Recruiting snowflake thread
Maybe the rest of you are smoking a cigarette or are asleep after today, but there are a few things I found interesting.
1. California has 45 four starts (247 composite). Michigan got 3 of them (all in top 20). Notre Dame got 1. How's the CA scheduling working out for them?
2. Normally, I think of the state of Ohio as having two four starts to every one in Michigan, but this time it was only 12-9. OSU obviously did well, but they could have done better had ND not signed the #1 and # 4 recruits in that state.
3. Illinois is about the same as the state of Michigan in terms of 4 starts on average, but it only had 6 this year to Michigan's 9. For whaever reason, Sparty leaned up there.
4. In the B1G footprint west of Michigan/Ohio exluding Illinois, there were 9 four stars. U of M got three of them, Nebraska 2, OSU and MIN 1 each.
5. The state of Virginia had 6 four stars. UVA and VTech got none. Instead, Marshall, Duke and Stanford each picked up 1. Two went to FSU; OSU got one.
6. Pitt did well in Ohio with some low 4 stars/high 3 stars. Narduzzi might be muscling in on some of Dantonio's territory?
February 3rd, 2016 at 11:09 PM ^
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February 3rd, 2016 at 11:21 PM ^
Not sure how accurate this is, but it sounds like Michigan finished #2 for Mecole Hardman. I think this is a testament to how well our staff killed it in recruiting this year
LaTrivia Hardman said her son didn’t have Georgia in his top 10 early – he was initially smitten by Tennessee. But as the process went on, he privately narrowed his choices to Michigan and Georgia. “He was so iffy,” she said. “Probably in the last month he said, ‘OK, it’s Georgia.' " But that wasn’t public knowledge. Meco carried on a bit of a misinformation campaign, talking about other schools and at one point putting a drawing of himself and another player in Ohio State uniforms on his Twitter page. The family played along, enduring the endless questions.
February 3rd, 2016 at 11:22 PM ^
February 3rd, 2016 at 11:32 PM ^
February 3rd, 2016 at 11:38 PM ^
Hell, we're the national champions for finishing second for 12 straight years.
February 4th, 2016 at 12:13 AM ^
February 4th, 2016 at 12:04 AM ^
Interesting how he put out a "decoy campaign" with tweets and quotes to keep people guessing about where he was going.
Some of our signees did the same thing in the days leading up to NSD, causing much angst on the boards (or last year's "He's wearing a towel from XX school so it must be XX)
February 4th, 2016 at 12:43 AM ^
February 3rd, 2016 at 11:35 PM ^
February 4th, 2016 at 1:08 AM ^
but, I think we owe credit where credit is due to Coach Hoke for hiring Partridge. Can't say if it was Brady himself but someone saw the talent that's amassed there for at least a couple of classes ahead and decided to make a move.
I think Peppers was the initial target, success (!) and paved the way figuratively for his fellow younger players to follow in his footsteps. Other factors and other people have played a part,for sure. But having Partridge has paid a lot of dividends from my viewpoint.
Obviously, Harbaugh & co have stepped everything up a notch or 3 but I believe the first stone in the road was laid a few years back.
February 4th, 2016 at 2:42 AM ^
After reading numerous posts about the Washington recruting analysts wanting to fight anyone who suggested that a recruit might not pick UW, I'm shocked to report that ESPN and 24/7 both rank the Huskies as the #29 overall class.
Having lived in the Seattle area for way too long, I can tell you that Seattle sports fans -- and media -- are (a) few in number, (b) prone to bandwagonism, and (c) amazingly provincial. Seattle is a wonderful place to visit during the summer*, but don't expect to have an informed conversation about sports with anyone sporting UW or Seattle gear.
* defined as July 5 through the end of August.
February 4th, 2016 at 5:37 AM ^
That whole mid-atlantic region just gets raided by outside programs. Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey. Completely owned by out of state schools because the in state schools are so lifeless. Those are obviously some very talented states too
February 4th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^
Its like a guy living in a house with all models. Only other guys constantly are showing up to get with the models and this poor loser doesnt get any ever. So sad.
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February 4th, 2016 at 8:32 AM ^
I think Harbaugh did exactly what was needed in year one with recruiting. He showed them he could win, then with the entire recruiting cycle culminating in SOTS which imo was him telling all future recruits, "You are going to be in the spotlight if you come to Michigan, can you handle it?" I think this is going to help bring in hungry stone cold killers.
One thing I noticed, not only among every single recruit at SOTS, but also with Gary, none of them were loud. A couple smiled but they all kept their voices very quiet. That tells me Harbaugh is bringing in guys who know how to bottle their rage and unleash it on the field. No loud off the field stuff, save it all for the field. There was no dancing or anything on the way to the stage, only a brief moment for themselves when they first set foot on the stage and the crowd let them hear it, then it was back to all business.
I can't fucking wait. This is Harbaugh's first true class and I am very, very impressed!
Who's got it better than us??
February 4th, 2016 at 9:40 AM ^
Harbaugh's recruiting skills are second to none. I am still surprised at how quickly he (and the rest of his staff) was able to expand our recruiting footprint to pull high level recruits from each of the coasts (and Florida, Tennessee, etc.). I also like the fact that he did not focus a ton of energy on the midwest during a year in which New Jersey and the standard recruiting hotbeds like California, Florida, Texas, and Georgia had a ton of highly skilled athletes.
February 4th, 2016 at 10:11 AM ^
February 4th, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
Awesome job by JH & crew!
Welcome to all the new recruits!
Thanks to Mgo for having this forum!