Harbaugh Knows Talent
Newsflash for the haters who have actually criticized recruiting under Harbaugh - He and his staff know more about evaluating talent than you do.
October 27th, 2018 at 3:52 PM ^
If you do not think Mich. has bagmen, you are too naive to have a job that is worth a damn.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
I think this is exactly right. The recruiting services tend to emphasize measurables (40 time, height, weight, etc) but don't always have as good a read on work ethic, character, football IQ, and the like. Harbaugh and his staff really look for that. So while Urban loads up on 4- and 5-stars, but not necessarily high character guys, Harbaugh finds the guys who he can develop.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:13 PM ^
Aren't we seeing a version of this with the guys who have transferred before and during this season? 4-star guys who decided before completing a RS season they were out because of PT?
October 26th, 2018 at 10:34 PM ^
Well, on the opposite side of that theory, Michigan has lost 2 players in recent weeks because they cared more about themselves than the team...James Hudson and Drew Singleton.
The best of both worlds would be Michigan getting freaky athletic 5 stars that have unquestioned work ethic and desire. Then you could be knocking on Alabama’s door
October 27th, 2018 at 9:36 AM ^
Christopher Hinton and Daxton Hill...with Cade McNamara as the QB. These three alone set an impeccable standard for the 2019 class...that sets a very high ceiling of personal and cooperative behavior and performance. Fifty years ago I was blessed to play for a great coach who taught us and challenged us to play our very best...while at the same time instilling invaluable life lessons of respect and treating people with dignity and consideration. And this is what separates Jim Harbaugh from his peers...and why I admire and appreciate what he has installed as a baseline of operation for Michigan football.
No person nor group is infallible...mistakes will be made. However, here, the commitment to a general excellence is refreshing. Winning is certainly the highest priority, with a couple qualifiers-not at the expense of integrity and character.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^
Well that would depend on who those recruits were wouldn't it jblaze? As for Mike Weber, he reportedly flipped on signing day because Higdon had sent in his LOI. Would you rather have the 4 star Weber or the 3 star Higdon? Higdon without question IMO. Regardless, your comment is reflective of that unfortunately not small part of our fan base that, as John Bacon has described them, are never happy unless they are unhappy.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:45 PM ^
I'm not unhappy at all and love Harbaugh and the team.
Put it this way, who does Michigan have on offense that is an NFL 1st rounder?
Likely: Ruiz
Maybe Shea, DPJ
What about OSU? I honestly have no idea who their star players, but I'm assuming they have like 3-4 likely's and 3-4 maybe's and Michigan runs an NFL offense.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
I'm not unhappy at all and love Harbaugh and the team.
Umm, yes you are and no you don't - unless someone hijacked your account.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^
I actually agree with your overarching point (which, boiled down, seems to be that Harbaugh would be doing even better if he had more talent to work with). But I actually don't see any likely first-rounders on OSU's offense right now and the only maybes would be Haskins and Dobbins. I think they have a lot of guys with good measurables who will get drafted, but not in the first round.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:49 PM ^
Huh? Stretching this a bit......there is no way OSU has 8 potential first rounders on OFFENSE. You realize there is only 32 players taken each year in the first round of the draft?
October 26th, 2018 at 2:28 PM ^
Harbaugh knows football. I don’t understand why some people on here thought he and Pep forgot to coach last season.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
Of course he does. Going all out after Bush says it all... he can see what the kid is gonna be when he fills out.... Though I wish he was all over Rondale Moore...a shame Purdue got him.... .wow that kid can fly... he will elevate Purdue to noteworthy status.....
October 26th, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^
Theres only one guy on that list that fans probably rolled their eyes at. And he had a very unique basketball situation.
The other guys were all looked at as being underrated or package deals like the Flanagan trio or Dwumfour for Rashan.
Is it great that those underrated guys are performing at a higher level? Yes, but they aren't the 3 stars Harbaugh and staff were getting crap for.
Runyan was a legacy so its generous to give Harbaugh credit for finding a diamond in the rough there.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
Ummm, Harbuagh has gotten crap on this site for every recruit he has offered that wasn't a 4 or 5 star NowTameInThe603. As for your other comment, Runyan had no other offers. A number of top schools had interest in Runyan but none offered him - except Michigan. Go away.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
every one is not Maizen
October 26th, 2018 at 4:10 PM ^
I don't think that is accurate. Many (not just a few, including me in a few select cases) wondered about offers to Metellus, Runyan (because of the legacy, not in spite of it), Paye, Bush (because they focused on him rather than others), Higdon, Gil and probably many others. I was not vocal but many others were.
I didn't include Hudson because nearly all of us were on board and seemed to feel he was underrated. Or Uche because Don Brown.
Also, many questioned bringing in Shea but now that appears to be a very important pickup.
Harbaugh is not perfect and in general I want UM to be recruiting at an even higher level, but his talent ID for finding underrated guys is pretty impressive.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^
Ronnie Bell is a ringer. Kwity makes QBs Paye. Don’t run up the interior, or your Dwumfour. Nas be singing, Uche Wally Wally!
I’m not surprised by 3-stars being good—especially young men like Paye, who was RI’s #1 high schooler.
A majority of D1 kids are likely 3-stars. The difference, as you are stating: Harbaugh knows how to evaluate football players and identify talent, so he is not suscribing to only stars. Stars are labels by recruiting services, who do not have film on most players.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:35 PM ^
Seems like a key here has been identifying under-scouted talent in "unusual" places (Mason, McKeon, Paye, Bell), rather than finding 3-stars in Ohio who OSU didn't want.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:35 PM ^
Hopefully he evaluates more OT's in the future then...
October 26th, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^
Runyan and JBB are doing the job.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:37 PM ^
But just imagine what he could do with 14 5-stars?!?
October 26th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
recruiting is harder than you think when other schools also do well
October 26th, 2018 at 2:47 PM ^
half of them would transfer when they didn't win the starting job within 2 years. Not criticizing, just saying...
October 26th, 2018 at 10:42 PM ^
That’s happening now with multiple transfers in the past year, including 2 in the last two weeks. It’s 2,3,4 and 5 stars quitting when they see they won’t start by year 2
October 26th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
In addition to Watson being a Hoke recruit, Dwumfour, Perry, Paye, and Higdon were all flips. It’s hard to credit Harbaugh with spotting them.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:47 PM ^
Your past posts make it clear you do not like Harbaugh. But your comment is, well, idiotic even for you.
Who offered these guys and got them to flip? It is called being able to evaluate talent and going after them.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
All four were committed to P5 schools. It’s disingenuous to imply that Harbaugh saw something in these players that others didn’t.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
What part of Harbaugh recognized their talent and got them to flip don't you understand Tim Watley?
October 26th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
So you agree that recognizing the talent of these four players was not unique to Harbaugh and that, in fact, multiple peer coaches did so before him? If so, then we’re on the same page.
October 26th, 2018 at 4:02 PM ^
FFS are you serious? We're talking about 3 stars here, not the sisters of the poor. Of f*&*ing course they are going to generate interest from other schools. He's not out grabbing Joe 0-star McGee and turning him into a 5-star player.
The fact that he went out of his way to get some of these 3 stars to flip, and these flips are having big impacts on the team, shows how good Harbaugh and the staff are at identifying the right talent and developing them.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:47 PM ^
He identified that he wanted them. Good enough.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
More important is he is developing the talent he has.
October 26th, 2018 at 2:45 PM ^
It is an interesting that from day one he tried to upgrade the QB position - he got Jake Rudock, went and got John O'Korn and now Shea Patterson. Basically he really wasn't happy with the QB pool when he arrived - I hope Dylan Mccaffrey is a start of a new stream of really great QBs.
October 26th, 2018 at 4:00 PM ^
What's this Threat and Sheridan era you speak of? That was all just a dream/nightmare..right?
October 26th, 2018 at 3:03 PM ^
Is this post for real?
Harbaugh develops 3 stars into NFL players! Except for the ones he doesn't.
Harbaugh keeps the best assistants! Except for the ones he keeps around underperforming.
Harbaugh only hires the best assistant now! uh okay why didn't he before?
I think Harbaugh is great, recruits for character as well as talent.
Also, he reevaluated his staff and has made some hard changes that only good coaches can do.
You seem like you were very hurt by the people who prefer an overall higher-stared consensus recruit, I hope they all apologize to you and take you out for a big ice cream.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:13 PM ^
I have a theory. It's worth exactly what you are paying for it, but it's logical. The first couple of recruiting classes were somewhat based off the recruiting sites evals, given the bulk of Harbaugh's coaches, and Harbaugh himself were just fresh from the NFL. Some evaluations were being done, sure, Bush for instance, but not enough. This explains the current attrition, as some of the evaluations of the services just aren't panning out in the real world.
Fast forward to now, and the coaches and staff talent evaluators have had time to do their own research, so they are relying less on the recruiting services, and thus "star power" has decreased, but the quality and hit rate may actually increase. Not all the evaluations by the services are wrong of course, so we still get some 4 and 5 star players, but the star distribution trends downward.
October 26th, 2018 at 3:55 PM ^
And in years to come, these 3 star players, are going to make future 5 star players play better.
Star players + 5 star players = ......8 star players - /s
October 26th, 2018 at 6:07 PM ^
TRUly awesome
October 26th, 2018 at 6:19 PM ^
Watson was a Hoke recruit wasn't he?
October 26th, 2018 at 9:11 PM ^
Downvoted in my mind
October 26th, 2018 at 9:17 PM ^
Whoever said imagine what JH could do with Osu players ...I will take ours over there's any day.
Credit to JH & staff for putting in the work scouting a lot of the 3 star types.
Not sure what Ben Mason ranking is - but he is a football player!
October 26th, 2018 at 9:19 PM ^
Harbaugh knows talent, Bo knows baseball.
October 27th, 2018 at 2:30 AM ^
Yes, he has developed lessor recruits, as do other BIG schools (Wisc, MSU, etc). Let's wait until we begin to beat OSU's 4-5*s regularly to extoll him.
October 27th, 2018 at 2:51 PM ^
you ignorant son of a bitch, UofM recruits itself. A fucking retard could recruit for Mich,
Shit, Harbaugh is a functioning autistic and does it.