Great Quote from Jaron Dukes's Head Coach on Urban Meyer
Normally I don't copy and paste from paywalled articles but I thought this quote was too good not to share.
"I think Michigan's just a little bit earlier than some of the other schools in offering a few of the 2013 kids," Marion-Franklin football coach Brian Haffele explained. "Michigan knows that they have to get in a little earlier on a Columbus kid, or even an Ohio kid in general. You know and I know that if Michigan offered him, Urban's gonna come in and offer him."
We've been making fun of Urban for seemingly offering whoever Hoke and Co. offers but it seems as if this HS head coach, and potentially others, are starting to catch on and legitimize this criticism of Meyer. I found this quote hilarious and thought that it was my MGoBlog duty to share it, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Full credit for the article and quote go to Tim Sullivan (Our Tim) of TheWolverine.com of the Rivals' Brand. Link to article:http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1330224
Note: This quote is a pretty small percentage of the article so I'm not taking too much from it.
February 12th, 2012 at 6:06 PM ^
I get the feeling that if Meyer doesn't hurry, he'll be offering a Michigan commit.
February 12th, 2012 at 6:33 PM ^
Seriously, I don't think we should ridicule anyone with following up offers to whoever Hoke and co. just offered.
February 12th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^
It's conceivable that there is a scenario where school A offers a recruit to prevent that recruit from going to school B even if school A does not need said recruit ("does not need" is putting it simply).
February 12th, 2012 at 8:18 PM ^
DL Hankins was perfect example.. Tressel offered him but didn't need him and left RR in a bind at DL.
February 12th, 2012 at 10:30 PM ^
Ummm I think Tressel offered Hankins before RR did. RR told him he had to lose weight first or something to earn his offer
February 13th, 2012 at 12:39 AM ^
Hankins played significant minutes in every game as a true freshman. How was he not needed?
February 13th, 2012 at 8:43 AM ^
Hankins should be wearing a winged helmet. I don't think RR gets enough credit for his recruiting successes, but he and his staff really screwed up in not getting Hankins here. All they needed to do was to offer him but tell him privately that the offer was based on him improving his conditioning. If his conditioning was good enough to play as a pure freshman for OSU, it was certainly good enough for Michigan.
February 12th, 2012 at 6:10 PM ^
I like your interpretation of the quote, and I believe that Urban is watching who we offer. However, I bet he means that Dukes is a great talent, and that other powerhouses are about to catch on, and subsequently offer...
February 12th, 2012 at 7:39 PM ^
I'd take that bet against you because to me it's obvious that he knows Urban is going to offer-follow Michigan. He did the same thing at Florida with Alabama.
February 13th, 2012 at 1:57 PM ^
February 12th, 2012 at 7:40 PM ^
It wasn't a slight on Urban...it was him saying, the kids good and he's going some more offers coming soon.
He even justified WHY he felt Hoke offered early.
February 12th, 2012 at 6:13 PM ^
I find this absolutely hilarious that high school coaches are beginning to take notice of this. I doubt it, but i wonder if any athletes take Meyer's recruiting strategy offensive.
February 12th, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
would be offended by loose women in his hotel room on his visit?
February 12th, 2012 at 11:24 PM ^
Hell coaches in Ohio are starting to take notice of this
February 12th, 2012 at 6:14 PM ^
hurry or not, i get the sense that Dukes is going to be a Wolverine sooner or later.
Grammar nazi note: It should read "...Jaron Dukes' head coach..."
February 12th, 2012 at 6:20 PM ^
also be acceptable.
/Grammar Union of National Socialists
February 12th, 2012 at 6:24 PM ^
you are correct, in fact Dukes's is preferred (according to grammarbook.com). My bad.
February 12th, 2012 at 7:27 PM ^
Union of Liberal Pronunciationalists
February 12th, 2012 at 6:48 PM ^
too, but got beaten to it! You guys are quick around here!
If a kid wanted to go to ohio but Michigan offered early and showed lots of love, would it affect that recruit much?
The only thing I've been recruited for is taking out the garbage, so I really wouldn't know.
February 12th, 2012 at 6:18 PM ^
* 5-star chess playerFebruary 12th, 2012 at 6:31 PM ^
February 12th, 2012 at 6:20 PM ^
Maybe Michigan should offer a bunch of unrated and three star Ohio kids and see if Urban takes the bait.
Obviously, though, Brady Hoke has too much integrity to offer any kid under false pretenses.
February 12th, 2012 at 6:42 PM ^
February 12th, 2012 at 6:42 PM ^
February 12th, 2012 at 8:20 PM ^
Hoke doesn't need to help with this though. Meyer is already taking all the Spartans. Badgers too.
February 12th, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^
February 12th, 2012 at 6:40 PM ^
Ohio is full of those students who tried to read off the exams of Wolverines, so no big shock that Urban is looking North for the right answers. After all, he wouldn't want any more marginal players!
February 12th, 2012 at 7:06 PM ^
This thread is just chalk-full of wit
February 12th, 2012 at 11:28 PM ^
Not as good as pre-madonna, but funny nonetheless
February 12th, 2012 at 7:16 PM ^
I think it is a huge reach to call that a criticism. It's more, stating the obvious.
February 12th, 2012 at 7:32 PM ^
So, I loved the "chalk-full" comment and I thought I would do a little digging. I am not vouching for the accuracy of this description, but I thought it was interesting:
From:
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/chalkfull.html
Originally a person or thing stuffed to the point of choking was “choke-full.” In modern speech this expression has become “chock-full,” or in less formal American English, “chuck-full.” Chalk has nothing to do with it.
I believe the correct way to write it would be chock full. Honestly, not trying to be an ass. I am just embracing my inner nerd.
February 12th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^
A bit pedantic, yes, but +1. We've got standards here. :)
February 12th, 2012 at 7:39 PM ^
It's a great strategy; I would do the same. Make every recruit a dog fight.
February 12th, 2012 at 7:41 PM ^
I agree that it was a bit pedantic. But I hoped good naturedly so.
February 12th, 2012 at 8:18 PM ^
for meyer.
February 12th, 2012 at 8:54 PM ^
We're the leaders and best...Meyer and Ohio State can just follow. I don't mind them offering our players, its a sign that we're recruiting upper echelon guys. I for one am looking forward to bringing back the Michigan - OSU battle of old!
February 12th, 2012 at 9:31 PM ^
The other thing we were looking for is someone who was an outstanding coach, but outstanding recruiter, someone who understands that in the state of Ohio we're blessed to have great high school football coaches, great high school football coaches who create great programs, who young men have an opportunity to grow in and ultimately dream of the chance to go and play at a collegiate level.
We wanted a football coach who understood that, who would create the environment here with the aspiration for every single football player in the state of Ohio is to be a Buckeye and come to The Ohio State University and have no other thought.
(sic) (at least as transcribed by the Dispatch)
So, how's that mind control going? Chart?
Chart(s)
| 2012 Category | State of Ohio Recruits | % |
| Ohio State | 16 | 9% |
| Michigan | 9 | 5% |
| Michigan St | 7 | 4% |
| Other Big Ten | 20 | 11% |
| Other BCS | 37 | 21% |
| Other Conf | 85 | 49% |
| TOTAL | 174 |
For comparison:
| 2012 Category | State of Michigan Recruits | % |
| Michigan | 9 | 12% |
| Michigan St | 4 | 5% |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0% |
| Other Big Ten | 7 | 9% |
| Other BCS | 5 | 7% |
| Other Conf | 49 | 66% |
| TOTAL | 74 |
Same number of state of Ohio recruits going to Michigan or MSU as there are going to osu. The rest of the Big Ten and other BCS conferences getting a few as well. Yes, Urban definitely got a quality class, but I do believe the #1 Ohio recruit went Blue. Along with #'s 5/15/17/22/24/26/57/59 of Ohio (per Rivals state rankings). Only 13 of the 16 osu recruits show up on Rivals postseason Top 60 in Ohio list.
February 12th, 2012 at 9:35 PM ^
I hate Ohio and Urban as much as the next sensible guy, but let's not get silly. This is just a guy stating a fact. Had he called Urban a lyin', cheatin' dirtbag... THAT would have been newsworthy.
February 12th, 2012 at 9:59 PM ^
had me thinking of something more newsworthy...really, what's the big deal with Urban offering guys we do...isn't the objective to try and recruit the best players?
February 12th, 2012 at 11:01 PM ^
Pretty much, yep. Hoke spent the early 2012 cycle offering kids that MSU had just recently offered. These trends happen at a lot of schools.
February 12th, 2012 at 10:21 PM ^
where Alex Kozan is going to end up.
February 13th, 2012 at 12:43 AM ^
February 13th, 2012 at 12:43 AM ^
Meyer is getting a late start to the 2013 class and we're offering high caliber players. There's nothing odd or particularly noteworthy about any of this.
February 13th, 2012 at 12:56 AM ^
especially about the in-state God/Coach.
February 13th, 2012 at 12:55 AM ^
But a lot of UM caliber kids are OSU caliber as well, so it's not always because Urban just copies Hoke.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:51 AM ^
This hasn't really been a bad strategy considering that it's worked. What I want to know is what makes him such a great recruiter. Bobby Bowden was very charismatic, Pete Carroll good play up that you can go to school on the beach, be a part of the laid back atmosphere he creaed, oh and have a salary. WHat is Urban doing? He hasn't struck me as particularly charismatic from interviews, at least not in a way to stand out. He must be the biggest liar telling kids everything they want to hear and more.
February 13th, 2012 at 8:46 AM ^
It might just have something to do with the fact that he's got two national championships and a 104-23 record at three schools. Nick Saban has the personality of a dead mackerel, but that hasn't prevented him from cleaning up on the recruiting trail.
February 13th, 2012 at 10:31 AM ^
But I think this is likely because Hoke and Co. have been in place for a little more than a year..and have had a huge jump on recruiting for 2013. Meyer is just getting in, and hasn't been around much recently, got his staff together, focused on 2012 and they are just now getting around to next year, where Hoke already has commits and offers out fro next years class.
Not to say that I wouldn't expect him to do something Urban-like...but it might not be intentionally sinister just yet
February 13th, 2012 at 12:32 PM ^
I just think it is phenomenal that Michigan is recruiting Columbus City league players now because these players usually end up standing out at Minnesota and Cincinnati. I actually played for Brian Haffele when he called the plays at Walnut Ridge in Columbus under Coach Gary Carter. He took over as heach coach the year after I graduated and sent Gary Russell and Ernie Wheelwright to be All-Big Ten at Minnesota. Coach Haff has been churning out D-1 recruits at Marion-Franklin ever since. For Coach Hoke to get into schools like this, Brookhaven/Desales...heck even Cleveland Glenville. The recruiting wars in Ohio between Hoke and Meyer are gonna be epic for the next decade are gonna be epic.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:37 PM ^
This is stupid.
You really think Urban is sitting around waiting to see who Hoke offers and then following him?
Seriously?
You need to look at the offers Meyer is giving our and you will see he is offering who he wants, when he wants.
The only difference at OSU is that Urban is handing out a lot more offers than Tressel ever did.
Tressel handed out offers like they were Wonka Bars with Golden Tickets inside.