Per Harbaugh, the ENTIRE 2021 recruiting class is still intact
He said so as much on the In the Trenches podcast, as relayed by Zach Shaw in Twitter.
Just a reminder, here's the class.
I got to say, that is pretty astounding in this day and age! It bodes well for the next few year, to say the least!
August 8th, 2022 at 12:44 PM ^
With the way WR recruiting has gone, I figured Dixon would have returned to California.
Check out this recent interview he did. He basically sounds like a Harbaugh mini-me:
ZM comin'
Cheers
Zack Marshall, 3 star athlete being recruited as a TE. Expected to announce this week after attending BBQ event. https://247sports.com/player/zack-marshall-46118144/
I'm guessing Zack Marshall, 2023 ATH/TE
Zoltan Mesko. Must have some eligibility left.
ZM = Zorg (man). Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg. And he's bringing the ZF-1s. Four crates!!
Just don't hit the little red button on the bottom of the gun.
Who the heck down votes a Fifth Element reference?!?!
August 9th, 2022 at 12:54 PM ^
I know, right??
It's OK. It's probably because I wouldn't GIVE THEM THE CASSSSSSH!!
August 9th, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^
ZERO STONES.... ZERO CRATES!!!
Confusing. Mel Tucker's initials aren't "ZM"
That's great. I almost didn't write my post earlier because it's bad taste. I hope he stays, and thrives. But my goodness, if our wr room remains intact I will be floored, because it's THAT good, and deep.
That's great. I almost didn't write my post earlier because it's bad taste. I hope he stays, and thrives. But my goodness, if our wr room remains intact I will be floored, because it's THAT good, and deep.
Are we not doing Pharasing anymore?
That class is gonna definitely out play its ranking. Crazy they were 13th in the country. Time will tell.
August 8th, 2022 at 12:47 PM ^
Relieved to know that none of them have been neutered
August 8th, 2022 at 12:48 PM ^
They are being transformationed
August 8th, 2022 at 12:48 PM ^
If paying players generous NIL once they get here leads to this kind of retention, that's a huge win.
But this almost seems too good. Unless these guys are all hits (unlikely), don't you want a little attrition?
Personally, I would never underestimate the power of upperclassmen role players. While the Matt Godin's and Austin Davis' of the world may not be stars a steady hand that can come in for a starter and not have the wild play to play variance that a freshmen might have is a great thing, unless your team sucks and the objective is to get the youngsters as much playing time as possible.
August 9th, 2022 at 12:12 AM ^
Of course those players are great. But they're far from the worst guys in their respective classes.
Look at Matt Godin's class. He turned out to be the 4th* best DL out of 6 taken that year, better than Ondre Pipkins and Tom Strobel - both of whom left the program. So yeah, 4/6 is a solid hit rate, and you definitely love having that 4th guy around but the 5th and 6th guys aren't even going to get much in any playing time anyway so better for you and them that they leave.
There are 85 spots on a team with only 22 starters. It's a numbers game.
I admit, one year in the program is a bit early for guys to leave but Harbaugh mentions it because it is rare that an entire class sticks together even through their first year.
Hopefully it means they're all competing for spots, but it will be interesting to see. If these collectives are paying players evenly, and if they're paying as much to current players as some say, then sitting on the bench at Michigan might become relatively more attractive compared to leaving for playing time at Umass or a MAC school like what used to happen.
*I put him behind Wormley, Henry and Ojemudia.
After one year? Nah! Let them at least get some time in the system I think. Leaving or Giving up on a player after one year seems a little extreme, no?
JH also noted the number of 6th/5th/4th year guys on the roster and the good attrition of guys leaving for more playing time elsewhere. I thought his comment was interesting re George Johnson as a potential breakout player for UMass this year. JH is a player-first coach, so it’s great to see the program in healthy shape and players succeeding at new schools.
August 8th, 2022 at 12:53 PM ^
That’s better than having an entire recruiting class that is tactless!
August 8th, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^
This is definitely a positive thing to have players grown and stay in a system.
I'm not sure how much the 2021 recruiting class has had a chance to grow yet. They've stayed one year at this point, which is a positive, don't get me wrong. They didn't leave. And they developed, I'm sure. However, they are not upperclassmen yet. However, there is the risk for the 2022 sophomores who don't see the field enough (in their minds) this coming year. They can have an easy exit and likely 3 years of eligibility somewhere else. And for our dominant sophomore players, NIL money at another institution could also beckon. All Harbs can do is try to entice players to stay and get the boosters to fire the money cannon.
Winning really helps in keeps guys happy. We should do that more
Andrew Anthony as a 3 star is a crime.
It worked out for us, and now it's irrelevant. Let's tent our fingers and cackle with knowing glee as we watch him get his due...
Andrel too!
I thought he'd get a fourth star his senior season. But his senior numbers in high school were not that impressive...mainly because he was consistently double- or even triple-teamed.
Yes, we are all skeptical that Michigan can win in the old M-arrogant way of playing by the rules more than anyone else does and thumbing our noses at everyone else for cheating and yet still not being able to beat Michigan.
But wow, it would be quite the rush if we did so and somehow still managed to win. Loved the Cristian Dixon quote
The latest Harbaugh mantra: Observe, Emulate, Surpass.
That's gonna disappoint some people here.
I'll be more interested to see how the class looks after this season. Being on campus for 1 year and not expecting to play is the norm. Seeing kids transfer out this early would usually be due to being home sick, having a riff with/losing a coach, or maybe seeing the writing on the wall that they won't get to play much. Though both sides staying intact with the departures of MacDonald and Gattis is a good result. MacDonald was only here for a year though so not sure how deep of a relationship he built with guys. Not much else can be learned after only 1 year on campus.
After this season, guys going into their 3rd year will have a better idea if the guys coming up behind them are likely to supplant them or not and see which upperclassmen leave for the NFL/transfer out for their final shot somewhere else and provide an opening.
That's all to say this is good. Having classes stay intact is a good thing. But it's also not all that telling of future production/playing time as much as it is that the guys aren't yet disparaged and looking for playing time somewhere else.
Wow. That is impressive. I don't think the data is available, but would love to see their NIL earnings. Regardless, that is a huge accomplishment even for 2021 class in this day and age of transfer portal.
I'm curious how it looks for other schools, ie MSU, ND, OSU