and you're the one who's right....
Big Mike, I hope you like hats more than points, cause more than one has just been handed to you...and, no, i don't mean points...
Well, this is the sort of thing that can brighten up what is already a bright and sunny afternoon in southeastern Michigan, and with so little warning too - an excellent surprise indeed!
Welcome to Michigan, Darrin Kirkland, Jr.!
Troon Scotland...on my bucket list golf trip!!!
with super high expectations and they were exceeded!!
Played Nairn, Castle Stuart, Royal Dornoch, Royal Aberdeen, Trump, St Andrews new then old, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Prestwick, Troon, Portland and finally Turnberry
Truly spectacular
Surprise commit Posbang!!
nice way for a sunday in may to go.
anyone have the profile on this lad?
4* across the board, ranked from 5-7 ILB, depending on service. Scout likes him most, at #135 overall, Rivals has him#183, ESPN #256, and 247 has him outside their top247 (presumably just outside, given he's their #7 ILB)
I guess we can have nice things again. Look, too much talent is coming in to not win consistently. I still see the missing piece as being the DL. We need some dominant DL prospects. There are no excuses at the LB and DB positions......we have recruited very well there for 3 years now.
DT is going to be great, starting this year and getting even better over the next two (at least). At least that's what I believe based on the spring game. Pipkins and Wormley, our presumed starters at 1T and 3T, didn't even play and still we were loaded. Mone looks incredible. Hurst and Henry looked outstanding. Even have Glasgow behind them, and I believe Godin has good potential in the long run. Strobel adds even more depth.
We need outside pass rushers, but interior DL should be great, starting now. They will force double teams and allow Bolden (who I think beats out Morgan) and especially Ryan to roam more freely than in recent years.
I don't care if people say my life is lame because I pay attention to this stuff. OH HELL YEAH, OH HELL YEAH!!!!! Go Blue Baby! Malzone and now him? You gotta be kidding me.
Dude has some arms on him!
Michigan was weak on the interior of the DL last year. Assuming that the majority of them don't take a year 2 jump (which is the conclusion you're making) means sticking more of them on the field at one time both at NT and DE. You're asking them to take on more responsibility to take on more double teams and keep the LBs cleaner (a problem last year). On top of now having three of those players on the field rather than two, you are depending on rotation more, meaning you also need more depth with those interior DL types.
So while Michigan seems to have very good talent a LB, moving to a 3-4 would hurt those LBs a lot as far as protection for them to make plays. That's not even addressing moving to that without ever practicing it going into Fall camp. They at least worked on the Over front last year, and had a spring to improve on it, moving to a 3-4 makes little sense for this team's personnel or for the current timing.
You also don't plan on a scheme switch completely for a temporary fix, otherwise you stall the improvement of the entire team for a temporary thing. You may incorporate some of those things (similar to an offense incorporating some spread scheme concepts), but you don't do something like change to a 3-4 for one year while the DL improves and then move back to what you're planning on doing.
You cant just switch back and forth..College coaches have limited time with practices its not the NFL..its better to set a system and build it with recruiting..our defense is about to turn the corner in my opinion.
Mgoblog is a rollercoaster
I saw his comments about waiting until August too, so this is a big pleasant surprise! Congratulations to him, and welcome!
For those in the know...I happened to notice that he doesn't appear to have an OSU offer (according to ESPN). Are we at all worried that if/when they come calling he may have interest? I hate to say it, but I'd rather know now he has interest in them than be dissapointed later.
I'm not "in the know" but did see this:
Was at Ohio State's spring game but never got an offer from the #Buckeyes RT @AllenTrieu: LB Darrin Kirkland has committed to #Michigan
— Ryan Ginn (@RyanGinnBSB) May 18, 2014
To many UM is a dream school. But, the reality is that the last decade has allowed OSU to distance itself quite a bit in terms of success from UM. So, when a guy is recruited by one they are often recruited by both...especially a defensive player from the mid-west. So, if he all of a sudden get an OSU offer I'm just curious what the overall concensus would be regarding the strength of his commitment to UM and his interest in OSU. I hate to say, but just because a guy says he's firmly committed doesn't make it so.
I had a feeling he might commit just from his comments that he wasn't going to do it. It seemed like he had it on his mind and he seemed to like Michigan a lot already.
Very awesome news.
Kirkland plans to graduate in December and enroll early.
http://www.indystar.com/story/hs-blog/2014/05/18/lawrence-central-darri…
He definitely made the right choice given his word choice:
"I got the gut feeling in my stomach that it's the right place for me," Kirkland said.
related to Sam Webb? I can live with that.
Great News! Now someone hurry up and give him Shaun Crawford's phone number.
Welcome Darrin! This recruiting class is stacking up to be quite the unit with the potential to be beastly. Kirkland is a beast. He's a great asset. Roseboro is next. Now get Justin Hilliard, KLS, and Jashon Cornell on campus!
Get them on campus and anything is possible. Nice work by the staff!