NOT CC: Good News From Football Recruiting.
Today has seen some high quality ball movements towards Michigan for Massachusetts OT Zak Zinter. Potentially the subject of yesterdays BUCKLE UP, Zinter is a 6'6' 300 pound athletic tackle from Mass, that's ranked in the top 250 on the composite.
He's looked like a strong Notre Dame lean recently, but Wiltfong, Tom Loy (Notre Dame's resident balls man), and another national analyst have sent in their balls to Michigan the last 24 hours.
Would be a massive get and a guy that has great footwork and a frame to put on some solid muscle. Probably would be ranked higher if his competition wasn't atrocious, but a very great prospect imo.
https://247sports.com/Player/Zak-Zinter-46056669/
(Sorry accidentally posted on diary, long day)
So is it safe to unbuckle yet? I haven’t moved in over 24 hours since that post.
maybe don't unbuckle but definitely unclench
Unpucker?
Thanks. I sharted.
Unbuckle, he is a commit:
Andover (MA) Buckingham Browne & Nichols School 2020 four-star offensive lineman Zak Zinter committed to Michigan on Thursday, giving the Wolverines their second verbal commitment up front and one from a prospect we've had listed as a top target for at least six months.
Read this as 'NOT Good News for Football Recruiting.
Glad I clicked link!
Go Blue!
I definitely read it as "CC: NOT Good News For Football Recruiting" and was ready to go even deeper into the BPONE pit. Glad that wasn't the case!
Dudek tweeted that we should have patience regarding who the committed prospect is and that he will announce it soon. Can't wait to have some good news to talk about.
We're a football school again.
Its going to be a great 3 months!
Is he an actual OT prospect or more of a college guard (but high school OT)? I haven’t followed recruiting as closely the last couple cycles.
He plays guard in high school.
He'll be a tackle in college almost assuredly. At least at the start.
since when does a player play guard in high school and then switch to tackle in college? I always thought it was the opposite.
It usually is the opposite because most teams put their best offensive linemen at tackle, regardless of their collegiate measurements. BBN is a Massachusetts power house and they're big into tight ends and fullbacks. And when Zinter got moved up, they had very high quality tackles (Not D1 level, but very high quality HS Tackles) and he was placed at guard. They just never bothered moving him out to tackle because it works for them, but he has the frame and footwork for tackle. He's not playing guard because he's unable to use his feet well, he's playing it because fuck it why not. It's an important distinction to make as to WHY people are playing guard, not necessarily that they are playing guard. Because literally nothing he does at tackle against the competition he's facing will mean anything towards the next level.
He visited Notre Dame twice recently and had an OV set for next month. Loy's CB is worth something in this case. It came first and the national guys are following.
UM football gonna pick up a lot of steam this fall. Wonder if everyone is ready for the ride.
I'm not saying I want this, necessarily, but if the apocalypse were ever going to happen, now would be a good time.
Nothing like high quality BM's
Read "not good news from football recruiting".
Removed sharp objects from immediate vicinity.
reread title. Breathed easy.
It’s amazing how difficult it is for people to write simple, informative titles that don’t also initially mislead, however unintentionally.
in FGT's defense, my initial reading comprehension for that first millisecond could've been a little better.
I accidentally posted it on the diary first. It's been a long day.
Committed.
The best ball movements are high quality ball movements you didn’t plan on or expect, they just happen to you.
Ladies and gentlemen... We got em
couldnt have waited to make a hello post? you obviously knew something
This one I will admit that I had no real inside knowledge about, just reading the tea leaves. I've played and coached in Northwest Illinois, I knew Keegan would be here, I had a strong feeling about McCarthy, and I'm beginning to feel good about AJ Henning. East Coast is out of my feeling, I hear things though. This one was just intuition.
fair enough. care to speculate on the basketball coach?
Too much chatter around Shaka for it to be him, I believe no internal promotion, doubt it's Juwan unless it's a last resort, Porter has died down. I have a feeling a lot of these coaches were talking about are leaking it themselves to position themselves for recruits (Porter), job security (Shaka), or money.
I'd bet it's someone we havent really had a discussion about yet, I'm not a huge Warde fan in terms of decisions making but he's no dummy on how to conduct a search. I think it'll be between Gregg Marshall, Steve Prohm, and my dark horse pick with no knowledge whatsoever that I would love is Mike Rhoades. I don't have confidence in Warde to make the selection, I do have confidence in him to run an effective coaching search if that makes sense.
A double-Z name, me likey!
Lmao damn sorry about the potentially BPONE title, thought it would be good to have a title that clearly wasn't CC shit, but never realized how easy it was to read it like NOT GOOD NEWS. Well ZZ committed so it IS good news!
immediate forgiveness.
and you've had some interesting football posts lately. can you share a bit more about the payments to players by various schools?
Gonna have to be a little more specific. I can tell you that Wisconsin and Iowa are secretly very blatant about it. And it's usually in the form of stipends to keep guys happy, especially in the recruiting process. The most blatant offender in the country is Georgia, there's absolutely no shame in that, but very few states have an infrastructure that allows for that kind of shadiness.
Alabama isn't even the most blatant offender in their state, they don't need to outbid teams, plenty of people take less to go there. Again, I want people to understand it's really not about the dollar amount for a lot of these kids. Sure, some schools will unload absolute god father offers to kids but it doesn't happen as much as you'd think. The money just keeps everyone in the game.
I know of one kid that was basically begged by Drevno to talk to Harbaugh, and when it happened, he just wasn't vibing with him. No realistic amount of money would have gotten him to Michigan, he needed a school he loved and a coach he vibes with and TD/JH were not them.
I know of another kid a few years back that was offered 50k and a truck by Penn State, when Gattis was the ORC/WR Coach there. Said kid didn't want to go to Penn State, ended up at a different school in the Big Ten. I know that the reason Gattis originally left Penn State was he lost a power struggle with Ricky Rahne, and left. Those two dudes hate each other, and it's going to take the animosity up another level this year. Gattis will try and run the score up if he has the opportunity, and given what I've heard out of PSU, I think he'll have that opportunity.
I can tell you there's still a real, legitimate stain on Michigan State and Ohio State right now. Neither of those teams have lost longtime leans because they're being "outbid", I can tell you for a fact there are moms that don't want their kids anywhere near Michigan State, and there are a decent amount of people that aren't going from the Southeast/Texas to Ohio State to play for a coach with a surprisingly short leash, and the Zach Smith stuff is still affecting them. OSU will still get really good kids, but Ryan Day isnt putting more of an emphasis on Ohio kids out of the god given goodness of his heart.
all very interesting. thank you.
is there a general pattern or method to how the stipends are delivered, or to whom they are normally given?
I know of a school in the Big Ten West that gives their players a card that they can use anywhere from $1,500-$3,000 a month on it. That's for guys on campus though. Not sure if people realize that the monetary amounts significantly decrease as soon as a guy gets on campus. They give them enough to keep them happy, and follow through on any agreements like paying bills, and all that shit. But you'd be straight fuckin shocked man, one kid I have a great relationship with was offered $7,500 a month each month he was committed to a specific school, through signing his letter of intent. He was a sophomore in HS, so it basically came out to being $250,000 give or take to commit and follow through on the commitment.
The surprising part to me wasnt that it was offered, it was who offered it. I won't name a school, but I will tell you it was a school in the MAC West. And a lot of it is cash that gets funneled in. This is all on top of the dudes that are guided towards specific tattoo shops and car repair places, and anywhere else that will do it for free.
And I got pretty aggressive with my posting because I was a little tired of hearing the holier than thou attitude a lot of people had towards it. I was pretty tired of seeing kids that I knew and have great relationships with be trashed for "taking money" somewhere else, as if providing for your family is some terrible character flaw. Because the reason dudes don't choose Michigan aint because Michigan football is being outbid (except Isaiah Wilson lmfao that was as blatantly obvious as it got), it's because we have a head coach that turns people off and that's ok.
I'm not going to judge anyone without knowing their situation, but the whole "just providing for your family" excuse doesn't justify breaking the law (and getting paid $7500/month under the table, for years, qualifies - and the IRS would concur). Almost every drug lord and crime boss in US history also said they were "just taking care of their family."
You've never gotten a speeding ticket? Or not reported a small amount of income you made through a bet or an odd job? Because then you're breaking the law, you're just not valuable enough to really profit off of it. You can feel however you'd like, but I certainly don't care about a 4 star offensive tackle raised by a single mother in poverty cashing in on his most valuable and fleeting skill. Because in theory, "education" is cool. But you really think these kids are getting a real education at football factories? That kid in poverty gets to pay moms bills while he plays football, can help them put food on the table, can buy his sister something nice for her birthday, and help the grandparents out a bit. And it's not like the players are blatantly ignoring the IRS, reporting that income is fucking their eligibility. If we wanna get down into the real political nitty gritty, what is costing the IRS more income? The NCAA listing themselves as a nonprofit and avoiding numerous tax laws, or a bunch of teenagers getting a couple G's a month.
I have gotten speeding tickets - and paid them. I have made small amounts of money off bets, but nothing that would appreciably change my annual income (nor my tax bill). When the situation gets to thousands per month and tens or hundreds of thousands per year, that is something different.
Obviously the IRS isn't making this a priority since they're not cracking down on it. The point of that example was that they could do it if they wanted, since (some of) these cases are technically felony offenses - and all of the actors involved know it and try to keep it quiet (showing that they know it's not right).
You often mention the situations where kids are coming from desperate situations where the (illegally obtained) money is sorely needed. Some of the player situations fit that description, but many more do not. But regardless of the person's specific socio-economic background, that does not justify illicit behavior - including fraud.
You also criticize how much education players actually receive when the go to a "football factory" - and I completely agree with that criticism. However, it seems to me that the proper course of action is serious, national reform regarding the system. Schools should be for serious students (including student/athletes serious about their education). It does not seem right that players with marginal academic abilities and zero practical interest in attending school/classes should gain entry into a top-tier school when other (non elite athletes) with similar or better academic background are denied admission or waitlisted (and certainly do not receive the generous financial and fringe benefits that elite revenue sport student-athletes receive, even if they are lucky enough to be accepted).
So we admit that you don't report all your income to the IRS. So glad we're on the same page.
And what do you mean it doesnt justify it? It absolutely does. So many of these kids live below the poverty line, and do you really think they give a shit about the IRS? You try telling a kid from rural Georgia who lives with both of his grandparents because they can't afford to live alone that taking some cash to make their life easier isn't good. Because if it ain't going to the kids, it ain't going anywhere. It's staying with the boosters and the coaches and the higher ups, and I'd much rather see the kids who risk their health for sport get a piece of that pie. You're telling me that if you and your family were in crippling debt, and someone offered you $50,000 cash to go play a sport for 3, maybe 4 years, and on top of that your families bills would get paid, your sisters school would get taken care of, maybe your moms new baby will get top notch health care, that you wouldn't do it because its technically illegal? Because I call serious bullshit.
And if you want to change the educational aspect, email any college coach and ask him why he doesnt let players major in whatever they want. Because the players are there to play sports first and foremost and being a Michigan football player will pay stronger dividends in 20 years than whatever degree you can get. It's a shame, but as long as the coaches are making millions a year to win, that will always be priority number one. Brady Hoke graduated most of his guys, and was a fantastic person. But why did everyone want him fired? Because he didnt win. The fans are equally complicit in where collegiate sports currently are, and that's an uncomfortable reality for a lot of people.
Not to bust your balls or anything, but ...
* In your last flurry of posts you downplayed the bag man idea and suggested that Alabama and Clemson are at the top of the heap in recruiting because of superior coaching. You never explained how Hugh Freeze (at the top of the heap at one point) became an esteemed coach. (This post, with its balance of school football reputation and money, strikes me as more reasonable.)
* If a MAC school is essentially offering 250K to a player (which, sorry, I just can't believe) I'd have to guess that a Power 5 school could do better (maybe 2X/3X). Accordingly, Georgia (at the top of your list) may be chucking 500K at multiple guys who are sophomores in high school. Not a reach, right?
1. Alabama and Clemson are at the top because of superior coaching. Obviously they pay players, but its not the reason they recruit so well. Players will take half as much from Bama and Clemson rather than go to Mississippi State. Because it's an investment, and they know they're getting to the league easier in Tuscaloosa or Clemson.
2. Wanna know the dirtiest secret in college sports? Hugh Freeze is an AMAZING coach. An absolute stud of a coach. Was he very blatant about paying players? Yep. But it's not like he got 10 five stars. He got 3 in one class which is still good, but it was still only 8th in the NCAA, and 4th in the SEC. Paying players isnt the reason he beat Alabama twice. Want to know the list of guys who have beaten Bama with Saban twice? Gus Malzahn, Les Miles, Dabo Swinney, Urban Meyer, Hugh Freeze. Hugh Freeze definitely and blatantly skirted the rules, and it was obvious. But until the Tunsil incident no one had any proof. I'd like to reiterate, he beat Nick Saban TWICE in a row. Lost among the cheating and being a scummy dude, Hugh Freeze was an incredible football coach.
3. Definitely a reach. Because a MAC school has to blatantly overpay or else they're not getting solid recruits and beating out bigger schools. Georgia could be chucking 500k around to every high school sophomore they want, but they'd be losing out on players that develop later. Georgia usually aint going over a quarter mil for anyone, most I've seen em pay is 225k plus bills. Not saying they havent gone higher, but theres really no need to. Plus they really only want to go as far as plausible deniability. No one is investigating MAC schools. You go too far and too fast and you can get fucked.
4. And don't worry, I know you're not trying to bust my balls on this. It's a complicated and confusing subject, and it's one I didn't know the scope of until around a year or two ago. Then I tried to learn as much as I could.
It would be huge. Not just because beating Ohio State, but it would be a program defining win if its a good Ohio State team.
i find the Tom Loy ball dichotomy the most hilarious thing: one for ND and it's the softest, most meaningless ball ever, like an ice cream cone in the desert soft; but on the other hand, a Loy ball for a rival is the iron clad lock of the century.
I want all the balls