Football's Incredible Recruiting Turnaround
In early January when Seth posted his official recruiting board update, things looked extremely bleak. We seemed to be in on very, very, few prospects. Seth himself responded by saying "The concerning thing is how often Michigan State comes up when I click on the 247 profiles of these guys, especially on DL." Davis was expected to commit already and hadn't.
Fast forward 3 months, and things could not be more different. If you look at our OL recruiting, it's almost scary. Sprague predicted to commit on Friday, Blake Frazier just tweeted a pic of himself as a baby in a Michigan helmet. Numerous 5 star tackles are slated to visit.
What happened? Here are the most obvious factors in my opinion:
- Stabilizing coaching situation
- Subsequently upgrading QB & LB coaches
- Strong transfer class
- MSU loses their DL maven, essentially reboots their entire recruiting department
- Ohio strategy starts to not only pay dividends, but flourish with Marshall commitment
- Jadyn Davis increases momentum
What other factors are playing into such a spectacular turnaround? Were we just being too negative in January? Does anyone know if the recent NIL organization is making a difference?
Curious to hear the board's thoughts, and Go Blue!
What he said.👆
What he said 🔝
I’m sure the criticism has to do with the NIL collectives. Not saying UMs is better or less than others. But, outside the program, fans viewed the NIL initiative as doom and gloom because recent success should have all top prospects lining up. Back to back success, along with Harbz looking to stay is the ultimate reasoning, imo. Oh, and the badass position coaches that UM has now. Outside of Hartline, I think Clink and possibly Moore could be the best of the best given what they’re pulling in.
Totally agree about Clink and Moore, absolutely elite coaches on the field and off. I am hoping we have a succession plan from Harbaugh to Moore but I doubt that will happen.
Having a "second" tier recruiting-wise of Partridge and Elston is also pretty wild.
Overlooking Jaybaugh?
Overlooking indeed. It’s hard to remember them all when UM has a plethora of great recruiters. Sorry, Jay.
Among the best no doubt. Hartline has coached a ton of high 4* receivers as osu was bringing i big timers before he was the wr coach. Hart and Moore have been coaching a ton of 3 and 4* players.
Totally agree. Hart and Moore have done way more with less. Hartline was born on 3rd base. Though, unlike the rest of his team, he has absolutely crushed his development on WRs and upped his recruiting chops at WR. I think Clink is a completely underrated recruiter/coach, maybe this year will change based on his recruiting efforts. I appreciate him because he’s going into Ohio and snagging players, now top players. I think this is another aspect to consider as to OPs question. The chip on those kids shoulders are enormous.
What other factors are playing into such a spectacular turnaround?
Winning!
45-23
I agree with you 4227%
Not 4523%?
...or 8750%?
Yes people were being too negative. Those folks have switched thier focus to basketball because that allows them to be more miserable at the moment. They will return after the first recruiting miss or the first time the offense goes 3 and out.
Anyone else concerned about JJ's spring game interception after 2 pick 6's?
It’s possible he’s not as good as I want him to be.
There was something weird with JJ's interception. Not sure exactly what happened, but he either threw into hard wind, had his hand tipped, or he had some mental lapse where he wanted to run, but was non contact and chose to throw late which resulted in a bad throw
No. It was a meaningless exhibition.
I should have used sarcasm font.
Holy shit are people seriously this bad at detecting sarcasm?
Where is Maizen btw. Dude was the eternal optimist.
"Were we just being too negative in January?"
Here? Impossible! Here, all is sweetness & light, with infinite patience over temporary setbacks and naysayers nugatory.
MGoBlog, a widely renowned community of optimists and positive influences!
BPONE and Bolivia will break any and everyone!
It's really a stretch to believe that people who mostly live in the upper Midwest (or have spent significant time here) would be anything but upbeat optimists during the coldest, darkest month of the year.
I think you make some good points.
The strength and conditioning and player development system seems to be a strong selling point and it has clearly produced some significant results.
2 straight wins against OSU: In the latest addition we looked like a marauding army.
Back to back playoff appearances, a recent lose nonetheless, but an instant classic that entertained millions and showcased a promising future for the program.
I like your facts
Sam Webb said a couple days ago that Davis was a silent commit in November, but backed off after all of the coaching rumors/issues. We probably would have seen this earlier and even had a stronger 2023 class if all of that didn’t happen. He and his father has supposedly been doing a lot of recruiting behind the scenes…
Yeah, basically Michigan (despite on field success) was quite turbulent behind the scenes up until a few months ago when the new coaches (& new school president) came in.
Immediately after that, croots commit. Pretty simple.
Its Happening...
what recruiting turnaround? WHERE ARE THE LEGIONS OF FIVE STARS? AT EVERY POSITION? IN ENDLESS WAVES?
RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE FIRE HARBAUGH
/s
What happened?
Well son, I think we all know the answer to that...
Chris Partridge. Clearly.
/s because, you know, internet types
This
Also Michael Barrett finished the season in January and had some time to get going on the recruitment front including coaching up Partridge on how to recruit.
/duh
Ah yes.... three months ago, we'll call them the good old days.... back when the coach was leaving for Denver, Indy or Chicago.... our recruiting was sub-par.... Warde was only considered slightly less objectionable than Dave Brandon....
glad those days have passed, for the moment.
Something changed and my bet is it’s NIL-related given other things are relatively constant (Harbaugh to NFL scuttlebutt, mostly the same coaches and new guys haven’t been here long, success on the field). Could just be how Michigan is messaging it, could be other schools scaling back or failing to come through on promises, could be the checks cleared, I dunno.
I never bought that ‘23 class was about Harbaugh to the NFL since that has been a constant and it’s not like people aren’t saying that to the current ‘croots.
Do not trivialize the stabilization and larger focus on NIL. Quietly, we have heard of collectives being formed recently -- it seems that Michigan is starting to come to at least above-average in NIL packaging, albeit not in a technically transactional way.
Also, beating OSU twice in a row and winning the conference twice in a row are huge factors. Coming to Michigan now can clearly pay dividends in hardware.
But yeah, your factors are huge too. Stable and improved coaching situation, recruiting momentum, and transfer success. This is what it takes -- it's a momentum game and the snowball is getting bigger. Hopefully, we keep it rolling!!
1. Coaches are better recruiters. Partridge and Kirk Campbell are great improvements over Hellow and Weiss.
2. Another season of winning proves it wasn't a one time thing.
3. Spending lots of time in Ohio and giving the state focus even in the 23 with the lower ranked guys (who are all friends with the higher ranked 24s).
4. No more Harbaugh NFL thing. I think it did greatly affect the 23 class by killing any critical momentum that could be built in January and early Feb. And then the negative recruiting later on made it worse...
5. My guess but the dudes on the team having fun, showing NFL development and examples of them getting paid (I'm sure Blake Corum told Jordan Marshall how much he's making)
6. Sparty going 5-7 helps with instate guys like Jacob Oden and Jeremiah Beasley who were both considered Sparty leans for a while.
7. Pretty easy to sell 2 straight Joe Moore awards to Oline recruits especially given that they aren't going to garner top NIL dollars
7. Pretty easy to sell 2 straight Joe Moore awards to Oline recruits especially given that they aren't going to garner top NIL dollars
And running back recruits.
I think the team culture is at peak attractiveness to recruits. There is individual development support within a strong team bond. It was fed by the coaching reset, but I personally think the players and leaders on the roster deserve a lot of the credit. Real knows real, and those that fit are opting in.
Having Harbaugh shut down the NFL noise early and a stable staff HAVE to be major factors. Neither of those were true a year ago. And, the staff isn't just stable...the bit of turnover has netted out with better recruiters and coaches.
Winning...of course and...
I also think the NIL landscape has settled down a bit. UM was never going to be out front, but the school has resources like few others and looks like they are doing pretty well taking car of the guys on the team.
Remember 'Transformational vs Transactional'...people flipped out over that but I also thought of it as striking the right balance not an either/or. UM seems to have found a pretty good balance and that certainly contributes to all the positive talk about culture. I believe that not all teenagers and their families are looking for the quickest buck. Money is important, but for some talented young men I'm sure that's not alone on the list. So long as UM has a coherent and clear message around the true value of the life changing/transformational opportunity that comes with being a UM student-athlete I think they can attract serious talent.
Sort of a thread jack. Did Harbaugh get a new contract this winter/spring? Seems that was part of why he was looking around. Was anything announced? I don't recall if so.
I’m not sure what you mean by “stabilizing the coaching situation.” Harbaugh has yet sign the kind of contract that would make it difficult for him to leave, and that’s probably because he doesn’t want to. Unless and until he signs such a deal, I think you can infer he’s taking his best shot in 2023, with the most talented Michigan team he’s had, and then looking to land an NFL job.
It’s all waiting on the bs ncaa allegations. Stop conjuring up issues where there are none.
The SS Harbaugh to NFL ship has likely sailed.
Besides what you mentioned:
- Some stability at OC and DC for the time being
- Harbaugh seemingly turning down NFL interest
- 2 straight Joe Moore Awards
- 2 straight B1G Championships
- 2 straight CFPs
- NIL seems to be on right track
- Notre Dame staff in flux
Certainly, a lot of disparate factors have come together in a positive way over the past several years, which usually has been the opposite over the past 16 years. I think Jim finding the right assistants, trouncing OSU 2 years in a row, greatly improving the team culture, and placing so many players in the NFL in the last 3 drafts has made a huge impression on recruits. I should also add playing in the playoffs 2 years in a row helps a lot too.
I just think Michigan took longer to find their sweet spot.
Michigan was never going to get into the transactional deal. Michigan just needed time to figure out what felt comfortable, what Michigan was willing to do as far as NIL, and how they wanted to attack recruiting in this new landscape.
Also, you recruiting guys as freshman and sophomores. So this is the first class that really got the full recruiting cycle with Michigan beating OSU, Michigan in the CFP, Michigan truly considered a top 5 program in the country.
From the time Michigan made contact with these guys, until now...Michigan has been this version of Michigan.
Back to back Sheldon Moore trophies don't hurt.
We won the "Sheldon" Moore twice? That is great.