Revisiting the 2011 Class by Commit Date

Submitted by alum96 on

It's always amusing to watch the board mood change so quickly - 24 hours ago there was euphoria as 3 commits had dropped within 24 hours... now with some bad news on mostly long shots ennui has returned.  It's all good.  Part of the recruiting game.

The 3 hour recruitment of Colin Samuel had me thinking about how 2011 fell chronologically so I took the time to google term "Hello [Player name] MGoblog" 20 times to see how our 2011 class played out. I didn't follow recruiting that closely back then so those in the know can better clarify which players Hoke "closed"  on that had a lot of legwork done by the RR regime but here is how it played out in terms of timing.

This may give you comfort or make you more worried if you try to parallel to a MUCH smaller class under Harbaugh under similar time constraints.  Plz keep in mind this staff in theory will be much better at actual development before you choose how distressed to be about a recruiting miss.

Key info:

  • 20 total commits
  • Starz per 247 composite = fourteen 3 starz, six 4 starz
  • Six of the 20 commits happened Jan 25, 2011 or later.
  • OSU-UM game Nov 26 (Hayes committed just before)
  • RR fired Jan 6, 2011
  • Hoke hired Jan 12, 2011

3 tiers:

  • RR (8)
  • RR under fire (2)  (post OSU/pre bowl)
  • Hoke (10)
Player * Date  
G. Brown 3 9/9/09 RR
D. Hollowell 3 1/17/10 RR
B. Beyer 4 4/15/10 RR
C. Rock 3 5/28/10 RR
J. Miller 3 6/29/10 RR
K. Jones 4 7/29/10 RR
T. Posada 3 8/11/10 RR
J.Hayes 4 11/23/10 RR
D. Morgan 3 12/13/10 RR under fire
B. Countess 4 12/17/10 RR under fire
T. Carter 3 1/20/11 Hoke
K. Heitzman 3 1/21/11 Hoke
R. Taylor 3 1/22/11 Hoke
M. Wile 3 1/22/11 Hoke
A. Poole 4 1/25/11 Hoke
R. Bellomy 3 1/25/11 Hoke
C. Bryant 4 1/28/11 Hoke
T. Rawls 3 2/1/11 Hoke
F. Clark 3 2/2/11 Hoke
C. Barnett 3 2/2/11 Hoke

 

Key contributors (8 of 20):

  • RR (3)  - Beyer, Miller, Hayes
  • RR under fire (2) - Morgan, Countess
  • Hoke (3) - Taylor, Wile, Clark

Some material production (3 of 20):

  • RR (1) - Hollowell
  • RR under fire (0)
  • Hoke (2) - Heitzman, Rawls

Not much help either due to injury or other reasons (9 of 20):

  • RR (4) - Brown, Rock, Jones, Posada
  • RR under fire (0)
  • Hoke (5) - Carter, Poole, Bellomy, Bryant*, Barnett

 

*if not for injury Bryant would probably have been a key contributor

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Bodogblog

January 27th, 2015 at 2:01 AM ^

Countess should be under Hoke. He committed to RR, but after he was boomed PSU and Paterno came in hard and it was 50-50 for a while there. Not sure if he actually ever decommitted but Mattison had to pull that one out of the fire

Joined: 06/08/2010

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bacon

January 27th, 2015 at 4:29 AM ^

Ok. I understand why people are down about the recruiting events of past few days, but let's try to keep some perspective on what's going on. Most guys are sticking with their commitments, which is not that surprising. When you're 17-18, choosing where to go to college is the biggest decision you've ever made. You're leaving home and living on your own for the first time, and most kids aren't going to just up and decide to go somewhere else in a week. Harbaugh has more of a chance with guys who haven't decided yet, but still that's tough. I think Harbaugh will find more really raw high upside guys to fill the class, but the chances he pulls in any of these highly recruited guys are pretty small (compared to future years). Luckily the team has returning starters (and good depth) at most positions. Plus, it's not a radical change from Hoke to Harbaugh, so most guys fit already. In that sense, I'm much more excited about what he's going to do with the guys currently on the roster in 2015.

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The Reeve

January 27th, 2015 at 7:55 AM ^

This is a nice analysis, thank you. However, I don't think it is valid to compare the two situations. Hoke was desperate for bodies, while Harbaugh is in no way desperate. He could take no one else and he has more raw material to work with that Hoke had in that first season. Hoke left the cupboard full. Whether it's full of potential that Harbaugh likes or not remains to be seen, but it is full.

I would assume Harbaugh could raid MAC teams for their three stars with ease, but he is being selective. I think his selectiveness reveals that he would rather bank a scholarship than take someone that he doesn't really want.

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The Reeve

January 27th, 2015 at 8:00 AM ^

Sorry to reply to my own post, but a great example of this is that four-star offensive lineman (Moorman?) that Wisconsin has slow played. Would it make us all feel better if that four-star committed with much fanfare? Well then, why doesn't Jim take him? Surely, If you're desperate for bodies, you take a big kid like that and see what happens. The only reason for not taking such a kid would be that Jim is not convinced about his potential. That actually makes me feel as if he is just fine-tuning, trying to get only valuable pieces before signing day.

Joined: 09/26/2013

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pdgoblue25

January 27th, 2015 at 9:27 AM ^

He had already been in college watching high school film and recruiting. 

I'm sure he already knew of kids that he would have a shot at, especially with a block M on his shirt.

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Magnus

January 27th, 2015 at 9:54 AM ^

Every situation is different. You're never going to find two situations that are EXACTLY the same.

Brady Hoke was also on the west coast, so he had some of the same limitations as far as proximity goes. His best recruiter during that transition was Greg Mattison, who had been in the NFL with the Ravens prior to that. You can go tit-for-tat in this discussion, but it's still two guys who were hired pretty late in the recruiting game (end of December for Harbaugh, second week in January for Hoke, IIRC) who have just a few weeks to fill out the class.

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