Interesting quote from DJ Durkin recruit, Roquan Smith, about previous UM staff

Submitted by Wool Vereen on

Personally, I dont think this reflects negatively on the previous staff.  With the number of recruits out there and this being a small class, you cant recruit everybody.  Maybe they saw something in his film they didnt like or he just wasnt on their radar.  Whatever... http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/01/4-star_lb_roquan_smith_says_if.html#incart_related_stories

As for Michigan, he says he's always had some interest there, but he never received a call from the previous staff.

"I've always wanted to take a visit up there, they've never really called, though," Smith said. "There was interest at one point, but they really didn't offer. I think they thought I was from the south, maybe I wouldn't come up and visit."

Funny how what he's saying actually sounds alot like chatter you hear on the boards: "He's from the south, he aint coming"

Regardless, it's good to see that DJ Durkin's almost certain hire could pay some dividends(although Georgia is currently the favorite for Smith, according to latest Thursday Recruitin).  Maybe he could bring some more interest with him too.  Maybe a transfer *cough* vernon hargreaves *cough* (j/k... unless?)

(btw, Smith might be saying that now about the Hoke era, but if the previous staff was still in place and would have offered, He wasnt coming, lol )

 

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GoBLUinTX

January 4th, 2015 at 7:57 AM ^

and Michigan had Darrin Kirkland (ILB), maybe they weren't targeting outside LBs.  Speaking of which, maybe Kirkland can be flipped back from UT.

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PepperHicks

January 4th, 2015 at 8:08 AM ^

One thing the former regime can't be accused of is bad recruiting.  Could be multiple reasons why he wasn't offered.  That said, it'll be nice to have Durkin's Florida ties, for sure.  I hear there are a couple pretty good players down there.  

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RamPride135

January 4th, 2015 at 8:41 AM ^

That's mostly true, but now when I look at the team I'm not so sure. Yes, the staff brought in some good players, but how do you feel about receiver for next year? QB? Offensive line improved this year, but is still questionable. Running backs can be pretty good, but likely won't be dominating.

I thought this was more player development than anything else, but now I'm not sure. I certainly do not know as much about football as Hoke or other posters on this board, but this team looks very different from OSU, Alabama, MSU and other teams. Is that only because of coaching, or are they missing something from the types of players they recruited?

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MichiganMan_24_

January 4th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^

We cant score.. All those teams you talk about score points and attack defenses with an identity.. We never had one and as soon as we seen a slight hope we changed coordinators.. Even the defense looks better when the offense is rolling.. My question is was it simply poor QB play or poor coaching.. Likely a little of both but i lean to poor QB play.. Inaccurate, slow through reads, no confidence, hesitation.. We had athletes at QB being treated like pocket QBs.

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True Blue Grit

January 4th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^

player development and motivation, or lack thereof.  You can't tell me we don't have talent at receiver with Drake Harris, Canteen, Ways, Darboh, Chesson, and possibly Brian Cole (if doesn't play safety) coming back.  Once the OL is coached by someone who knows what he's doing, I'm convinced you will see a big leap from that unit this year.  As for RB, it's the same thing.  They definitely have talent.  It will come down to better coaching, improved blocking, and   a winning offensive strategy.  

QB remains to be seen.  But, I have a lot of confidence that JH will find someone who we can win with and develop him.  

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ChicagoGangViolins

January 4th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^

 

I think the transition from spread to zone was more challenging than anticipated and confused players. At least one player was quoted after working with Nussmeier that the players only then understood what their routes and stunts accomplished in the scheme. Somehow Borges' knowledge failed to percolate to the players. They often played as if confused, and Borges likely directed too much too soon at them.

The team has a lot of talent and, now, it will have coaches who can develop players and place them in position to succeed.

 

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bronxblue

January 4th, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^

I think a large part of it is because the coaching staffs at other schools didn't change so dramatically and with such systemic shifts on both sides of the field that you had to recruit different kids.  For example, MSU really was pretty mediocre under Dantonio for the first couple of years as his teams shifted away from what JLS was trying to do, but since then he's been able to build up talent and integrate his defensive system.  It'll be interesting to see what he does with Narduzzi gone, but I suspect he'll still be successful (if perhaps a bit less so at the high end) because in this conference he has suitable talent to compete against basically everyone other than OSU.  With OSU, it was basically a year of Fickell but Tressel stocked the shelves incredibly well most years; Meyer came in and had a great QB for his system and some stud RBs waiting, so it doesn't surprise me that he didn't struggle much.

With Michigan, you went from late-era Carr, with some mediocre overall talent, followed by RR trying to install his spread offense and, I guess, 3-3-5-ish defense with players recruited for a different system, then 3 years later they transitioned back to Hoke, Borges, and Mattison, which created another gap where you had to try younger players you recruited over older players who weren't great fits.  So instead of their being this consistent stream of player development, where you got units with mostly RS JR and SRs, you have a bunch of true SO playing because the older guys washed out.  Harbaugh will run into the same problem, though I think he's a much better coach and will adapt accordingly, and that's why people talking about next year being a great season are probably going to be disappointed.  The schedule probably works out to 8-9 wins the next couple of years barring a crazy injury, but the kids who will be responsible for Michigan becoming a great program again are still in the middle of their HS years, IMO.

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YaterSalad

January 4th, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^

But Mattison was a great recruiter ... And he did take our defense from 100 to like 20 in his first year. We have been pretty much in that top 20 range the rest of his years here. Having him "assist" Durkin is a good call. Provides some continuity with players / recruits. Can help Durkin up to speed with what guys do well / don't do well. I think the lack of better CB play went hand in hand with not having a field general safety you trust back there. Gotta play off to keep everything in front when your safety can't be trusted to play the over the top routes well. MSU will realize this soon as Drummond is gone.

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jmarsh22

January 4th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^

Hoke was very good, though. As someone else said, the classes were ranked higher than Lloyd's final years and RichRod's classes. When I think of reasons why Hoke failed here, recruiting doesn't make the list. Talent level was certainly well above their 5-7 record this year. 

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WolverineLake

January 4th, 2015 at 9:30 AM ^

What strikes most is that some of the coaches we hope to bring on board have developed a lot of loyalty amongst recruits. So much so they are committing to the coach, and not to the school. I hope we benefit quite a bit now from this, and I think it signals great things going forward with recruiting.

Execution and development? Can't say, but all signs point to "hell yes."



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LSAClassOf2000

January 4th, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^

I would agree with others - you can say a lot about the previous staff, but you cannot say that they didn't successfully recruit some highly prized kids. Development and coaching was part of the problem, so you've got talent that needs direction and I am extremely optimistic that they'll get that now. With the potential to get Durkin as well as perhaps Marrow now, I like the possibility of not only maintaining old pipelines but expanding and opening others by having a staff full of excellent recruiters.

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True Blue Grit

January 4th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^

I'm very, very hopeful that the new staff will expand Michigan recruiting into new geographic areas where we haven't had much luck of late - most notably Florida and California.  But, there's also a shit ton of really good players in states like Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas too.  Overall though, Michigan will need to expand it's recruiting profile nationally to compete with Ohio and other elite programs.  

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jmarsh22

January 4th, 2015 at 11:01 AM ^

I hope we are getting good football coaches, first and foremost. Recruiting hasn't been a problem, player development has been our greatest problem.

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Champeen

January 4th, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^

It was always my perception that Manning was definitely the ace recruiter on the staff, followed by Mattison.  Everyone else was just blah to not very good.  The fact that Manning and Mattison are retained, combined with staff being assembled ability to recruit could take Michigan to the next level in recruitng.

And that next level would have to be pretty good.  If you take the class star averages of Hokes recruiting classes, Michigan was #3 over the last 4 years under him.  Hoke and staff recruiting extremely well.  Just did not develop .... x's and o's were not there.

With all this said, my on big concern would be Manning.  Although he was our ace recruiter, i also think he was one of the worst 2 position coaches.  I am worried about where he will be placed.

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Dubs

January 4th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^

I trust Harbaugh will make the right decision regarding Manning's future.
Indeed, Manning wasn't a very good position coach, but that's widely believed to be because he had never coached DBs. I would bank that if he is retained, he's going to be at his natural position at linebacker.

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