Kevonte Henry delays signing until February
Per his own Twitter, Henry will not sign until February. This might actually end up being good news for Michigan because the belief was that he was signing with Washington tomorrow. Probably still not going to be a Wolverine but at least it gives the staff a couple more months to attempt to bring him back into the fold.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:09 PM ^
December 14th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
actually not a bad development for M
December 14th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
Crazier things have happened, but safe to assume he gone :/
December 14th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
I know we’ve actually been pretty stable relative to a lot of other P5 programs that are competitive but god damn losing Courtney Morgan is a kick in the dick. I can see UM becoming some sort of Clemson/Stanford hybrid where the off the field positives combine with the on field and developmental results, but how are we not a destination job at this point? Like I know Morgan is personal friends with Deboer at UW but that seems to me a MAJOR step down program wise. I know we’ve had hard times in the last 20 years but lord we’ve never been at Crapple Cup levels (LOL). Idk seems like everything is almost pointed in the right direction. Idk random middle of the work day musings. Hope we land him, good luck to Mr. Morgan!
December 14th, 2021 at 3:16 PM ^
The only thing I can think of is that Morgan thinks he'll have a quicker route to being an actual position coach at UW than he would a UM. No actual knowledge, just a thought.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
I can totally understand a guy in his position going elsewhere to get an on field role. But he took the same job at a lesser program and spurned his alma mater.
Weird choice that I dont understand. Must be big time homies with Deboer.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:27 PM ^
It's getting reported as "the same job" but it's not factual. DeBoer is still filling out his staff, but his offer to Morgan was a substantial pay raise and effectively his associate HC. Morgan was broken up about leaving Michigan, but it's not like Harbaugh was going to move him that far up the pecking order to match.
December 14th, 2021 at 4:20 PM ^
we will see, isn't like we were singing 5 stars with him and he was only here a short time. Sound like he was a good guy and had Michigan roots having played here but not sure it is as bad as your post indicates.
Next man up will do a good job and may be an improvement.
December 14th, 2021 at 5:15 PM ^
Wait until Conerly signs with Washington because of Courtney then see if you feel he wasn’t a big loss
December 14th, 2021 at 6:13 PM ^
With Gentry in the fold, I am not sure if that were to happen, we would feel it to be a letdown.
December 15th, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Assistants come and go as part of their career development path that they choose to manage on their own. Since players & head coaches appear to have free market status these days, why would you expect assistants to be any different? Kind of happy now that we got Gattis from AL and Macdonald from NFL due to this free market? ?
December 14th, 2021 at 3:15 PM ^
This is actually a positive , if he were to sign tomorrow it was looking like Washington.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
"This might actually end up being good news for Michigan because the belief was that he was signing with Washington tomorrow."
December 14th, 2021 at 3:43 PM ^
Yeah… I read that in the OP too
December 14th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
I hope replacing Courtney ends up being an upgrade. When he came on board I was hearing all sorts of things about West Coast connections and how masterful he was with NIL.
Since then, we've failed to lock up a number of West Coast recruitments we should have had verbals from and multiple recruits allegedly passed on us for greener NIL pastures.
The fact that he's an alum and chose to leave for the same position at a rebuild because of a guy he worked with once isn't something that sounds like a dude who was absolutely locked in. Get me someone that attacks the bag with an intensity unknown to mankind and some Midwest roots, please.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:33 PM ^
See Seth’s post above, and recall ghost of germaine’s post a couple of weeks ago about how Morgan is/was adored by everyone in schembecler hall.
December 14th, 2021 at 4:23 PM ^
so no one else can fill the spot ?
met him a few times, seemed like a good guy but so did Dudek and the guy before him.
Guy wanted to go work at a lesser school with a buddy, let him go and wish him luck.
December 14th, 2021 at 4:39 PM ^
i'm sure lots of folks could fill the slot, but it seems that morgan was particularly well-suited to michigan and his job, and will be missed - none of this on my own knowledge, but picking it up from others 'in the know'. of course we wish him well, he's a michigan guy.
looked him up on the interweb and he has a history of very short stays at anything he's been doing. link: https://mgoblue.com/news/2021/4/23/former-wolverine-morgan-named-footballs-director-of-player-personnel.aspx
don't be surprised if he ends up back in AA.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:46 PM ^
User name checks out.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:28 PM ^
If the kid would rather spurn the school that is currently in the CFP and is producing DEs like hotcakes, including the likely 1st overall pick and a top 15 pick, then so be it. Brice Marich in his recent tweet said that despite this, there is good news coming tomorrow which leads me to believe he's probably talking about Derrick Moore and/or Keon Sabb
December 14th, 2021 at 3:30 PM ^
On the subject of recruiting, anyone have predictions for tomorrow? Should be a good day for us but when it comes to recruiting it’s always unpredictable.
My thoughts:
Feeling good about:
Sabb: 90 pct Michigan
A Walker: 80 pct Michigan
Moore: 60 pct Michigan
Not sure:
D Walker: 55 pct Michigan
Clemons: 55 pct Michigan
-We have the crystal ball lead for both but something about both recruitments makes me think it’s anyones guess. Walker can be tough to read. Things look good for Clemons but I see on the Auburn board that Wiltfong posted something they all upvoted so who knows. The confidence levels of the picks are pretty low. Would really like to get these 2.
Others: Sam thinks we lead for the 2 transfers but I’m not sure when they are deciding. I don’t think we will get the Va Tech QB Orji because it doesn’t sound like we are pushing too hard. Keon Entringer might be a take but I’m not sure how hard we are pushing on that one either.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:30 PM ^
He'd been verbally committed to Michigan since June, with Webb and Biggins on 247 giving 6 and 8 crystal balls in favor of Michigan. Then he visits Washington just two days ago, and now says he won't sign until February.
How anybody can spin this into a positive development for Michigan is interesting.
I wouldn't assume Washington is his only serious suitor besides Michigan, either—he's from Lawndale CA, which is a municipality in the LA metro area that's not far from the USC campus.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:34 PM ^
No matter how highly rated or good a recruit is, if they have any doubt about being a Wolverine, then you aren’t going to get their best anyway. Either Michigan gets a guy who wants to be there or they lose a guy who really doesn’t and then Michigan is forced to recruit over him in 2023.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:37 PM ^
I agree. The fact that he's obviously having doubts about Michigan after our best season in almost 25 years suggests that his "commitment" was in name only.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:50 PM ^
Or the person who he had the best personal relationship with and was a big part of his comfort level going to Michigan is now on the staff at Washington. Its almost like something in the situation changed.
He's not going to end up at Michigan though
December 14th, 2021 at 4:25 PM ^
I understand that personal relationships are very important in recruiting, but at the end of the day every recruit ends up signing an LOI to an institution—and an entire football program, including all the coaches—not to one individual.
If there's so little interest in the larger program and institution that the departure of one person who wasn't even going to be an on-field coach leads to a decommitment, then the commitment to the University of Michigan in the first place wasn't that strong.
This does NOT mean Henry is a bad kid, or anything of the sort—he needs to go to the place he feels the most comfortable. Right now, that doesn't seem to be Michigan.
December 14th, 2021 at 5:19 PM ^
Yeah, I wish Henry the best and I don't think he's a bad kid but if your strongest connection to a program is the recruiting coordinator I assume that bond to the school is tenuous.
December 14th, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
Or what if the reason a kid was comfortable with a place was due in large part to the personal relationships he’d developed and the prospect of traveling across the country to play on your own isn’t as appealing if you remove those relationships from the equation. And he wants an additional two months to consider.
As easy as it is for you to sit there and paint it in black and white, that’s not how the real world works and not how the minds of these kids work. A lot of factors go in to why a kid chooses a school, and any one of those factors changing can alter the decision making process.
December 14th, 2021 at 6:42 PM ^
I would say more than 90% of commitments are to a person, not a program. And that makes perfect sense, it would honestly be weird for it to be otherwise. Look at Oklahoma and all the recruits following Riley. Or ND were all the recruits were very vocal about the hire being freeman and then sticking when it was him, etc. Michigan is an awesome and amazing place and pretty much every person on the team picked Michigan because a person convinced them, not the institution on its own. If our coach was Nick Saban the names of the team would be different, if it was Brady hoke the names would be different even with the exact same success.
December 14th, 2021 at 6:51 PM ^
But I think his point is that committing to a program for a head coach or coordinator versus committing to a program for a director of player personnel is completely different. How often would Henry even see Morgan? Likely not much and he would have much more interaction with the rest of the staff and recruits
December 14th, 2021 at 6:55 PM ^
Director of Player Personnel are essentially like counselors for the players. There’s a lot of interaction between them. Especially for a player like Henry who is coming from a rough upbringing and is looking at Morgan as a mentor.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
It’s a positive because someone here who has a connection said he would not sign with Michigan. I think the pursuit of Moore could have been the staff knowing he was not coming. At least now we have some more time.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:46 PM ^
Glad we have time to move on Moore but they are very different players. Henry comp is Ojabo while Moore comp is Morris. Really want a top end high upside pass rusher in this class.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:48 PM ^
How anybody can spin this into a positive development for Michigan is interesting.
It's a positive that he's not just straight up signing with Washington tomorrow. It gives us time to continue recruiting him, building relationships, and showing him why being the next Uche or Ojabo is better than disappearing into obscurity at Washington under a new coach
December 14th, 2021 at 3:51 PM ^
Washington put a ton of guys into the NFL, including defensive linemen like Vita Vea who was drafted 12th.
December 14th, 2021 at 4:14 PM ^
We've put more players into the NFL the past five years, but you're right that Washington is pretty high (and higher than I guessed) on the list.
(Spoiler, Michigan is #4, Washington #11)
December 14th, 2021 at 5:24 PM ^
And you won’t BELIEVE #5
December 14th, 2021 at 4:18 PM ^
The only 2 Washington DEs in the NFL are benchwarmers who no one has ever heard of. If you wanna talk about DTs or DBs then sure, but he's neither
December 14th, 2021 at 3:30 PM ^
This is fine. He should take the time to figure out where he really wants to be. One thing that I have learned is that it is the guys who truly want to be at Michigan that end up having the most impact. So if a kid isn’t sure yet, he shouldn’t just make a quick decision.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:36 PM ^
I swear, can't count on these west coast kids until they are leaving with their degree. Who is the last one that worked out for us, David Long?
December 14th, 2021 at 3:54 PM ^
As a west coast kid, you're right, it sucks. It's to the point where I mostly assume these CA prospects aren't serious about us. I loved getting away from home and being my own man in college personally, even if it was way colder than CA.
December 14th, 2021 at 4:19 PM ^
Does Cade (NV) and/or Roman Wilson (HI) count
But yeah I always get the same feeling even if they start out well, and half expect them to be another Asiasi or Charbonnet
December 14th, 2021 at 3:39 PM ^
It's OK. We'll have a National Championship trophy to show him by then.
December 14th, 2021 at 3:47 PM ^
So let it be written,
so let it be done!
December 14th, 2021 at 3:51 PM ^
Well, likely goodbye. No idea why recruits are so enamoured by UW and a guy they won't talk to once they're on campus.
December 14th, 2021 at 5:26 PM ^
Players interact with Director of Player Personnel quite often actually. Their duties aren’t just recruiting. They’re more like guidance counselors and mentors.
December 14th, 2021 at 4:24 PM ^
It is also a risk. With Michigan looking to fill a perceived hole in their pass rush next season, I don’t think they will sit idly by waiting to see if he sticks. I would think that they would look into the portal for some help.
December 14th, 2021 at 4:30 PM ^
My guess is Derrick Moore is on deck
December 14th, 2021 at 5:26 PM ^
I doubt Michigan was going to count on a true freshman to fill the pass rush void anyway.