Rumor: Former Paramus Catholic HC to join UM in some capacity
There's some rumors out there that Michigan could be adding a recruiting coordinator/assistant with very strong ties to Paramus Catholic HS
— MGoFish (@MGoFish) January 26, 2015
Jabril Pepper's former coach. Would probably give us a huge in with #1 2016 DT Rashan Gary.
January 25th, 2015 at 8:46 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 8:48 PM ^
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January 25th, 2015 at 8:51 PM ^
January 26th, 2015 at 12:02 AM ^
Mike, were you even alive when Perry Watson was hired? I was watching Jalen at Crisler and I this makes me feel pretty old...
January 25th, 2015 at 9:20 PM ^
Actually there are quite a few similiarities. If another school was hiring this guy we would probably critique it, but since it's Michigan we all better shut up and not ask any questions.
January 25th, 2015 at 9:39 PM ^
bending over like pretzels to justify stuff that we'd have ridiculed other programs for.
If you look back at Brian's articles about Harbaugh during the Stanford/education kerfuffle, you'll find that these things are pretty fluid.
January 26th, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^
are making me thirsty!
January 25th, 2015 at 10:42 PM ^
When other schools have done this, I always thought it was a bit shady. I also think this is a bit shady for the same reasons
January 25th, 2015 at 8:55 PM ^
LIttle nervous about this given all of the allegations about him improperly recruiting high school athletes in NJ, but I guess this position would mainly involve watching film and not actually having contact with recruits.
January 25th, 2015 at 9:07 PM ^
that sort of thing is pretty common but as one of the commenters said. A lot of these coaches were just pissed because he was beating them at their own game.
January 25th, 2015 at 8:58 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 10:03 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 9:08 PM ^
It doesn't really matter if he was recruiting players to play there which all private schools anywhere do since it's not illegal in college football.
January 25th, 2015 at 10:02 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 9:06 PM ^
Let's see how this all shakes out, but this is (I guess) the direction most college teams are going, and while part of me gets nervous when former HS coaches are hired right before one of their big-time kids is up for scholarships, I'm also not against Michigan doing it provided everything stays above-board.
January 25th, 2015 at 9:28 PM ^
It does look a little funny, but it is all legal and above board. There is little downside for anybody in that these are staff admin positions that people come and go in.
If he's great in the role, he'll stay for a while and then leave for the next step up. If he's not all that great but helps us get in with the top player in the counrty in an area we have a big need, he'll still stay for a while an then leave for the next step up. Everybody gains something.
January 26th, 2015 at 10:03 AM ^
Yeah, I know. It makes sense, and hell MSU did it a couple years ago when they got a bunch of kids out of Southeastern (including, I believe, Gholston who was living at the coach's house) because they hired the HC there. It just feels a little "ugh" to me, but again this is major-college sports so I'm not sure why I'd be surprised.
January 25th, 2015 at 10:53 PM ^
yeah all big time programs have been directing more resources towards recruiting / analyst personnel. it makes sense and teams not doing so operate at competitive disadvantage - why not have departments to run analytics, maintain recruiting databases, reverse scout, etc?
its not like theyre hiring jalen roses coach or kevin jones dad like va tech or memphis and kentucky with obviously shady dealings. harbaugh wants every advantage possible yet he comes across as pretty moral dude so im sure his moves are ok
January 25th, 2015 at 9:07 PM ^
Lets build a monster and win all the time !!!!
January 25th, 2015 at 9:11 PM ^
As others have brought it up....
11.7.1.1.1.1.1 Exception—Noncoaching Staff Member with Sport-Specific Responsibilities. A noncoaching staff member with sport-specific responsibilities (e.g., director of operations, administrative assistant) may participate in organized activities involving only the coaching staff or may perform administrative duties (e.g., attend meetings involving coaching activities, analyze video of the institution’s or an opponent’s team, track statistics during practice or competition).
Essentially, as long as you do not participate in actual coaching, you can do the "analyst" thing per the handbook.
January 25th, 2015 at 9:15 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 9:18 PM ^
sounds like he ticked off a bunch of people in NJ, which would be bad for Rutgers. Doesn't really matter much for us, since we aren't exactly counting on NJ as a hotbed of recruiting. Otherwise it sounds like the guy was pretty good at his job, as he managed to build up a program pretty quickly to compete with the big boys.
Harbaugh likes guys who excel, and do so quickly
January 25th, 2015 at 9:18 PM ^
RR (allegedly) pisses off HS coaches in Michigan and Ohio: Bad, bad, bad
Partridge (allegedly) pisses off HS coaches in NJ: No problem, bring him on board
January 25th, 2015 at 9:21 PM ^
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January 25th, 2015 at 9:35 PM ^
Plus even in NJ, I don't think he is going to be the on-the-road recruiter in that state. At least not at schools like Don Bosco.
It's not like he's going to be the sole ambassador for Michigan for all schools in NJ. Most of them will never see him at all.
January 25th, 2015 at 10:04 PM ^
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January 26th, 2015 at 6:17 AM ^
IIRC a few of the coaches like Ted Ginn at Glenville were less inclined to send players Michigan's way after the whole RR Family Values thing.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^
Ted Ginn had it out for Michigan long before RR. There was a perceived problem with how Carr handled/played one of his Glenville kids.
January 26th, 2015 at 10:29 AM ^
... which was a complete and total crock of shit put out there by the Boren family to justify Justin's defection to Ohio State, which really occurred because RR didn't offer Zach a scholarship and jackass father Mike got completely butthurt about it.
January 26th, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^
Programs differ in how much attention they pay to local players they aren't interested in recruiting, who are good but not quite D1 caliber--camp invitations and the like. Michigan had traditionally made this a point of emphasis but RR didn't seem particularly interested in it, which pissed off some coaches.
January 25th, 2015 at 10:39 PM ^
I do get what your saying and not sure how I feel about this but the comparison doesn't work.
January 26th, 2015 at 4:46 AM ^
Sarcasm..no doubt
I'm sure you can see the clear as day difference between these two scenarios...
As for how big an issue this might be...hell if I know, but I'd be shocked if Harbaugh is willing to write off the future of recruiting a talent rich state like NJ to get this guy and a shot at a couple of top 2016 recruits. He didn't get this far by overlooking matters like this...so either the role isn't what is being suggested (Recruiting Co-ordinator), this is overblown and he's not so hated around the state..or Harbaugh doesn't plan to recruit NJ beyond 2016 - This is def. the least likely.
January 25th, 2015 at 9:25 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 9:39 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 9:40 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 9:48 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 9:56 PM ^
Will we hire Thomas Wilcher for this commitee or is he more use to us actually being the head coach at CT?
January 26th, 2015 at 7:53 AM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 9:57 PM ^
Clearly the guy has an eye for talent. He also won two state championships in five years, so he is very likely a pretty talented football mind.
It will be interesting to see what his role entails.
January 25th, 2015 at 9:58 PM ^
I guess this could help recruit players from an area like PC. I doubt the other HS in NJ would like it though. He pissed people off and at least to me, did something shady to get all those good players to transfer to PC out of nowhere. They were garbage before Peppers and all them got there, but I see them going back to that after the transfers all graduate.
January 25th, 2015 at 10:03 PM ^
I doubt you hire a guy just because he might be able to land a prized recruit (Rashan Gary), especially someone who's apparently rubbed other coaches the wrong way in NJ. We're not that desperate. NJ has some good programs and good players, but Penn State, ND, ACC programs, and obviously Rutgers are active there as well, and so coaches will have choices as far as recommending programs to their players.
I also don't see NJ as being a focal point for Michigan recruiting under Harbaugh, especially given Harbaugh's ties to CA and TX in addition to the continued focus on the midwest. Maybe Harbaugh just likes a guy who comes in, has immediate success, is extremely aggressive recruiting / poaching from other programs, and isn't afraid to challenge power programs. How that translates into recruiting in other areas of the country remains to be seen, though.
January 25th, 2015 at 10:09 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 10:48 PM ^
Yes, that is exactly right. The schools that are complaining are the other private college prep schools . . . who do the same thing.
January 25th, 2015 at 10:23 PM ^
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January 25th, 2015 at 10:47 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 11:36 PM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 10:53 PM ^
If this happens we got recruiting pipelines nationwide with Jimmy and Drevno on west coast, Durkin and Mattison holding down Florida and the Midwest, and Wheatley and this dude on the East coast
January 25th, 2015 at 11:21 PM ^
Sorry, please put the guy's name in the title.
January 26th, 2015 at 9:20 AM ^
January 25th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^