Malik McDowell update (not good)
Many of us were holding on to high hopes that Malik McDowell would choose UM but given this latest update from 247, it doesn't seem likely. Quote from McDowell's father traced back to a conversation with Wiltfong that is currently floating around Twitter reads "I want him out of Michigan. I don't care if that's Ohio State or Florida State".
http://247sports.com/Article/Malik-McDowell-Signing-Day-Decision-In-State-Out-Of-State--175081
It looks like M is out. Many believed our hopes were riding on his parent's affinity for Michigan even though Malik preferred MSU. Now it looks like his parents are urging him out of state altogether, thus crushing M's chances. Good luck to him with whatever school he chooses.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^
Bummer. If he is truly leaving the state than I hope it's FSU and not Ohio.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^
Well, that's better than him picking MSU, I suppose. Hopefully he decides on FSU.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
Yeah, it looks like McDowell's dad wants him to get out of Michigan to get away from "friends." That statement concerns me a little bit. I hope it doesn't have anything to do with Lawrence Marshall, but a) it gives the impression that McDowell is hanging out with the wrong crowd and b) it gives me the impression that McDowell is susceptible to his peers' influence.
There's also the thought that if they don't want him getting into trouble, Ohio State and Florida State have had their own discipline/behavior/eligibility issues in recent years.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
Yeah, that's not always the best remedy for a kid who is prone to getting into trouble is leaving his support system nearby and going to a school where, well, "discipline" is more a concept than a practice.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
Malik and his family good luck, but it has been my 30 year experience with young people that they'll find "friends" no matter where you send them.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^
Sometimes, or sometimes a kid wants a change, but needs to get separated from people he feels loyalty to.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
This new info seems to contradict the DetNews article about him staying close to home so his grandparents and parents could see him play live. There is either a ton of poor information out there or somebody is running a misdirection play.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^
Has Marshall ever gotten into any trouble or known to be a less than decent person? And, is it established that Marshall and McDowell have a outside of being teammates relationship? I'm not only asking because of the topic at hand but also because people talk about UM's chances of landing Malik (before these recent developments)should be good because his HS teammate is a commit. And I've never heard that they were great friends, so I always wondered why this was a selling point for Malik.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:52 PM ^
I have not heard anything negative about Marshall's character.
I get the impression that Marshall and McDowell are pretty good friends but not BFF's.
February 3rd, 2014 at 10:03 PM ^
Dad said its non athletic friends that concern him. Frankly i think he would be better off with hoke or dantonio than at FSU or OSU but it sounds like the influences have MSU connections. Something happened at State on the visit. Funny he thinks UoM is boring. Shit. I think of some of my nights in Ann Arbor.....
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^
I think I saw that his dad specifically said he has some non football friends that he wants him to get away from.
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
Upvoted for username and avatar.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:52 PM ^
I was under the impression that Marshall and McDowell are very different kids (Marshall: gregarious, forced to grow up early, coaches' pet; McDowell: intense, private, quiet, coached since 7 by his dad) who get along fine but aren't really close.
Watching them on the sideline together for two games, McDowell was standing with other defensive players the whole time (he's hard to miss since he's huge). Marshall was up and down the sidelines, whoopin, talking to the coaches, etc.
Also I figured if they were really good friends McDowell, who by all indications hates the recruiting process, would have committed to Michigan by now.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:27 PM ^
Serious question -- Name players (other than Jake Ryan) who have made significant gains in development year-over-year? I think it'd be pretty easy to do that with MSU football and I'm not sure you can do it with UM football. If I were McDowell, that would concern me greatly.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^
Oh lord, this argument again. I'll take a stab:
- Frank Clark
- Will Heininger
- Taylor and Countess
- Funchess
- Gallon
- Wilson looks like a pretty good S when healthy.
- Schofield
This is a very young team, so much of the "obvious" progress is stunted by young kids growing and maturing physically. But I see about the same maturation rate typical for the program; the difference in the team rarely was this young.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:42 PM ^
I'm going to include some young guys who haven't necessarily been here more than a year, but Glasgow, Butt, Funchess, Gallon, Chesson, Gardner, Clark, Taylor, Countess...
February 3rd, 2014 at 10:12 PM ^
Add Henry, Pipkens, Morgan Gedeon this team is really young. We should be better at every position on Defense next. Think about that. Even slight improvement at all eleven spots on a Defensive unit should show huge overall gains as a unit.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^
IDK man, maybe you should let the kids get to be more than redshirt freshmen playing on the lines before you declare them to be failures.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
Did I use the word "failures"? (hint: no) I said I didn't see "significant gains in development". Big difference there, bud. I'll be the first to say that some players have definitely gotten better (Gallon, Clark, Taylor, etc), but I think you need more than that to compete at the highest level. You need multiple players on both ends of the ball making consistently large strides.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^
So why did you specifically mention only Ryan? Also, how would you see improvement year over year in redshirt freshman who are only seeing their first playing time?
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^
There's a big difference between getting nominally better each year (which almost every player will do if only because their bodies grow and they gain some experience) and getting significantly better (which is a result of growth and experience plus other factors, namely coaching).
Almost every player will be better as a SR than as a FR, but elite coaches expedite that process. One small representative stat - since 2011, we've had three players be All B1G (Lewan twice, Omameh once, and Molk once). That's not good.
February 3rd, 2014 at 4:07 PM ^
You look like a big penis when you continually make this impotent argument.
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
You made me smile for the first time today - thanks. (good ref to his avatar)
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:58 PM ^
Someone is obviously not getting enough tummy tickles.
February 3rd, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
Gallon, Funchess, Countess, Clark, Roh, Kovacs, Robinson and Martin were also All Big Ten.
February 4th, 2014 at 1:02 AM ^
Gallon
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^
Wasn't high on his chances of coming to UM per his "disassociation" with Coach Brown the past few months, but was hoping not State or OSU. FSU would be the "best case" in a world of bad alternatives.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:32 PM ^
Throw him on the Antyquan Kozaacwell pile.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
And as I posted in another thread: Farrell from Rivals said that the only way McDowell goes to M is if his parents won't let him go to State and it's a compromise over over McDowell not wanting to leave the state.
February 3rd, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
This is a really strange deal with it out in public. UMs chances may be just as good as any right now. Unless MM is all in for MSU i think they may be least likely with his Dads comments.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^
Maybe this like negotiating. He wants Msu due to social life. Parents want out of state to get him away from friends. Maybe meet in middle and choose Michigan.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
If he needs to get away from certain friends, then FSU is the only real option. UM, MSU, and OSU are all close enough to home that bad influences can reach him any time they want.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
Unless these friends are actually at MSU wouldn't this hurt UM because we are closer to his home. I don't know if recruiting gets odder every year or it's always been like this but we just have so much more coverage now
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^
This situation is kind of messed up. Should his parents really be forcing their kid, who is about to be a legal adult, to go live out of state? Or does he really have a history of getting into trouble when he's around his friends?
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
Why the hell are his parents even commenting to the press? It's up to him. And if he isn't talking, why should they?
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^
but if he dislikes the thought of attending UM and playing for Hoke so much it might be best that he go elsewhere.
I've believed since last fall that he wasn't going to come here, but I was hoping it was just my natural pessimism at work.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:41 PM ^
Going to OSU to get away from bad influences? Ha. Now I've heard everything.
Do you know how many fraternity houses and bars are in the main campus area?
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
his parents secured him direct passage into the Circle of Trust.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:42 PM ^
I'm sure a bunch of fans on Twitter can convince him to go to Michigan!
/s
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^
Are any of you honestly surprised? We're fresh off a subpar 7-6 year, and our coaching staff has shown a complete inability thus far to develop any players outside of a select few.
We essentially have 2 DL coaches and neither of them can help these kids generate any form of consistent pressure. If I were a top DL recruit, all of this would concern me greatly. I've resigned myself to the belief that he is MSU or OSU bound.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:40 PM ^
they cannot generate any form of pass rush bc theyre not very good athletes when compared to competition. charlton and henry and wormley and several young guys look to have some natural ability that can then be molded by coaches. but frank clark and beyer and the rest of them? theyre just not very athletic or naturally gifted (again, when compared to their competition, not compared to high school peers or average students)....theyre just not special athletes and dont have ability to consistently win 1on1 matchups no matter how much technique tutelage they receive. i dont see any joey bosas on this roster. if i were big time DL prospect i would go elsewhere too just like hand. huge catch 22 though - mattison needs thoroughbreds to mold but he has tough time getting them when beyer and clark and heitzman are pass rushing specialists recruits see every weekend
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^
I stopped reading when you wrote that thing about Frank Clark not being very athletic.
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:33 PM ^
If I were a top DL recruit and a Michigan fan from youth, I would see (1) a defensive coordinator who has had great success in the past at many places and (2) a dearth of elite talent on the DL and a chance to play early. Why would you choose to go to Ohio if you want to play early when they have Bosa, Washington and Spence (all 5 star recruits, I think) who are freshmen or sophomores?
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^
He can party with a whole new set of friends which apparently is important to him. The weather has to be a big plus after this January. Oh yeah, FSU had a pretty good year last year. He will get far away from divorced parents who seem very public in their concerns over school choices. This is just a circus and shame on me for following it so much. I'll take the 3 and 4 star kids who want to get better (chip on shoulder or not), want to play for UM, and are raised by level headed parents. Good luck to Malik wherever he goes.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
He will get far away from divorced parents who seem very public in their concerns over school choices.
I don't have any problem with parents having concerns if they think their son is making his choice for the wrong reason. I can see that perhaps they shouldn't be so public about it.
Also, McDowell has family down in Florida, and Sam Webb has said his mother is willing to move down there if he chooses FSU, so if he picks them he won't necessarily "get far away from" both parents.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^
her willingness to move to Florida sounded like the death knell to M's chances.
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:14 PM ^
My problem is publicly calling schools out, even if it is Sparty or OSU. This case does hint to me of parents with differing agendas, a recipe for bad things, but none of us really know.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^
...to get him to stay close.
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^
"You will take me to Jabba now."
"I will take you to Jabba now."
February 3rd, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
Let's be totally honest with ourselfs.....Michigan doesn't have near as much CACHET as we think it does.
It's just another football program that has been floundering for the last 6 seasons. At one time Michigan had aura about it. But the prestige, in the eyes of 16-18 year old superstar football players, is gone.
Hoke must win on the field if he's going to get 5 star guys on a regular basis. He can't live off the recruiting pitch that starts with: "We are the winningest college football program in history"
You gotta win now