleticism. I think he could play WDE, and I also think he could be an strongside OLB in a 3-4 look. Long-term (later college years, NFL, etc.), I think he probably fits best as a SDE but you might as well use his athleticism while he's got it. He's probably going to lose some of his quickness and burst once he bulks up to 285-290.
Magnus, does he remind at all of a LaMarr Woodley in terms of build and position flexibility? Depending on 4-3 or 3-4 system Woodley switched from DE to OL etc.
If I had to pick a doppelganger from recent Michigan history, it would probably be Pierre Woods, not Woodley. However, I think Hand will grow to be bigger and stronger than Woods ever was.
Somehow I doubt that those are the kinds of things that will determine where he goes to school.
That sounds like message board-rationalization, something we should be familiar with after watching the infamous Eleven Warriors' meltdown.
F5 F5 ...looks like im not getting any work done today lol
I consider this good news even if its Alabama. He had 2 major loves - one was dropped. He is replacing that with a new fling. Do you go with one of your 2 original loves or a fling? Yes I understand the fling is the current Victoria Secret model but who do you marry - her or the love? ;) His personality is not that one of a Treadwell - so take that into account.
p.s. I expect this to be a long slog - I mean he is going to Michigan for the ND game and that is months away so the # of Hand speculation posts between now and committment day is going to be enormous. Just let it play out - a long road ahead.
p.s.s. you guys are fast, just saw Sam's tweet and headed over here and already 24 posts sheesh.
He's talking about it right now on wtka
Sam says he would consider sports management at Michigan and engineering at Alabama. Head of engineering school at Alabama is a "football guy" which resonated with Hand, per Webb. But Webb says Michigan will be hard to beat since it will be very dependent on relationships and Hand is a relationship guy.
Overall Sam sounds very happy since VaTech dropped out. He thinks it is huge - Webb would not have predicted that... and says Hand wouldnt have either (and it came down to academics - that VaTech did not offer).
lol, love how that post was voted flamebait. I see the "neg any post" crowd is out today. Or is the IP address in VA, or AL? Wow.
There's no logic to the neg regardless.
I don't know why but I have this sudden urge to neg you for no particular reason.
No problem. It's become redundant. ;)
nevermind my comment was redundant once I saw the next page where the same point was made several times.
Sam leaves the segment with Marcus Ray to take the call. He tells Sam that he has definitely OUT, no doubts about it, regardless of his relationship with Bud Foster. This was due to academics.....not offering Sports Marketing. He loves our Sports Marketing program and was blown away with the presentation he was given. Alabama is in the picture due to "engineering"....due to a prof that is a "football guy". Hmmmm.....that seems a little odd seeing that M and VT both have good engineering programs. Webb thinks M is going to be VERY tough to beat, he sounds like an excited 12 year old girl. I think he's getting that gut feeling.....
What doesnt make sense is Alabama doesnt have sports marketing, it has engineering. And Im sure VATech has engineering. Hence I find it circular and frankly I think Hand is just trying to come up with a reason.
If he was choosing a progam at Bama that VaTech does not offer that is one thing - but to say a certain program is lacking at VaTech (sports management) but choose Alabama which also lacks that program.. well it sounds like he is just trying to come up with a reason to let Bud F down gently.
Sports Marketing is an entirely different thing.
VT definitely has engineering. After the sugar bowl I met a few of their players, and they were nothing but very impressive, smart, polite young men who were committed to engineering and football together. /anecdote
Yes, which makes the comments about willing to go to Alabama for engineering but not VATech for engineering (and instead focusing on lack of sports management) speak to a much larger point. Looks like he just is trying to find a reason to drop a long standing relationship. The academic reason for dropping VaTech makes no sense - it would have come up months ago if lack of sports management at VaTech was true reason. Anyhow as long as it is not us, the exact reason doesnt matter much to me.
he thinks relationships with the coaches will be huge in his final decision, which will put Michigan in very good position. He also said Prof. Mark Rosentraub's academic presentation "blew away" DaShawn on his campus visit.
This is almost a damn near gut feeling. I like this lots.
HOLD THE PHONES!
247 has Alabama and Florida as 'warmer' and Michigan as 'warm'. Please tell me this is climate based. Oh my god, where's the nearest tall bridge!?!??!?
EDIT: They changed their temps. Thank god I never found that bridge...
Where do you live? I'll google it.
might be unwarranted. The supposed academic lure at Alabama of an engineering prof being a "football guy" doesn't sound very impressive.
What does "Football Guy" = an easy grade!?!? Will he get the "football guy" in every engineering course he's enrolled in?
Hold off on that until December, a lot can happen.
He's just trying to recall some positive things to say during a media interview. Ever been interviewed? Lets not have unfounded criticism of the kid.
Where is the best place to get Sam Webb's podcasts each week?
Thanks
Anyone else think it's funny that Hand took the time to call Michigan insiders this morning? That to me is a pretty big sign. To my knowledge, he did not do this with other teams insiders.
False.
He's now live on a podcast with RDT.
I have RDT's podcasts on my I-phone. You should have heard his interview with Bear Bryant, it was pretty epic.
was how similar RDT and Bear Bryant's voices were. Who knew?
Was tired of being outside on this one. Just figured out the whole RDT/WolverineBag thing. Holy shit that was confusing. Did anoyone ever figure out why the hell he made two different accounts and wanted to pose as a Bama fan?
The way everything is falling I think Hand comes here. And I am not a rose (or maize) colored optimist. A lot of this comes from (a) his personality - introspective, intellectual and (b) his reaction to OSU visit which mirrors the SEC programs in "intensity" lol. He just seems like a fit for a Michigan Stanford type program and with the now long courtship and type of culture Hoke has, he seems like the type of kid who fits like a glove in the intangibles department with the school.
That said, I am preparing for months of speculation and jumping on and off bridges - will be very interesting to hear how his and Peppers relationship develops in the coming months as well.
It's very telling.
the NSA
Hand said the dean was a football guy. Who the hell at Alabama isn't a football guy?
all the females?
Even the girls are football guys; they'll kick your ass.
are football guys at Alabama.
M
RTH
GR
H
M
Damn I swear I "guessed" this yesterday but for some reason got flame-baited to death. NO love I swear!! http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/rivals-mike-says-today-i-think-michigan-woul...
And you have survived. Bravo.
GIVE THIS MAN YOUR KUDOS. ALL OF THEM.
I barely survived man! I thought for sure I was going to Bolivia but I was lucky the plane was delayed and allowed reentry into the MgoCommunity!
I'm sure you do understand why people would be skeptical about your statements. Nonetheles props (and a completely meaningless +1 for your correct prediction)
I was obviously joking about "being right" and for what it's worth I realized after I posted that most would doubt the info was accurate.
Don't take it personally. Not sure if you were around for the Roll Damn Tide fiasco, but we're all sorta in a once bitten, twice shy situation right now. Great, crowd sourced info like this is a big reason I visit the site, so keep it coming even if you get flamed (doubtful now that you've been vindicated big time).
There's only so much you can learn about driving a train.
After about week three of class, I think all attention should be turned toward footbaw.
It's true, they pretty much drive themselves now.
Pretty much sums up how I feel since I heard about the podcast.
http://i.imgur.com/rDFW9Kg.jpg
So what are you doing with your hands there?
Oh Don, there are children present.
"Hand told me Michigan's sports marketing professor, 'blew me, my coach and my dad away. My dad wanted to sign back up for school.' " -- TomVH
...is when you're taking college classes with your dad.
This might not be a good development for Michigan.
I'm glad Hand is considering Alabama. Why wouldn't you want to go to one of the best football schools in the country, if you're one of the best athletes in the country? If Michigan wants to compete with the best, we need athletes who are considering going to Alabama, Florida, USC, LSU, Texas A & M, Ohio, Stanford, Texas, etc.
I also get tired of people who can't understand why someone would even consider another school academically. Alabama certainly isn't Michigan, but you can get a good education at a number of schools.
...out recruiting the #1 team/recruiting force in country to get him. :)
Jim Harbaugh agrees....
(too soon?)
I understand your point, but it's different with each recruit. I am surprised that someone who is as focused on academics as Hand is considering Alabama. To me that clearly indicates football is a priority over acadmics and that we are going to be in a dog fight for Hand.
Signing Day is a long way away. Right now I like Michigan's chances, and for now that'll do. We've beaten Alabama before.
Why doesn't THE KNOWLEDGE just tell us where Hand will end up and save us all this heartache - I am frustrated because he just toys with my emotions...........
He's too busy soaring.
Hopefully this works out for 'Bammer about as well as trying to nab Henry Poggi at the last minute
Da'Shawn Hand on Smashmouth: Will take 5 officials. Alabama, Michigan, Florida, USC and LSU. That's the list. Won't change.
— Kevin Scarbinsky (@KevinScarbinsky) June 12, 2013
That's some pretty good company.
Hey, where's Ohio State?
That's also the preseason top 5 in 2015. Good choices.
...I am good.
based on prior Hand claims that green is his man according to his latest tweet. Forgive me I am new and do not know how to embed tweets. However this has to be good for us
Are you taking about Derrick Green?
The aforementioned "green" you speak of is indeed Derrick Green
Off topic but sort of on topic - how does Hand look relative to Clowney when he was coming out? Is Hand at that level of beastliness? Or is this a down year for DEs making him the default #1 so-to-speak?
Clowney is a rare commodity. It would be very difficult to expect a high school junior to compare with next year's potential #1 draft pick. That said, Hand is a beast and will be an impact player wherever he ends up (hopefully with the good guys).
Many say Clowney would be the #1 overall pick if college kids could come out after their frosh or soph years. So hard to compare people to a "generational" type of talent like that. With that said, Taylor contained him nicely ;)
Would finish out the class again? I kinda forgot anyone remember the list?
Hand reportedly ain't considering ohio because he wants to play school.
I think #Michigan is clearly the team to beat [email protected]dekeglahn: @rivalsmike who do you think the leader is?
— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) June 12, 2013
Two bombshells in two days regarding Hand's recruitment. We have a puncher's chance w/ Hoke and Mattison. Not to mention Ferns and team 135 talking to him. Still shocked V Tech was dropped.
"I eliminated Virginia Tech because they don't offer a sports marketing program. And with South Carolina, the professor just didn't wow us. I have the utmost respect for Virginia Tech and South Carolina, and their coaches, and wish them the best of luck.
At Michigan, the [sports marketing] program was so impressive, I wanted to sign up right there. During my visit to Alabama, I met the dean of their [sports marketing] program, and it's an excellent program. He actually played football, and he gets it. And I haven't been to Florida, yet, but I've heard their defensive coaching staff and that defensive line with coach [Brad] Lawig and coach D.J. Durkin is amazing. And Alabama's engineering program was working on a $25M project when I was down there."
I feel positive that we are a strong contendor for the #1 player in the country. If you look at his final 5 teams, that's pretty good company. For some reason I have been kind of "meh" regarding his final choice. But now I'm starting to believe we could actually land the #1 and #2 players in the country and all this after an 8-5 season. Do you think this is an anomaly and these guy's personalities just happened to match up with Michigans or could this be more of the norm for the future?
The norm as long as the recruiting success translates to performance on the field.
Peppers is a unique case in that Michigan was his childhood dream team. Consider his top 2 of Stanford and Michigan. Let's be blunt and say that is not the normal top 2 for a top 5 team, even as homers. You'd usually have a few SEE EEE CEEE teams in there, a USC, a Michigan/OSU/ND mix etc.
Hand is unique just from a personality standpoint and again its a weird top 2 (or was a weird top 2) in that none of the typical players were involved again ... well until today with the new top 3.
I think the other thing that helps here is these are east coast kids and college football is not huge on the east coast in terms of national powers. When a kid from New Jersey or Virginia is top 5 rather than a kid from Florida, Texas, Cal, Ohio, PA etc it opens up the roadmap more. Contrast this with Fournette which is basically a LSU lean and until recently no one thought would even look outside the "normal characters".
I see Fournette as a Treadwell type guy. Heavy lean to a particular school for the entirety of the process. We point to a lot of Michigan recruits as trying to find a reason not to commit. It works both ways, so maybe Fournette has stated LSU leads, but isn't in love with them as much as many think. Man, is my glass full, but I feel like we have a shot...
I think that from what Laura Hoke said to me, Treadwell was someone who was wowed by a "red carpet" experience. He (and his mom) liked all the bells and whistles and steak and lobster and bling. That is NOT Hoke or Mattison or Borges, and they're not going to change. They're not going to coddle a recruit and promise the sun, moon and stars, and then things change once you're on the team.
One of the things that has been consistent with the recruits coming in is that they know what they're getting at Michigan. Michigan in and of itself has great facilities, coaches, and the like. But partly this is a personality thing. Some people like to be wowed, some people like it straight.
I'll tell you a personal story by way of analogy. I remember when I first met my wife, thinking, wow, she looks pretty good without makeup, etc. There were other girls who might have looked better when they were all dolled up, but they took a half hour or so to put on their makeup every morning, and weren't that good looking without putting all this stuff on. I thought to myself, I like the way my wife looks, with or without makeup. I'd like waking up next to her. I liked that I saw the real woman, and was still pleased.
Hand strikes me as one of those no nonsense guys, no BS guys, what you see is what you get. He wants the same from coaches or programs he is looking at.
Now, Fournette, I know nothing about. But I'd tend to think that he is a guy who wants to work hard and be around good coaches and good athletes who are willing to do what it takes to win. Especially with Peppers, but possibly Hand and a few others, and the coaching rep of Mattison (possibly Borges,) he could see a good thing building here. And want to be part of it.
I really haven't seen any interviews with Fournette. Take it FWIW, but that probably means he's really not a flashy, attention-seeking guy, and just likes to be low-key. If that's the case, and we get him to visit, we really may have a chance.
On the one hand, I think it's clear we are going to be recruiting at a very high level for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, I do think the stars aligned at least a little bit - how often is it that both the #1 and #2 players are truly that dedicated to academics and finding the right SCHOOL (not just the right football program) and it's not just the usual lip service?
Hoke beat out Meyer, now it's his turn to beat out Saban.
We've beat Saban before for D-linemen (Pipkins and Poggi). We can do it again.
Whenever Da'Shawn Hand is free.
/s (?)
re: Alabama, the Sports Management graduate program is part of their Human Environmental Sciences department. Although there is no sports mgmt undergrad major/concentration, it'd be easy enough based on what i'm seeing in the course catalog to design a custom curriculum with a sports/general management focus, and they do have a sports mgmt elective (although it's just a single course). Could be what they're selling to Hand.
So apparently OSU fans are convinced that Meyer is too intense and business-like for him, and he was never a right fit for their program anyway, and yet somehow, he's interested in Saban and Alabama?
Wonder if it ever occurred to them that Hand just flat out might not like their program or their school?
It's the relationship. I also don't see Saban having anything in common with Hoke personality-wise. I hope that is in our favor. I think it is.
Urban much like Saban is very slick and business like. He came away from osu unimpressed. Advantage :The Good Guys
247's CEO just switched his pick from UM to Alabama. Genuine perspective or whorish move to drive clicks?
Business move! Sleezy.
Shocked I seen this. Fellow wolves, lets not rule out Nick Satan! What a change of events quickly...due to this not making much sense scares me. Due to VT being hometown I thought would be in it due to respect.
Go get em Mattison!!!
This is why you come to Michigan, suck it bama.
Is Hand coming to Night game vs Notre Shame?
Please tell me yes?
If so lock it up done deal.
Also heard Tom Brady might be at that game!
Yes. That game will have more 5 stars on the sidelines than on the playing field... awesome.
Amen.
But I thought nicknames like these were left to State and Ohio fans....
Here is how you get Hand to Michigan!
Firefox one- Ferns
Firefox 2 - peppers
Firefox 3 - have Charles wodsoon say hi.
Atom bomb. - Gregory Mattison
Welcome Da Shawn :-)
Edit: it's been moved to diaries. I am not a smart man.
I think the fact that with this staff what you see is what you get will play a deciding role in Hand's choice.
Trying not to be excited and failing miserably. If we land Hand, already having Peppers on board, we are talking about an historic class in terms of its top layer. Just WOW.
Due to a vicious tackle that may or may not have actually happened (I get forgetful whenever Michigan loses) in last year's bowl game, I like to stay away from the word "Clowney" or any variation of that.
This is the first time i can actually say all i want is hand
If would love to up vote this I'd I wasn't on my phone!!
And the autocorrect shows it.
This must have been the story that spiked all the crystal ball predictions because Bama, Florida, and Michigan all got a few more votes today.
Sucks to be Virginia Tech fan today.
You grow ferns and peppers in your backyard and Mone Drake.
Then go down to Marshall and start Bunting for Cole.
On your way back, stop in Ohio and get a Hand-job
You will wake up the next day a champion
Props, however, an Ohioan hand job sounds repulsive and dirty.
To everyone unsure of Hand's excitement over Bama's engineering program, while ours is clearly superior, you have to realize that our program is extremely intense, both in course difficulty and in workload, and your average football player can't just take a couple of engineering classes, pass them easily, and walk away with a degree. Guys like Jordan Morgan are absolutely the exception. What I get from him being impressed by Alabama's program is less "it's the best I've ever seen!" and more "it's the best I've ever seen that I could reasonably balance with being a star athlete at a major university," which I think is reasonable. The head of the department being a "football guy" just says to me that he understands what Hand's football workload will be like, and won't make his life impossible with academics, as Michigan's elite engineering program would do.
I thought I saw a tweet from Tom V that he wants to study sports marketing. Which is why he eliminated VT.
the crystal ball was 75% VT and 25% Michigan before the announcement. With the other 75% being removed, we have 25 of a total 25% percent chance to land him. We win!!!!!
Only school out of those other four (including the two that "could" get visits) that concerns me is Alabama, and that didn't concern me until the rumblings that have just recently been coming out. Until last week, I would have considered this a lock (basically us and then putting a couple others out there to make it feel like a contest) but now I see it as maybe 75% us, 25% Alabama.