Has Brady Hoke actually "recruited" a single Michigan kid?

Submitted by Section 1 on

The answer, I think, given a reasonable definition of "recruit," is No.

Let's review.  Here are the Hoke recruits:

  • Russell Bellomy - Arlington TX
  • Tamani Carter - Pickerington OH
  • Keith Heitzman - Hilliard OH
  • Antonio Poole - Cincinnati OH
  • Matt Wile - San Diego CA

Now to be sure, there is Raymon Taylor of Highland Park.  Decommit from Indiana who, by all accounts, wanted a Michigan offer all along, and took the offer from Hoke as soon as it was extended.  We might be able to debate whether that is "recruiting," or simply "offering."

And there is Jake Fisher; having decommitted following the firing of Rich Rodriguez, Fisher is now being "recruited" all over again.  We can likewise debate whether Jake Fisher is a Brady Hoke "recruit."

Finally, there is the likely offeree, Thomas Rawls of Flint.  Who apparently did not ever need to be sold on Michigan, who was understandably below Dee Hart on a list of desired RB's, and who until recently had serious ACT concerns.

In fact, I'd argue that Hoke has done a decent job in dealing with the terrible problems that were caused by the premature termination of Rich Rodriguez's six-year contract.  Hoke has done okay in recruting some Ohio, Texas and California kids; some of whom were previous SDSU recruiting contacts, albeit kids that Hoke was not successful in actually committing to San Deigo State.

We have some great Michigan kids in this class, of course; and they were all recruited by Rich Rodriguez and his staff.  Hollowell, Beyer, Hayes, Morgan.  Kids from Ohio (the traditionalists think that Ohio recruiting is nearly as sacred as State of Michigan recruiting) include Greg Brown, Jack Miller and Chris Rock.  Among the Top 50 high schoolers in this state, Michigan got 5 of them (MSU got 6 of them), and three of the Top 10 are coming to Michigan.  It is hard to picture a single high-level recruit in the state that was lost to a rival because of Rich Rodriguez.  Zettel certainly comes to mind, but we just don't know what that story really was.  MSU got the kids it was expected to get its reliable feeder-schools.  Notre Dame got the state's best kicker, with apparently nothing anyone could do to sway Kyle Brindza, who might have given ND an oral commitment when he was in kindergarten.  Valdez Showers is going to Florida, DeAnthony Arnett is going to Tennessee.  Eh.

The real point of all of this has nothing to do with Hoke's skills or deficiencies, but rather with the exploding myth that Rich Rodriguez was somehow a deficient Michigan recruiter whose errors, in Michigan, are now being somehow corrected by Hoke.  That is a myth that is unsupported by the numbers and the names. 

Edit. - Amazing it is, how a post that contains some mild congratulation for Brady Hoke, and some very moderated defense of Rich Rodriguez, can get flamed on the 2011 MGoBlog.  Drew Sharp's favorite attack on this and all other similar blogs was that they were beneath consideration as serious information outlets, because they were simply collections of fan-boys.  I rejected that; my contention was that there was more thoughtful criticism of Michigan football from Brian Cook than one could ever hope to find in the Free Press.  I still think that I am more closely-aligned in my thinking with this blog's host, than are most of the readers and particularly some of the members replying below...

Edit. II - Some of you dumb-asses really need to learn how to read.  I didn't criticize Hoke's recruiting.  I didn't suggest that Michigan needed to recruit more Michigan kids.  I didn't say most of the things that you guys are imagining.  Just read, people.  I'll make it real easy for you all:  Amidst all of the claims that Brady Hoke is currently "repairing" in-state recruiting damage allegedly caused by the Rodriguez tenure, Brady Hoke hasn't landed a single new Michigan recruit.  I am not saying that he should.  I am not saying that we need some more in-state kids.  I am not even predicting that Brady Hoke won't do some very good recruting in Michigan.  Apart from stealing Brindza, or Lawrence Thomas, or Showers, etc, I'm really not suggesting that Hoke somehow needs to get some more in-state kids.  I am simply saying that the anti-Rodriguez argument, such as it may be based on Brady Hoke's "repairs", has no supporting evidence in the real world. 

And special replies to two commenters:

Blue_in_NC:  You are SO right!  Hoke's biggest recruit so far, by far, has been "the media."  The Media is Michigan's biggest recruit of 2011.

Yost Ghost:  I hope that my bias in favor of Rich Rodriguez isn't "veiled" at all.  Not even "thinly veiled."  My support for coach Rodriguez, and my distatse for the way that he was treated in Michigan, is as open as it is determined.

 

PurpleStuff

January 28th, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^

When the AD spends part of his press conference emphasizing the need for a coach with midwestern recruiting ties, he either thinks it is an important problem that requires some change (which is dumb, but I wouldn't put it past Brandon at this point) or he thinks the meme is important enough that he has to respond to it, if only cosmetically.  Either way, this nonsense does have an impact on how things get done at Michigan.

phil.hersey

January 28th, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^

Can now live the fruits of their lack of support of him and the young team. We had the RB we needed committed and the kicker. A bunch of freshmen would have figured out how to be an average defense in a year or two even with GERG. Equals nationally competitive. Now we go the way of OSU, USC, Notre Dame, Miami, Washington, etc...before us. Sk it dense and unrealistic M fanbase (and of course David Brandon, whose chewy tasteless head I continue to eat).

CRex

January 28th, 2011 at 3:08 PM ^

Well if those young freshmen DBs could have figured out how to be a good defense with GERG (follicely endowed version) coaching them, imagine how much quicker they'll figure it out with GERG (follicely lacking version) coaching them.  

We really need the neg button working to deal with the trolls.  

His Dudeness

January 28th, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^

And our offense will bottom out under Borges because his idea of "adjusting his offense to the players he has" is going to be a few "wildcat" plays. Just you wait. Denard will be nowhere near as explosive next year because Borges will be taking away his greatest offensive talent (his legs). Look at how great Pryor did in a pro-style (not great).

Big Boutros

January 28th, 2011 at 6:15 PM ^

1. Pryor didn't do poorly. He's 31-4 as a starter and finished 10th nationally in passer rating.

2. I don't want to speak for His Dudeness, but I think rather than actually predicting an offensive cliff dive, he was just presenting a negative hypothetical to counter CRex's flowery assertion of vast defensive improvement.

CRex

January 28th, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^

Lets see, with Denard using his legs we had:

1.  Burn Gardner's redshirt (in part also because Tate was in the doghouse, but still Gardner only came in because Denard went out).

2.  Have Tate come in for that Illinois thriller.

3.  Have teams send the entire house at Denard and shut him down since we had no running game (see 14 points in the bowl, the tOSU game, 3 quarters of the Iowa game, etc).  

I think I'm okay with Denard passing a little more and taking fewer hits.  I'd rather he have three more healthy years while showing us his arm strength (and that arm is strong).  As a Philly area native I always remember the lesson of McNabb, an amazing running talent for the first years of his career and then all those hits caught him with and he ended up as a slightly above average mobile QB.  I'd rather Denard take fewer hits in the interest of extending his career with both us and the pros.  

Plus what is the point of having Stonum, Odoms, etc if we don't throw to them?

J.Swift

January 28th, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^

"The real point of all of this has nothing to do with Hoke's skills or deficiencies, but rather with the exploding myth that Rich Rodriguez was somehow a deficient Michigan recruiter whose errors, in Michigan, are now being somehow corrected by Hoke."

So if the real point has nothing to do with Hoke, why the provacative title?

In fairness, a more accurate  title would seem to be "the exploding myth that Rich Rodriguez was somehow a deficient Michigan recruiter".  Isn't the point of your post to demonstrate that Hoke has not recruited Michigan kids in the current class, but that RR did?

PurpleStuff

January 28th, 2011 at 3:14 PM ^

I think his point is that both the "Rodriguez doesn't recruit in-state" and the "Hoke has restored Michigan's in-state recruiting efforts" headlines are both nothing but media constructs that don't necessarily reflect actual events, but rather an agenda on the part of the media outlets putting them out there.

As others have pointed out, however, it doesn't really matter at this point and I'm certainly not going to get mad if the media is now biased in favor of the Michigan head coach.

TESOE

January 28th, 2011 at 3:13 PM ^

state recruits.  He could have made more and lesser offers (and filled the class) in state and not.  I was of the mindset that he should do exactly that as of 2 weeks ago.  I'm pleased with the progress since.  If he can get Cooper, Bryant and/or Fisher at this point...I would be ecstatic.

In state vs out of state is not a UM issue.  We want the best.  RR had some doors closed to him that Hoke doesn't.  Let's wait and see what happens here before raising this spartan topic.

 

BRCE

January 28th, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^

What the fuck is Section1's problem?

I assume he's an adult. Time for him to learn that a) life isn't always fair and b) you have to get over shit. Simple concepts that his parents didn't seem to impress upon him.

Tater

January 28th, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^

As long as the media and the HS coaches buy into the Michigan Man thing, and perpetuate the perception that goes with it, good things will happen in Ann Arbor.  Hoke's first class, next year, will be the first one we can truly judge anyway. 

Hoke walked into a clusterfuck and is doing the best he can.  Honestly, he is doing a much better job than I thought he could possibly do and I am very pleasantly surprised.  As for those HS coaches, I hope they hear "Hoke" and "Michigan Man" at least a thousand times each by next recruiting season.

ForestCityBlue

January 28th, 2011 at 6:22 PM ^

The OP is making distinctions without any functional difference.  It seems he has defined "recruiting" so narrowly as to mean something like "stealing five star recruits who are already committed to Florida, Alabama, Texas and USC."  As far as I can tell, he is extending offers and people are committing to come to the university.  He is also filling areas of need for this team.  He is doing it with no lead time.  A positive first couple of weeks, I would say.  Whether you think RR got jobbed or not is irrelevant in terms of evaluating Hoke.  

Going forward, it does remain to be seen whether or not he can compete for the nation's top athletes going head to head with the nation's top schools, but that is a discussion for next year and the year after.  For now, I would give him and his staff a positive grade. 

CompleteLunacy

January 28th, 2011 at 6:55 PM ^

Just throwing that out there...so, I don't really understand the point of your post. I mean, sure the media is ridiculous, but is that really breaking news at this point? 

Also anyone saying posters here have "blind faith" need to stop. Seriously. Give the majority of us non-trolls a bit more credit than that. I support Hoke, because why would I not? He's the coach, he's done pretty good job with recruiting. Am I upset with how RR was treated? Absolutely. But let's not bring Hoke down because our fanbase is actually doing what they never did for RR. 

In short, it sucks for RR. But he was fired for a reason. I wish him the best, but we all need to stop looking back so much and move forward with the program and the new coach.

 

Bando Calrissian

January 28th, 2011 at 8:28 PM ^

Call me crazy, but I don't remember a whole lot of the "RR doesn't recruit Michigan" meme.  I mean, yeah, Section 1 creating a tempest in a teapot is nothing new, but I honestly don't remember that criticism being lobbied too hard against RR, nor have I seen it get used a heck of a lot in the last few weeks, either...

lilpenny1316

January 28th, 2011 at 9:14 PM ^

...going around.  Basically people thought that MSU was taking over the state in recruiting because RR was looking down to Florida to fill the roster.  There was an article in the Freep this week with a national recruiting expert talking about Hoke repairing the damage that RR did in-state with HS coaches.  A lot of folks in the media and blogs (not this site) went with the theory that MSU was taking over the state in recruiting.  It was an ignorant, superficial look at where the in-state kids were going.  They were grabbing more in-state kids than we were, but it most cases, MSU did not beat us out.  We were not actively recruiting the kids. 

 

EdLed

January 28th, 2011 at 8:38 PM ^

I agree with your post. The main reason RR failed is due to lack of support from Bill Martin and Dave Brandon. It was a twofold lack of support in both Martin and Brandon. First, they would not pay for a defensive coordinator. Greg Robinson was paid $270,000. I don't believe Casteel was going to come to Michigan while taking a $70,000 pay cut. He was making $340,000+ at WVU. The SEC pays $500,000 to $700,000 for DC and Texas paid $900,000 last year. If you want to play with the big boys you have to pay like the big boys. No leadership from Martin or Martin. Secondly, never, did either Brandon or Martin voice public support for RR or ask for alumni and former players to back the then current coach as is being done now for Hoke, who I like a lot. Failed, ineffective, cheap, shortedsighted, weak and stupid leadership from both AD's. There is no way RR was going to succeed in making the massive changes he was trying to make. Now we go back to smashmouth, Big Ten style football, which will get us competitive in B10 but not a national championship. B10 is a doormat. 9000 student TCU beats Wisconsin, and B10 goes 0-5 New Years day. RR would have changed that with some standup, visionary leadership from our AD's

 

M-Wolverine

January 29th, 2011 at 1:02 AM ^

But between Section 1's mental breakdown just about being complete, and His Dudeness giving up any pretense of doing anything but trolling, their utter failure is just kinda funny now.