Recruiting Visits at Michigan

Hookers and blow..

No one knows except recruits coaches and families. If it was public knowledge other teams would copy certain things

A free meal at the Chop House.

Shhhh... It's secret!

they turned a "5" into a "9" or possibly a "10"

That tends to help land recruits

They spend the night at Tri - Delt.

They leave with a life size doll of Brady Hoke to go home and snuggle. Even though he drove me nuts, I always looked at Hoke and said..."Thats a man I could cuddle with on a cold night."

It gets crazy--they have subs!

I heard they get the same type of gift basket that Jeter used to give out.

Recruiting well is not a new phenomenon here. Brady Hoke, Lloyd Carr etc. all had top 5 classes. Michigan sells itself. The difference is that Harbaugh will develop them.

Nice try Urban Meyer...

Now I realize why posters here are so critical of new threads and their respective standards. I almost feel sympathetic that the OP devoted 30-45 minutes into this one. I mean, what's the most optimistic answer you expected in return?

 of an OSU visit and a Michigan visit in the past.  I have been to Michigan on recruiting visits twice.  I have second hand knowledge on visits to Maryland, Indiana, OSU, SoCar, Florida, FSU, Clemson, Tennesee, UVA, VT, UNC, Duke etc.

First, visits during games are not ideal.  There isn't enough time for coaches to spend with recruits because of game day.  Keep in mind, most games are at noon or 3:30, so the kid will be lucky to talk to the coach more than 5 or 10 minutes pre-game.  During the 2012 OSU/UM game, We were allowed to go to the coaches locker room with Urban for about 5 minutes, while the other recruits were eating.  Our group also included the #1 player in the country, so that is unusual.  

Ideally, unofficial visits take place during spring practice and you follow up with an OV during a game the following fall.  It's a good opportunity to see coaches in practice, and talk with other kids and recruits.  Hoke and Mattison's wives were always around. so there really was a family atmosphere.  

 

On visits, recurits and parents will tour the campus, including the indoor facilities (M has 2 indoor fields), Schembechler Hall, another building which is a study facility for athletes.  They have an M-Pact program which is used to essentially mentor kids about their future.  Most senior football players will have 5 more years of football in their life.  The ones that get to the NFL will have about 8.  The lucky ones will have 15.  What is left after that? It's eye opening for many kids who never thought about it like that.  They have programs where they can pair current ahtletes with former athletes whether it is career advice or help dealig with situations.  Former players actually still use the M-Pact program, including guys in the NFL or who are recently out of the NFL.  Another example would be allowing a student-athlete to shadow someone in the career of their choice, to evaluate whether ther would want to pursue that career.

There is ususally a meeting with the dean of the school, that the recruit intends to major.  In the evenings, recruits usually go with players and parents will hang out with a coach or other parents.

There is also a tour of the locker room, with jersey's laid out, helmets, etc and other items that recruits are interested in for photo ops.  They are allowed to walk through the tunnel and out onto the field as well.  VT will allow you to take a picture with anyone jersey that doesn't belong to a current player.

On UV, you must pay for everything.  Even meals in the facility will be charged.  We paid to eat at the buffett at OSU. (the food was meh)  Maryland has a fantastic buffett and a patio on one end of the endzone where recruits can sit and watch the game.  On OV, 1 hotel room for parents, and 1 for the player is paid for.  Many charges are reimbursed, as opposed to paid for outright.  Compliance officers are around the entire time, for example making sure that the recruit comes back to his room at some point for the night if other people are in the room with him (for example a cousin or a teammate on an UV) otherwise it could be a violation.

On day2 of a weekend visit, typically Sunday morning, recruits will meet with position coaches.  They will watch film and coaches will generally show how they plan to use a particular player in their system.  (For D, Hand, Mattison was showing clips of all the things he did with Terrell Suggs)  

What pushes kids over vary obviously.  Coaches play a huge role of course, but second to that is how much fun they have with the current players, probably more than how well they get along with other recruits in their class.  For the most part, expecially for the top guys there is minimal difference between the big schools.  Facilities and perks are all top notch, fans are all excited and crazy. 

 

 

HARBAUGH...... That's what sets them apart from the rest.

At least that's from 1995.  

If Michigan adds Gary at DT, Delance at OT, Jones or Jackson at LB, Crawford or Young at WR, Long or Hill at CB, and transfer in Raulerson at C, we'd be pretty much full, right? Maybe add a TE, maybe greyshirt a kicker? Anything I'm missing?

I've been wondering what Gwendolyn Bush has brought to the experience. I remember last year Harbaugh was so impressed with her thoroughness in her son's recruiting process that he hired her. And this year, Rashan Gary's mom, after their visit, said that UM had "checked every box" during the visit. Pretty cool that Harbaugh would hire a recruit's mom because he was so impressed with her thorough vetting that he wanted her to do that for all the recruits.