Top Colleges for Recruiting
24/7 Sports did an article on recruiting.
http://247sports.com/Article/Texas-Longhorns-top-recruiting-job-in-coll…
15- Michigan- The in-state talent base isn’t terribly deep and Michigan State is a pesky adversary on the in-state talent, but the Wolverines have an established brand, great tradition and facilities and can appeal nationally to prospects. The winged helmets are synonymous with college football (prospects love them) and the “big house” is quite a selling point to elite talent as well. Heisman Trophy winners, championships, great NFL alums- Michigan has it all except ideal geography, which makes it more of a challenging recruiting job than it should be.
Only other B1G programs on the list were tOSU and Penn State. SEC led the way based on geography.
December 13th, 2013 at 9:42 AM ^
I can see them higher than Michigan due to the state's talent pool...but #2? If they're that high, then I think UM is very underrated at 15.
December 13th, 2013 at 9:59 AM ^
The four states for recruiting talent, in some order, are: Texas, Florida, California, Ohio.
Only one of those states has a single major university. Only one of those states has a single elite program in an elite conference. Only one of those states has a single team that has produced on the field to a very high level over the past decade. That's Ohio.
At some point, tradition, facilities, and everything else have a demininishing return. Splitting the top 15 or whatever and you're splitting hairs. OSU has just as good of facilities as anyone else. What other states don't have is a great football-talent-laden state that has almost all the kids brainwashed into thinking if they are offered by the in-state school go elsewhere than they are traitors to their entire family and state.
1. Texas and 2. OSU is pretty dead on I think.
Now, Michigan behind PSU, aTm, Auburn, Miami I'm not sure I buy at all. Michigan is probably top 10, but neither position is insane (though I suspect Michigan being lower is due in part to the writer's fanhood).
December 13th, 2013 at 10:05 AM ^
all that considered, I'm fine with osu at the second position, but as I said...if they're that high, then UM is very underrated.
December 13th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^
but it neglects that Michigan gets just as many of the top players from the state of Ohio as OSU does regularly. They are the only major FBS school in the state, but they still have a ton of their talent poached out of state. That's not as big of a deal for places like Texas and the southeast because the shear # of nearby quality recruits is far higher. LSU loses a kid to Bama (from Louisiana) and there's one just as good next door in Texas over in Georgia.
I'd be fine with OSU in the top 5, I think 3 or 4 is better for them because I think LSU and Bama should be behind Texas probably. But I think we all agree Michigan should be in the top 10 still.
December 13th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ^
Texas, Florida, and Cali are all a cut above Ohio in HS talent.
December 13th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
Since 2011 Rivals Top 100 Players
Florida 69
Texas 48
California 47
Georgia 31
Alabama 21
Louisiana 18
Virginia 18
NC 17
Ohio 14
December 13th, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^
What happens if you expand that to 4 stars?
December 13th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
I'm not sure Ohio is #4. States like Georgia, Virginia, Louisiana have been consistantly passing them over the last couple of years.
December 13th, 2013 at 1:12 PM ^
I would say Ohio is solidly in that 4-5 range with Georgia and a case made be for Lousiana, especially this year. I don't think Virginia is consistent as the other three mentioned.
December 13th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^
Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, NC, Texas and Virginia have all produced more Rivals Top 100 kids than Ohio has.
If you prefer a different time frame or a different list I can see about running that also.
December 13th, 2013 at 10:30 PM ^
December 13th, 2013 at 5:45 PM ^
but much more competitive regional programs. OSU really only has to fight with Michigan, Notre Dame, and sometimes Penn State. LSU has a similar situation, but they're fighting with Texas, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida schools, etc. in their region. They're awfully close though (and maybe less traitorous for in-state guys to go out of state)
December 13th, 2013 at 9:59 AM ^
Here is a http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2013/9/11/4718442/college-football-state-texas-california-florida (link) to an article that shows where college recruits come from. Ohio produces 6.8% of Division 1 football players and has little in-state competition for recruits. Michigan produces only 2.6% of Division 1 football players and UM has to compete with Sparty to sign them.
Even grabbing 80% of in-state talent (80% of 2.6%) does not compare to having 100% of 6.8% or division 1 players. It is easier for Ohio's coach to recruit because of an in-state talent advantage.
Ohio has the largest talent pool of any state with only one big time football program. States like Florida and Texas have more talent, but it is split between big time programs.
December 13th, 2013 at 10:09 AM ^
The Per Capita breakdown at the end of this article is pretty illuminating really - a couple places that we may not consider as normal sources of talent (or at least not mentioned with the same frequency as states in the southeastern US, for example) are putting out quite a bit of talent as a function of their population. What is also sort of intriguing is that, analyzed this way, only 13 states have a per capita rate higher than the calculated national average.
December 13th, 2013 at 10:54 AM ^
That breakdown confirms that talent is more frequently developed in the south and how the northeast is a football wasteland.
December 13th, 2013 at 3:54 PM ^
I'm surprised to see that Michigan is ahead of Pennsylvania and New Jersey in capita talent production. I would not have guessed that.
Hawaii and Utah being so high is interesting. I wonder how much of that is due to their relatively large Samoan populations.
December 13th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
Elite program, elite facilities, great high school football to recruit from with no other major univesity competition in the state.
December 13th, 2013 at 9:46 AM ^
You shouldn't legitimize it by publishing it.
December 13th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
It's written by a Bama fan.
December 13th, 2013 at 9:57 AM ^
December 13th, 2013 at 3:53 PM ^
I'm pretty sure it's Chris Howard.
December 13th, 2013 at 9:59 AM ^
~DB
[edit: didn't click OP]
December 13th, 2013 at 10:15 AM ^
I'll agree that some southern athletes may not want to come to Michigan but this list seems to assume it's a problem traveling the country to land recruits. It's something all schools including even MAC schools do. The number of top recruits Michigan is landing would indicate that not enough value was placed on the Michgain brand.
I would put more value on the poll if it had listed enrollment criteria as a disadvantage for Michigan.
Also, while Michigan isn't in the same state as Ohio, they still have fans especially in the northern part of the stae. Michigan obviously still pulls in a lot of talent from Ohio.
December 13th, 2013 at 10:45 AM ^
We are 15, yet have a nice big picture in the article? Okay...
There is no way that Penn St is at 10. But, these are all the teams in the neighborhood.
December 13th, 2013 at 11:44 AM ^
December 13th, 2013 at 12:03 PM ^
December 13th, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^
Before I lived in Ohio, I had a hard time understanding just how it punches above its weight in football talent relative to population (traditionally, anyway). That was answered quickly. Not just the culture, but also the number of "super-programs". Michigan simply doesn't have many analogs to football factories like St Ignatius, Glenville, Colerain, Cardinal Mooney, et al.
December 13th, 2013 at 2:02 PM ^
When I was a student back in Ann Arbor years ago I had the pleasure of talking to a retired member of Bo's old coaching staff. I asked him what the toughest states were to poach top talent out of, expecting he'd say states like Florida, Texas, and California, but I was wrong.
He basically said the hardest states are the ones with basically ONE obvious 800lb. gorilla football school in the state. He said it was sometimes easier to sneak in and poach a top guy out of a powerhouse state with multiple schools because of two things:
1) Lack of attention to detail with some of the local power schools, since the state had so many strong recruits, and
2) Lack of a consensus about what THE school is among friends, family & neighbors. If pissing off a percentage of your So.Cal network of people is inevitable because you can't attend both USC and UCLA, then it's not much of a jump to just totally abscond and go out of state. If you live in the state of Nebraska though, it's a different story.
December 13th, 2013 at 9:42 PM ^