New M Hire: Matt Dudek, Director of Recruiting

Submitted by Big Boutros on
First reported by FootballScoop and now confirmed by Dennis Dodd of CBS.

Humen

July 22nd, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^

Great hire. He was really well respected at Arizona in a similar role. Players and recruits seem to love him.

For RR reaction, see my avatar.

schlep4UM

July 22nd, 2017 at 2:38 PM ^

From the little bit I read, he sounds a lot like Harbaugh. Genuine, not concerned about what people think of him, cares about the kids and is a family guy. Also social media savvy. Welcome aboard. GO BLUE!

Don

July 22nd, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^

but I'm not sure that Arizona's recruiting really reflects what Dudek's abilities are.

Going by Scout's rankings, AZ's last four classes are:

2014: #30

2015: #41

2016: #43

2017: #46

That's not a positive trend. And in each year, ASU had a more highly ranked class. Worse, AZ's classes have been ranked behind those of middling programs like Kentucky, WSU, Colorado, and Minnesota, none of which are really football powers.

Yes, the difficulties that RR has had certainly has impacted the classes, and I'd have to guess the blame would be put there rather than on anything Dudek is doing.

MGoGrendel

July 22nd, 2017 at 8:09 PM ^

Is his recruiting exceeding expectations? Is it better than the previous years? Don't know and don't care to look it up, but I would bet my MGoPoints the answer is "yes" to both questions.

Plus, Arizona ain't exactly a traditional national power.

Humen

July 22nd, 2017 at 3:11 PM ^

Arizona football is a really hard sell.

1) In-state rival that is often rated #1 party school (ASU)
2) USC and UCLA in division. At one point, Arizona had just one player on its entire roster that USC offered. If an AZ prospect blows up, he gets poached.
3) Branded as a basketball school (should be a great season upcoming--#1 in most pre-season rankings!)
4) RR's scheme generally causes him to target players who because of size aren't on average rated as highly
5) RR's scheme isn't very unusual or sexy anymore, and there's a lot more sexier options out there that offer substantially the same thing. These recruits are forgetting/too young for Pat White/WVU success
6) RR's best season at AZ: blown out in the conference championship game a couple years ago (lack of winning/success generally)
7) hot seat.

People who follow AZ recruiting always considered Dudek a strong asset.

Coldwater

July 22nd, 2017 at 3:37 PM ^

First knee jerk reaction is it's a really underwhelming hire. He's now got to go head to head with Ohio State's recruiting program. Good luck

DrMantisToboggan

July 22nd, 2017 at 4:42 PM ^

My man, I am not knocking Dudek/the hire. I'm not sure what in my comment gave you that impression. I trust Jim implicitly in his evaluations of staff and players. 

 

My comment is only mocking the value of an endorsement from FootballScoop. 

LSAClassOf2000

July 22nd, 2017 at 5:30 PM ^

A followup question since I am having trouble understanding the basis of your criticism - 

What the hell does this even mean? As someone said, the head coach is ultimately the face of recruiting, so is this a jab an the overall organization of recruiting at Michigan or Harbaugh or what? Honest question.