Negative recruiting- who was it?

My guess is Purdue, they still hold hard feelings over Roundtree since Danny Hope was on staff then.

but after seeing how Purdue's coach acted at the end of our game last year, I wouldn't be surprised if it was them.

I feel terrible.

I gotta think it was Dantonio

I really thought it would Sparty, esp with Gholston.

There is a lot I do not like about Dantonio but I think his personal standards are pretty high. My guess? Minnesota because they are desperate. Or Purdue because Danny Hope is an ass.

The Free Press

My vote is for Danny Dope. Besides putting the Sparties back in their place and turning the tide against OSU, I really hope RR and co. lay a heavy ass whooping on Purdouche this year.

It's Sparty or the Purdue Hopestaches. I don't think Rod would care if it was the Gophers.

It has to be Dantonio. From what I've heard we kinda negative recruit against him as well. Remember when Dantonio was pulling for Ohio State to beat UofM even though if Michigan won State would go to the Rose Bowl? Well it seems that gets brought up to recruits who are seriously considering State. In some form of "How do you play for a guy who would rather win personal grudges than see his team play in the BCS? Does a guy like that have your best interest at heart?". I have heard this from multiple people but it could all be bullshit. Personally I think it is true and it really doesn't bother me since it is a fair question to ask a recruit...but still a little dirty.

like RR was referring to. I expect he is referring to personal attacks on the coaches and the NCAA investigation and telling kids that Rodriguez will be fired. That is negative recruiting. Telling a kid what offense he fits better is not negative (which given Minnesota's trouble running the ball since Mason was fired is hilarious). Has to be Dantonio. Look at how many kids were going to visit MSU around the time they visited M. As much as Purdue whinged about M, were there really any recruits in common? We also know that he takes his hatred of Michigan personally, so why would it surprise anyone that he trashes Michigan to recruits.

Does anyone really believe that this is just one school. I think all schools at some point do a little negative recuiting. The problem is when it becomes a personal attack on the coach. I can see coaches saying Michigan has really struggled under the spread type offense, and I am not sure how much longer it will be in place? Obviously this is a shot at the future of the head coach running the program but it is not a personal attack on Rich Rod. What is unacceptable is for another coach to hammer Rich Rod personally on his record, family values and anything else that they can drag up using Rich Rod's name in the attacks.

Rodriguez knows Dantonio for years from their Big East days. Rodriguez also recruited against him for a number of years. They embrace each other after football games and share a few words. There's no hate or vitriol between those two, contrary to all the "Sparty No!" comments here. What Dantonio hates are all nerds, and the chardonnay drinking, fond due eaters from UM,. Oh, and Mike Hart. It was Purdue and Danny Hope who did the negative recruiting against Rodriguez because of the whole Zach Reckman incident vs. NIU and his suspension from the Notre Stain game (a 7 pt loss for Purdue). Hope must have felt that he lost something due to Rodriguez's actions there. Regardless, negative recruiting is very risky business because of all of the networks involved. You simply never know when a sliver of your own trash talking behind someone's back will come back as a stake through your own heart. Parents, H.S. coaches, assistants, recruiting pundits, or just the bystander friends of a 4 or 5-star athlete can get wind of these words and it's a wrap for you and your efforts. It's risky and a dumb strategy over the long term. Dantonio is a holier-than-thou, insecure hypocrite. It's easy to dislike the man. I don't think he's stupid. Meanwhile, Hope possesses both the immaturity, pettiness and short-term stupidity to do something like this juvenile. I mean after Hope's "look what you did to my kid!" scene after defeating Michigan, it's not difficult to envision Danny Hope repeating the story or embellishing it, etc. What an idiot.

Anyone else here troubled by the fact that Saint D-Bag (evidently my new name for him) never came out in defense of Michigan immediately after the practicegate story was manufactured by the Freep? Brewster and Tressel notably defended RR, as did many other coaches in the Big 10 and elsewhere. Instead, D-Bag has been soaking up the Freep love. Wow, I am really becoming hardcore. I understand that part of the whole "scUM killed my flock" thing (I just negged myself for writing "scUM") is just an act by D-Bag, but he crosses the line into inappropriate at times.

I bet you it was Purdon't

I realize this is not iron-clad, but an OSU friend of mine who is often ahead of the curve in terms of recruiting knowledge and overall college football knowledge says that recruits often leave Happy Valley having been told that OSU and Michigan don't care about graduating their players, especially black players...I know people tend to think JoePa is a saint, but that program has a real sense of being better than everyone else.

Again, as Magnus said, telling someone "we feel you would be a better fit here, and will give you a real opportunity to play next year" sounds like recruiting to me. I'd like some specific cases of negative recruiting that have gone on, so I have a better grip on this. Also agree with the poster suggesting a "shot across the bow by RR." He certainly is saying, we know who you are, so keep it up, and see what happens. Suspect that a statement like that also causes each program to evaluate whether or not its guilty. Whether or not you like a team, I have to believe that few coaches want to deliberately distort the record and slander others, because it almost always comes back to bite you.

It's likely either Purdue or MSU, and I'm actually starting to lean more toward Purdue than MSU even though I originally thought Dantonio would jump at the opportunity to knock UM down. For all the UM/MSU battles, Dantonio seems to "get" that this is still college sports and that there is a certain code of decency you should follow when dealing with recruits. I'm sure he talks about beating UM every year to his players, but I kind of doubt that he would use negative recruiting measures to gain an upper hand. He might be an idiot and a jerk, but he is also Tressel-lite, and the one thing you can say about Tressel is that he is against drama. With Hope at Purdue, though, you have a guy who has gone out of his way to blast UM and "embarrass" them at every turn. The whole Roundtree incident plus last year's postgame handshake event shows that he isn't above the petty stuff, and while I doubt Purdue and UM battle for the same players that often, I could see Hope pulling this crap a bit more than Dantonio. While I still think Dantonio is a jerk, I find it more likely that Hope would pull this crap.